Kirsten Balano, PharmD

Kirsten Balano, Pharm D has contributed her clinical HIV pharmacist expertise in a variety of clinical, educational, and program development settings. Dr. Balano has been involved in the clinical care of patients since 1991 through work at San Francisco General Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient HIV programs. Currently, she directs the client-centered adherence program for the Vista Community Health Center’s HIV Network in Sonoma County. Dr. Balano received her PharmD degree from the University of California, San Francisco in 1991 and since that time has focused her career on training and education of HIV/AIDS providers. She has created training curriculum and programs for HIV consultation, HIV clinical pharmacy; additionally she has contributed to and edited clinical manuals for the AIDS Education and Training Centers locally and nationally. Her primary clinical, educational, and research interests are in the areas of motivational interviewing, interactive training modalities, interprofessional learning environments, adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy, drug interactions, medication errors, and adverse effects. Dr. Balano is the Program Director for the North Bay Advanced Pharmaceutical Program Experiences (APPE) for 4th-year UCSF pharmacy students. In this role, she actively mentors student pharmacists in their APPE year, precepts them in their ambulatory care clinics and HIV electives, and creates preceptor development programs for the preceptors working with UCSF student pharmacists in the North Bay.