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Diana M. Fernández

TitlePrincipal Investigator
Faculty RankAssociate Professor
InstitutionUniversidad Central Del Caribe
DepartmentInternal Medicine Department
AddressUniversidad Central del Caribe
Call Box 60-237
Bayamon PR 00960
Phone787-798-3001 X2138
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    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse overview
    I have formal education in Epidemiology and in Education and Curriculum. My master and doctoral level dissertations were directly related with HIV/AIDS research. Over the last 18 years, I have contributed as an HIV researcher in the management of data, in statistical methods, and in research support cores from a multidisciplinary point of view. Since 1995, I have been working in the Retrovirus Research Center (RRC) HIV Data Core. Initially, I was recruited as the RRC Epidemiologist and subsequently, I became the Co-Principal Investigator of the HIV Data Core. I collaborated in the development and implementation of the procedures manual and in the day to day activities of the HIV Data Core. I have won twice the third prize for original research in the junior investigator category of the Glaxo Wellcome Research Awards. Between 2004 through 2009, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded my first research project as principal investigator entitled: “A Supportive Model for HIV Risk Reduction in early adolescents”. I have expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of health prevention and education curriculum directed to HIV injecting drug users and HIV risky adolescent’s population. I was part of the PR-CCHD Data Core of the Puerto Rico Center for the Study of HIV Health Care Disparities (PR CCHD); a collaborative multi-institutional effort between the three principal schools of medicine in Puerto Rico during 2003-2009. In 2009, as recommended by the External Advisory Committee, I submitted an infrastructure proposal to develop the Data Management and Statistical Research Support Unit (DMSRSU), which goal is to enhance the level of scientific research excellence and data management for RCMI, UCC, and other potential researchers. I was granted as the Principal Investigator of the DMSRSU (2009-2014), Co-Investigator of the RRC and Director of the Educational and Behavioral Unit from the RCMI-UCC Cancer Research Unit. I am strongly committed to the accomplishment of the DMSRSU goals and I have initiated training in the development of strategies of longitudinal statistical analysis. Also, I continue to be involved in the data analysis, papers publications, presentations, consulting process, and faculty development activities. As PI of the DMSRSU, I am particularly involved in the recruitment and training of new personnel and in the implementation of a revised procedure manual. Also, I have been teaching the Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Research Methods courses at the Sacred Heart University of Puerto Rico, San Juan Bautista School of Medicine and I am also an Associate Professor at the Internal Medicine Department at UCC. Since 2010, I am the Co-Leader of the Research Design Biostatistics and Ethics Unit (DBE) of the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium (PRCTRC) and since July 2012 has served as the DBE Training Component coordinator. As the Co-Leader of the DBE, I had been actively involved in the review of Pilot Projects submitted at the PR-CTRC Pilot Project Program and in the DBE database. Also I provided support as consultant for researchers.

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    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Fern?ndez D, Yun R, Zhou J, Parise PL, Mosso-Gonz?lez C, Villasante-Tezanos A, Weaver SC, Pando-Robles V, Aguilar PV. Differential Susceptibility of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus Mosquitoes to Infection by Mayaro Virus Strains. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 07 05; 109(1):115-122. PMID: 37253447.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCellsPHPublic Health
    2. Gil-Mora J, Acevedo-Guti?rrez LY, Betancourt-Ruiz PL, Mart?nez-Diaz HC, Fern?ndez D, Bopp NE, Olaya-M?smela LA, Bola?os E, Benavides E, Villasante-Tezanos A, Hidalgo M, Aguilar PV. Arbovirus Antibody Seroprevalence in the Human Population from Cauca, Colombia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 12 14; 107(6):1218-1225. PMID: 36375460.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    3. Bopp NE, Jencks KJ, Siles C, Guevara C, Vilcarromero S, Fern?ndez D, Halsey ES, Ampuero JS, Aguilar PV. Serological Responses in Patients Infected with Mayaro Virus and Evaluation of Cross-Protective Responses against Chikungunya Virus. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 11 29; 106(2):607-609. PMID: 34844213.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    4. Brotons C, Moral I, Fern?ndez D, Puig M, Vilella MT, Puig T, Cuixart L, F?rriz G, Pedro AM, Codinachs R, Rodr?guez M, Fuentes R. Effectiveness of an Intervention Aimed at Improving Information for Patients with High Cardiovascular Risk: INFORISK Clinical Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 03 31; 18(7). PMID: 33807285.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    5. Montenegro P, Brotons C, Serrano J, Fern?ndez D, Garcia-Ramos C, Ichazo B, Lemaire J, Moral I, Wienese RP, Pitarch M, Puig M, Vilella MT, Sellar?s J. Community seroprevalence of COVID-19 in probable and possible cases at primary health care centres in Spain. Fam Pract. 2021 03 29; 38(2):154-159. PMID: 32914857.
