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Roberto B. Vargas, MD

TitleAssociate Professor
InstitutionCharles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
DepartmentInternal Medicine
Address1731 E. 120th Street
Los Angeles CA 90059
PhoneNot Available
FaxNot Available
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    Overview
    overview
    I am an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research (GIM-HSR) at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an Associate Natural Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Germane to this effort I am currently conducting community partnered research to develop interventions to reduce disparities in kidney disease, cancer and social determinants of health. This includes employing a novel approach to CBPR developed by South Los Angeles community members and researchers from Charles Drew University and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This approach creates a four step framework for community-academic partnered research: 1) identifying a shared public health problem 2) convening stakeholder groups 3) exchange of knowledge through conferences and then 4) development of work groups from the conferences that expand the pool of community level participants who will contribute to developing action plans and interventions. I?ve described the use of these methods for my recent work on chronic kidney disease in the manuscript in Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease. I am also applying these methods to my recent work with UCLA colleague, Dr. Arleen Brown, CERP Co-Chair, and the Los Angeles Urban League on a California Endowment funded project examining the health conditions in a 70-block area of South Los Angeles. I am also conducting similar community-partnered research to understand and reduce cancer disparities as the academic co-leader of the community core for the NCI funded UCLA and Charles Drew University U54 Partnership for Cancer Research, Prevention and Control.

    Research
    research activities and funding
    R24MD007991     (VARGAS, ROBERTO BALBINO)Jan 16, 2013 - Nov 30, 2018
    NIH
    A Community Collaborative Effort to Reduce the Burden of Heart Disease in A Safe*
    Role: Principal Investigator
    R25MD007610     (VARGAS, ROBERTO BALBINO)Sep 19, 2012 - Jun 30, 2027
    NIH
    The CDU-Clinical Research Education and Career Development Program
    Role: Principal Investigator

    Bibliographic
    selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Matsuo K, Enserro DM, Wright JD, Roman LD, Powell MA, Miller DS, Nagel CI, Thaker PH, Mannel RS, Stuckey AR, Guntupalli SR, Sukumvanich P, Geller MA, Vargas R, Konecny GE, Warshal DP, Tewari KS, Spirtos NM, Pothuri B, Creasman WT, Mutch DG. Prospective assessment of prognostic significance of malignant peritoneal cytology in endometrial cancer: An NRG Oncology / Gynecologic Oncology Group study on GOG-210 protocol. Gynecol Oncol. 2025 Oct; 201:184-194. PMID: 40907199; PMCID: PMC12443481.
      Citations:    Fields:    
    2. Cosgrove CM, Zamarin D, Conejo-Garcia JR, Hacker KE, Vargas R, Konstantinopoulos PA, Mahdi HS, Gaillard S, Markovina S, Kohn EC, Adams SF. A working group report from the 2024 National Cancer Institute / Gynecologic Cancer Steering Committee endometrial cancer clinical trials planning meeting: refining the approach to endometrial cancer in the immunotherapy era. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Sep 01; 117(9):1774-1783. PMID: 40211092.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    3. Clements A, Enserro D, Strickland KC, Previs R, Matei D, Mutch D, Powell M, Klopp A, Miller DS, Small W, DiSilvestro P, Spirtos N, Cosgrove C, Sfakianos G, Liu JR, Vargas R, Shahin M, Corr B, Dessources K, Ueland F, Warshal D, Gillen J, Secord AA. Molecular classification of endometrial cancers (EC) and association with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) outcomes: Ancillary analysis of GOG-0258. Gynecol Oncol. 2025 Feb; 193:119-129. PMID: 39854806; PMCID: PMC11929956.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:HumansCellsCTClinical Trials
    4. Liu J, Berchuck A, Backes FJ, Cohen J, Grisham R, Leath CA, Martin L, Matei D, Miller DS, Robertson S, Barroilhet L, Uppal S, Hendrickson AW, Gershenson DM, Gray HJ, Hakam A, Jain A, Konecny GE, Moroney J, Ratner E, Schorge J, Thaker PH, Werner TL, Zsiros E, Behbakht K, Chen LM, DeRosa M, Eisenhauer EL, Leiserowitz G, Litkouhi B, McHale M, Percac-Lima S, Rodabaugh K, Vargas R, Jones F, Kovach E, Hang L, Ramakrishnan S, Alvarez RD, Armstrong DK. NCCN Guidelines? Insights: Ovarian Cancer/Fallopian Tube Cancer/Primary Peritoneal Cancer, Version 3.2024. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2024 10; 22(8):512-519. PMID: 39413835.
