New Epidemiology Faculty Member

Dr. David Parker is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University. He holds a PhD in epidemiology with a focus on biostatistics and health promotion, education and behavior from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, an MA in sociology and a BS in psychology from Georgia Southern University. Previously, he was a Research Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Department of Medicine with the University of South Carolina, School of Medicine as well as the Director of Research for the Department of Medicine. Simultaneously, he was a Research Associate with the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Parker has considerable experience in public health practice and research on persons with HIV, other disabilities and persons experiencing homelessness, with this work beginning in 1999.

Research areas include: HIV & STIs; inter/national defense and health security; and access to care of underinsured persons. Research in the field of HIV includes HIV testing and risk behaviors as factors for acquisition of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as the level of social integration and stigma experience by vulnerable populations. Primary research areas focus on rapid testing, surveillance, case management and partner counseling and referral systems, with much of this work focusing on the country of Estonia. Populations of interest are ethnic, racial and sexual minorities, injecting drug users and their sexual partners, commercial sex workers, transgendered persons and other "hidden populations" that are at increased risk for HIV and STIs.