Richard S. Garfein, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Global Public Health, School of Medicine at the University of California San Diego. He is an infectious disease epidemiologist who earned his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and his M.P.H. from San Diego State University.

Prior to joining the faculty at UCSD in 2005 he worked for eight years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and a Senior Staff Epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His research interests involve tuberculosis, HIV and viral hepatitis among vulnerable populations in the Mexico-U.S. border region, and the use of mobile technology to improve healthcare access for hard-to-reach populations. His international research and consulting activities have included Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Taiwan, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, Malawi, Kyrgyzstan and Sierra Leone.