      Citations: 18     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    5. Cobb S, Schrode K, Siddiq H, Boyce S, Taylor KD, Vargas R, Harawa N. An Examination of Responses to COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Efforts in Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx Communities of Los Angeles. Health Equity. 2024; 8(1):493-504. PMID: 40125372; PMCID: PMC11347877.
      Citations:    
    6. Adinkrah EK, Bazargan S, Cobb S, Kibe LW, Vargas R, Waller J, Sanchez H, Bazargan M. Mobilizing faith-based COVID-19 health ambassadors to address COVID-19 health disparities among African American older adults in under-resourced communities: A hybrid, community-based participatory intervention. PLoS One. 2024; 19(2):e0285963. PMID: 38358995; PMCID: PMC10868749.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    7. Santiago LH, Vargas RB, Pipolo DO, Pan D, Tiwari S, Dehghan K, Bazargan-Hejazi S. Predictors of hospital readmissions in adult patients with sickle cell disease. Am J Blood Res. 2023; 13(6):189-197. PMID: 38223313; PMCID: PMC10784118.
      Citations: 1     
    8. Rosenthal MD, Schmidt LA, Vargas R, Blacker LS, McCulloch CE, Ezennia J, Patel AI. Drink Tap: A Multisector Program to Promote Water Access and Intake in San Francisco Parks. Prev Chronic Dis. 2023 08 24; 20:E74. PMID: 37616470; PMCID: PMC10457103.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    9. Ekwegh T, Cobb S, Adinkrah EK, Vargas R, Kibe LW, Sanchez H, Waller J, Ameli H, Bazargan M. Factors Associated with Telehealth Utilization among Older African Americans in South Los Angeles during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 02 02; 20(3). PMID: 36768041; PMCID: PMC9915549.
      Citations: 7     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    10. Rios-Fetchko F, Carson M, Gonzalez Ramirez M, Butler JZ, Vargas R, Cabrera A, Gallegos-Castillo A, LeSarre M, Liao M, Woo K, Ellis R, Liu K, Doyle B, Leung L, Grumbach K, Fernandez A. COVID-19 Vaccination Perceptions Among Young Adults of Color in the San Francisco Bay Area. Health Equity. 2022; 6(1):836-844. PMID: 36479186; PMCID: PMC9712038.
      Citations: 5     
    11. Armstrong DK, Alvarez RD, Backes FJ, Bakkum-Gamez JN, Barroilhet L, Behbakht K, Berchuck A, Chen LM, Chitiyo VC, Cristea M, DeRosa M, Eisenhauer EL, Gershenson DM, Gray HJ, Grisham R, Hakam A, Jain A, Karam A, Konecny GE, Leath CA, Leiserowitz G, Liu J, Martin L, Matei D, McHale M, McLean K, Miller DS, Percac-Lima S, Remmenga SW, Schorge J, Stewart D, Thaker PH, Vargas R, Hendrickson AW, Werner TL, Zsiros E, Dwyer MA, Hang L. NCCN Guidelines? Insights: Ovarian Cancer, Version 3.2022. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 09; 20(9):972-980. PMID: 36075393.
