Meghan Morris, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
School of Medicine

As an Associate Professor, my research focuses on applying epidemiological methods to study the impact of individual, social, and structural factors on disease transmission within marginalized populations. In particular, my work has focused on using qualitative and quantitative methods to examine social determinants of health within people who use drugs, including HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, worldwide. Internationally I have collaborated with researchers to carry out HIV and HCV prevention and transmission studies in the U.S.-Mexico border region, Jamaica, Australia, Tanzania, and Namibia. Recently I have expanded my research to include the intersection of criminal justice systems, homelessness and health among people who use drugs.

As an educator, I take pleasure in exposing learners to the intersection of social justice and epidemiology. I addition to formal teaching in epidemiology methods (quant, qual and dyadic methods), I provide mentorship to a diverse set of learners from the fields of sociology, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health. As a woman of color and the first person in my family to attend college, I am most interested in mentoring scholars with identities underrepresented in academic research.

Prior to joining UCSF as faculty, I completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in infectious disease epidemiology at UCSF, a Ph.D. in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology and Global Health from UCSD/SDSU’s Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, an MPH in epidemiology from San Diego State University (SDSU), and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biochemistry & Cellular Biology from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

• Exclusionary School Discipline and School Achievement for Middle and High School Students, by Race and Ethnicity.
  JAMA network open 2023 Cribb Fabersunne C, Lee SY, McBride D, Zahir A, Gallegos-Castillo A, LeWinn KZ, Morris MD
• Impact of HCV Testing and Treatment on HCV Transmission Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Who Inject Drugs in San Francisco: A Modelling Analysis.
  The Journal of infectious diseases 2023 Artenie A, Stone J, Facente SN, Fraser H, Hecht J, Rhodes P, McFarland W, Wilson E, Hickman M, Vickerman P, Morris MD
• Telemedicine Acceptability and Experience in a Marginalized Population at Risk for HCV.
  Gastro Hep Advances 2023 Rebecca G. Kim, Claire McDonell, Sarah Burbank, Meghan D. Morris, Jennifer C. Price
• Low-income San Franciscans' Access to Basic Needs during COVID Shelter-in-Place: A Focus on People Who Use Drugs.
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 2023 Claire McDonell, Rocky Li, Anya Runnels, Meghan D. Morris
• A pilot study to understand and respond to loss, theft, and misplacement of hepatitis C treatment medication for people who inject drugs.
  Clinical liver disease 2023 Morris MD, McDonell C, Kim RG, Laguardia Y, Kanner R, Price JC
• Low-income San Franciscans' Access to Basic Needs during COVID Shelter-in-Place: A Focus on People Who Use Drugs.
  Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2023 McDonell C, Li R, Runnels A, Morris MD
• A cross-sectional study comparing men who have sex with men and inject drugs and people who inject drugs who are men and have sex with men in San Francisco: Implications for HIV and hepatitis C virus prevention.
  Health science reports 2022 Artenie A, Facente SN, Patel S, Stone J, Hecht J, Rhodes P, McFarland W, Wilson E, Vickerman P, Morris MD
• Hepatitis C prevalence and key population size estimate updates in San Francisco: 2015 to 2019.
  PloS one 2022 Facente SN, Grinstein R, Bruhn R, Kaidarova Z, Wilson E, Hecht J, Burk K, Grebe E, Morris MD
• Su1337: HIGH PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS SUSCEPTIBILITY AMONG PERSONS UNDERGOING COMMUNITY-BASED HEPATITIS C TREATMENT.
  Gastroenterology 2022 Catherine Campusano, Rachel Kanner, Claire McDonell, Meghan Morris, Maria Duarte, Jennifer Price
• Identification of Genetically Related HCV Infections Among Self-Described Injecting Partnerships.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2022 Tully DC, Hahn JA, Bean DJ, Evans JL, Morris MD, Page K, Allen TM
• Respondent-Driven Sampling: a Sampling Method for Hard-to-Reach Populations and Beyond.
  Current Epidemiology Reports 2022 Sarah Raifman, Michelle A. DeVost, Jean C. Digitale, Yea-Hung Chen, Meghan D. Morris
• An on-site community-based model for hepatitis C screening, diagnosis, and treatment among people who inject drugs in Kerman, Iran: The Rostam study.
