We won’t stop until we’ve eradicated HIV/AIDS
Medical & Scientific Staff
Our Scientists
Stephen J. Brown, MD
Vice President & Medical Director
Dr. Stephen Brown has been the Medical Director at AIDS Research Alliance since 1997, and Vice President since 2007. Dr. Brown has been the driving force in our work to develop prostratin, and his commitment to research led to AIDS Research Alliance to becoming an investigational site with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Dr. Brown has been Principal Investigator for over 120 clinical trials, including work for Pfizer, Merck, Theratechnologies, Schering-Plough, Tibotec, NeurogesX, National Institutes of Health, Serono, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Agouron, GlaxoSmith Kline, Orasure Technologies, and Gilead Sciences. Dr. Brown came to AIDS Research Alliance from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he completed a fellowship at the HIV Neurobehaviorial Research Center and served on the UCSD Institutional Review Board.
Marisa Briones, PhD
Senior Clinical Research Scientist
A Los Angeles native, Dr. Briones received her B.A. with honors in Biology from California State University, Northridge, where she received several awards for her academic achievements, including the use of sequence analysis to determine the origin of a rare genetic disorder. Dr. Briones earned her PhD in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA, where she completed a post-doctoral appointment in the laboratory of Dr. Samson Chow. While at UCLA, Dr. Briones was a recipient of the National Research Service Award, among many other scientific honors. Prior to joining the staff of AIDS Research Alliance, Dr. Briones studied the molecular mechanisms that control and regulate the early steps of HIV-1 replication. This expertise will inform her prostratin experiments in our laboratory, studying the molecular mechanisms necessary to clear the HIV reservoirs.
Kevin Griggs, PharmD
Clinical Research Pharmacist
Prior to his work at AIDS Research Alliance, Kevin Griggs served as a pharmacy manager and staff pharmacist for Walgreens. Kevin gained clinical pharmacy experience in the anti-coagulation and ambulatory care clinics of Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, Kedren Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital, and Kaiser Permanente Pediatric Respiratory Ambulatory Care Clinic. In 2008, Kevin earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. Kevin gained basic science research experience at USC in the department of Molecular Pharmacology under the mentorship of Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton, working on the effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy in the brain. Kevin also participated in undergraduate research projects at UCLA and Caltech/JPL for which he was bestowed the JPLUS scholar award.
Robert Winters, MD
Associate Medical Director
In the late 1980s, while still a physician in private practice, Dr. Winters joined a courageous group of physicians to form SEARCH Alliance, later renamed AIDS Research Alliance. His early and uncompromising advocacy challenged conventional wisdom and the traditional drug development process, fostering the discovery of new treatments for opportunistic infections, as well as today’s standard of care. A beloved member of the AIDS Research Alliance family, Dr. Winters has worn many hats, from serving on our Board of Directors and Institutional Review Board to his work today—continuing to advance HIV science—as our Associate Medical Director.
Leo Borjon
Study Coordinator
Leo Borjon joined AIDS Research Alliance in 2009 as a Clinical Research Assistant. Within two years he was promoted to the position of Assistant Clinical Trials Coordinator. He was recently promoted again—to the position of Study Coordinator. In this capacity, Leo coordinates all of ARA’s clinical trials and manages the research clinic.
Leo’s interest in health and medicine is longstanding. He graduated from UCSD with a B.S. in Human Biology. Before joining ARA, Leo worked as a Spanish-English interpreter and researcher in the UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest and Palomar Pomerado Health emergency rooms in San Diego. Leo also spent two years in Mexico on a church mission. There, he visited people in their communities – witnessing living conditions and lifestyle choices that severely compromised people’s health. Prior to traveling to Mexico, Leo served in the United States Army as a biomedical technician on the ground in Iraq. Leo brings to AIDS Research Alliance a lifelong commitment to serving the community.
Adam Norris
Clinical Research Assistant
Artin Galoosian
Clinical Research Assistant
Artin Galoosian, Clinical Research Assistant, has worked in medical outreach and research for three years. He has performed sustainable medical and public-health outreach in the rural communities of Honduras, and he has written an HIV education and health promotion handbook in Armenian for community empowerment in Armenia. Artin has conducted research using carbon nano-technology at Nanomix, Inc in Emeryville, CA, and he has conducted molecular research on HIV at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and on tuberculosis at UC Berkeley. Further, he has worked on constructing a mammalian expression vector of a Ryanodine Receptor expression system at Harvard Medical School. Artin’s passion for HIV prevention and education is rooted in his experience working with HIV-positive populations in the San Francisco Bay Area free clinics, as well as in international communities. Artin is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Public Health.
