Paul Wesson, PhD
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
School of Medicine

My research expertise includes developing and using data driven methods for sampling hard-to-reach and “hidden” populations, population size estimation methods, and using advanced epidemiologic and statistical techniques to study the social determinants of health. I am particularly interested in the social determinants of infectious disease risk. I see my research as existing at the nexus of infectious disease, data science, and social epidemiology; as such, I incorporate theories and principles from social epidemiology to inform and guide my study designs and analyses (e.g. intersectionality, minority stress theory).

Specifically, as an HIV researcher, my research agenda relates to the unique challenges of sampling hard-to-reach populations for HIV surveillance, and leverages information from the sampling process (and survey data) to generate estimates of the population size. Valid estimates of the population size are a key component of biomedical informatics and epidemiological analyses (providing a denominator for the population at risk) and inform how and where limited public health resources should be targeted. In my research, I have both applied numerous population size estimation methods to data sets derived from bio-behavioral surveillance surveys, public health surveillance, and electronic medical records. As part of my research on population size estimation, I have also developed novel population size estimation methods to correct for known biases.

Additionally, I am interested in extending my research to include Geo-spatial analysis and clinical data to further examine contextual and structural determinants of disparities in health outcomes.

• Interruptions in HIV and Behavioral Health Care for Criminal-Legal Involved People Living with HIV Following Implementation of Decarceration and Shelter in Place in San Francisco, California.
  AIDS and behavior 2023 Clemenzi-Allen AA, Hebert J, Reid MA, Mains T, Hammer H, Gandhi M, Pratt L, Wesson P
• Respondent-Driven Sampling for Estimation of the Cumulative Lifetime Incidence of Abortion in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa: A Methodological Assessment.
  American journal of epidemiology 2023 Jayaweera RT, Gerdts C, Wesson P, Motana R, Muñoz I, Bessenaar T, McFarland W, Ahern J
• Racial Disparities in Pulse Oximeter Device Inaccuracy and Estimated Clinical Impact on COVID-19 Treatment Course.
  American journal of epidemiology 2023 Sudat SEK, Wesson P, Rhoads KF, Brown S, Aboelata N, Pressman AR, Mani A, Azar KMJ
• Publisher Correction: Population size estimation of seasonal forest-going populations in southern Lao PDR.
  Scientific reports 2023 Rerolle F, Jacobson JO, Wesson P, Dantzer E, Lover AA, Hongvanthong B, Smith J, Marshall JM, Sturrock HJW, Bennett A
• Response to Prone vs. Supine Ventilation and Mortality Outcome in Intubated COVID-19 Patients.
  Journal of intensive care medicine 2022 Shelhamer M, Baxi S, Wesson P, Kelly D
• Incidence of and Experiences with Abortion Attempts in Soweto, South Africa: Respondent-Driven Sampling Study.
  JMIR public health and surveillance 2022 Gerdts C, Jayaweera RT, Motana R, Bessenaar T, Wesson P
• Evaluating tools for capture-recapture model selection to estimate the size of hidden populations: it works in practice, but does it work in theory?
  Annals of epidemiology 2022 Wesson P, Jewell NP, McFarland W, Glymour MM
• Mental Distress and Use of Stimulants: Analysis of a Longitudinal Cohort of Transgender Women.
  LGBT health 2022 Baguso GN, Santiago-Rodriguez E, Gyamerah AO, Wilson EC, Chung C, McFarland W, Wesson P
• COVIDNearTerm: A simple method to forecast COVID-19 hospitalizations.
  Journal of clinical and translational science 2022 Olshen AB, Garcia A, Kapphahn KI, Weng Y, Vargo J, Pugliese JA, Crow D, Wesson PD, Rutherford GW, Gonen M, Desai M
• Mapping and population size estimates of people who inject drugs in Afghanistan in 2019: Synthesis of multiple methods.
  PloS one 2022 Rasheed A, Sharifi H, Wesson P, Pashtoon SJ, Tavakoli F, Ghalekhani N, Haghdoost AA, Atarud A, Banehsi MR, Hamdard N, Sadaat SI, McFarland W, Mirzazadeh A
• Risks and Opportunities to Ensure Equity in the Application of Big Data Research in Public Health.
  Annual review of public health 2021 Wesson P, Hswen Y, Valdes G, Stojanovski K, Handley MA
• An investigation of quantitative methods for assessing intersectionality in health research: A systematic review.
  SSM - population health 2021 Guan A, Thomas M, Vittinghoff E, Bowleg L, Mangurian C, Wesson P
• Evaluating the Validity and Reliability of the Gender Equitable Men's Scale Using a Longitudinal Cohort of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa.
  AIDS and behavior 2021 Wesson PD, Lippman SA, Neilands TB, Ahern J, Kahn K, Pettifor A
