John Koethe, MD, MSCI

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Trials, Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Nutrition

Countries: Haiti, Zambia

Dr. Koethe is Associate Professor in Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Director of the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research, and a physician and scientist in the Veterans Health Administration. 

He completed his fellowship in infectious diseases and joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2010. He served as an NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow in Zambia during the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral therapy in Southern Africa, followed by a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. Dr. Koethe’s research focus is the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic comorbidities in persons with HIV (PWH), and his work is supported by consistent NIH R01 and Veterans Affairs Merit funding. He leads several large studies to characterize the health consequences of obesity among persons with HIV, factors influencing weight gain on antiretroviral therapy, and how HIV-related changes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue immune environment contribute to insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and ectopic fat deposition in the viscera, liver and other organs. 

He has led multiple epidemiologic analyses in the IeDEA Network demonstrating the rising burden of obesity among PWH and factors affecting weight gain on antiretroviral therapy, as well as clinical trials in the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) network. Dr. Koethe has a strong commitment to the career development of early career investigators and served as the Program Director of the Vanderbilt Scholars in HIV and Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Research (V-SCHoLARS) K12 program. He has served as primary mentor to over 20 trainees, several of whom are now faculty at leading academic research institutions or members of the CDC and other government health agencies.

Education

MD, Yale University 
MSCI, Vanderbilt University