I am an Associate Professor in Residence and a health psychologist in the Division of Prevention Science in the Department of Medicine. My research is interlocked with my commitment to high-quality mentoring and working on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. This includes co-directing three NIH-supported mentoring programs for post-doctoral fellows and early-career faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students: (1) The UCSF Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Mentoring Program, (2) the CFAR Scholars DEI Pathway Initiative, and (3) the Summer HIV/AIDS Research Program, as well as being Co-Director of the Developmental Core at the NIMH-funded Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS).
My two research programs blend principles and methods from health, clinical and quantitative psychology and that are based on a collaborative team science approach. My primary line of research aims to understand and intervene on factors to address health disparities among Latinx communities impacted by HIV. I am particularly interested in applied psychometrics as I believe health disparities research should based on principles of sound measurement, especially of psychological constructs and social factors measured in Spanish or for comparing outcomes across diverse populations. I focuses broadly on using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to design more dynamic and efficient interventions. My second line of research aims to conduct social and behavioral science research to help address some unresolved challenges in HIV cure research, such as promoting consent understanding, measuring psychological experiences of participants going through risky HIV cure trials, and understanding the perspectives, priorities and concerns of people living with HIV who may be interested in participating in HIV cure research.
I have a deep commitment to mentoring across the pipeline. I am particularly interested in mentoring individuals who are interested in Latino/a/x and HIV health disparities research and those interested in the social science of HIV cure research.
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Contact
Email: john.sauceda@ucsf.edu