  The International journal on drug policy 2022 Mirzazadeh A, Hosseini-Hooshyar S, Shahesmaeili A, Sharafi H, Shafiei M, Zarei J, Mousavian G, Tavakoli F, Ghalekhani N, Shokoohi M, Khezri M, Mehmandoost S, Shojaei MR, Karamouzian M, Briceno A, …
• Hepatitis C mortality trends in San Francisco: can we reach elimination targets?
  Annals of epidemiology 2021 Mirzazadeh A, Facente SN, Burk K, Kahn JG, Morris MD, End Hep C SF
• Hepatitis C Care Cascades for 3 Populations at High Risk: Low-income Trans Women, Young People Who Inject Drugs, and Men Who Have Sex With Men and Inject Drugs.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021 Facente SN, Patel S, Hecht J, Wilson E, McFarland W, Page K, Vickerman P, Fraser H, Burk K, Morris MD
• A Randomized Study to Assess the Effect of Including the Graduate Record Examinations Results on Reviewer Scores for Underrepresented Minorities.
  American journal of epidemiology 2021 Dang KV, Rerolle F, Ackley SF, Irish AM, Mehta KM, Bailey I, Fair E, Miller C, Bibbins-Domingo K, Wong-Moy E, Glymour MM, Morris MD
• Progress toward closing gaps in the hepatitis C virus cascade of care for people who inject drugs in San Francisco.
  PloS one 2021 Mirzazadeh A, Chen YH, Lin J, Burk K, Wilson EC, Miller D, Veloso D, McFarland W, Morris MD
• Homelessness, unstable housing, and risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus acquisition among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
  The Lancet. Public health 2021 Arum C, Fraser H, Artenie AA, Bivegete S, Trickey A, Alary M, Astemborski J, Iversen J, Lim AG, MacGregor L, Morris M, Ong JJ, Platt L, Sack-Davis R, van Santen DK, Solomon SS, Sypsa V, Valencia J, …
• "Violence and love and drugs…it all goes hand in hand": A mixed methods analysis of the substance abuse, violence, and HIV/AIDS syndemic among women who use methamphetamine.
  Substance abuse 2021 Stockman JK, Syvertsen JL, Hayashi HD, Ludwig-Barron N, Tsuyuki K, Morris MD, Palinkas LA
• Housing Stability and Hepatitis C Infection for Young Adults Who Inject Drugs: Examining the Relationship of Consistent and Intermittent Housing Status on HCV Infection Risk.
  Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 2020 Morris MD, Yen IH, Shiboski S, Evans JL, Page K
• The Society for Epidemiologic Research and the Future of Diversity and Inclusion in Epidemiology.
  American journal of epidemiology 2020 Gilman SE, Arah OA, Bates LM, Branas CC, Cozier YC, Datta GD, DeVilbiss EA, Fink DS, Hajat A, Johnson DA, Lopez DS, Morris MD, Weuve J, Abuelezam NN, Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Society …
• Assessing Representation and Perceived Inclusion among Members in the Society for Epidemiologic Research.
  American journal of epidemiology 2020 DeVilbiss EA, Weuve J, Fink DS, Morris MD, Arah OA, Radoc JG, Datta GD, Abuelezam NN, Lopez DS, Johnson DA, Branas CC, Schisterman EF
• Sex Discrepancies in the Protective Effect of Opioid Agonist Therapy on Incident Hepatitis C Infection.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020 Geddes L, Iversen J, Wand H, Esmaeili A, Tsui J, Hellard M, Dore G, Grebely J, Dietze P, Bruneau J, Prins M, Morris MD, Shoukry NH, Lloyd AR, Kim AY, Lauer G, Cox AL, Page K, Maher L, International …
• HCV incidence is associated with injecting partner age and HCV serostatus mixing in young adults who inject drugs in San Francisco.
  PloS one 2019 Page K, Evans JL, Hahn JA, Vickerman P, Shiboski S, Morris MD
• Dual Unsafe Injection and Sexual Behaviors for HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs in Iran.
  AIDS and behavior 2019 Esmaeili A, Shokoohi M, Danesh A, Sharifi H, Karamouzian M, Haghdoost A, Shahesmaeili A, Akbarpour S, Morris MD, Mirzazadeh A
• Injecting-related trust, cooperation, intimacy, and power as key factors influencing risk perception among drug injecting partnerships.
