Dr. Lai, Professor of Pathology, Radiology Epidemiology and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, began his research in HIV/AIDS and STDs in the late 1980s. His research interests include epidemiology, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, STIs, prevention and intervention, cardiac imaging, preventive cardiology, medical consequences of HIV infection, and international health.
Dr. Lai has been heavily involved in epidemiology and prevention of HIV infection among IDUs, sex workers and MSM in high-risk countries for more than 10 years. Dr. Lai is recognized as a leading epidemiology researcher in the infectious disease epidemiology, and world renowned for his research on the effects of HIV infection and cocaine use on sub-clinical cardiovascular disease. He is the principal investigator of several NIH-supported studies, focusing on HIV natural history and cardiovascular complications of HIV and drug abuse. Dr. Lai received his degrees from Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He has more than 160 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters.