The ARI Clinical Fellowship Program allows MD-trained fellows in infectious diseases or HIV/AIDS to spend time training in Ward 86 at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). As home to the nation's leading AIDS program, UCSF offers a unique opportunity for trainees to gain experience working with clinicians and researchers who have been involved in the epidemic since the beginning. The ARI provides fiscal backing to the fellowship as part of its mission to nurture the next generation of leaders. Many of UCSF’s extraordinary faculty have benefited from this well-established training experience, which deepens fellows’ clinical knowledge and skills in HIV medicine and helps them to grow into future leaders in the field.
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2022-2023
Maria Laura Casalegno, MD
Born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, Laura completed her medical degree at Facultad de Ciencias Medicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina. Laura completed her the Internal Medicine residency at University of Illinois in Chicago. Currently, Laura is a first-year Infectious Disease Fellow at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Her interests include HIV, Addiction, Parasitology, Chagas disease, Global Health, Public Health, and working with underserved populations.
Franco Chevalier, MD
Franco is originally from Dominican Republic and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. He joined UCSF as a research fellow in July 2021. Franco has a great passion for social justice, community advocacy and holds a special interest in HIV research as it relates to prevention and retention of treatment for individuals living with HIV. Franco is an incoming fellow in the Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) fellowship program this upcoming July 2022. He will also be completing a Masters in Public Health degree at UC Berkeley. Franco will be joining Ward86 and is excited to be learning from world leading experts and is looking forward to making his own contributions to this special place. He will be working alongside Hyman Scott, focusing his research on the use of PrEP as it relates to LGBTQ+ minorities.
Jorge Salazar, MD
Hello all! My name is Jorge Salazar. I was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. How did a kid from Mexico end up in Alabama, you ask? Well, actually, it had to do with HIV in a way. My parents had a job opportunity at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where they spent nearly two decades working in an HIV molecular research lab. Needless to say, I took after their ambition and lust for exploration and found my way to Columbus, Ohio at Ohio State University, and then to Nashville, Tennessee at Meharry Medical College for medical school. Ultimately I landed myself in California, first to Sacramento for residency at UC Davis Medical Center, and then here to San Francisco, specifically aiming to become an Infectious Disease and HIV doctor. I’m interested in understanding how to better serve our patients with respect to HIV and finding sociobehavioral interventions to improve HIV care and outcomes for our patients. Occasionally, you can find me biking twenty miles to Sausalito on a weekend morning or drinking multiple cups of coffee and exploring more of the San Francisco and the Bay Area. I’m incredibly excited to join the team at Ward 86 and to provide fulfilling care to our patients and working with you all!
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2022-2023 - Continuing
Rebecca Abelman, MD
Ayesha Appa, MD
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2021-2022
Rebecca Abelman, MD
Ayesha Appa, MD
Rand Dadasovich, MD, MS
Akanksha Vaidya, MD
Matthew Hickey, MD
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2020-2021
Ayesha Appa, MD
Emma Bainbridge, MD, MPH
Andrew Kerkhoff, MD, PhD
Annelys Roque Gardner, MD
Luis Rubio, MD, MHS
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2019-2020
Ayesha Appa, MD
Andrew Kerkhoff, MD, PhD
Michael Peluso, MD
Sarah Puryear, MD
Matthew A. Spinelli, MD, MAS
ARI Clinical Fellows, 2018-2019
Jessica Briggs, MD
Jehan Budak, MD
Angelo (Asa) Clemenzi-Allen, MD
Michael Peluso, MD
Sarah Puryear, MD
Matthew A. Spinelli, MD, MAS