Christopher Berger, MD

ASST ADJ PROF-HCOMP

Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine

Christopher Berger, MD, MSIMT is an assistant professor in the UCSF Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine, clinically based at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. His research focuses on improving tuberculosis screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs globally through the use of implementation science and human-centered design principles. He works with Dr. Adithya Cattamanchi on projects in the Philippines to improve the diagnostic and clinical tools used in MDR and XDR TB and in Uganda designing improved versions of the globally utilized “Directly Observed Therapy” toolkit. Christopher completed his undergraduate degree in international health at the University of Pittsburgh where he went on complete his MD. He received his master’s in tropical medicine and international health at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. He completed his internal medicine residency and pulmonary/critical care medicine fellowship at UCSF. He is currently completing a masters in Clinical Research at UCSF.

Education
07/2019 - Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
06/2015 - Internal Medicine Residency, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
MD, 05/2012 - Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Masters in Tropical Medicine and International Health, 06/2007 - Tropical Medicine and International Health, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
B.Phil, 12/2006 - International Health, University of Pittsburgh
Websites
Publications

  1. Semitala FC, Kadota JL, Musinguzi A, Welishe F, Nakitende A, Akello L, Kunihira Tinka L, Nakimuli J, Ritar Kasidi J, Bishop O, Nakasendwa S, Baik Y, Patel D, Sammann A, Nahid P, Belknap R, Kamya MR, Handley MA, Phillips PP, Katahoire A, Berger CA, Kiwanuka N, Katamba A, Dowdy DW, Cattamanchi A. Comparison of 3 optimized delivery strategies for completion of isoniazid-rifapentine (3HP) for tuberculosis prevention among people living with HIV in Uganda: A single-center randomized trial. PLoS medicine 2024. PMID: 38377166


  2. Kiwanuka N, Kityamuwesi A, Crowder R, Guzman K, Berger CA, Lamunu M, Namale C, Kunihira Tinka L, Nakate AS, Ggita J, Turimumahoro P, Babirye D, Oyuku D, Patel D, Sammann A, Turyahabwe S, Dowdy DW, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A. Implementation, feasibility, and acceptability of 99DOTS-based supervision of treatment for drug-susceptible TB in Uganda. PLOS digital health 2023. PMID: 37390077


  3. Sung J, Musinguzi A, Kadota JL, Baik Y, Nabunje J, Welishe F, Bishop O, Berger CA, Katahoire A, Nakitende A, Nakimuli J, Akello L, Kasidi JR, Kunihira Tinka L, Kamya MR, Sohn H, Kiwanuka N, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A, Dowdy DW, Semitala FC. Understanding patient-level costs of weekly isoniazid-rifapentine (3HP) among people living with HIV in Uganda. The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 2023. PMID: 37231600


  4. Leddy A, Ggita J, Berger CA, Kityamuwesi A, Sanyu AN, Tinka LK, Crowder R, Turyahabwe S, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A. Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing a Digital Adherence Technology for Tuberculosis Treatment Supervision in Uganda: Qualitative Study. Journal of medical Internet research 2023. PMID: 37252774


  5. Huddart S, Geocaniga-Gaviola DM, Crowder R, Lim AR, Lopez E, Valdez CL, Berger CA, Destura R, Kato-Maeda M, Cattamanchi A, Garfin AMC. Adherence trajectory as an on-treatment risk indicator among drug-resistant TB patients in the Philippines. PloS one 2022. PMID: 36346814


  6. Semitala FC, Kadota JL, Musinguzi A, Nabunje J, Welishe F, Nakitende A, Akello L, Bishop O, Patel D, Sammann A, Nahid P, Belknap R, Kamya MR, Handley MA, Phillips PPJ, Katahoire A, Berger CA, Kiwanuka N, Katamba A, Dowdy DW, Cattamanchi A. Completion of isoniazid-rifapentine (3HP) for tuberculosis prevention among people living with HIV: Interim analysis of a hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation randomized trial. TO REMOVE 2021. PMID: 34914696


  7. Semitala FC, Musinguzi A, Ssemata J, Welishe F, Nabunje J, Kadota JL, Berger CA, Katamba A, Kiwanuka N, Kamya MR, Dowdy D, Cattamanchi A, Katahoire AR. Acceptance and completion of rifapentine-based TB preventive therapy (3HP) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Kampala, Uganda-patient and health worker perspectives. Volume 2 of Issue 1. Implementation science communications 2021. PMID: 34193311


