Draft:Rupa Patel

Rupa R. Patel is an American infectious diseases physician, clinical researcher, and voluntary research associate professor of medicine at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in Missouri.

Patel, who specializes in infectious diseases and HIV prevention, is also PrEP clinical medical liaison and biomedical HIV prevention clinical research lead at the Whitman-Walker Institute and Health in Washington D.C.

Since 2010, she has been adjunct instructor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New-York, academic mentor at the department of medicine global health residency track.

She is a member of the Physicians for Human Rights alumni network and has been conducting medical evaluations for asylum seekers since 2008.

In 2010, she founded the Bengladesh Global Health Site and is currently the director.

Education

Rupa R. Patel graduated with a bachelor of arts (B.A.) in economics from the University of Michigan in 2000.

In 2004 she received her medical degree (M.D.) from Wayne State University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine and an infectious diseases fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Between 2008 and 2010, she was a fellow in infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New-York.

In 2012, she received a Master in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a concentration on epidemiologic and biostatistical methods for public health and clinical research.

Academic career

Rupa R. Patel started her academic career in 2010 as academic mentor at the Department of Medicine Global Health Residency Track and as adjunct instructor at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She currently still holds these positions.

Between 2010 and 2013, she was a visiting scholar at the Social Science Unit within the International Center for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research in Bengladesh which led her to found the Bengladesh Global Health Site. Back in the United States, and after receiving her Master in Public Health, she became an instructor of medicine at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University in St. Louis until 2016. In parallel, she founded there the HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Program and the Global Health Scholars Pathway and directed both programs respectively until 2022 and 2015.

In 2014, she became adjunct clinical instructor at the Department of Global Health at St. Louis College of Pharmacy in Missouri, a position she held for one year. She moved on to an assistant professorhip of Medicine between 2016 and 2020 at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University in St. Louis, became associate professor there in 2021, and research associate professor.

The same year, Patel accepted to become HIV Prevention Clinic Medical Director and Biomedical HIV Prevention Clinical Research Lead at the Whitman-Walker Institute and Health in Washington D.C.

Patel is academic editor for PLOS One and Annals of Global Health.

Public health and policy experience

Domestic public health and policy service

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Rupa R. Patel has been advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2012. She first started at the CDC St. Louis STD/HIV Prevention Training Center as Lead HIV Prevention Content Developer for eleven years. In 2018 and 2019, she was lead faculty for the CDC-IAPAC Southern States Health Department PrEP Implementation Initiative.

Since 2019, Patel has been project director for the CDC Capacity Building Program (19-1904 Component 2B HIV Prevention for 12 Midwest States).

Occasionally, she presented for CDC PrEP in Pharmacies webinars and she also advised the CDC and DHHS/HRSA National PrEP Curriculum Advisory Board.

Between 2017 and 2019, Patel was Clinical Services advisor for USAID PEPFAR DREAMS Project Namibia iTECH

From 2019 to 2021, she was Saint Louis Chapter Board Member for the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

COVID-19 pandemic

As an infesctious disease expert, Rupa R. Patel has been very engaged in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In Missouri, as part of the Washington University's physcians, she joined the COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Testing Review Team for Missouri Barnes Jewish Hospital. In 2013 and 2014, she was also part of the Ebola Infection Prevention and Clinical Care Team at that same hospital. At the national level, Patel was a COVID-19 Medical Declarations Expert for American Civil Liberties Union, as well as for Physicians for Human Rights.

International public health and policy service

Bengladesh

Rupa R. Patel first started her international public health and policy service experience as an Emergency Response Physician in 2007-2008 at the International Medical Corps during the tropical Cyclone Sidr which hit Bengladesh. She then joined Friendship, a non-governmental organization provide health support for deprived populations in Bengladesh, for three years as Climate Change and Women's Health Program advisor, a program she founded. Since 2011, she has been Climate Change and Health Program Advisor for Friends in Village Development, became Humanitarian Refugee Response Technical Expert there in 2018, and USA Board Chair and Founder in 2019.

India

Since 2016, Patel is PrEP Clinical and Implementation Science Research Advisor at the Humsafar Trust, and in April 2016, she was also a consultant for the Indian Counsel for Medical Research National PrEP Implementation Consultation of the government of India.

Canada

Rupa R. Patel was a member of the HIV Research Peer Review Committee for the Government of Canada Institutes of Health Research in December 2018 and member of the Chair Selection in August 2019. In 2021, she was a member of the Global Health Chair Review Committee. In February 2023, she participated in the Peer Review MPox Research Committee for the Government of Canada Institutes of Health Research.

World Health Organization and United Nations

Rupa R. Patel is a member of the PrEP Technical Advisory Group, PrEP Global Coalition for the World Health Organization (WHO), and also Consultant Lead for PrEP for the WHO and Government of Pakistan National AIDS Control Program. In this role, she was prescribing guidelines and SOP development and national provider and community training.

As an infectious disease expert, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was Medical Representative and Report Co-Author as part of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law WHO Pandemic Recommendations Committee.

Patel is also scientific advisor for the Medicines Patent Pool, a UN affiliate.

Private foundations

Patel was clinical advisor as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-JHPIEGO Kenya Bridge to Scale PrEP Grant (2016-2020) and Delivery Subgroup Co-Chair with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-AVAC PrEP Cabotegravir Implementation Group.

Human rights and climate change engagements

Patel is an expert for Physician for Human Rights as part of the Rohingya Forensic Medical Documentation. In 2021 and 2022, she was a a volunteer expert with the UN, WHO and IDSA to be a clinical expert at Rohinga Camps. She is also a USA board member for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In 2022, she attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP 27) as a delegate from Washington University.

Commercial advisorships

Rupa R. Patel regularly advises pharmaceutical companies, such as Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, HealthHIV, Medscape, My Everyday Health.

Awards

In September 2023, Rupa R. Patel became a fellow at the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Rupa R. Patel received the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Department of Medicine Global Health Research Award in 2009.

In 2017, she was the National Finalist of the White House Fellowship.

In 2018, she received the 40 Under 40 Award by The St. Louis Business Journal and was listed among the 100 Executives Business Influencers: Rising Stars by the Business Journals.

In 2019, she was awarded the Ethics of Service Award by Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis Patel was also selected for Ted Talk at the Washington University in St. Louis.