Center for Palliative and Supportive Care
Jessica S. Merlin, MD, MBA Print E-mail

Contact

Jessica S. Merlin, MD, MBA
THT 215
1720 2nd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-2041
Voice: 205.934.5191
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Profile

Jessica S. Merlin, MD, MBA was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1996 and attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also received an MBA from the Wharton School. Dr. Merlin stayed on at Penn to complete a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases, and was awarded a Penn Pearls Teaching Award for excellence in medical student education. She then completed a fellowship in Palliative Care at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. During her training, Dr. Merlin developed an interest in palliative care for patients with HIV. In addition to her research in the area, she co-authored a Cases on the Web continuing medical education activity on HIV and pain for the International AIDS Society, founded the HIV special interest group for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and was invited to serve on the Infectious Diseases Society of America's HIV and Pain guidelines panel. Her interests also include palliative care for HIV patients abroad; she has spent time in Botswana doing a palliative care needs assessment for patients with HIV, and in Vietnam training and mentoring HIV providers in palliative care.

Dr. Merlin joined the UAB faculty in August, 2011. Her current research interests are at the intersection of HIV and palliative care. Specifically, she is interested in the impact of chronic pain, alone and in the context of psychiatric illness and substance abuse, on health behaviors and clinical outcomes in patients with HIV.


Professional Memberships

Infectious Diseases Society of America
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine


Clinical/Research Interests

Palliative care, chronic pain, infectious diseases, HIV


Selected Publications

Merlin JS, Morrison G, Gluckman S, Lipschik G, Linkin DR, Lyon S, O'Grady E, Calvert H, Friedman H. Blood and Body Fluid Exposures Among US Medical Students in Botswana. J Gen Intern Med 2011; 26(5): 561-564.

Merlin JS, Morrison G, Gluckman S, Lipschik G, Linkin DR, Lyon S, O'Grady E, Calvert H, Friedman H. Medical Students in Developing Countries. J Gen Intern Med 2011; 26(8):833.

Merlin JS, Cen L, Praestgaard A, Turner M, Obando A, Alpert C, Woolston S, Casarett D, Kostman J, Gross R, Frank I. Pain, Physical, and Psychological Symptoms in Ambulatory HIV Patients in the Current Treatment Era. J Pain Symptom Manage, 2011 Nov 22 [Epub ahead of print].