ID & HIV Core Clinical Faculty
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Corado joined the Division of HIV Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in 2012. She is a graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, completed her internal medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and her infectious diseases fellowship at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Dr. Corado spends half her time working within the Ambulatory Care Network, providing primary medical care to HIV patients at the Tom Kay Clinic as well as working to unify the seven HIV clinics across Department of Health Services (DHS). Her work at Harbor-UCLA includes teaching and research. Her research includes clinical trials focusing on adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in HIV, ongoing QI project within DHS about PREP, and since the COVID pandemic, has been involved in ACTIV-2, studying new medications for the outpatient treatment of COVID-19. She has partnered with NIH to provide education to the Spanish-speaking community about vaccines and has participated in numerous outreach events.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Eric S. Daar is Chief of the Division of HIV Medicine and member of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Investigator at the Lundquist Institute. He has devoted his career to treating patients with HIV infection and studying the pathogenesis of acute and chronic infection, as well as further defining the optimal management of HIV infection and its complications. Following his undergraduate education at UCLA, he attended Georgetown University Medical School and did both his Internal Medicine residency and Infectious Diseases fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. After being Chief of Infectious Diseases at Cedars-Sinai he relocated his clinical and research activities to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in 2001. His most recent research focuses upon HIV immuno- and neuro-pathogenesis, along with optimizing therapy for HIV. Additional research is in the area of HIV testing, linkage and retention into care and prevention. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic he has been actively involved in clinical research related to the management of disease, including being Vice Chair of the ACTIV-2 protocol, a public-private venture to develop novel treatments for non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. He is lead investigator for the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Clinical Research Site of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, as well as being steadily funded by numerous NIH and Industry grants. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts and serves on the Editorial Board and/or as a reviewer for many high profile scientific journals. In addition, he currently serves as a Panel member on the Department of Health and Human Services Adult and Adolescent HIV Treatment Guidelines and on the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines.
Infectious Diseases
Pending update!
Publications
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Hatlen joined the Division of HIV Medicine in 2019. He is the Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship since 2022. He graduated medical school from the University of Washington and completed Internal Medicine residency in Spokane, Washington. His training in Infectious Diseases and HIV was completed at Harbor-UCLA.
Research passions include HIV related health outcomes and novel treatment strategies for naïve or highly resistant populations. Additionally, he has been involved in numerous SARS-CoV2 clinical research studies spanning prevention from vaccines and monoclonal antibodies to treatment and long term outcomes. He is a primary investigator for multiple inpatient COVID-19 therapeutic trials. One of his true passions is in medical education for resident and fellows in Infectious Diseases and HIV.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Pam Lee joined the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA in 2022. Originally from Los Angeles, she received her MD at the University of Cincinnati in 2015 then joined the Los Angeles Department of Health Services immediately out of medical school, when she entered internal medicine residency at LA County – USC. She completed infectious disease fellowship at Harbor-UCLA, and following this, she joined DHS’s Ambulatory Care Network as an infectious disease specialist. There, she functioned as their lead physician for infection control and helped develop and lead outpatient COVID-19 treatment programs across LA county. She also completed a medical education fellowship at UCLA from 2020 – 2021. Her interests include antibiotic and diagnostic stewardship, particularly in the outpatient setting, infection prevention and control, and healthcare decarbonization. She aspires to be a clinician-educator, advocate for underserved populations, and to provide high-quality medical care for the Los Angeles community she calls home.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Raul Macias Gil joined the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA in 2021. He received his medical degree from the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA, and his Infectious Disease Fellowship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
His clinical interests include general infectious diseases, HIV medicine, infection control, antimicrobial stewardship, medical education, and LGBTQ+ health. His current research focuses on healthcare disparities and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations, particularly in the Hispanic/Latinx community.
Dr. Macias Gil is a founding member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)’s Inclusion, Diversity, Access & Equity Committee (IDA&E).