• Population size estimation of seasonal forest-going populations in southern Lao PDR.
  Scientific reports 2021 Rerolle F, Jacobson JO, Wesson P, Dantzer E, Lover AA, Hongvanthong B, Smith J, Marshall JM, Sturrock HJW, Bennett A
• Experiences and factors associated with transphobic hate crimes among transgender women in the San Francisco Bay Area: comparisons across race.
  BMC public health 2021 Gyamerah AO, Baguso G, Santiago-Rodriguez E, Sa'id A, Arayasirikul S, Lin J, Turner CM, Taylor KD, McFarland W, Wilson EC, Wesson P
• Variation in SARS-CoV-2 Infection Risk and Socioeconomic Disadvantage Among a Mayan-Latinx Population in Oakland, California.
  JAMA network open 2021 Esaryk EE, Wesson P, Fields J, Rios-Fetchko F, Lindan C, Bern C, Fernández A
• Prone Positioning in Moderate to Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Due to COVID-19: A Cohort Study and Analysis of Physiology.
  Journal of intensive care medicine 2021 Shelhamer MC, Wesson PD, Solari IL, Jensen DL, Steele WA, Dimitrov VG, Kelly JD, Aziz S, Gutierrez VP, Vittinghoff E, Chung KK, Menon VP, Ambris HA, Baxi SM
• Intercategorical and Intracategorical Experiences of Discrimination and HIV Prevalence Among Transgender Women in San Francisco, CA: A Quantitative Intersectionality Analysis.
  American journal of public health 2021 Wesson P, Vittinghoff E, Turner C, Arayasirikul S, McFarland W, Wilson E
• Prone Positioning in Moderate to Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome due to COVID-19: A Cohort Study and Analysis of Physiology.
  Research square 2020 Shelhamer M, Wesson PD, Solari IL, Jensen DL, Steele WA, Dimitrov VG, Kelly JD, Aziz S, Gutierrez VP, Vittinghoff E, Chung KK, Menon VP, Ambris HA, Baxi SM
• High HIV Incidence Among Young and Racial/Ethnic Minority Transgender Women in San Francisco: Results of a Longitudinal Cohort Study.
  Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) 2020 McFarland W, Wesson P, Turner C, Lin J, Veras MASM, Yan H, Raymond HF, Wilson EC
• Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Dominance analysis across 183 countries highlights importance of strengthening health workforce.
  PloS one 2020 Reid M, Gupta R, Roberts G, Goosby E, Wesson P
• Monitoring Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in high Tuberculosis burden countries: Tuberculosis mortality an important tracer of UHC service coverage.
  PloS one 2019 Reid M, Roberts G, Goosby E, Wesson P
• Multilevel Gender-Equitable Norms and Risk of HIV and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Acquisition Among Young South African Women: A Longitudinal Analysis of the HIV Prevention Trials Network 068 Cohort.
  The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 2019 Wesson P, Lippman SA, Neilands TB, Twine R, Ahern J, Gómez-Olivé FX, Peacock D, MacPhail C, Kahn K, Pettifor A
• Estimated Population Size of Men Who Have Sex with Men, San Francisco, 2017.
  AIDS and behavior 2019 Raymond HF, McFarland W, Wesson P
• Effects of Aerobic Dance Training on Psychological Well-Being and Immune Function of Women Living With HIV.
  The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care : JANAC 2019 Ghayomzadeh M, Earnest CP, SeyedAlinaghi S, Wesson P, Taj L, Rezaei S, Navalta JW, Mohraz M, Gharakhanlou R, Voltarelli FA
• Estimating the population size of transgender women in San Francisco using multiple methods, 2013.
  International Journal of Transgenderism 2018 Paul Wesson, Redha F. Qabazard, Erin C. Wilson, Willi McFarland, H. Fisher Raymond
• Theoretical and Empirical Comparisons of Methods to Estimate the Size of Hard-to-Reach Populations: A Systematic Review.
  AIDS and behavior 2017 Wesson P, Reingold A, McFarland W
• Socioeconomic Factors Explain Racial Disparities in Invasive Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Disease Rates.
  Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2017 See I, Wesson P, Gualandi N, Dumyati G, Harrison LH, Lesher L, Nadle J, Petit S, Reisenauer C, Schaffner W, Tunali A, Mu Y, Ahern J
• Socioeconomic Factors Explain Racial Disparities in Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphyloccocus aureus Disease Rates.
  Open Forum Infectious Diseases 2015 Isaac See, Yi Mu, Nicole Gualandi, Ghinwa Dumyati, Lee H. Harrison, Ruth Lynfield, Joelle Nadle, Susan Petit, Claire Reisenauer, William Schaffner, Amy Tunali, Paul Wesson, Jennifer Ahern
• If You Are Not Counted, You Don't Count: Estimating the Number of African-American Men Who Have Sex with Men in San Francisco Using a Novel Bayesian Approach.
  Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 2015 Wesson P, Handcock MS, McFarland W, Raymond HF
• If you are not counted, you don't count: Estimating the number of African-American Men who have Sex with Men in San Francisco.
  International Journal of Epidemiology 2015 P. D. Wesson, M. S. Handcock, W. McFarland, H. F. Raymond