Core Faculty

Director

Barbara Taylor is a Professor of Infectious Diseases, the founding Director of the Center for Chronic Infectious Diseases, and the Assistant Dean for the MD/MPH Program at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Taylor conducts research to improve health outcomes for those living with or at risk for HIV, with a specific focus on Latinx populations, and is an infectious disease specialist with a focus on care of people living with HIV and other viral illnesses. Her current work uses implementation science to address barriers to care for emerging adults with HIV in South Texas and explores risk for STIs in key populations in the Dominican Republic. She is also a principal investigator on the NIH-funded RECOVER study, which works to determine the impact of long COVID in the United States. She is passionate about fostering research that improves the health of Texans and eliminates chronic infectious diseases and their sequelae. In her spare time, she loves walking along the river walk with spouse and her tiny yorkie, reading, and being a sports mom to her two amazing daughters.

Co-director

Dr. Thomas F. Patterson earned his B.A. from Baylor University and his M.D. from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, then completed internship and residency training at Vanderbilt and Yale–New Haven Hospital, followed by an infectious diseases fellowship at Yale, where he also served as an Assistant Professor. He is currently Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Director of the San Antonio Center for Medical Mycology. An expert in opportunistic fungal infections, his clinical and research work focuses on diagnosing and treating fungal diseases in immunocompromised patients, including the development and clinical testing of new antifungal therapies. Dr. Patterson has published and lectured widely, has served on ICAAC and IDSA program committees, is Editor-in-Chief of DoctorFungus.org, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Past President of the Texas Infectious Disease Society.

Professor

Jose Antonio Cadena-Zuluaga is an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He serves as the Medical Director of Infection Control for the South Texas Veterans Healthcare System and chairs the VISN 17 Infection Prevention Subcommittee. His clinical and academic career spans over 15 years, with a focus on hospital epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship, and the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. He completed his medical training in Colombia and pursued residency and fellowship in internal medicine and infectious diseases at UT Health San Antonio, followed by advanced training in hospital epidemiology and quality improvement.

Dr. Cadena-Zuluaga has led and contributed to numerous multicenter clinical trials and federally funded research initiatives. His work spans a wide range of topics including Clostridioides difficile infection, tuberculosis prevention and screening, candidemia, antimicrobial resistance, diagnostic stewardship, surgical site infection prevention, and COVID-19 therapeutics. He has published extensively on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), urinary tract infections, fungal infections, and infection control strategies. His research has appeared in journals such as Clinical Infectious Diseases, JAMA Network Open, and Nature Communications. He has also authored book chapters on device-associated infections, airborne precautions, and tuberculosis control in healthcare settings. As an educator and mentor, he has supported numerous fellows and residents in research and quality improvement projects, and continues to contribute to national efforts in infection prevention and public health preparedness.

Professor of Medicine
Associate Dean, Quality & Lifelong Learning

Patterson graduated from UT Medical School at Houston, trained in internal medicine Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and in infectious diseases Yale University School of Medicine. She completed a Masters in Health Care Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Patterson has more than 30 years of experience in the field of infection prevention, healthcare epidemiology, and quality improvement and has numerous publications in these areas. She is a Past President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and has served on the Board of Directors for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Dr. Patterson completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and now serves as the inaugural medical director for Integrative Medicine at University Health. She has been a consultant to the South Texas Regional Advisory Council for infectious diseases emergency preparedness since 2001.

Professor

Nathan P. Wiederhold, PharmD, is the Frank M. Townsend Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He serves as the Director of the Fungus Testing Laboratory, an academic reference mycology laboratory for clinical diagnostic testing, including antifungal susceptibility testing, fungal species identification, and antifungal therapeutic drug monitoring. Dr. Wiederhold is also highly involved in pre-clinical studies of antifungal agents and assays for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections. In addition to his clinical and research responsibilities, Dr. Wiederhold serves on the editorial boards for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, and ASM Case Reports. He is also currently chair of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Antifungal Susceptibility Subcommittee.

Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine/Associate Professor

Aliza Norwood, M.D., FACP, AAHIVS, is an associate professor in the departments of Population Health and Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School, where she is chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. She is also the medical director at Vivent Health in Austin, a patient-centered medical home that provides HIV prevention services, including PrEP and PEP, and primary care for people living with HIV.

