Biography:  Stephen E. Karpiak PhD

After earning his PhD in Neurobiology and completing post-graduate work in immunology, Stephen Karpiak joined the faculty of Columbia University Medical School in 1972 with appointments in Neurology & Psychiatry. During his first decade at Columbia he conducted National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research on the immunological etiology of seizure and behavioral disorders.  In his last decade at Columbia he achieved national and international recognition for his research on how the brain adapts and repairs after stroke.

After leaving Columbia (1995), Stephen focused on the delivery of health care for those with HIV/AIDS. As a Program Director at AIDS Project Arizona, he founded the Arizona AIDS Project Wellness Center which effectively combined the treatment modalities of both allopathic and naturopathic physicians.

For the last six years he has been the Director for Research at ACRIA – AIDS Community Research Initiative of America in NYC.

At ACRIA Stephen initiated a historic research effort.  Utilizing a 1000 person cohort his research assessed the little noticed growing aging HIV population in NYC.  The effort is called ROAH (Research on Older Adults with HIV).  ROAH data has alerted health care providers to the unanticipated collision of the management of HIV and the comorbidities of aging.  His research was pivotal in causing the NYC Council to award two years of funding to address the neglected issue of HIV infection in older adults.  These efforts on this issue were instrumental in the US government (Health and Human Services) designating an annual HIV and Aging Awareness Day effective 9/18/2008.