William Brown, PhD, DrPH, MA

Founder and Director of CODE Lab
Department of Medicine
+1 415 502-1000 ext. 17135

My expertise is in both biomedical informatics and HIV clinical and behavioral research. I implement innovative biomedical informatics methods, create research tools, and follow the principals of community-based participatory research. My research aims to address health disparities among underserved communities (e.g., African American, LGBT, youth) and to create a Learning Health System that is responsive to vulnerable populations, particularly those at risk for acquiring HIV/AIDS.

Publications: 

Achieving Chronic Care Equity by Leveraging the Telehealth Ecosystem (ACCTIVATE): A Multilevel Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.

Medical research archives

Omomukuyo A, Ramirez A, Davis A, Velasquez A, Najmabadi AL, Kong M, Willard-Grace R, Brown W, Broderick A, Suomala K, McCulloch CE, Franco N, Sarkar U, Lyles W C, Tran AS, Sharma AE, Tuot DS

Impact of an automated peri-procedural digital health intervention on rates of emergency department visits and readmissions.

American journal of surgery

Liu AW, Pierce L, Ganeshan S, Brown W, Judson T, Divakaran D, Bini S, Odisho AY, Mourad M

Impact of patient portal-based self-scheduling of diagnostic imaging studies on health disparities.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA

Ganeshan S, Pierce L, Mourad M, Judson TJ, Kohli MD, Odisho AY, Brown W

Patient Experience and Feedback After Using an Electronic Health Record-Integrated COVID-19 Symptom Checker: Survey Study.

JMIR human factors

Liu AW, Odisho AY, Brown Iii W, Gonzales R, Neinstein AB, Judson TJ

Applying a socioecological framework to chronic disease management: implications for social informatics interventions in safety-net healthcare settings

Applying a socioecological framework to chronic disease management: implications for social informatics interventions in safety-net healthcare settings

Kim Hanh Nguyen, Anupama G Cemballi, Jessica D Fields, William Brown, 3rd, Matthew S Pantell, Courtney Rees Lyles

Lessons learned from academic medical centers' response to the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with the Navajo Nation.

PloS one

Bongiovanni T, Shamasunder S, Brown W, Rivera Carpenter C, Pantell M, Ghali B, Harrison JD

Natural Language Processing in Healthcare: A Special Focus on Low Resource Languages

Employing Computational Linguistics to Improve Patient-Provider Secure Email exchange: The ECLIPPSE Study.

Balyan, Renu., McNamara, Danielle. S., Crossley, Scott. A., Brown, William., Karter, Andrew. J., & Schillinger, Dean.

The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Improving Chronic Care for Safety-Net Populations.

Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM

Nguyen KH, Fields JD, Cemballi AG, Desai R, Gopalan A, Cruz T, Shah A, Akom A, Brown W, Sarkar U, Lyles CR

Descriptive examination of secure messaging in a longitudinal cohort of diabetes patients in the ECLIPPSE study.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA

Cemballi AG, Karter AJ, Schillinger D, Liu JY, McNamara DS, Brown W, Crossley S, Semere W, Reed M, Allen J, Lyles CR

Challenges and Solutions to Employing Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to Measure Patients' Health Literacy and Physician Writing Complexity: The ECLIPPSE Study.

Journal of biomedical informatics

Brown W, Balyan R, Karter AJ, Crossley S, Semere W, Duran ND, Lyles C, Liu J, Moffet HH, Daniels R, McNamara DS, Schillinger D

Broaching the Topic of HIV Self-testing with Potential Sexual Partners Among Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex with Men in New York and Puerto Rico.

AIDS and behavior

Lentz C, Iribarren S, Giguere R, Conserve DF, Dolezal C, Lopez-Rios J, Balán IC, Sheinfil AZ, Rael CT, Brown W, Torres CC, Crespo R, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Using an HIV Self-test Kit to Test a Partner: Attitudes and Preferences Among High-Risk Populations.

AIDS and behavior

Iribarren S, Lentz C, Sheinfil AZ, Giguere R, Lopez-Rios J, Dolezal C, Frasca T, Balán IC, Tagliaferri Rael C, Brown W, Cruz Torres C, Crespo R, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Information and Motivation Predict HIV-Serostatus Among a Population of High-Risk Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex with Men.

AIDS and behavior

Sheinfil AZ, Giguere R, Dolezal C, Lopez-Rios J, Iribarren S, Brown W, Rael C, Lentz C, Balán I, Frasca T, Torres CC, Crespo R, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Then We Looked at His Results: Men Who Have Sex With Men from New York City and Puerto Rico Report Their Sexual Partner's Reactions to Receiving Reactive HIV Self-Test Results.

AIDS and behavior

Balán IC, Lopez-Rios J, Giguere R, Lentz C, Dolezal C, Cruz Torres C, Brown W, Crespo R, Sheinfil A, Tagliaferri Rael C, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Transgender Women's Experiences Using a Home HIV-Testing Kit for Partner-Testing.