  PloS one 2019 Morris MD, Andrew E, Tan JY, Maher L, Hoff C, Darbes L, Page K
• Role of HCV Viremia in Corroborated HCV Transmission Events Within Young Adult Injecting Partnerships.
  Open forum infectious diseases 2019 Hahn JA, Tully DC, Evans JL, Morris MD, Briceno A, Bean DJ, Allen TM, Page K
• Effects of a voter initiative on disparities in punishment severity for drug offenses across California counties.
  Social science & medicine (1982) 2019 Mooney AC, Neilands TB, Giannella E, Morris MD, Tulsky J, Glymour MM
• Treatment cascade for hepatitis C virus in young adult people who inject drugs in San Francisco: Low number treated.
  Drug and alcohol dependence 2019 Morris MD, Mirzazadeh A, Evans JL, Briceno A, Coffin P, Hahn JA, Page KA
• Correction: Estimated hepatitis C prevalence and key population sizes in San Francisco: A foundation for elimination.
  PloS one 2018 Facente SN, Grebe E, Burk K, Morris MD, Murphy EL, Mirzazadeh A, Smith AA, Sanchez MA, Evans JL, Nishimura A, Raymond HF, End Hep C SF
• Illicit Drug Users in the Tanzanian Hinterland: Population Size Estimation Through Key Informant-Driven Hot Spot Mapping.
  AIDS and behavior 2018 Ndayongeje J, Msami A, Laurent YI, Mwankemwa S, Makumbuli M, Ngonyani AM, Tiberio J, Welty S, Said C, Morris MD, McFarland W
• Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Arrests for Drug Possession After California Proposition 47, 2011-2016.
  American journal of public health 2018 Mooney AC, Giannella E, Glymour MM, Neilands TB, Morris MD, Tulsky J, Sudhinaraset M
• Estimated hepatitis C prevalence and key population sizes in San Francisco: A foundation for elimination.
  PloS one 2018 Facente SN, Grebe E, Burk K, Morris MD, Murphy EL, Mirzazadeh A, Smith AA, Sanchez MA, Evans JL, Nishimura A, Raymond HF, End Hep C SF
• The Effect of Female Sex on Hepatitis C Incidence Among People Who Inject Drugs: Results From the International Multicohort InC3 Collaborative.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2018 Esmaeili A, Mirzazadeh A, Morris MD, Hajarizadeh B, Sacks HS, Maher L, Grebely J, Kim AY, Lauer G, Cox AL, Hellard M, Dietze P, Bruneau J, Shoukry NH, Dore GJ, Lloyd AR, Prins M, Page K, InC3 …
• A Study of Sexual Relationship Power among Young Women Who Inject Drugs and Their Sexual Partners.
  Substance use & misuse 2017 Morris MD, Montgomery ME, Briceno A, Evans JL, Andrew EVW, Page K, Hahn JA
• Context and characteristics of illicit drug use in coastal and interior Tanzania.
  The International journal on drug policy 2017 Tiberio J, Laurent YI, Ndayongeje J, Msami A, Welty S, Ngonyani A, Mwankemwa S, Makumbuli M, McFarland W, Morris MD
• Universal opt-out screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) within correctional facilities is an effective intervention to improve public health.
  International journal of prisoner health 2017 Morris MD, Brown B, Allen SA
• Development and validation of a novel scale for measuring interpersonal factors underlying injection drug using behaviours among injecting partnerships.
  The International journal on drug policy 2017 Morris MD, Neilands TB, Andrew E, Maher L, Page KA, Hahn JA
• Geographic Differences in Temporal Incidence Trends of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs: The InC3 Collaboration.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2017 Morris MD, Shiboski S, Bruneau J, Hahn JA, Hellard M, Prins M, Cox AL, Dore G, Grebely J, Kim AY, Lauer GM, Lloyd A, Rice T, Shoukry N, Maher L, Page K, International Collaboration of Incident HIV and HCV in Injecting Cohorts (InC3)
• Limited naturally occurring escape in broadly neutralizing antibody epitopes in hepatitis C glycoprotein E2 and constrained sequence usage in acute infection.
  Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases 2017 Rodrigo C, Walker MR, Leung P, Eltahla AA, Grebely J, Dore GJ, Applegate T, Page K, Dwivedi S, Bruneau J, Morris MD, Cox AL, Osburn W, Kim AY, Schinkel J, Shoukry NH, Lauer GM, Maher L, Hellard M, …
• Historical Trends in the Hepatitis C Virus Epidemics in North America and Australia.
  The Journal of infectious diseases 2016 Rodrigo C, Eltahla AA, Bull RA, Grebely J, Dore GJ, Applegate T, Page K, Bruneau J, Morris MD, Cox AL, Osburn W, Kim AY, Schinkel J, Shoukry NH, Lauer GM, Maher L, Hellard M, Prins M, Estes C, Razavi …
• Population-based risks of mortality and preterm morbidity by gestational age and birth weight.
  Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association 2016 Baer RJ, Rogers EE, Partridge JC, Anderson JG, Morris M, Kuppermann M, Franck LS, Rand L, Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL
• Interferon Lambda 4 Genotype Is Associated With Jaundice and Elevated Aminotransferase Levels During Acute Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Findings From the InC3 Collaborative.
  Open forum infectious diseases 2016 Page K, Mirzazadeh A, Rice TM, Grebely J, Kim AY, Cox AL, Morris MD, Hellard M, Bruneau J, Shoukry NH, Dore GJ, Maher L, Lloyd AR, Lauer G, Prins M, McGovern BH
• More than just someone to inject drugs with: Injecting within primary injection partnerships.
  Drug and alcohol dependence 2015 Morris MD, Bates A, Andrew E, Hahn J, Page K, Maher L
• Response to treatment following recently acquired hepatitis C virus infection in a multicentre collaborative cohort.
  Journal of viral hepatitis 2015 Doyle JS, Deterding K, Grebely J, Wedemeyer H, Sacks-Davis R, Spelman T, Matthews G, Rice TM, Morris MD, McGovern BH, Kim AY, Bruneau J, Lloyd AR, Page K, Manns MP, Hellard ME, Dore GJ, InC3 Study …
• Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection and Spontaneous Clearance of Reinfection--the InC3 Study.
  The Journal of infectious diseases 2015 Sacks-Davis R, Grebely J, Dore GJ, Osburn W, Cox AL, Rice TM, Spelman T, Bruneau J, Prins M, Kim AY, McGovern BH, Shoukry NH, Schinkel J, Allen TM, Morris M, Hajarizadeh B, Maher L, Lloyd AR, Page K, …
• Patterns of hepatitis C virus RNA levels during acute infection: the InC3 study.
  PloS one 2015 Hajarizadeh B, Grady B, Page K, Kim AY, McGovern BH, Cox AL, Rice TM, Sacks-Davis R, Bruneau J, Morris M, Amin J, Schinkel J, Applegate T, Maher L, Hellard M, Lloyd AR, Prins M, Dore GJ, Grebely J, …
• A longitudinal study of hepatitis C virus testing and infection status notification on behaviour change in people who inject drugs.
  Journal of epidemiology and community health 2015 Spelman T, Morris MD, Zang G, Rice T, Page K, Maher L, Lloyd A, Grebely J, Dore GJ, Kim AY, Shoukry NH, Hellard M, Bruneau J, International Collaborative of Incident HIV and Hepatitis C in Injecting …
• Intimate injection partnerships are at elevated risk of high-risk injecting: a multi-level longitudinal study of HCV-serodiscordant injection partnerships in San Francisco, CA.
  PloS one 2014 Morris MD, Evans J, Montgomery M, Yu M, Briceno A, Page K, Hahn JA
• Interferon lambda 3 genotype predicts hepatitis C virus RNA levels in early acute infection among people who inject drugs: the InC(3) study.
  Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology 2014 Hajarizadeh B, Grady B, Page K, Kim AY, McGovern BH, Cox AL, Rice TM, Sacks-Davis R, Bruneau J, Morris M, Amin J, Schinkel J, Applegate T, Maher L, Hellard M, Lloyd AR, Prins M, Geskus RB, Dore GJ, …
• Concordance of risk behavior reporting within HCV serodiscordant injecting partnerships of young injection drug users in San Francisco, CA.
  Drug and alcohol dependence 2014 Evans JL, Morris MD, Yu M, Page K, Hahn JA
• Higher risk of incident hepatitis C virus among young women who inject drugs compared with young men in association with sexual relationships: a prospective analysis from the UFO Study cohort.
