Kaku So-Armah PhD
Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine
801 Massachusetts Ave | (617) 414-4376kaku@bu.edu
Sections
General Internal Medicine
Centers
Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit
Biography
Dr. So-Armah is an epidemiologist with expertise in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of cohort studies and use of electronic health record data for research. His lab uses molecular biology coupled with data on health behaviors, risk factors and disease diagnoses to identify and explain novel epidemiological associations and identify novel intervention targets. His research focuses on substance use and chronic infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and tuberculosis (TB) and how these exposures impact the heart, liver and lungs.
His work uses data from the Russian cohort of the Uganda Russia Boston Alcohol Network Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS (URBAN ARCH) as well as the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS).
His long-term goal is to translate the growing understanding of the mechanisms of excess HIV-related comorbid disease risk into effective, sustainable interventions for HIV populations bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic.
Education
Epidemiology, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, 2013
Chemistry, BA, Amherst College, 2008
Publications
Oursler KK, Marconi VC, Wang Z, Xu K, Montano M, So-Armah K, Justice AC, Sun YV. Epigenetic Age Acceleration Markers Are Associated With Physiologic Frailty and All-Cause Mortality in People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Feb 08; 76(3):e638-e644. PMID: 35970820.
Published on 2/1/2023Basukala B, Rossi S, Bendiks S, Gnatienko N, Patts G, Krupitsky E, Lioznov D, So-Armah K, Sagar M, Cheng C, Henderson AJ. Virally Suppressed People Living with HIV Who Use Opioids Have Diminished Latency Reversal. Viruses. 2023 Feb 01; 15(2). PMID: 36851631.
Published on 1/2/2023Polanka BM, Gupta SK, So-Armah KA, Freiberg MS, Zapolski TCB, Hirsh AT, Stewart JC. Examining Depression as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease in People with HIV: A Systematic Review. Ann Behav Med. 2023 Jan 02; 57(1):1-25. PMID: 35481701.
Published on 11/5/2022Berg CJ, Patel B, Reynolds M, Tuzovic M, Chew KW, Sico JJ, Bhattacharya D, Butt AA, Lim JK, Bedimo RJ, Brown ST, Gottdiener JS, Warner AL, Freiberg MS, So-Armah KA, Nguyen KL. Left Atrial Mechanics and Diastolic Function Among People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study). Am J Cardiol. 2023 Jan 01; 186:50-57. PMID: 36343446.
Published on 10/25/2022Kundu S, Freiberg MS, Tracy RP, So-Armah KA, Koethe JR, Duncan MS, Tindle HA, Beckman JA, Feinstein MJ, McDonnell WJ, Justice A, Doyle MF. Circulating T Cells and Cardiovascular Risk in People With and Without HIV Infection. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022 Oct 25; 80(17):1633-1644. PMID: 36265959.
Published on 10/11/2022Titanji BK, Lee M, Wang Z, Chen J, Hui Q, Lo Re Iii V, So-Armah K, Justice AC, Xu K, Freiberg M, Gwinn M, Marconi VC, Sun YV. Epigenome-wide association study of biomarkers of liver function identifies albumin-associated DNA methylation sites among male veterans with HIV. Front Genet. 2022; 13:1020871. PMID: 36303554.
Published on 8/1/2022Tindle HA, Freiberg MS, Cheng DM, Gnatienko N, Blokhina E, Yaroslavtseva T, Bendiks S, Patts G, Hahn J, So-Armah K, Stein MD, Bryant K, Lioznov D, Krupitsky E, Samet JH. Effectiveness of Varenicline and Cytisine for Alcohol Use Reduction Among People With HIV and Substance Use: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Aug 01; 5(8):e2225129. PMID: 35930287.
Published on 6/21/2022Titanji BK, Wang Z, Chen J, Hui Q, So-Armah K, Freiberg M, Justice AC, Ke X, Marconi VC, Sun YV. Soluble CD14-associated DNA methylation sites predict mortality among men with HIV infection. AIDS. 2022 Sep 01; 36(11):1563-1571. PMID: 35979830.
Published on 5/6/2022Bahji A, Li Y, Vickers-Smith R, Crystal S, Kerns RD, Gordon KS, Macmadu A, Skanderson M, So-Armah K, Sung ML, Bhondoekhan F, Marshall BDL, Edelman EJ. Self-Reported Cannabis Use and HIV Viral Control among Patients with HIV Engaged in Care: Results from a National Cohort Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 06; 19(9). PMID: 35565045.
Published on 5/5/2022Kholodnaia A, So-Armah K, Cheng D, Gnatienko N, Patts G, Samet JH, Freiberg M, Lioznov D. Impact of illicit opioid use on markers of monocyte activation and systemic inflammation in people living with HIV. PLoS One. 2022; 17(5):e0265504. PMID: 35511802.
Media Mentions
Published on 5/25/2020
4 Questions on HIV and Cardiovascular Disease
Published on 4/4/2019
Depression Plus HIV Can Turn Deadly
View full list of 2 media mentions.