      Citations: 175     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    12. Butler JZ, Carson M, Rios-Fetchko F, Vargas R, Cabrera A, Gallegos-Castillo A, LeSarre M, Liao M, Woo K, Ellis R, Liu K, Burra A, Ramirez M, Doyle B, Leung L, Fernandez A, Grumbach K. COVID-19 vaccination readiness among multiple racial and ethnic groups in the San Francisco Bay Area: A qualitative analysis. PLoS One. 2022; 17(5):e0266397. PMID: 35550627; PMCID: PMC9098010.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    13. Venegas-Murillo AL, Bazargan M, Grace S, Cobb S, Vargas R, Givens S, Li-Sarain S, Delgado C, Villatoro J, Goodall A, Tesimale R, Ramirez S, Brown M, Uyanne J, Assari S. Mitigating COVID-19 Risk and Vaccine Hesitancy Among Underserved African American and Latinx Individuals with Mental Illness Through Mental Health Therapist-Facilitated Discussions. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022 May 09. PMID: 35534682; PMCID: PMC9083473.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    14. Carr C, Son J, Yao M, Priyadarshini A, Marquard J, Vargas R, Michener C, AlHilli MM. Clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes of endometrial Cancer patients with mismatch repair deficiency in the era of universal Lynch syndrome screening. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 12; 159(3):712-720. PMID: 33046272.
      Citations: 9     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    15. Spinicci M, Gabrielli S, Rojo D, Gamboa H, Macchioni F, Mantella A, Lara Y, Villagr?n AL, Roselli M, Strohmeyer M, Cinelli C, Corti G, Bartalesi F, Vargas R, Vedia A, Castellanos P, Monasterio J, Cancrini G, Bartoloni A. Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the human population of the Bolivian Chaco: four serosurveys over a 26-year period (1987-2013). J Infect Dev Ctries. 2020 02 29; 14(2):199-206. PMID: 32146455.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    16. Norris KC, Duru OK, Alicic RZ, Daratha KB, Nicholas SB, McPherson SM, Bell DS, Shen JI, Jones CR, Moin T, Waterman AD, Neumiller JJ, Vargas RB, Bui AAT, Mangione CM, Tuttle KR, CURE-CKD investigators. Rationale and design of a multicenter Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and at-risk for CKD electronic health records-based registry: CURE-CKD. BMC Nephrol. 2019 11 20; 20(1):416. PMID: 31747918; PMCID: PMC6868861.
      Citations: 13     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    17. Bazargan M, Mian N, Cobb S, Vargas R, Assari S. Insomnia Symptoms among African-American Older Adults in Economically Disadvantaged Areas of South Los Angeles. Brain Sci. 2019 Nov 02; 9(11). PMID: 31684049; PMCID: PMC6896036.
      Citations: 9     
    18. Bruce MA, Martins D, Duru K, Beech BM, Sims M, Harawa N, Vargas R, Kermah D, Nicholas SB, Brown A, Norris KC. Church attendance, allostatic load and mortality in middle aged adults. PLoS One. 2017; 12(5):e0177618. PMID: 28520779; PMCID: PMC5433740.
      Citations: 20     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    19. Payán DD, Sloane DC, Illum J, Vargas RB, Lee D, Galloway-Gilliam L, Lewis LB. Catalyzing Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions in Safety Net Settings: A Clinical-Community Partnership in South Los Angeles. Health Promot Pract. 2017 07; 18(4):586-597. PMID: 28443342; PMCID: PMC5593854.
      Citations: 11     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    20. Brown AF, Morris DM, Kahn KL, Sankaré IC, King KM, Vargas R, Lucas-Wright A, Jones LF, Flowers A, Jones FU, Bross R, Banner D, Del Pino HE, Pitts OL, Zhang L, Porter C, Madrigal SK, Vassar SD, Vangala S, Liang LJ, Martinez AB, Norris KC. The Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative: Rationale and Design. Ethn Dis. 2016 01 21; 26(1):123-32. PMID: 26843805; PMCID: PMC4738849.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    21. Vargas R. How health navigators legitimize the Affordable Care Act to the uninsured poor. Soc Sci Med. 2016 09; 165:263-270. PMID: 26806315.