Twitter handle: @RMGmdID
[Link to Dr. Macias Gil’s publications]
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Miller earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, and went on to attain his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After completing residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, he completed fellowships in Infectious Diseases at the UCLA Multicampus Program In Infectious Disease and Microbial Pathogensis, and at the UCLA/VA Multicampus Fellowship in Health Services Research. He also received a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UCLA. He has extensive experience in Infection Control and served as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from 2007 to 2015. He now is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and is also the Director of the Harbor-UCLA Infectious Diseases Clinical Outcomes Research Unit (ID-CORE), a burgeoning research group specializing in data collection, management and analysis of important infectious diseases. Dr. Miller leads epidemiologic, health services, and clinical research investigations focusing on community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections and skin infections, urinary tract infections, and hepatitis, among other topics. He has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on many investigations and clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and other governmental research agencies. Dr. Miller has been recognized through many awards, including the NIH (NIAID) Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23), the Harbor-UCLA Collegium Award for Research Instrument, the Richard Weitzman Memorial Research Award for Outstanding Young Investigator, and in 2011, the “Man of the Year” Award from the MRSA Survivor’s Network. Dr. Miller has authored over 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and chapters on a broad range of topics in infectious diseases and internal medicine.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Mallory D. Witt attended medical school at the Stanford University School of Medicine, completed internship and residency at UCSF, and was an Infectious Diseases fellow at Harbor-UCLA. She is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Associate Chief, in the Division of HIV Medicine, and serves as Director of the HIV Clinic (Positive Care Clinic) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Bioethics Committee at Harbor-UCLA. In her role as the HIV Clinic Director, Dr. Witt oversees the care of approximately 850 HIV+ patients, with over 400 clinic visits per month, thanks to the help of a strong team of ID fellows, Nurse Practitioners, social workers, medical case workers, a dietician, and a group of highly skilled faculty. Dr. Witt has served as the site Principal Investigator for a wide variety of federal and state funded studies of HIV and its complications. She is a Principle Investigator for the combined Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study/Women’s Interagency Cohort Study, a longstanding study of the natural history of HIV infection and its complications, viral hepatitis and other co-infections, and complications of HIV therapies, and also serves as a co-investigator in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). Her research interests include evaluation of cardiovascular complications of HIV and its therapies, as well as hepatic, neurologic, and renal complications of HIV disease.
Distinguished Clinical & Research Faculty
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Edwards is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Emeritus Chief, Division of Infectious Disease at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has devoted his career to studying the pathogenesis and therapy of fungal infectious diseases, principally caused by Candida albicans. Following his education at Pomona College, the UC Irvine College of Medicine, and ensuing post-doctoral training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, he has been committed to research on both cellular and molecular mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis for over 40 years. Recently, Dr. Edwards and his group have focused their research efforts on determining specific proteins that mediate Candida interactions with human cells. The goals of these efforts are to understand interactions of C. albicans, endothelial cells, and immune responses. These interactions determine how Candida exploits the vascular compartment to invade deeper organ tissues. He and colleagues have characterized ALS-type adhesions of C. albicans using a combination of genetics and in vivo models. These advances revealed specific proteins that could be used as vaccine candidates. Dr. Edwards and his team are currently optimizing the safety and efficacy of such targets as new vaccines. With his work he hopes to dramatically advance the development of new anti-fungal agents and immunotherapies to prevent and treat life-threatening infections.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Filler is Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He completed his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he graduated Magna cum Laude. He then received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine, and performed an internship and residency in internal medicine before completing a fellowship in infectious diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His research focuses on the mechanisms by which pathogens including Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus invade and damage human cells, causing life-threatening infections. Dr. Filler and his team discovered the first two fungal invasins. He is co-founder and scientific advisory board member of NovaDigm Therapeutics, Inc., which is developing vaccines that address the increasing challenge of drug-resistant fungal and bacterial infections. A widely sought lecturer at professional conferences around the world, Dr. Filler has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and reviews. He is inventor on 3 U.S. patents of pharmaceutical compositions to vaccinate against disseminated candidiasis. Dr. Filler is the Program Director for the Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Harbor-UCLA.
Microbiology
Microbiology
Dr. Holly Huse completed her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied chronic pulmonary infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis. Following her Ph.D., she completed an academic post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington studying genetic mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in Acinetobacter baumannii. During her time at the University of Washington, she gained a passion for clinical microbiology and went on to complete a CPEP Medical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory fellowship at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Huse is certified by the American Board of Medical Microbiologists (ABMM), and she is currently the Director of Microbiology at Harbor-UCLA in Torrance, CA. Her research interests include evaluating the performance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods for pulmonary pathogens associated with cystic fibrosis, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the Burkholderia cepacia complex.