Prior to joining Dell Med, Norwood was the clinical operations director at Bridge HIV in San Francisco, a clinical trial site for international HIV vaccine and HIV prevention research studies, and she provided HIV primary care at the Women’s HIV Program at the University of California, San Francisco. Norwood attended medical school at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio and trained in primary care and internal medicine at UCSF. She is board-certified in internal medicine and has an HIV specialist certification from the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Her interests include HIV primary care, HIV prevention and medical education.

She enjoys soccer, live music, and playing with her two small children.

Associate Professor

Anthony Hartzler is an Associate Professor / Clinical at UT Health San Antonio in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine since 2009.  Dr. Hartzler received his Doctor of Medicine at Case Western University School of Medicine, OH in 2004.  He completed an Internal Medicine residency in 2007 and completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases in 2009 at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.  Dr. Hartzler is American Board of Internal Medicine certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases since 2009 and is a member of the Texas Infectious Disease Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.  He is currently the Vice-Chair of Bloodborne Pathogens Expert Review Panel at University of Texas HSC San Antonio.  Dr. Hartzler also has been the Clinic Director of the MARC Infectious Diseases Clinic since 2016 where he oversees the clinic, working with other infectious diseases physicians, nursing, and administration to ensure timely and quality patient care.

Associate Professor

Dr. Serrano is an Assistant Professor in the Infectious Disease Division at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

She attended Medical School in the “Universidad de Carabobo” in Valencia, Venezuela. She quickly identified her interest in Infectious Diseases during her rural rotation in a remote community near the Orinoco River in Venezuela after treating many patients with tropical infectious diseases. She completed Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Serrano provides treatment for patients with complex infections requiring long term antibiotics in the Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Clinic (OPAT) in the Robert B Green Clinic from the University Hospital System. She actively participates in research projects evaluating outcomes of patients who have received OPAT therapy and is interested in evaluating clinical outcomes of patients with complicated fungal infections.

Associate Professor

Dr. Thompson earned her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Florida and her PhD in Public Health from the University of South Florida. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship focused on women’s reproductive health at the University of South Florida. More recently, Dr. Thompson was an Associate Professor with tenure in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

Dr. Thompson’s research is centered on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and prevention. HPV prevention is critical for reducing cancer morbidity and mortality, specifically cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers. Using mixed-methods approaches, she has examined HPV vaccine decision-making, school-entry policies, and alternative health care providers and settings for HPV prevention. Additionally, her research has focused on reproductive health issues, such as contraceptive needs and access among women experiencing homelessness. Finally, her work involves examining social determinants for maternal and child health issues in our community, such as housing insecurity, early childhood education, and violence.

Dr. Thompson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior and currently serves on the Board of Directors as the Secretary. She is also active in the American Public Health Association, Cancer Alliance of Texas, Texas HPV Coalition, and the Delta Omega Honor Society in Public Health. Finally, she is on the advisory board for the Texas Cancer Registry.

Program Director – Infectious Diseases Fellowship

Dr. Heta Javeri is an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT Health San Antonio. She is also the Fellowship Program Director of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine. She received her MBBS from Mahatma Gandhi Mission Medical College, India in 2005. She completed her Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Matthew Brigmon received his medical degree from La Universidad de la Sabana in Bogota, Colombia. He completed his internal medicine residency at University of South Carolina. He then toiled as a hospitalist for 2 years as an Adjunct Professor at Texas Tech. He completed his Infectious Disease fellowship at Baylor Scott and White and his Critical Care fellowship at UT Health San Antonio. He stayed on at UTHSA and is currently split between Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Critical Care departments as an Assistant Professor. His areas of interests are in novel diagnostics, novel antimicrobial therapies, and ICU antimicrobial stewardship.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Manuel Endo was awarded his Doctorate in Medicine from Universidad Libre in Cali, Colombia. He did his social service training transferring critically ill patients from isolated communities in the Colombian pacific coast to high complexity medical centers located in some of the most prominent cities of Colombia. He completed Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Claudia Castillo Paredes is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT Health San Antonio. She received her MD from Universidad Nacional Federico Villareal, Perú in 2003. She completed her Residency in Internal Medicine at the Prince George’s Hospital Center in Maryland and a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the St. Louis University Hospital in Missouri. At UT Health, she cares for patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings, teaches medical students, residents and infectious diseases fellows, and has been a member of the RECOVER research team.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Mark Henry R. Cedeño is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT Health San Antonio and the Antimicrobial Stewardship Director for the UT Health Medical Specialty and Research Hospital. He received his MD from the American University of the Caribbean, Sint Marteen in 2018. He completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at the Saint Agnes Medical Center in California and his Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Dr. Cedeño focuses on treatment of infections in people who are immunocompromised, such as those who have received transplants or treatment for cancer.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Divya Chandramohan is an Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at UT San Antonio, HIV curriculum integration advisor and ECHO specialist for South-Central AETC. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at UAB, her 2-year Infectious Diseases fellowship and 3^rd year of advanced fellowship/ research at UT San Antonio. Her interests include treating infections in the immunocompromised, transplant patients, and managing long-term antibiotics at the ID Robert B. Green Clinic. Her hobbies include portrait realism. Her art has been published in the Bexar County Medical Society magazine, San Antonio Medicine, and is displayed at the University Hospital in San Antonio.

