Steven Shoptaw, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and is the Center C0-Director for CHIPTS. He is Professor in the UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Vice Chair of Research in Family Medicine. Dr. Shoptaw has a portfolio of work that focuses on the treatment of addiction and HIV prevention in the context of addiction in the Western U.S. where stimulant use is the single strongest predictor of HIV transmission. Dr. Shoptaw is a member of the DAIDS-funded, HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) Executive Committee, and Clinical Site Leader for several HPTN studies, including HPTN 061, which documented that high-risk Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have 7% incidence in Los Angeles. As high rates of stimulant and alcohol use link with new infections in his studies, Dr. Shoptaw also is MPI on a 5-year cooperative agreement (U01 DA036267; the MStudy) to establish a cohort of MSM of color to investigate interactions between non-injection use of methamphetamine, cocaine, opiates and binge drinking and HIV transmission dynamics.

Contact: sshoptaw@mednet.ucla.edu

Featured Publications:

1. Okafor, C. N., Ware, D., Kasraian, L., Gustafson, D., Stosor, V., Meanley, S., Shoptaw, S., Haberlen, S., Friedman, M., & Plankey, M. (2025). Understanding Perceived Pill Burden in Older Adults with HIV: Exploring Clinical and Demographic Determinants. AIDS and behavior, 10.1007/s10461-025-04864-y. Advance online publication.

2. Jha, M. K., Ghitza, U. E., Shoptaw, S., Minhajuddin, A., Kuruvila, S., Wakhlu, S., Nunes, E. V., Schmitz, J., Coffin, P. O., Bart, G., Carmody, T., & Trivedi, M. H. (2025). Early Change in Depressive Symptom Severity With Naltrexone-Bupropion Combination and Its Association With Reduction in Methamphetamine Use in ADAPT-2 Trial. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 86(3), 25m15825.

3. Okafor, C. N., Yoon, J. H., Jean-Berluche, D., Mayes, T. L., Shoptaw, S., Trivedi, M. H., Potter, J. S., & Schmitz, J. (2025). Exploring the Impact of Reduction in Methamphetamine Use on Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women: Findings from the ADAPT- 2 Trial. International journal of behavioral medicine, 10.1007/s12529-025-10364-z. Advance online publication.

Last updated: 11/25/2025