Don Des Jarlais
Don Des Jarlais
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Professor of Epidemiology
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Professional overview
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Dr. Don Des Jarlais is a leader in the fields of AIDS and injecting drug use, and has published extensively on these topics including articles in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Science, and Nature.
He is active in international research, having collaborated on studies in many different countries. He serves as a consultant to various institutions, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the National Academy of Sciences, and the World Health Organization.
Dr. Des Jarlais’ research has received numerous awards, including a New York State Department of Health Commissioner’s award for promoting the health of persons who use drugs. He formerly served as avcommissioner for the National Commission on AIDS; as a core group member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Injecting Drug Use; and as a member of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Des Jarlais is also an adjunct faculty of psychiatry and preventive medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and guest investigator at Rockefeller University in New York.
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Education
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BA, Behavioral Science, Rice University, Houston, TXPhD, Social Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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Areas of research and study
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EpidemiologyHIV/AIDSPsychology
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Publications
Publications
Alarming Tuberculosis Rate among People Who Inject Drugs in Vietnam
Anti-Vaccine Attitudes among Adults in the U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic after Vaccine Rollout
Assessment of a psychiatric intervention at community level for people who inject drugs in a low-middle income country: the DRIVE-Mind cohort study in Hai Phong, Viet Nam
Automated Substance Use/Sexual Risk Reporting and HIV Test Acceptance Among Emergency Department Patients Aged 13–24 Years
Availability of and Obstacles to Providing COVID-19 Vaccinations at Syringe Services Programs in the United States, 2021
Barriers to engaging people who use drugs in harm reduction services during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study of syringe services program perspectives
Development and assessment of a community-based screening tool for mental health disorders among people who inject drugs
Drug Misuse as an Epidemic
Durable Viral Suppression Among People with HIV and Problem Substance Use in the Era of Universal Antiretroviral Treatment
Expectations of racial prejudice in AIDS research and prevention programs in the United States
Harm reduction and health services provided by syringe services programs in 2019 and subsequent impact of COVID-19 on services in 2020
How has the COVID-19 epidemic affected the risk behaviors of people who inject drugs in a city with high harm reduction service coverage in Vietnam? A qualitative investigation
Long-Term Persistence of Mitochondrial DNA Instability among HCV-Cured People Who Inject Drugs
Mental Disorders Are Associated With Leukocytes Telomere Shortening Among People Who Inject Drugs
Modeling HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs (PWID) at the “End of the HIV Epidemic” and during the COVID-19 pandemic
AbstractJarlais, D. D., Bobashev, G., Feelemyer, J., & McKnight, C. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Drug and alcohol dependenceVolume
238AbstractBackground: We explore injecting risk and HIV incidence among PWID in New York City (NYC), from 2012 to 2019, when incidence was extremely low, <0.1/100 person-years at risk, and during disruption of prevention services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We developed an Agent-Based model (ABM) to simulate sharing injecting equipment and measure HIV incidence in NYC. The model was adapted from a previous ABM model developed to compare HIV transmission with “high” versus “low” dead space syringes. Data for applying the model to NYC during the period of very low HIV incidence was taken from the “Risk Factors” study, a long-running study of participants entering substance use treatment in NYC. Injecting risk behavior had not been eliminated in this population, with approximately 15 % reported recent syringe sharing. Data for possible transmission during COVID-19 disruption was taken from previous HIV outbreaks and early studies of the pandemic in NYC. Results: The modeled incidence rates fell within the 95 % confidence bounds of all of the empirically observed incidence rates, without any additional calibration of the model. Potential COVID-19 disruptions increased the probability of an outbreak from 0.03 to 0.25. Conclusions: The primary factors in the very low HIV incidence were the extremely small numbers of PWID likely to transmit HIV and that most sharing occurs within small, relatively stable, mostly seroconcordant groups. Containing an HIV outbreak among PWID during a continuing pandemic would be quite difficult. Pre-pandemic levels of HIV prevention services should be restored as quickly as feasible.Program Adaptations to Provide Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Syringe Services Programs in the U.S.
Recurrent Injecting Drug Use as a Mediator between Psychiatric Disorder and Non-Fatal Overdose
Responding to a surge in overdose deaths: perspectives from US syringe services programs
Thick trust, thin trust, social capital, and health outcomes among trans women of color in New York City
AbstractHwahng, S. J., Allen, B., Zadoretzky, C., Barber Doucet, H., McKnight, C., & Des Jarlais, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
International Journal of Transgender HealthVolume
23Issue
1Page(s)
214-231AbstractIntroduction: Many trans women of color communities experience high HIV seroprevalence, extreme poverty, high rates of victimization and substance use, and poor mental health. Greater knowledge of trans women of color social capital may contribute toward more effective services for this marginalized population. Methods: These data come from a mixed-methods study that examined trans/gender-variant people of color who attended transgender support groups at harm reduction programs in NYC. The study was conducted from 2011 to 12, total N = 34. The qualitative portion was derived from six focus group interviews. Results: Two support groups stood out as exhibiting very strong alternative kinship structures. One group was comprised of immigrant trans Latinas, and the other group were trans women of African descent living with HIV. Both groups demonstrated ample cultivation of “trust capital” in the form of “thick trust” (bonding capital) and “thin trust” (bridging/linking capital) both inside and outside/beyond the support groups. Thick trust included the cultivation of intimacy, support in primary romantic relationships, and community leadership. Thin trust included networking with a variety of organizations, increased educational opportunities, and cultural production. Discussion: Participants “opened up to social capital” through the process of trusting as a series of (1) risks; (2) vulnerabilities; and (3) reciprocities. A solid foundation of thick trust resulted in a social, psychological, and emotional “base.” Upon this foundation, thin trust was operationalized resulting in positive material, economic, and quality-of-life outcomes, leading to an expanded space of capabilities.“Maintaining HIV and HCV prevention and care for people who inject drugs despite COVID‐19 in Hai Phong, Vietnam”
A cohort study revealed high mortality among people who inject drugs in Hai Phong, Vietnam
A Multistage Process Model of How a Person Who Currently Injects Drugs Comes to Assist Persons Who Do not Inject with Their First Injections
An application of agent-based modeling to explore the impact of decreasing incarceration rates and increasing drug treatment access on sero-discordant partnerships among people who inject drugs
Behavioral correlates of COVID-19 worry: Stigma, knowledge, and news source
Facilitating engagement of persons with opioid use disorder in treatment for hepatitis C virus infection via telemedicine: Stories of onsite case managers