Dr. Bogoch’s clinical and research interests are in Tropical Diseases and HIV. He  works with an international and interdisciplinary team that develops and implements innovative diagnostic tools for neglected tropical diseases in resource-constrained settings. He is also a clinician-investigator in the HIV Prevention Unit, with a focus on developing non-occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis delivery models.

Click here to watch Dr. Bogoch's talk at TEDxStouffville.

Study Status: active

Institute: Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

Study Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify which regions of Côte d’Ivoire have the highest rates of typhoid fever.

Background: Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection that affects nearly 12 million people and causes more than 128,000 deaths per year. It primarily impacts communities that do not have access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Testing and monitoring for this disease is expensive. It is often not performed in the countries that have the highest rates of infection. As a result, little is known about which communities are at the greatest risk for typhoid infections in Côte d’Ivoire.

Study Methods: Our team is collecting blood samples from individual people and water samples from the environment in various regions of Côte d’Ivoire. These samples will be tested for typhoid bacteria. The results will determine which communities will most benefit from receiving the new typhoid vaccine. We will work closely with local scientists and public health specialists to help educate them about disease burden and possible vaccine strategies.

Health Conditions: Spinal cord injuries/diseases

Study Status: active

Institute: Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

Study Purpose: This study aims to further improve the mobile microscope developed by our research team by integrating artificial intelligence software that can detect parasitic worm infections.

Background: Parasitic worm infections affect more than 1 billion people worldwide. This most often affects children and those living in poverty. Currently, there are few tools available to people living in low- and middle-income countries to help diagnose parasitic worm infections. These infections can lead to serious health problems if left untreated. To address this problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) often provides entire villages with antiparasitic medication without even testing for the disease. While this approach helps reduce long-term effects for those who are infected, it is expensive and not always the best use of limited resources. Many communities receive unnecessary treatment, while others with high infection rates go untreated. This increases the risk of drug resistance which would be devastating for countries with high infection rates. The WHO has identified the need for better tools to detect and monitor parasite infections as a top research priority.

Study Methods: We have helped develop a portable, handheld, battery-powered microscope mobile phone. This has the ability to “bring the lab to the people” rather than transferring people to a laboratory. This saves time and money. We test these devices in real-world African settings, making improvements to the microscopes as we use them. We are now adding tools (computer vision and machine learning) to help in identifying parasites. This will speed up the process of diagnosing infections. It also does not rely on a human expert for review, which is in short supply in many low-income settings. We test samples from countries where worm infections are common. We then develop and test our diagnostic software and the microscope itself. We will continue to make improvements until we have developed a precise, automatic mobile microscope that accurately detects worm infections.

Health Conditions: Infectious Diseases (HIV/AIDS, TB, etc.)

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Study Status: active

Institute: Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

Study Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand how people use PEP-in-Pocket (PIP) for HIV prevention and compare PIP to other HIV prevention strategies.

Background: HIV infection is most often treated through the use of daily medications. These same medications can also be used to prevent HIV infection in people who do not have HIV but have been exposed to the virus. Two examples of this include Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). PrEP is a daily medication and is recommended for individuals who experience frequent exposures to HIV. PEP is prescribed after someone has had an unexpected exposure to HIV, and only if the exposure happened within the last 72 hours. Both PrEP and PEP are effective in preventing HIV infection. However they must be used correctly and there are challenges with both. People with sporadic HIV exposures may not want or need daily PrEP but accessing PEP within 72 hours of an exposure can be difficult, and often requires a visit to the emergency department. To overcome these challenges, we developed PEP-in-Pocket (PIP). PIP is an HIV prevention approach for individuals who experience fewer than five HIV exposures per year. Individuals using PIP are advised to fill a prescription for PEP and keep the medications available so they can start taking them right away if they have an exposure to HIV. They are also advised to schedule a follow-up appointment with their PIP provider within one week of starting their medication. PIP offers people with infrequent HIV exposures quick access to HIV prevention medication. This also eliminates the need to visit an emergency department. PIP is now endorsed by the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Study Methods: Individuals currently using PIP complete a brief online questionnaire every 6 months, at which time research staff also record relevant health information, such as medication use and blood test results.

Health Conditions: Infectious Diseases (HIV/AIDS, TB, etc.)

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Dr. Bogoch completed medical school and internal medicine training at the University of Toronto. He then pursued an infectious diseases fellowship through the Harvard Partners program, and an HIV fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He holds a Masters degree in clinical epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Gorgas Memorial Institute and the Instituto de Medicina Tropical in Lima, Peru.

For a list of Dr. Bogoch's publications, please visit PubMed or Scopus.

• Staff Physician, Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, University Health Network
• Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto