Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD
Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist in the Women's HIV Program and a Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy.
Since 2004, Dr. Cocohoba has worked with the WHP to provide adherence training and medication consultation for patients and providers. She finds that taking antiretroviral medications is one of the most difficult aspects for patients in the clinic.
She educates patients so that they understand their medicines better, provides training to help patients take their drug regimens more regularly and assists staff members with understanding drug interactions, new medications, adverse effects and antiretroviral resistance.
In addition to her work with the WHP, Dr. Cocohoba also spends time with the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center (NCCC) at San Francisco General Hospital. The NCCC provides clinical consultation to health care providers on HIV management and the management of occupational exposures to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C via two national, toll-free telephone hotlines.
"I think being HIV-positive affects women in different ways than men and that they have very special and specific needs," said Cocohoba. "I hope that my unique role and work with the patients helps alleviate some of the stress and misinformation and helps promote understanding around taking medications."
Dr. Cocohoba is part of the research team of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Her primary research interests are in understanding how and why patients adhere to their HIV medication regimens and determining what interventions can be put into place to help patients better adhere to their medications.
She graduated from the UCSF School of Pharmacy in 2001 with a doctorate in pharmacy and then completed a pharmacy practice residency and specialty residency in HIV/AIDS ambulatory care at UCSF before joining the faculty in 2003. She is the Continuing Education Chair for the Golden Gate Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, as well as a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists and the Project Inform Institutional Review Board.