Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Lecturer
Email: jharbertson@sdsu.edu
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Biography
Dr. Harbertson’s research background includes basic research in immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego from 1997-2003 that laid the foundation for a broad understanding of HIV from acquisition and laboratory testing to transition of biomarkers across the course of infection which evolved into bio-behavioral research. From 2002-2010 Dr. Harbertson transitioned to HIV/ AIDS prevention and other infectious disease public health research that included field studies in San Diego, Mexico, Jamaica, and original data collection and dissertation research in Rwanda. From 2010 to May of 2020, Dr. Harbertson’s efforts are focused on STI/HIV prevention research among the ship-assigned United States (US) Navy and Marine Corps population which included leading a data collection effort aboard a deployed ship for two weeks while it was en route, returning from the Mediterranean/ Red Sea. Other research/evaluation efforts focus on HIV prevention, care and treatment efforts in more than a dozen sub-Saharan African military populations including ongoing data collection and analysis in Togo, Sierra Leone and Liberia. As of May of 2020, Dr. Harbertson serves as a Research Epidemiologist at Naval Health Research Center in the Department of Medical Modeling, Mission Support and Simulation. There she works within the Veterans & Active Duty Longitudinal Outcomes Research (VALOR) Division and serves as a Liaison between the VALOR and Analytics and Epidemiology Support for Operational Populations (AESOP) Division supporting efforts to improve mental health and injury outcomes among injured active-duty and veteran service members. Dr. Harbertson has significant experience collaborating and leading domestic and international civilian and military partners on research and human subjects protection protocols, data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript creation and presentation/ publication/ data dissemination. Dr. Harbertson is effective at implementing research in challenging international settings and collaborating with a variety of civilian and military leadership styles. Dr. Harbertson brings cross-organization expertise and substantial research implementation research capabilities to military research efforts that optimize the success of improved health outcomes among service members.
