Dr. Shoptaw’s work emphasizes the role of addiction medicine and behavioral medicine in addressing concepts related to HIV prevention, treatment and care. As the Director of the UCLA Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, he oversees a portfolio of work that focuses on HIV prevention and on research and treatment of addiction.
Dr. Shoptaw is currently the site investigator for the HIV Prevention Trials Network Protocol 061: Feasibility Study of a Community-Level, Multi-Component, Intervention for Black MSM, and he co-chairs the network’s substance abuse committee. Further, as head of the Intervention Core for the UCLA Center for HIV Identification Prevention and Treatment Services, Dr. Shoptaw works with a team of colleagues to develop funded research on application of the next generation of technological advances (e.g., using mobile phones, Internet) and biomedical approaches (treatment as prevention, microbicides, stem cells) to preventing HIV transmission. Dr. Shoptaw eagerly seeks out opportunities to mentor new investigators interested in academic careers along the topics of HIV and substance abuse; he has mentored 25 pre- and post-doctoral students.