      Citations: 13     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    6. Fern?ndez D, Marciel de Souza W, Silvas JA, Deardorff ER, Widen SG, Estrada-Franco JG, Weaver SC, Nunes M, Aguilar PV. Barrita Virus, a Novel Virus of the Patois Serogroup (Genus Orthobunyavirus; Family Peribunyaviridae). Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 07; 103(1):190-192. PMID: 32458789.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    7. Fern?ndez D, Brotons C, Moral I, Bulc M, Afonso M, Akan H, Pinto S, Vucak J, da Silva Martins CM. Lifestyle behaviours in patients with established cardiovascular diseases: a European observational study. BMC Fam Pract. 2019 11 26; 20(1):162. PMID: 31771525.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    8. Brotons C, Moral I, Fern?ndez D, Puig M, Calvo Bonacho E, Mart?nez Mu?oz P, Catalina Romero C, Quevedo Aguado LJ. Estimation of Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (IBERLIFERISK): A New Tool for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Primary Care. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2019 Jul; 72(7):562-568. PMID: 30097396.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    9. Altekruse SF, Shiels MS, Modur SP, Land SR, Crothers KA, Kitahata MM, Thorne JE, Mathews WC, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Mayor AM, Gill JM, Horberg MA, Brooks JT, Moore RD, Silverberg MJ, Althoff KN, Engels EA. Cancer burden attributable to cigarette smoking among HIV-infected people in North America. AIDS. 2018 02 20; 32(4):513-521. PMID: 29239891.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    10. Cruz-Feliciano MA, Miranda-D?az C, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Orobitg-Brenes D, Hunter-Mellado RF, Carri?n-Gonz?lez IS. Quality of life improvement in Latinas receiving combined substance use disorders and trauma-specific treatment: a cohort evaluation report. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2017 May 02; 15(1):90. PMID: 28464830.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    11. Brotons C, Moral I, Fern?ndez D, Cuixart L, Mu?oz A, Soteras A, Puig M, Joaniquet X, Casasa A. [Clinical consequences of using the new cardiovascular risk tables SCORE OP in patients aged over 65 years]. Med Clin (Barc). 2016 11 04; 147(9):381-386. PMID: 27575527.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    12. Brotons C, Moral I, Fern?ndez D, Cuixart L, Soteras A, Puig M. Assessment of the New SCORE OP Cardiovascular Risk Charts in Patients Older Than 65 Years. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2016 Oct; 69(10):981-983. PMID: 27474480.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    13. Tossas-Milligan KY, Hunter-Mellado RF, Mayor AM, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Dworkin MS. Late HIV Testing in a Cohort of HIV-Infected Patients in Puerto Rico. P R Health Sci J. 2016 May 24; 35(2):113-121. PMID: 27232874.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    
    14. Fernandez-Santos DM, Miranda-Diaz C, Figueroa-Cosme WI, Ramon RO, Mayor AM, Rios-Olivares E, Hunter-Mellado RF. Impact of ASUMA Intervention on HIV Risk Behaviors among Puerto Rican Adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Dec 23; 13(1):ijerph13010060. PMID: 26703684.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    15. Santiago-Rodr?guez EJ, Mayor AM, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Hunter-Mellado RF. Profile of HIV-Infected Hispanics with Pancytopenia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Dec 22; 13(1):ijerph13010038. PMID: 26703689.
