Ryan Assaf, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Scholar
Medicine
School of Medicine

I am a postdoctoral fellow with the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative under the Center for Vulnerable Populations. I am formally trained in epidemiology with research interests in social and behavioral epidemiology, HIV/STIs, substance use, and sexual and gender minority health. My current research focuses on homelessness and housing, the intersection with infectious diseases and substance use, and how policy, environmental, and community factors affect housing.

Education & Training

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• PhD Epidemiology University of California, Los Angeles 06/2022
• MPH Epidemiology University of California, Los Angeles 03/2019
• BS Public Health Science University of California, Irvine 12/2016
• Postdoctoral research fellowship University of California, San Francisco

Interests

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• behavioral
• sexual and gender minority health
• homelessness
• cannabis
• prevention research
• STI
• epidemiology
• housing
• substance use
• HIV/AIDS
• infectious disease
• social
• causal inference
• fentanyl

Publications (19)

Top publication keywords:
Sexual and Gender MinoritiesHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeChlamydia InfectionsHIVGonorrheaHallucinogensCannabisAlphapapillomavirusAnti-HIV AgentsMedical MarijuanaTransgender PersonsPatient Acceptance of Health CarePapillomavirus InfectionsHomosexuality, MalePre-Exposure Prophylaxis

• Social Care Education and Training Among US Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Programs.
  Pediatric emergency care 2024 Assaf RR, Assaf RD, Doucet HB, Graff D
• Examining Factors Associated with Cannabis Use Among Sexual and Gender Minority and Cisgender Heterosexual Emerging Adults in California.
  LGBT health 2024 Jauregui JC, Hong C, Assaf RD, Cunningham NJ, Krueger EA, Flynn R, Holloway IW
• Associations of U.S. state-level COVID-19 policies intensity with cannabis sharing behaviors in 2020.
  Research square 2023 Assaf RD, Hamad R, Javanbakht M, Arah OA, Shoptaw SJ, Cooper ZD, Gorbach PM
• Novel Location-Based Survey Using Cognitive Interviews to Assess Geographic Networks and Hotspots of Sex and Drug Use: Implementation and Validation Study.
  JMIR formative research 2023 Reid SC, Wang V, Assaf RD, Kaloper S, Murray AT, Shoptaw S, Gorbach P, Cassels S
• Cannabis Use and Sharing Practices Among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  LGBT health 2023 Assaf RD, Javanbakht M, Gorbach PM, Cooper ZD

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• Puff, Puff, Don't Pass: harm reduction for cannabis use during a viral respiratory pandemic.
  Harm reduction journal 2023 Assaf RD, Javanbakht M, Gorbach PM, Arah OA, Shoptaw SJ, Cooper ZD
• Pediatric emergency department organization and social care practices among U.S. fellowship programs.
  AEM education and training 2022 Assaf RR, Assaf RD, Barber Doucet H, Graff D
• Evolving Primary Care Utilization of Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People at a Community Sexual Health Clinic.
  Transgender health 2022 Jann JT, Cunningham NJ, Assaf RD, Krysiak RC, Herman D
• Changes in secondary substance use after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic among people who use cannabis: Findings from a web-based sample of adults in the United States.
  Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology 2022 Lake S, Assaf RD, Gorbach PM, Cooper ZD
• Social care practices and perspectives among U.S. pediatric emergency medicine fellowship programs.
  AEM education and training 2022 Assaf RR, Barber Doucet H, Assaf RD, Graff D
• High proportions of rectal and pharyngeal chlamydia and gonorrhoea cases among cisgender men are missed using current CDC screening recommendations.
  Sexually transmitted infections 2022 Assaf RD, Cunningham NJ, Adamson PC, Jann JT, Bolan RK
• Changes in medical and non-medical cannabis use among United States adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse 2022 Assaf RD, Gorbach PM, Cooper ZD
• Selective Changes in Medical Cannabis Use Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Web-Based Sample of Adults in the United States.
  Cannabis and cannabinoid research 2022 Lake S, Assaf RD, Gorbach PM, Cooper ZD
• Are men who have sex with men at higher risk for HIV in Latin America more aware of PrEP?
  PloS one 2021 Assaf RD, Konda KA, Torres TS, Vega-Ramirez EH, Elorreaga OA, Diaz-Sosa D, Diaz SD, Pimenta C, Robles R, Medina-Mora ME, Grinsztejn B, Caceres C, Veloso VG
• Evidence supporting the standardisation of extragenital gonorrhoea and chlamydia screenings for women.
  Sexually transmitted infections 2020 Jann JT, Cunningham NJ, Assaf RD, Bolan RK
• Sexual Mixing Patterns and Anal Human Papillomavirus Among Young Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women in 2 Cities in the United States, 2012-2014.
  Sexually transmitted diseases 2020 Assaf RD, Javanbakht M, Meites E, Gratzer B, Steinau M, Crosby RA, Markowitz LE, Unger ER, Gorbach PM
• Exploring dual disclosures for men who have sex with men in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a report from the field.
  African journal of AIDS research : AJAR 2018 Daniels J, Lane T, Maleke K, Mogos W, Assaf R, Struthers H, McIntyre J, Coates T
• Midtrimester isolated oligohydramnios in monochorionic diamniotic multiple gestations.
  The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians 2017 Chon AH, Korst LM, Assaf RD, Llanes A, Ouzounian JG, Chmait RH
• Fetal Serum β2-Microglobulin and Postnatal Renal Function in Lower Urinary Tract Obstruction Treated with Vesicoamniotic Shunt.
  Fetal diagnosis and therapy 2016 Chon AH, de Oliveira GH, Lemley KV, Korst LM, Assaf RD, Chmait RH