  BMJ open 2014 Tracy D, Hahn JA, Fuller Lewis C, Evans J, Briceño A, Morris MD, Lum PJ, Page K
• The effects of female sex, viral genotype, and IL28B genotype on spontaneous clearance of acute hepatitis C virus infection.
  Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 2013 Grebely J, Page K, Sacks-Davis R, van der Loeff MS, Rice TM, Bruneau J, Morris MD, Hajarizadeh B, Amin J, Cox AL, Kim AY, McGovern BH, Schinkel J, George J, Shoukry NH, Lauer GM, Maher L, Lloyd AR, …
• Characteristics and health service utilization in two samples of young injection drug users recruited using direct and referral methods in San Francisco, California.
  Journal of alcoholism and drug dependence 2013 Briceño A, Morris MD, Evans J, Raymond HF, Page K
• Injection drug use and hepatitis C virus infection in young adult injectors: using evidence to inform comprehensive prevention.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2013 Page K, Morris MD, Hahn JA, Maher L, Prins M
• Social, economic, and psychological impacts of MDR-TB treatment in Tijuana, Mexico: a patient's perspective.
  The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 2013 Morris MD, Quezada L, Bhat P, Moser K, Smith J, Perez H, Laniado-Laborin R, Estrada-Guzman J, Rodwell TC
• 1157 EARLY HCVRNA DYNAMICS AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH EARLY HCVRNA LEVEL DURING ACUTE HCV INFECTION.
  Journal of Hepatology 2013 B. Hajarizadeh, K. Page, A.Y. Kim, B.H. McGovern, A.L. Cox, T.M. Rice, R. Sacks-Davis, J. Bruneau, M. Morris, J. Amin, B. Grady, J. Schinkel, L. Maher, M. Hellard, A.R. Lloyd, M. Prins, J. Grebely, G.…
• Characteristics and Health Service Utilization in Two Samples of Young Injection Drug Users Recruited Using Direct and Referral Methods in San Francisco, California
  Alcoholism & Drug Dependence 2013 Briceno A, Morris M.D., Evans J,Fisher R.H., and Page K,
• Cohort profile: the international collaboration of incident HIV and hepatitis C in injecting cohorts (InC3) study.
  International journal of epidemiology 2012 Grebely J, Morris MD, Rice TM, Bruneau J, Cox AL, Kim AY, McGovern BH, Shoukry NH, Lauer G, Maher L, Lloyd AR, Hellard M, Prins M, Dore GJ, Page K, InC Study Group
• Factors associated with pathways toward concurrent sex work and injection drug use among female sex workers who inject drugs in northern Mexico.
  Addiction (Abingdon, England) 2012 Morris MD, Lemus H, Wagner KD, Martinez G, Lozada R, Gómez RM, Strathdee SA
• Prevalence and correlates of female condom use and interest among injection drug-using female sex workers in two Mexico-US border cities.
  AIDS and behavior 2012 Stockman JK, Morris MD, Martinez G, Lozada R, Patterson TL, Ulibarri MD, Vera A, Strathdee SA
• Hepatitis C virus clearance, reinfection, and persistence, with insights from studies of injecting drug users: towards a vaccine.
  The Lancet. Infectious diseases 2012 Grebely J, Prins M, Hellard M, Cox AL, Osburn WO, Lauer G, Page K, Lloyd AR, Dore GJ, International Collaboration of Incident HIV and Hepatitis C in Injecting Cohorts (InC3)
• "Injection first": a unique group of injection drug users in Tijuana, Mexico.
  The American journal on addictions 2011 Morris MD, Brouwer KC, Lozada RM, Gallardo M, Vera A, Strathdee SA
• Prevalence and correlates of 'agua celeste' use among female sex workers who inject drugs in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
  Drug and alcohol dependence 2011 Morris MD, Case P, Robertson AM, Lozada R, Vera A, Clapp JD, Medina-Mora ME, Strathdee SA
• Under- and over-nutrition among refugees in San Diego County, California.
  Journal of immigrant and minority health 2011 Rondinelli AJ, Morris MD, Rodwell TC, Moser KS, Paida P, Popper ST, Brouwer KC
• Healthcare barriers of refugees post-resettlement.
  Journal of community health 2009 Morris MD, Popper ST, Rodwell TC, Brodine SK, Brouwer KC