      Citations: 7     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    16. Tossas-Milligan KY, Hunter-Mellado RF, Mayor AM, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Dworkin MS. Late HIV Testing in a Cohort of HIV-Infected Patients in Puerto Rico. P R Health Sci J. 2015 Sep; 34(3):148-54. PMID: 26356739.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    17. Santiago-Rodr?guez EJ, Mayor AM, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Ruiz-Candelaria Y, Hunter-Mellado RF. Anemia in a cohort of HIV-infected Hispanics: prevalence, associated factors and impact on one-year mortality. BMC Res Notes. 2014 Jul 08; 7:439. PMID: 25005803.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    18. Maldonado-Mart?nez G, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, R?os-Olivares E, Mayor AM, Hunter-Mellado RF. HIV/AIDS in the Puerto Rican elderly: immunological changes between gender and body mass index. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2013 Nov; 24(4 Suppl):94-105. PMID: 24241264.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    19. Mayor AM, Fern?ndez DM, Col?n H, Thomas JC, Miranda C, Hunter-Mellado RF. Hepatitis-C multimedia prevention program in poor Hispanic HIV-infected injecting drug users: six months after intervention. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2013 Nov; 24(4 Suppl):29-37. PMID: 24241258.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:HumansCTClinical Trials
    20. Arboleda M, P?rez MF, Fern?ndez D, Usuga LY, Meza M. [Clinical and laboratory profile of Plasmodium vivax malaria patients hospitalized in Apartad?, Colombia]. Biomedica. 2012 Mar; 32 Suppl 1:58-67. PMID: 23235815.
      Citations: 11     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    21. Mayor, A., Ruiz, Y., Fernández, D., Hunter, R. . HIV/AIDS Associated Malignant Disorders: Role of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. Immunosuppression-Role in Health and Diseases. 2012; 433-456.
    22. Fernández, D., Figueroa, W., Miranda, C., Maysonet, J., Mayor, A., Hunter, R. HIV Infection (Book 4). Prevention Strategies for HIV Infection Risk Reduction among Hispanic/Latino Adolescents. 2011; 183-200.
    23. Mayor AM, Fern?ndez Santos DM, Dworkin MS, R?os-Olivares E, Hunter-Mellado RF. Toxoplasmic encephalitis in an AIDS cohort at Puerto Rico before and after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 May; 84(5):838-41. PMID: 21540399.
      Citations: 9     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    24. Figueroa-Cosme WI, Miranda C, Fernandez DM, Maysonet J, Ramon RO. Gender differences in social and developmental factors affecting Puerto Rican adolescents during the early stage. Bol Asoc Med P R. 2010 Jul-Sep; 102(3):35-41. PMID: 23875519.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    25. Miranda C, Fernandez DM, Ramon RO, Vel?zquez M, Mayor AM, Hunter-Mellado RF. Changes in the socio-demographics, risk behaviors, clinical and immunological profile of a cohort of the Puerto Rican population living with HIV: an update of the Retrovirus Research Center (1992-2008). Bol Asoc Med P R. 2010 Jul-Sep; 102(3):45-51. PMID: 23875520.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    26. Fern?ndez Santos DM, Figueroa-Cosme WI, G?mez Mde L, Maysonet-Cruz J, Miranda-D?az C, Sept?lveda-Santiago M, R?os-Olivares E, Hunter-Mellado RF. Changes in developmental factors and HIV risk behaviors among early adolescents in Puerto Rico. Ethn Dis. 2010; 20(1 Suppl 1):S1-122-6. PMID: 20521399.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    27. Mayor AM, Fern?ndez DM, Col?n HM, Thomas JC, Hunter-Mellado RE. The effectiveness evaluation of a multimedia hepatitis C prevention program for Hispanic HIV-infected individuals. Ethn Dis. 2010; 20(1 Suppl 1):S1-158-62. PMID: 20521407.