AIDS and behavior

Rael CT, Giguere R, Lopez-Rios J, Lentz C, Balán IC, Sheinfil A, Dolezal C, Brown W, Frasca T, Torres CC, Crespo R, Iribarren S, Leu CS, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Few Aggressive or Violent Incidents are Associated with the Use of HIV Self-tests to Screen Sexual Partners Among Key Populations.

AIDS and behavior

Carballo-Diéguez A, Giguere R, Balán IC, Dolezal C, Brown W, Lopez-Rios J, Sheinfil A, Frasca T, Rael C, Lentz C, Crespo R, Cruz Torres C, Leu CS, Febo I

Use of Rapid HIV Self-Test to Screen Potential Sexual Partners: Results of the ISUM Study.

AIDS and behavior

Carballo-Diéguez A, Giguere R, Balán IC, Brown W, Dolezal C, Leu CS, Lopez Rios J, Sheinfil AZ, Frasca T, Rael CT, Lentz C, Crespo R, Iribarren S, Cruz Torres C, Febo I

Text Messaging and Disaster Preparedness Aids Engagement, Re-Engagement, Retention, and Communication Among Puerto Rican Participants in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Self-Testing Study After Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Disaster medicine and public health preparedness

Brown W, Lopez Rios J, Sheinfil A, Frasca T, Cruz Torres C, Crespo R, Dolezal C, Giguere R, Lentz C, Balán IC, Rael CT, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Use of HIV Self-Testing Kits to Screen Clients Among Transgender Female Sex Workers in New York and Puerto Rico.

AIDS and behavior

Giguere R, Lopez-Rios J, Frasca T, Lentz C, Balán IC, Dolezal C, Rael CT, Brown W, Sheinfil AZ, Cruz Torres C, Crespo R, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Secure Messaging with Physicians by Proxies for Patients with Diabetes: Findings from the ECLIPPSE Study.

Journal of general internal medicine

Semere W, Crossley S, Karter AJ, Lyles CR, Brown W, Reed M, McNamara DS, Liu JY, Schillinger D

Methods, system errors, and demographic differences in participant errors using daily text message-based short message service computer-assisted self-interview (SMS-CASI) to measure sexual risk behavior in a RCT of HIV self-test use.

mHealth

Brown W, Sheinfil A, Lopez-Rios J, Giguere R, Dolezal C, Frasca T, Lentz C, Balán IC, Rael C, Cruz Torres C, Crespo R, Febo I, Carballo-Diéguez A

Using natural language processing and machine learning to classify health literacy from secure messages: The ECLIPPSE study.

PloS one

Balyan R, Crossley SA, Brown W, Karter AJ, McNamara DS, Liu JY, Lyles CR, Schillinger D

Trajectory of use over time of an oral tablet and a rectal gel for HIV prevention among transgender women and men who have sex with men.

AIDS care

Leu CS, Giguere R, Bauermeister JA, Dolezal C, Brown W, Balán IC, Richardson BA, Piper JM, Lama JR, Cranston RD, Carballo-Diéguez A

Are participants concerned about privacy and security when using short message service to report product adherence in a rectal microbicide trial?

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA

Giguere R, Brown Iii W, Balán IC, Dolezal C, Ho T, Sheinfil A, Ibitoye M, Lama JR, McGowan I, Cranston RD, Carballo-Diéguez A

Challenges and solutions implementing an SMS text message-based survey CASI and adherence reminders in an international biomedical HIV PrEP study (MTN 017).

Journal of biomedical informatics

Brown W, Giguere R, Sheinfil A, Ibitoye M, Balan I, Ho T, Brown B, Quispe L, Sukwicha W, Lama JR, Carballo-Diéguez A, Cranston RD

Brief Participant-Centered Convergence Interviews Integrate Self-Reports, Product Returns, and Pharmacokinetic Results to Improve Adherence Measurement in MTN-017.

AIDS and behavior

Balán IC, Giguere R, Brown W, Carballo-Diéguez A, Horn S, Hendrix CW, Marzinke MA, Ayudhya RPKN, Patterson K, Piper JM, McGowan I, Lama JR, Cranston RD

Factors Supporting and Hindering Adherence to Rectal Microbicide Gel Use with Receptive Anal Intercourse in a Phase 2 Trial.

AIDS and behavior

Giguere R, Rael CT, Sheinfil A, Balán IC, Brown W, Ho T, Dolezal C, Leu CS, Liu A, Mayer KH, Lama JR, McGowan I, Carballo-Diéguez A, Cranston RD

Mixed-Method Evaluation of Social Media-Based Tools and Traditional Strategies to Recruit High-Risk and Hard-to-Reach Populations into an HIV Prevention Intervention Study.

AIDS and behavior

Iribarren SJ, Ghazzawi A, Sheinfil AZ, Frasca T, Brown W, Lopez-Rios J, Rael CT, Balán IC, Crespo R, Dolezal C, Giguere R, Carballo-Diéguez A

Preference of Oral Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate/Emtricitabine Versus Rectal Tenofovir Reduced-Glycerin 1% Gel Regimens for HIV Prevention Among Cisgender Men and Transgender Women Who Engage in Receptive Anal Intercourse with Men.