  8. Cattamanchi A, Crowder R, Kityamuwesi A, Kiwanuka N, Lamunu M, Namale C, Tinka LK, Nakate AS, Ggita J, Turimumahoro P, Babirye D, Oyuku D, Berger C, Tucker A, Patel D, Sammann A, Turyahabwe S, Dowdy D, Katamba A. Digital adherence technology for tuberculosis treatment supervision: A stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial in Uganda. TO REMOVE 2021. PMID: 33956802


  9. Patel D, Berger CA, Kityamuwesi A, Ggita J, Kunihira Tinka L, Turimumahoro P, Feler J, Chehab L, Chen AZ, Gupta N, Turyahabwe S, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A, Sammann A. Iterative Adaptation of a Tuberculosis Digital Medication Adherence Technology to Meet User Needs: Qualitative Study of Patients and Health Care Providers Using Human-Centered Design Methods. Volume 4 of Issue 12. JMIR formative research 2020. PMID: 33289494


  10. Crowder R, Kityamuwesi A, Kiwanuka N, Lamunu M, Namale C, Tinka LK, Nakate AS, Ggita J, Turimumahoro P, Babirye D, Oyuku D, Berger CA, Tucker A, Patel D, Sammann A, Dowdy D, Stavia T, Cattamanchi A, Katamba A. Study protocol and implementation details for a pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial of a digital adherence technology to facilitate tuberculosis treatment completion. Volume 10 of Issue 11. BMJ open 2020. PMID: 33247012


  11. Berger C, Patel D, Kityamuwesi A, Ggita J, Tinka LK, Turimumahoro P, Neville K, Chehab L, Chen AZ, Gupta N, Turyahabwe S, Katamba A, Cattamanchi A, Sammann A. Opportunities to improve digital adherence technologies and TB care using human-centered design. TO REMOVE 2020. PMID: 33126949


  12. Berger CA, Kityamuwesi A, Crowder R, Lamunu M, Kunihira Tinka L, Ggita J, Sanyu Nakate A, Namale C, Oyuku D, Chen K, Turyahabwe S, Cattamanchi A, Katamba A. Variation in tuberculosis treatment outcomes and treatment supervision practices in Uganda. Volume 21. Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases 2020. PMID: 33204851


  13. Kadota JL, Musinguzi A, Nabunje J, Welishe F, Ssemata JL, Bishop O, Berger CA, Patel D, Sammann A, Katahoire A, Nahid P, Belknap R, Phillips PPJ, Namusobya J, Kamya M, Handley MA, Kiwanuka N, Katamba A, Dowdy D, Semitala FC, Cattamanchi A. Protocol for the 3HP Options Trial: a hybrid type 3 implementation-effectiveness randomized trial of delivery strategies for short-course tuberculosis preventive therapy among people living with HIV in Uganda. Implementation science : IS 2020. PMID: 32787925


  14. Berger CA, Alipanah N, Kheir F, Ruminjo JK, Nahid P, Thomson C. Summary for Clinicians: 2019 Clinical Practice Guideline Summary for the Treatment of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2020. PMID: 32464069


  15. Kadota JL, Katamba A, Musinguzi A, Welishe F, Nabunje J, Ssemata JL, Berger CA, Kamya MR, Namusobya J, Semitala FC, Cattamanchi A, Dowdy DW. Willingness to accept reimbursement for visits to an HIV clinic for tuberculosis preventive therapy. The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 2020. PMID: 32718409


  16. Vanderburg S, Alipanah N, Crowder R, Yoon C, Wang R, Thakur N, Slown K, Shete PB, Rofael M, Metcalfe JZ, Merrifield C, Marquez C, Malcolm K, Lipnick M, Jain V, Gomez A, Burns G, Brown LB, Berger C, Auyeung V, Cattamanchi A, Hendrickson CM. Management and Outcomes of Critically-Ill Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia at a Safety-net Hospital in San Francisco, a Region with Early Public Health Interventions: A Case Series. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 2020. PMID: 32511538


  17. Chaka W, Berger C, Huo S, Robertson V, Tachiona C, Magwenzi M, Magombei T, Mpamhanga C, Katzenstein D, Metcalfe J. Presentation and outcome of suspected sepsis in a high-HIV burden, high antiretroviral coverage setting. International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases 2020. PMID: 32289564


  18. Cattamanchi A, Berger CA, Shete PB, Turyahabwe S, Joloba M, Moore DA, Davis LJ, Katamba A. Implementation science to improve the quality of tuberculosis diagnostic services in Uganda. Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases 2019. PMID: 31879703


  19. Millard PS, Bru J, Berger CA. Open-source point-of-care electronic medical records for use in resource-limited settings: systematic review and questionnaire surveys. Volume 2 of Issue 4. BMJ open 2012. PMID: 22763661