Gregory P. Bisson, MD, MSCE
| Office Location | 832, Blockley Hall |
| Office Phone | 215-573-5811 |
| gregbisson@mac.com | |
Faculty Information | |
| CCEB Appointment | Senior Scholar, Epidemiology |
| Primary Faculty Appointment | Assistant Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, University of Pennsylvania SOM |
| DBE Appointment | Assistant Professor of Epidemiology |
Research Statement
Dr. Bisson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine's Infectious Disease Division and a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is committed to pursuing clinically important research questions in the area of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, focusing primarily on the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of the natural history and treatment of clinically important viral and fungal co-infections. In addition, Dr. Bisson is committed to conducting operations research designed to facilitate public health approaches to the rapid delivery, or scale-up, of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the developing world. A goal of his research is to use to improve the treatment of HIV-infected individuals in resource constrained settings. Dr. Bisson has received multiple grants for his research, including a K23 Mentored Career Development Award, a National Research Science Award (F32), a K12 Career Development Award in Translational Research, a Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Developmental Core Piolet award, a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation award on Operations research on AIDS Care in Afirca (ORACTA), a Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award (2008), and a Research Project Grant (RO1) evaluating outcomes in HIV/TB from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Bisson was the first research scientist at the University of Pennsylvania to begin formal research studies in Botswana and has been a leader in creating Penn’s main international research program – the Botswana UPenn Partnership. Projects of substantial impact led by Dr. Bisson include one of the first studies from Africa documenting the deleterious effects of greater out-of-pocket costs of HAART regimens on patient outcomes and a study demonstrating that monitoring adherence to HAART was more accurate than monitoring WHO-advocated CD4 count changes in individuals in resource-limited settings. This latter study was described in an accompanying editorial in PLoS Medicine as a "Paradigm shift" in preventing HIV drug resistance. The PLoS Medicine paper can be found here: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050109
Courses Taught
Medicine 304, Instructor (2004). Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Epidemiology 656, Instructor (2005). Epidemiological Research Methods in Infectious Diseases. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA.
Clinical Evaluative Sciences – Introduction to Epidemiology, Instructor (2005). Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA.
African Studies Graduate Seminar (AFST 701) – Lecturer (2006). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Fundamentals of Epidemiology (HSCOC 230) – Lecturer (2006). Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA.
Issues in Protocol Research Protocol Development (EP560). Group Leader. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA.
Selected Publications
Bisson, GP; Strom, Brian L; Gross, Robert; Weissman, Drew; Klinzman, Donna; Hwang, Wei-Ting; Kostman, Jay R; Metzger, David; Stapleton, Jack; Frank, Ian. Effect of GB virus C viremia on HIV acquisition and set-point. AIDS. November, 2005. 19(16): 1910-1912.
Bisson G, Frank I, Gross R, Lo Re V, Strom J, Wang X, Gaolathe T, Ndwapi N, Friedman H, Strom B, Dickinson D. Out-of-pocket Cost of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Limits HIV Treatment Response in Botswana's Private Sector. AIDS, 20(9):1333-1336, June 12, 2006.
Bisson G, Gross R, Strom J, Kantrowitz-Rollins C, Bellamy S, Weinstein R, Avalos A, Mogorosi M, Friedman H, Dickinson D, Frank I, Strom B, Gaolathe T, Ndwapi N. Diagnostic accuracy of CD4 count increase for virologic response after initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy. AIDS, 20(12):1613-1619, August 1, 2006.
Kessler J, Friedman H, Weinstein R, Bisson G. Risk factors for failure to be offered HIV testing among medical inpatients in Botswana. JAIDS, in press.