      Citations: 10     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    22. Bazargan M, Lucas-Wright A, Jones L, Vargas R, Vadgama JV, Evers-Manly S, Maxwell AE. Understanding Perceived Benefit of Early Cancer Detection: Community-Partnered Research with African American Women in South Los Angeles. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015 Sep; 24(9):755-61. PMID: 26131760; PMCID: PMC4589099.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    23. Sankaré IC, Bross R, Brown AF, Del Pino HE, Jones LF, Morris DM, Porter C, Lucas-Wright A, Vargas R, Forge N, Norris KC, Kahn KL. Strategies to Build Trust and Recruit African American and Latino Community Residents for Health Research: A Cohort Study. Clin Transl Sci. 2015 Oct; 8(5):412-20. PMID: 26094679; PMCID: PMC4626334.
      Citations: 49     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    24. King KM, Morris D, Jones L, Lucas-Wright A, Jones F, Del Pino HE, Porter C, Vargas R, Kahn K, Brown AF, Norris KC, HCNI Study Group. The Los Angeles Healthy Community Neighborhood Initiative: A Ten Year Experience in Building and Sustaining a Successful Community-Academic Partnership. HSOA J Community Med Public Health Care. 2015; 2(2). PMID: 27747314; PMCID: PMC5061128.
      Citations: 7     
    25. Vargas R, Rauh-Hain JA, Clemmer J, Clark RM, Goodman A, Growdon WB, Schorge JO, Del Carmen MG, Horowitz NS, Boruta DM. Tumor size, depth of invasion, and histologic grade as prognostic factors of lymph node involvement in endometrial cancer: a SEER analysis. Gynecol Oncol. 2014 May; 133(2):216-20. PMID: 24548726.
      Citations: 56     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    26. Lucas-Wright A, Bazargan M, Jones L, Vadgama JV, Vargas R, Sarkissyan M, Smith J, Yazdanshenas H, Maxwell AE. Correlates of perceived risk of developing cancer among African-Americans in South Los Angeles. J Community Health. 2014 Feb; 39(1):173-80. PMID: 24026303; PMCID: PMC3889655.
      Citations: 15     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    27. Vargas R, Maxwell AE, Lucas-Wright A, Bazargan M, Barlett C, Jones F, Brown A, Forge N, Smith J, Vadgamma J, Jones L. A community partnered-participatory research approach to reduce cancer disparities in South Los Angeles. Prog Community Health Partnersh. 2014; 8(4):471-6. PMID: 25727979.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    28. Jones L, Bazargan M, Lucas-Wright A, Vadgama JV, Vargas R, Smith J, Otoukesh S, Maxwell AE. Comparing perceived and test-based knowledge of cancer risk and prevention among Hispanic and African Americans: an example of community participatory research. Ethn Dis. 2013; 23(2):210-6. PMID: 23530303; PMCID: PMC3747224.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    29. Vargas RB, Norris KC. Kidney disease progression and screening cost-effectiveness among African Americans. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Dec; 23(12):1915-6. PMID: 23160510; PMCID: PMC3507374.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    30. Murali S, Arab L, Vargas R, Rastogi A, Ang A, Shetty N. Internet-based tools to assess diet and provide feedback in chronic kidney disease stage IV: a pilot study. J Ren Nutr. 2013 Mar; 23(2):e33-42. PMID: 22819321.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    31. Bharmal N, Kennedy D, Jones L, Lee-Johnson C, Morris D, Caldwell B, Brown A, Houston T, Meeks C, Vargas R, Franco I, Razzak AR, Brown AF. Through our eyes: exploring African-American men's perspective on factors affecting transition to manhood. J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Feb; 27(2):153-9. PMID: 21910088; PMCID: PMC3270242.
      Citations: 8     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    32. Johnston MF, Hays RD, Subramanian SK, Elashoff RM, Axe EK, Li JJ, Kim I, Vargas RB, Lee J, Yang L, Hui KK. Patient education integrated with acupuncture for relief of cancer-related fatigue randomized controlled feasibility study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011 Jun 25; 11:49. PMID: 21703001; PMCID: PMC3144009.
      Citations: 39     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    33. Rettig RA, Vargas RB, Norris KC, Nissenson AR. Chronic Kidney Disease-A Quiet Revolution in Nephrology: Six Case Studies. Rand Health Q. 2011; 1(1):9. PMID: 28083165; PMCID: PMC4945216.
