Meet the TRIUMPH Team

County of San Diego

Patrick Loose

Mr. Loose (he/his) is Chief of the HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch at the County of San Diego Public Health Services. He has spent almost two decades leading high quality, compassionate, and culturally responsive medical, mental health, and support services for persons living with, at risk for, or affected by HIV/AIDS. (Photo credit: KPBS)

Samantha Tweeten, PhD, MPH

Dr. Tweeten is a senior epidemiologist with the Epidemiology and Immunization Services Branch at the County of San Diego Public Health Services.

UC San Diego

Susan Little, MD (TRIUMPH Lead)

Dr. Little (she/hers) is a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. She is an expert in translational research and the use of molecular epidemiologic methods to infer and characterize HIV transmission networks. She is the Clinical Research Site Leader of the UC San Diego AIDS Clinical Trials Group and Co-Director of the UC San Diego Antiviral Research Center.

Thomas Martin (TRIUMPH Co-Lead)

Dr. Martin (he/his) is a physician in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. Originally trained in medicine in the UK, he has worked with diverse communities around the world. His main focus of research is re-engaging people living with HIV who have fallen out of care.

Natasha Martin, PhD

Dr. Martin (she/hers) is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UC San Diego and holds an honorary senior lecturer position in the School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol.

Sanjay Mehta, MD

Dr. Mehta (he/his) is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UC San Diego. Additionally, he is the Chief of the Infectious Disease Section at the San Diego VA and the Director of the San Diego VA Clinical Microbiology Laboratory.

Niema Moshiri, PhD

Dr. Moshiri (he/his) is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Computer Science & Engineering Department at UC San Diego. His area of expertise is computational biology, with a research focus on viral phylogenetics and epidemiology. He also places a heavy emphasis on teaching, namely on the development of online educational content.

David Smith, MD, MAS

Dr. Smith (he/his) is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at UCSD. He is Co-Director of the San Diego Center for AIDS Research. Dr. Smith has a special interest in caring for transgender and LGBT individuals and his research interests include the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and HIV infections.

Kiyomi Tsuyuki, PhD, MPH

Dr. Tsuyuki (she/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health.

Nadir Weibel, PhD

Dr. Weibel (he/his) is an Associate Research Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego, and a Research Health Science Specialist at the VA San Diego Health System.

Joel Wertheim, PhD

Dr. Wertheim (he/his) is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health.

Other Team Members:

  • Christy Anderson, Statistician
  • Alan Wells, Biostatistician
  • DeeDee Pacheco, Laboratory Manager
  • Katie Bamburg, Program Manager
  • Helene Le, Regulatory Analyst
  • Joseph Lencioni, Regulatory Analyst
  • Tara Tenenbaum, Database Administrator
  • Hollie David, Graduate Research Assistant
  • Rachel Kunowski, Student Assistant

*The UCSD Antiviral Research Center (AVRC) serves as the UC San Diego research site.