AIDS and behavior

Carballo-Diéguez A, Giguere R, Dolezal C, Leu CS, Balán IC, Brown W, Rael C, Richardson BA, Piper JM, Bekker LG, Chariyalertsak S, Chitwarakorn A, Gonzales P, Holtz TH, Liu A, Mayer KH, Zorrilla CD, Lama JR, McGowan I, Cranston RD

High levels of adherence to a rectal microbicide gel and to oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) achieved in MTN-017 among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women.

PloS one

Carballo-Diéguez A, Balán IC, Brown W, Giguere R, Dolezal C, Leu CS, Marzinke MA, Hendrix CW, Piper JM, Richardson BA, Grossman C, Johnson S, Gomez K, Horn S, Kunjara Na Ayudhya RP, Patterson K, Jacobson C, Bekker LG, Chariyalertsak S, Chitwarakorn A, Gonzales P, Holtz TH, Liu A, Mayer KH, Zorrilla C, Lama J, McGowan I, Cranston RD

SMASH: A Data-driven Informatics Method to Assist Experts in Characterizing Semantic Heterogeneity among Data Elements.

AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium

Brown W, Weng C, Vawdrey DK, Carballo-Diéguez A, Bakken S

Scoping review and evaluation of SMS/text messaging platforms for mHealth projects or clinical interventions.

International journal of medical informatics

Iribarren SJ, Brown W, Giguere R, Stone P, Schnall R, Staggers N, Carballo-Diéguez A

Ontology-based Semantic Harmonization of HIV-associated Common Data Elements for Integration of Diverse HIV Research Datasets

Ontology-based Semantic Harmonization of HIV-associated Common Data Elements for Integration of Diverse HIV Research Datasets

Brown W.

Feasibility and Acceptability of an International SMS Text Message-Based Adherence and Survey System in a Biomedical HIV Prevention Study (MTN-017)

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

Brown W., Giguere, R., Sheinfil, A., Balán, I., Ibitoye, M., Ho, T., Lama, J., McGowan, I., Cranston, R., Carballo-Diéguez, A.

Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills of High-Risk Young Adults to Use the HIV Self-Test.

AIDS and behavior

Brown W, Carballo-Diéguez A, John RM, Schnall R

A user-centered model for designing consumer mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps).

Journal of biomedical informatics

Schnall R, Rojas M, Bakken S, Brown W, Carballo-Dieguez A, Carry M, Gelaude D, Mosley JP, Travers J

Usabilty Evaluation of a Prototype Mobile App for Health Management for Persons Living with HIV.

Studies in health technology and informatics

Schnall R, Bakken S, Brown Iii W, Carballo-Dieguez A, Iribarren S

Using the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model to Guide the Development of an HIV Prevention Smartphone Application for High-Risk MSM.

AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education

Aliabadi N, Carballo-Dieguez A, Bakken S, Rojas M, Brown W, Carry M, Mosley JP, Gelaude D, Schnall R

Comparison of a User-Centered Design, Self-Management App to Existing mHealth Apps for Persons Living With HIV.

JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Schnall R, Mosley JP, Iribarren SJ, Bakken S, Carballo-Diéguez A, Brown Iii W

Cartographic Analysis of Antennas and Towers: A Novel Approach to Improving the Implementation and Data Transmission of mHealth Tools on Mobile Networks.

JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Brown Iii W, Ibitoye M, Bakken S, Schnall R, Balán I, Frasca T, Carballo-Diéguez A

Trust, Perceived Risk, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness as Factors Related to mHealth Technology Use.

Studies in health technology and informatics

Schnall R, Higgins T, Brown W, Carballo-Dieguez A, Bakken S

Anticipated and actual reactions to receiving HIV positive results through self-testing among gay and bisexual men.

AIDS and behavior

Martinez O, Carballo-Diéguez A, Ibitoye M, Frasca T, Brown W, Balan I

Use of Design Science for Informing the Development of a Mobile App for Persons Living with HIV.

AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium

Schnall R, Rojas M, Travers J, Brown W, Bakken S

Method for the development of data visualizations for community members with varying levels of health literacy.

AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium

Arcia A, Bales ME, Brown W, Co MC, Gilmore M, Lee YJ, Park CS, Prey J, Velez M, Woollen J, Yoon S, Kukafka R, Merrill JA, Bakken S

Double nigrescence: Toward a comprehensive model for homosexual African American men's racial identity resilience

Double nigrescence: Toward a comprehensive model for homosexual African American men's racial identity resilience

Brown W.

Discrimination Dot Com: Racially biased interaction in the online gay male community

McNair Scholar Journal of the University of California

William Brown III

Multiple dentigerous cysts in a child.

Oral health

Sands T, Tocchio C