Pharmacy: Antibiotic Stewardship
Antibiotic Stewardship Team
Antibiotic Stewardship Team
Pending update
Infectious Diseases Core Research Faculty
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Chan is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Division of Molecular Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She earned her Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases & Immunity from the University of California, Berkeley and trained under Dr. Henry F. “Chip” Chambers at the University of California, San Francisco. There, she studied novel mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with funding from the Soroptimist Foundation and UC Berkeley. In 2014, she joined the lab of Dr. Michael Yeaman at Harbor-UCLA and focused on understanding protective immune determinants against recurrent MRSA infections. To fund this research, she was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant from the American Heart Association. In 2019, she joined the faculty at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Simultaneously, she also joined the Lundquist Institute at Harbor UCLA Medical Center as an investigator. In this new position, her research is focused on epigenetic mechanisms of innate immune memory against MRSA. She has published 19 peer-reviewed research papers, including 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). To fund this research, Dr. Chan received a Career Develop Award from the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Click here for a link to Dr. Chan’s publications
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Ibrahim is a Professor at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a Senior Investigator, Director of the Graduate Studies Program and Vice-Chair of BOD of The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovations at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Lundquist Institute). He received his Ph.D degree in Microbial Physiology from Loughborough University of Technology, UK.
Dr. Ibrahim completed his Postdoctoral training in Infectious Diseases at The Lundquist Institute. His research focuses on molecular pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, and models of infections. His laboratory is internationally recognized as a leading group in mucormycosis research in which they established genetic manipulation of Rhizopus (the most common cause of infection), developed clinically relevant animal models of infection and pioneered the discovery of novel therapies in treating the disease. Currently, his laboratory is leading the effort in developing antibody-based therapy and rapid diagnostics for this lethal fungal infection through STTR/SBIR funding mechanisms to Vitalex Biosciences, a company that he founded.
Dr. Ibrahim is also a leading figure in developing a vaccine that targets healthcare-related infections caused by multidrug-resistant such as Candida (including the emerging multidrug resistant C. auris) Acinetobacter and Klebsiella pneumonia. For his efforts in this field and in collaboration with NovaDigm Therapeutics (a spinoff company that he cofounded for vaccine development), Dr. Ibrahim was recently awarded a $ 5.5 million R01grant to manufacture a dual antigen vaccine.
The Ibrahim’s laboratory is instrumental in the preclinical development programs of several antibiotics/small molecules advanced by industry (e.g. Merck, Astellas Pharma, Gilead, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Cidara and A6 Pharmaceuticals, etc.). These efforts range from development of antifungal agents, to targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-negative sepsis.
Dr. Ibrahim currently holds several NIH and industry-sponsored projects and has received over $27 M in funding for his research. He coauthored >170 peer-reviewed research papers, review articles and book chapters. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology and a receiver of several prestigious award for excellence in research. For the last 10 years, Dr. Ibrahim served on numerous NIH study sections as an Ad Hoc reviewer, and currently is a member of the Drug Discovery and Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance (DDR) study section.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. James A. McKinnell is an infectious disease specialist with specific research interests related to clinical management and prevention of healthcare-associated infections, particularly infections related to vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Carbapenem-resistant infections, particularly CRE. He has published over 75 papers, many focusing on optimal uses of antibiotics and how we can better understand antimicrobial resistance in our communities.
Dr. McKinnell has conducted federally funded research worked with skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles and Orange County on practical strategies of infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. Dr. McKinnell continues to run pharmaceutical and federally funded clinical trials on Covid 19 and other infectious disease related conditions.
Dr. McKinnell achieved his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his Infectious Disease Fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Dr. McKinnell is currently the President of the Infectious Disease Association of California (IDAC).
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Mishra is Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Allahabad in India. In addition, he completed his post-doctoral training in infectious diseases at The Lundquist Institute at Harbor UCLA Medical Center. His lab studies the adaptations associated with membrane lipids of Candida, Staphylococci, Enterococci and Streptococci that confer resistance to certain antibiotics in vitro and in vivo. He also discovered the significance of Staphylococcal carotenoid augmented membrane fluidity/rigidity and its implications in resistance to host defense peptides and in vivo virulence in an endocarditis model. Further understanding microbial adaptation to the host in the setting of anti-infective agents aims to open new doors to anti-infective strategies addressing the current challenge of conventional antibiotic resistance. Dr. Mishra has been reviewer of many prestigious scientific journals, academic editor of reputed journals and research grants of international grant agencies. He has an excellent funding records of getting pharmaceutical grants and Co-Investigators on NIH R01 grants. Dr. Mishra was honored by the American Society of Microbiology with a 2015 ICAAC (Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy) Young Investigator Award.The award recognizes early career scientists for research excellence and potential in microbiology and infectious disease. He has contributed more than 50 research articles, reviews and chapters in peer-reviewed journals.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Swidergall is Assistant Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Investigator at The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He earned undergraduate degrees in Biology and Microbiology, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Mycology in 2015 from the Heinrich-Heine-University in Dusseldorf, Germany. Dr. Swidergall completed a fellowship in Medical Mycology at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His research advances the understanding of immune responses during invasive and mucosal fungal infections. Dr. Swidergall’s goal is to develop a detailed mechanistic understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of innate and adaptive immunity against fungal pathogens with an aim to devise novel strategies to supplement the current antifungal drug treatment. He has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed research papers, book chapters and review articles and serves as reviewer for peer-reviewed journals. He received a Young Investigator award from the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology in 2014, and was awarded a prestigious Career Development Grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Infectious Diseases
Education
- BS, Mumbai University, Mumbai, India
- PhD, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas
Recent and/or Significant Publications
- Uppuluri P, Lin L, Alqarihi A, Luo G, Youssef EG, Alkhazraji S, Yount NY, Ibrahim BA, Bolaris MA, Edwards JE Jr, Swidergall M, Filler SG, Yeaman MR, Ibrahim AS. The Hyr1 protein from the fungus Candida albicans is a cross kingdom immunotherapeutic target for Acinetobacter bacterial infection. PLoS Pathog. 2018 May 10;14(5):e1007056.
