Biography

Scott Letendre, MD, is Professor in Residence in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Letendre performs translational, person-oriented research of the brain health complications of chronic infections like HIV and CMV. This includes observational cohort studies and interventional clinical trials that focus on the neurological, cognitive, and mood effects of aging, medical conditions, substance use, polypharmacy, the pharmacokinetics of antiretroviral drugs, and the biomarker correlates of disease. Dr. Letendre leads two training programs, including the Sustained Training in Aging and HIV Research (STAHR) program, and has received a K24 mentoring award from the National Institute of Mental Health. He has chaired the Neurology Collaborative Science Group of the Advancing Clinical Trials Globally network, the International Workshop on HIV & Aging, and the UCSD Institutional Biosafety Committee. He has participated in international projects in China, India, Mozambique, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. Dr. Letendre balances his research activities with the clinical care of persons with HIV and other infectious diseases. He also teaches in the Microbiology course at the UCSD School of Medicine. Dr. Letendre has co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts published in high-impact journals.