William Brown, III, PhD, DrPH, MA
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

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.

My informatics research includes knowledge engineering, health informatics, comparative-effectiveness research, semantic harmonization, integrating and analyzing survey, geographic, and electronic health record (EHR) data, as well as developing infographics and data visualizations for patient-centered health information tools. I provide expertise in HIV, New Media, and mHealth and apply innovative informatics methods for the integration of diverse longitudinal data sets and discovery of health markers. My main research activities focus on semantic harmonization, concept/knowledge representation, characterization of semantic heterogeneity, identification of common data elements, the development of an HIV-associated Entities in Research Ontology (HERO), and integration of diverse datasets.

As an HIV researcher, I specialize in systems design, implementation science, community-based participatory research, mHealth, and the use of New Media. I've developed, applied, and evaluated an mHealth system, and conducted a pilot study researching the feasibility and acceptability of using mHealth technology to support treatment adherence and to collect behavioral data in biomedical studies of HIV (e.g., Home HIV tests, PrEP, and rectal microbicides). I specifically work with African-American and Latino populations, MSM, and ethnic and/or sexual minority youth to develop New Media-based technology -particularly mHealth and social media- for HIV prevention, education, intervention, health promotion, treatment adherence, health management and public health practice.

• Lessons learned from academic medical centers' response to the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with the Navajo Nation.
  PloS one 2022 Bongiovanni T, Shamasunder S, Brown W, Rivera Carpenter C, Pantell M, Ghali B, Harrison JD
• Applying a socioecological framework to chronic disease management: implications for social informatics interventions in safety-net healthcare settings.
  JAMIA open 2022 Nguyen KH, Cemballi AG, Fields JD, Brown W, Pantell MS, Lyles CR
• 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. 2021 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 2021 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 2021 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 2019 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 2019 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 2019 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 2018 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 2018 Giguere R, Brown 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 2018 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 2018 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, MTN-017 Protocol Team
• Factors Supporting and Hindering Adherence to Rectal Microbicide Gel Use with Receptive Anal Intercourse in a Phase 2 Trial.
  AIDS and behavior 2018 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, MTN-017 Protocol Team
• 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 2018 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 2017 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, …
• 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 2017 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, …
• SMASH: A Data-driven Informatics Method to Assist Experts in Characterizing Semantic Heterogeneity among Data Elements.
  AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium 2017 Brown W, Weng C, Vawdrey DK, Carballo-Diéguez A, Bakken S
• Examining the unique characteristics of a non-probability sample of undocumented female sex workers with dependent children: The case of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.
  Sexuality & culture 2017 Rael CT, Sheinfil A, Hampanda K, Carballo-Diéguez A, Pala AN, Brown W
• Scoping review and evaluation of SMS/text messaging platforms for mHealth projects or clinical interventions.
  International journal of medical informatics 2017 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 2016 Brown W.
• Acceptability of a New Smartphone-based HIV and Syphilis Test to Screen Sexual Partners among High Risk MSM and Transgender Women
  AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 2016
• Converging Self-reports, Product Returns, and Pharmacokinetic Results to Improve Adherence Measurement in MTN-017-a Phase 2 Rectal Microbicide Study
  AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 2016
• 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 2016 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 2016 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 2016 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 2016 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 2015 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 2015 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 2015 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 2015 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 2014 Martinez O, Carballo-Diéguez A, Ibitoye M, Frasca T, Brown W, Balan I
• Developing an eBook-Integrated High-Fidelity Mobile App Prototype for Promoting Child Motor Skills and Taxonomically Assessing Children's Emotional Responses Using Face and Sound Topology.
  AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium 2014 Brown W, Liu C, John RM, Ford P
• Use of Design Science for Informing the Development of a Mobile App for Persons Living with HIV.
  AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium 2014 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 2013 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
• Assessment of the Health IT Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM) for evaluating mobile health (mHealth) technology.
  Journal of biomedical informatics 2013 Brown W, Yen PY, Rojas M, Schnall R
• 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 2006 Brown W.
• Discrimination Dot Com: Racially biased interaction in the online gay male community
  McNair Scholar Journal of the University of California 2003 William Brown III
• Multiple dentigerous cysts in a child.
  Oral health 1998 Sands T, Tocchio C