      Citations: 1     
    34. Rettig R, Vargas R, Norris K, Nissenson AR. A 'quiet revolution' in nephrology. Nephrol News Issues. 2010 Nov; 24(12):18-9, 23. PMID: 21189749.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    
    35. Oh WK, Vargas R, Jacobus S, Leitzel K, Regan MM, Hamer P, Pierce K, Brown-Shimer S, Carney W, Ali SM, Kantoff PW, Lipton A. Elevated plasma tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 levels predict decreased survival in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients. Cancer. 2011 Feb 01; 117(3):517-25. PMID: 20862742.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    36. Schernhammer E, Haidinger G, Waldhör T, Vargas R, Vutuc C. A study of trends in beliefs and attitudes toward cancer. J Cancer Educ. 2010 Jun; 25(2):211-6. PMID: 20432076.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    37. Cruz LS, Vargas R, Lopes AA. Snakebite envenomation and death in the developing world. Ethn Dis. 2009; 19(1 Suppl 1):S1-42-6. PMID: 19484874.
      Citations: 37     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    38. Cruz LS, Vargas R, Lopes AA. Leptospirosis: a worldwide resurgent zoonosis and important cause of acute renal failure and death in developing nations. Ethn Dis. 2009; 19(1 Suppl 1):S1-37-41. PMID: 19484873.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    39. Duru OK, Vargas RB, Kermah D, Nissenson AR, Norris KC. High prevalence of stage 3 chronic kidney disease in older adults despite normal serum creatinine. J Gen Intern Med. 2009 Jan; 24(1):86-92. PMID: 18987917; PMCID: PMC2607515.
      Citations: 18     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    40. Vargas RB, Ryan GW, Jackson CA, Rodriguez R, Freeman HP. Characteristics of the original patient navigation programs to reduce disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Cancer. 2008 Jul 15; 113(2):426-33. PMID: 18470906.
      Citations: 50     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    41. Brown AF, Vargas RB, Ang A, Pebley AR. The neighborhood food resource environment and the health of residents with chronic conditions: the food resource environment and the health of residents. J Gen Intern Med. 2008 Aug; 23(8):1137-44. PMID: 18483833; PMCID: PMC2517955.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    42. Vargas RB, Jones L, Terry C, Nicholas SB, Kopple J, Forge N, Griffin A, Louis M, Barba L, Small L, Norris KC, Building Bridges to Optimum Health World Kidney Day Los Angeles 2007 Collaborative. Community-partnered approaches to enhance chronic kidney disease awareness, prevention, and early intervention. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2008 Apr; 15(2):153-61. PMID: 18334240.
      Citations: 7     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    43. Duru OK, Vargas RB, Kermah D, Pan D, Norris KC. Health insurance status and hypertension monitoring and control in the United States. Am J Hypertens. 2007 Apr; 20(4):348-53. PMID: 17386339.
      Citations: 55     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    44. Vargas RB, Mangione CM, Asch S, Keesey J, Rosen M, Schonlau M, Keeler EB. Can a chronic care model collaborative reduce heart disease risk in patients with diabetes? J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Feb; 22(2):215-22. PMID: 17356989; PMCID: PMC1824758.
      Citations: 34     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    45. Vargas RB, Cunningham WE. Evolving trends in medical care-coordination for patients with HIV and AIDS. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2006 Nov; 3(4):149-53. PMID: 17032573.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    46. Martins D, Tareen N, Zadshir A, Pan D, Vargas R, Nissenson A, Norris K. The association of poverty with the prevalence of albuminuria: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Am J Kidney Dis. 2006 Jun; 47(6):965-71. PMID: 16731291; PMCID: PMC3863615.
      Citations: 44     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    47. Vargas RB, Davis RB, McCarthy EP, Li D, Iezzoni LI. Racial and ethnic differences in utilization of health services in patients with diabetes enrolled in medicaid. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2004 Nov; 15(4):562-75. PMID: 15531815.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    48. Vargas RB, Landon BE, Shapiro MF. The future of health services research in academic medicine. Am J Med. 2004 Apr 01; 116(7):503-7. PMID: 15047048.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:Humans
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