PubMed Central - Uppuluri P, Singh S, Alqarihi A, et al. Human Anti-Als3p Antibodies Are Surrogate Markers of NDV-3A Vaccine Efficacy Against Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis. Front Immunol. 2018;9:1349. Published 2018 Jun 15. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.01349
PubMed Central - Liu NN, Uppuluri P, Broggi A, et al. Intersection of phosphate transport, oxidative stress and TOR signalling in Candida albicans virulence. PLoS Pathog. 2018;14(7):e1007076. Published 2018 Jul 30. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1007076
PubMed Central - Uppuluri P, Acosta Zaldívar M, Anderson MZ, et al. Candida albicans Dispersed Cells Are Developmentally Distinct from Biofilm and Planktonic Cells. mBio. 2018;9(4):e01338-18. Published 2018 Aug 21. doi:10.1128/mBio.01338-18
PubMed Central - Uppuluri P, Busscher HJ, Chakladar J, van der Mei HC, Chaffin WL. Transcriptional Profiling of C. albicans in a Two Species Biofilm with Rothia dentocariosa. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017;7:311. Published 2017 Jul 13. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2017.00311
PubMed Central
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Xiong is Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Investigator at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. After her medical degree from Tongji Medical University, China, she earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Nantes, France, and then she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in infectious diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Her research programs focus on the role of virulence factors, including global regulons, structural genes, and bacteriophages, that contribute to the ability of pathogens to cause life-threatening infections and resistance to antibiotics, especially in Staphylococcus aureus. Her area of intensive interest includes how the organisms interact with host factors in cardiovascular infections. Her long-term goal is to discover novel antimicrobial strategies for the prevention and therapy of serious infections caused by virulent microbes, including multi-drug resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus. She has published over100 research articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals and serves on editorial boards of leading journals. Dr. Xiong has maintained continuous NIH and American Heart Association funding for the last two decades.
Infectious Diseases
Dr. Yeaman is Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, Chief of the Division Molecular Medicine, and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. His pioneering discoveries in the fields of infection and immunology have translated directly to the design and develop innovative anti-infective agents and strategies addressing the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections. Among these, Dr. Yeaman discovered the gamma-core of host defense peptides that confer innate immunity. He discovered structural homologies in the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the fungus Candida albicans that enabled the first cross-kingdom vaccine targeting both organisms. Phase I and Phase II clinical trials of this vaccine have now been successfully completed. He and colleagues founded NovaDigm Therapeutics, Inc. to develop this and other innovative vaccines addressing healthcare-associated infections. Dr. Yeaman has published over 200 scholarly works, which appear in high impact journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, and serves on editorial boards of leading journals. Dr. Yeaman has maintained continuous NIH funding for over two decades, and is an NIH-appointed expert in infectious diseases and immunology. He holds 16 issued U.S. patents in anti-infectives and immunotherapeutics, and has received numerous research and teaching awards, including the Weitzman Memorial Research Award (Harbor-UCLA Medical Center), the Alexander Research Award (American Heart Association), and the National Research Service Award (NIH). On a related note, Dr. Yeaman is a member of the American Society of Composers and Performers, and his original musical works have been acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times. His music is available on iTunes®, the Pandora® Music Genome, Amazon® and other leading digital storefronts. He is a pioneer in the use of music and art in medicine, focusing on therapeutic neuroplasticity.