Assistant Professor

Chukwuemeka N. Okafor is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT San Antonio and a faculty investigator at the Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders. His research focuses on developing and implementing behavioral interventions to improve HIV prevention and treatment outcomes among populations disproportionately affected by HIV and substance use disorders.

Dr. Okafor’s work integrates epidemiology, behavioral science, and clinical trials to address barriers to HIV prevention, including, substance use, and healthcare access. His research spans HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), substance use treatment, behavioral economics, and the integration of evidence-based interventions into real-world settings. He currently leads NIH-funded research evaluating innovative strategies to improve PrEP adherence and reduce methamphetamine use among persons with high HIV risk behaviors. His long-term goal is to advance scalable, equitable interventions that improve the prevention and management of chronic infectious diseases and reduce health disparities in underserved communities.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Anthony Febres Aldana is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT Health San Antonio. He received his MD from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in 2015. He completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Florida and his Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Dr. Febres Aldana has specialized training in caring for people who have received organ or stem cell transplants, and his research focuses on viral reactivations in patients with immunocompromising conditions.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Amber I. Sophus is a social and behavioral research scientist and community-engaged researcher whose work foci include HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, women’s sexual health and well-being, and stigma minimization. Dr. Sophus’s research examines the social, behavioral, and structural factors that influence sexual health decision-making, healthcare engagement, and uptake of evidence-based prevention strategies. Her work is particularly centered on Black women and other underserved populations, with an emphasis on understanding barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). She employs qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and implementation science approaches with the goal to develop, adapt, and evaluate interventions that are responsive to community needs and priorities.

In addition to her work in HIV prevention, Dr. Sophus is expanding her research portfolio to address herpes simplex virus (HSV) related stigma, communication, prevention, and care. Her research seeks to advance strengths-based and stigma-informed approaches that improve sexual health outcomes, patient-provider communication, and quality of life for individuals affected by HSV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Prior to joining UT School of Public Health, Dr. Sophus completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Florida International University’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work. She earned her PhD in Public Health with a concentration in Community-Based and Translational Research from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and holds an MPH from the University of Miami.

Training and Education Specialist

Dr. Camille Spears attended medical school at UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine. She completed an MD and MPH during her time there, and focused her MPH study on HIV stigma’s relationship to clinical outcomes. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Rush in Chicago and subsequently returned to San Antonio to complete her Infectious Disease fellowship at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Spears has special interests in social and economic determinants of health and reducing stigma in healthcare settings. She is currently an assistant professor and clinical faculty at UT Health San Antonio and practices HIV medicine and primary care at the Alamo Area Resource Center clinic.

UT Health San Antonio

Family Nurse Practitioner

Cheryl Farner, FNP, joined UT Health San Antonio in 2020 and currently serves as Clinical Research Faculty within the Center for Chronic Infectious Diseases. Since transitioning to the Division of Infectious Diseases in 2022, she has contributed significantly to the growth and efficiency of the division’s clinical research portfolio.

Cheryl brings expertise in clinic operations, participant-centered research support, protocol implementation, data oversight, and regulatory compliance. She is skilled in developing streamlined workflows, enhancing care coordination for research participants, and supporting multidisciplinary teams in delivering high-quality, evidence-based care. Her work strengthens the Center’s mission to advance research and improve outcomes for individuals affected by chronic infectious diseases.