UCSF Prevention Research Center Forum

Dr. Susan Buchbinder is the Director of Bridge HIV, a grant-funded HIV prevention research unit housed at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, where she is an attending physician in the Richard Fine People’s Clinic, and teaches in the Advanced Traineeship in Clinical Research Program. Her HIV research focuses on HIV vaccines, preexposure prophylaxis, broadly neutralizing antibodies, topical microbicides, and vaginal rings, and strategies to support their uptake and use, with a focus on racial/ethnic and gender disparities. She is one of the founding members and serves on the Steering Committee of “Getting to Zero San Francisco,” an initiative that aims to eliminate new HIV infections, HIV-associated deaths, and HIV stigma. She has served as Chair of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, and the Research 4 Prevention Conferences.

Kathleen Clanon MD, FACP is a clinician, educator, program director, and medical administrator specializing in improving health care for low-income people. Dr. Clanon is currently working on implementing health reform in the safety net, serving as the Medical Director of Alameda County’s Health Care Services Agency and focusing on the integration of primary care and mental health services, and on addressing social determinants of health in health care settings. Her previous position was as the interim Chief Medical Officer at Alameda Health System. Dr. Clanon is an expert in Quality Improvement. From 2010 to 1013 she led a Harm Reduction effort at Alameda Health System that resulted in significant improvements in patient safety across eleven domains. She teaches and consults on QM for the Federally-funded National Quality Center, including working with many small and large clinical sites, the States of California, Texas, and Michigan and, in past years, the Health Ministries in Thailand, Haiti, and Guyana. She is the primary doctor for 100 people with HIV, practicing at Highland Hospital in Oakland. She helped start and grow multidisciplinary HIV prevention and care programs in Alameda County, CA that have served thousands of people.

Megan Crowley joined the Alameda Health Consortium in May 2012. In her current role of HIV Project Manager, she coordinates quality improvement activities for the HIV ACCESS Ryan White Part C program and oversees the implementation of routine HIV, HCV, and HBV testing at five community health centers through the Get East Bay Tested! initiative. Megan also coordinates capacity building activities for hepatitis C treatment at Consortium clinics.

Prior to joining the Consortium, she was the Program Coordinator for the Partnership for Family Health, a consortium of clinics providing HIV Primary Care and supportive services to women, youth, and children in Northern Manhattan, New York City. Megan’s experience also includes working at Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, César E. Chávez Institute, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She received her MPH in 2008 from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, focusing on Sexuality and Health.

Charles Hawthorne, Capacity Building Manager. Charles Hawthorne (they/he) is a part of the National Harm Reduction Coalition’s California capacity building team as a Capacity Building Manager. Their role entails leading the NHRC’s harm reduction training work for the state of California and supporting harm reduction programs with technical assistance. In their prior role, Charles led the San Francisco Harm Reduction Training Institute, providing harm reduction education and support to programs that serve people who use drugs, people who do sex work, and unhoused populations.

Charles received their B.S. in Biochemistry from Purdue University and is currently pursuing their Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. They are a Bloomberg American Health Initiative fellow focusing on addiction and overdose.

Dr. Albert Liu is the Clinical Research Director of Bridge HIV within the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF. His research focuses on the safety and effectiveness of PrEP agents and how best to implement PrEP and RAPID ART in real-world settings. He also serves as co-chair of the PrEP Committee of the San Francisco Getting to Zero Consortium and a member of the UCSF IRB. Dr. Liu is currently an attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital.

Nicholas J. Moss, MD, MPH is Director of the HIV STD Section of the Alameda County Public Health Department where he oversees HIV and STD prevention and surveillance activities and county-administered Ryan White HIV Care programs, as well as serving as STD Control Officer. Prior to joining Alameda County in 2013, Dr. Moss was Director of Clinical Prevention in the HIV Prevention Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Dr. Moss is an investigator on a range of current and recent HIV and STD research studies, with a focus on public health program implementation. In addition to his public health duties, Dr. Moss provides primary HIV medical care at the East Bay AIDS Center in Oakland. Dr. Moss received his medical degree from UC Irvine. He trained in internal medicine, infectious disease medicine and public health at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Ms. Lisa Ryan was born and raised in Oakland California. She studied at Merritt College where she earned a degree in Community Social Services and Substance Use Counseling. Ms. Ryan is a Registered Addiction Specialist and Addiction Treatment Counselor in California. Her relationship with Cal-PEP first began in 1991 when she started working as a Community Health Outreach Worker. She was motivated to get involved because of the horrific impact the crack epidemic was having in Oakland’s African American community as well as in her personal life. As a Community Health Outreach Worker, Ms. Ryan conducted street outreach, mobile testing and led house parties in Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties. She has since held a number of positions within Cal-Pep, including HIV Service Coordinator, Contract Manager, Programs Director, and Deputy Director.

Today, she serves as Cal-PEP’s Executive Director where she manages all of Cal-Pep’s operations. Her leadership has been instrumental in the direction and success of Cal-Pep’s programs. Ms. Ryan reports that her greatest accomplishment has been the training and mentoring of the new generation of leaders who are now on the frontlines.

JaDawn Wright-Morgan is infectiously passionate and motivated by exceptional experiences working in HIV Prevention and Care programs, aligning herself with and amplifying the voices of people living with HIV. With 20 years of experience in technical assistance, training, program management, and quality improvement programs. She earned a Master’s degree in Intercultural Relations from the School for International Training and has worked in Washington, Florida, and California as well as internationally in South Africa.   Bringing the culmination of her experience and expertise to currently serve as the Deputy Director for the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center.

Importance of Promoting Health Equity and Reducing Health Disparities:

I am thankful each day that I have a career that aligns with my purpose; creating social justice and cultivating culturally responsive practices. Promoting health equity is a life and death situation for many in my community.  For far too long silence, shame, poverty, racism, and sexism have led to death. I am committed to addressing the intersectionality of these issues so that everyone can experience equality in health and so many other aspects of life.