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    28. B?ez Feliciano DV, G?mez MA, Fern?ndez-Santos DM, Quintana R, Rios-Olivares E, Hunter-Mellado RF. Profile of Puerto Rican HIV/AIDS patients with early and non-early initiation of injection drug use. Ethn Dis. 2008; 18(2 Suppl 2):S2-99-104. PMID: 18646329.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    29. Cruz-Amy M, Serrano J, Labrador I, Hernandez D, Fernandez DM, Quintana R, Hunter-Mellado RF. Changes in profile and colorectal cancer stage over 15 years in Puerto Rico. Ethn Dis. 2008; 18(2 Suppl 2):S2-128-31. PMID: 18646334.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    30. Fern?ndez DM, Figueroa WI, G?mez Mde L, Maysonet J, Olivares ER, Hunter RF. Changes in HIV/AIDS knowledge among early adolescents in Puerto Rico. Ethn Dis. 2008; 18(2 Suppl 2):S2-146-50. PMID: 18646338.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    31. Mayor AM, Fern?ndez DM, Col?n HM, Thomas JC, Hunter-Mellado RF. The feasibility and acceptability of a multimedia hepatitis C prevention program for Hispanic HIV-infected persons. Ethn Dis. 2008; 18(2 Suppl 2):S2-195-9. PMID: 18646348.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    32. B?ez-Feliciano DV, Quintana R, G?mez MA, Fern?ndez DM, Vel?zquez M, Olivares E, Le?n Valiente C, Mayor AM, Hunter-Mellado RF. Trends in the HIV and AIDS epidemic in a Puerto Rican cohort of patients: 1992-2005. Bol Asoc Med P R. 2006 Jul-Sep; 98(3):174-83. PMID: 19610556.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    33. Mayor AM, Gomez MA, Fernandez DM, Rios-Olivares E, Thomas JC, Hunter RF. Morbidity and mortality profile of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with and without hepatitis C co-infection. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Feb; 74(2):239-45. PMID: 16474077.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    34. B?ez-Feliciano DV, Thomas JC, G?mez MA, Miranda S, Fern?ndez DM, Vel?zquez M, R?os-Olivares E, Hunter-Mellado RF. Changes in the AIDS epidemiologic situation in Puerto Rico following health care reform and the introduction of HAART. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2005 Feb; 17(2):92-101. PMID: 15826386.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    35. Fern?ndez DM, G?mez Mde L, Figueroa W, Vel?zquez M, B?ez DV, R?os-Olivares E, Hunter RF. A comparison of the sociodemographic, risk-behavior, and substance-abuse profile of young vs older HIV-infected Puerto Rican patients. Ethn Dis. 2005; 15(4 Suppl 5):S5-25-9. PMID: 16315378.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    36. Amill A, G?mez Mde L, Fern?ndez DM, Bangdiwala SI, R?os E, Hunter RF. Changing profiles of injecting drug users with AIDS in a Hispanic population. Addiction. 2004 Sep; 99(9):1147-56. PMID: 15317635.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    37. Fern?ndez DM, G?mez MA, Mayor AM, G?mez O, Hunter RF. Survival of AIDS according to injecting drug use among Puerto Rican AIDS patients. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2001 Nov; 47(7):1121-7. PMID: 11838960.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    38. Gomez MA, Fernandez DM, Otero JF, Miranda S, Hunter R. The shape of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Puerto Rico. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2000 Jun; 7(6):377-83. PMID: 10949898.
      Citations: 10     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    39. Fernandez DM, G?mez MA, Velazquez M, Mini?o A, Hunter R. Psychological and behavioral issues of a cohort of Puerto Rican HIV/AIDS patients. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 1997 Nov; 43(7):1115-22. PMID: 9449545.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    40. G?mez MA, Fernandez DM, Hunter R. Psycho social and clinical spectrum of HIV/AIDS injecting drug users in Bayam?n, Puerto Rico. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 1997 Nov; 43(7):1145-52. PMID: 9449549.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
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