Shira Shafir

About Dr. Shafir

Dr. Shira Shafir graduated with an MPH in Infectious Diseases from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Epidemiology from UCLA.  After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in Global Health at UCLA, she joined the faculty of the department of epidemiology in 2007. Dr. Shafir teaches an undergraduate course in the Foundations of Public Health as well as graduate courses in introduction to epidemiology, neglected tropical diseases, principles of control of infectious diseases, epidemiology of foodborne disease and responsible conduct of research in global health and she was voted Professor of the Year by the Public Health Students Association for several years in a row. Until 2013, Dr. Shafir was the assistant director of the Center for Global and Immigrant Health and also collaborates with the Center for Public Health and Disasters. Her research interests include parasitic diseases and the use of serosurveys to establish the epidemiologic parameters of infectious agents.  In 2011, Dr. Shafir was appointed as the Faculty Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Ethics and charged with the creation and administration of a campus-wide program in responsible conduct of research. Following several years working in Social Innovation and Impact in the Private Sector, she returned full-time to FSPH in 2018 when she took on the responsibility as Director of the MPH for Health Professionals. She is a member of the leadership team of the Virtual Training Academy that supports the State of California’s response to emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.

Education

  • PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
  • MPH, University of California, Berkeley
  • BS, Loyola Marymount University

Related Tags

Honors, Publications, and Positions

  • Selected Honors

    Faculty Member of Distinction, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 2014-2019

    Professor of the Year, UCLA Public Health Students Association, 2010-2013

  • Selected Publications

     

    1. Westfall M, Forster M, Golston O, Taylor KD, White K, Reid MJA, Dorian A, Prelip ML and Shafir S (2022) Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? Front. Public Health 10:857674. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.857674 
    2. Beymer, MR., Nichols, JN., Watkins, EY., Jarvis, BP., Ambrose, JF., Shafir, SC., Jeffrey, DD.,  ““A Double-Edged Risk” – Suicide Behavior among Heterosexual, Gay/Lesbian, and Bisexual Service Members in the United States Military.” Medical Surveillance Monthly Report.  In Press.
    3. Olivia Golston, Michael Prelip, Debbie Bain Brickley, Anne Cass, Lisa Chen, Alina Dorian, Alice Gandelman, Chris Keh, Andrew Maher, Roger Myrick, Michael J. A. Reid, Karen White, Rachel Willard-Grace, and Shira Shafir, 2021: “Establishment and Evaluation of a Large Contact-Tracing and Case Investigation Virtual Training Academy.” American Journal of Public Health 111, 1934_1938, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306468
    4. Brickley DB, Forster M, Alonis A, Antonyan E, Chen L, DiGiammarino A, Dorian A, Dunn C, Gandelman A, Grasso M, Kiureghian A, Maher AD, Malan H, Mejia P, Peare A, Prelip M, Shafir S, White K, Willard-Grace R and Reid M. “California’s COVID-19 Virtual Training Academy: Rapid Scale-Up of a Statewide Contact Tracing and Case Investigation Workforce Training Program.” Front. Public Health 9:706697. 
    5. Westfall M, Forster M, Golston O, Taylor KD, White K, Reid MJA, Dorian A, Prelip ML and Shafir S (2022) Real World Feedback: How Well Did the Virtual Training Academy Prepare California's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Workforce? Front. Public Health 10:857674. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.857674
    6. Beymer, MR., Nichols, JN., Watkins, EY., Jarvis, BP., Ambrose, JF., Shafir, SC., Jeffrey, DD.,  ““A Double-Edged Risk” – Suicide Behavior among Heterosexual, Gay/Lesbian, and Bisexual Service Members in the United States Military.” Medical Surveillance Monthly Report.  In Press.
    7. Olivia Golston, Michael Prelip, Debbie Bain Brickley, Anne Cass, Lisa Chen, Alina Dorian, Alice Gandelman, Chris Keh, Andrew Maher, Roger Myrick, Michael J. A. Reid, Karen White, Rachel Willard-Grace, and Shira Shafir, 2021: “Establishment and Evaluation of a Large Contact-Tracing and Case Investigation Virtual Training Academy.” American Journal of Public Health 111, 1934_1938, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306468
    8. Brickley DB, Forster M, Alonis A, Antonyan E, Chen L, DiGiammarino A, Dorian A, Dunn C, Gandelman A, Grasso M, Kiureghian A, Maher AD, Malan H, Mejia P, Peare A, Prelip M, Shafir S, White K, Willard-Grace R and Reid M. “California’s COVID-19 Virtual Training Academy: Rapid Scale-Up of a Statewide Contact Tracing and Case Investigation Workforce Training Program.” Front. Public Health 9:706697. 
    9. A Balalian A, Berberian A, Chiloyan A, DerSarkissian M, Khachadourian V, Siegel EL, Mehranbod C, Hovsepian V, Deckelbaum RJ, Factor-Litvak P, Daniel S, Shafir S, Dorian A, Hekimian K; “War in Nagorno-Karabakh highlights the vulnerability of displaced populations to COVID-19.” Public Health Working Group for Armenia. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2021 Mar 5. 
    10. Johns MM, Lowry R, Hipp TN, Robin L, Shafir S. “Differences in Adolescent Experiences of Polyvictimization and Suicide Risk by Sexual Minority Status.” J Res Adolesc. 2021 Mar;31(1):240-252.  
    11. Maitino, EM., Shafir, SC, Beymer, MR, Shover, CL, Cunningham, NJ, Flynn, RP, Bolan, RK. (2020) Age at first HIV test for MSM at a community health clinic in Los Angeles, AIDS Care, 32:2, 186-192, DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2019.1683806 
    12. Khuu, D., Eberhard, M., Bristow, B., Javanbakht, M., Ash, L., Shafir, S., Sorvillo, F. 2018. “Risk factors for severe malaria among hospitalized patients in the United States, 2000-2014.” Infection, Disease and Health. 2018. 23(2). 93-106.  
  • Selected Previously Held Positions

    Director of Field Studies, Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health 

    Acting Head of Research and Evaluation, The Trevor Project

    Vice President of Giving, Social Innovation and Impact, TOMS Shoes, LLC

News Features

The time has come for DIY mandates on COVID-19, LA Times 

They tell us how to stay safe. But what do experts do to avoid COVID as holidays loom?, LA Times 

With COVID-19 still raging, advice for parents on navigating back-to-school, UCLA Health 

Why Los Angeles Delayed Enforcing Its Student Vaccine Mandate, NY Times 

LA has imposed one of the US’s strictest vaccine mandates. Will it prevent a Covid surge?, The Guardian