Aaron A. Tobian, MD, PhD
Pathology
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Aaron A. Tobian
Professional Titles
- Director, Transfusion Medicine Division
- Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs, Department of Pathology
Primary Academic Title
Professor of Pathology
Background
Aaron Tobian, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Pathology, Medicine, Oncology and Epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Pathology and Director of Transfusion Medicine Division at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Tobian divides his time between research and clinical service.
Dr. Tobian has been highly involved with the transfusion medicine community. He currently serves on the AABB Board of Directors. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Apheresis, Section Editor for UpToDate, and sits on the Editorial Board for the journal TRANSFUSION. Dr. Tobian is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the website Transfusion News; a site which provides weekly updates on the latest studies within the transfusion community as well as interactive transfusion medicine questions three times a week.
Dr. Tobian also has an established global research program that studies HIV and other adverse events associated with transfusion. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Tobian has lived or worked in five developing countries. He has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet, Blood and TRANSFUSION. His work has also been featured on the NBC Today Show, BBC World Service, National Public Radio, USA Today, and other media outlets.
Dr. Tobian received his MD and PhD at Case Western Reserve University and conducted a clinical pathology residency and transfusion medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins.
Centers and Institutes
Clinical Trials Summary
Dr. Tobian is the Principal Investigator for the randomized trial to evaluate Mirasol whole-blood pathogen reduction technology system to reduce malaria and emerging transfusion-transmitted infections in Uganda.
Additional Academic Titles
Professor of Medicine, Professor of Oncology
Contact for Research Inquiries
Canegie 437
600 N. Wolfe St.
Baltimore, MD 21287
Research Interests
and HIV, Transfusion transmitted infections
Research Summary
Dr. Tobian’s research team is focused on reducing transfusion transmitted infections through two main areas.
1. Evaluation of pathogen reduction technology to prevent transfusion transmitted infections.
Working closely with the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University (MU-JHU) collaboration, Dr. Tobian is PI of the randomized trial to evaluate Mirasol whole-blood pathogen reduction technology system to reduce malaria and emerging transfusion-transmitted infections in Uganda.
2. Evaluation of the epidemiologic risk factors of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections
In collaboration with Uganda’s Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP), Dr. Tobian’s team has established a research program to evaluate these factors. Working closely with the RHSP, the investigators are evaluating the efficacy of male circumcision in preventing sexually transmitted infections in men and their female partners. In addition, using foreskin mucosal tissue, they are assessing the genital cellular immune milieu associated with sexually transmitted infections to develop novel HIV prevention therapies.
Selected Publications
Tobian AAR, Serwadda D, Quinn TC, Kigozi G, Gravitt PE, Laeyendecker O, Charvat B, Ssempijja V, Riesdel M, Oliver AE, Nowak RG, Moulton LH, Chen MZ, Reynolds SJ, Wawer MJ, Gray RH. Male circumcision for the prevention of HSV-2 and HPV infections and syphilis. N Engl J Med 2009; 360:1298-309
Carson JL, Guyatt G, Heddle NM, Grossman BJ, Cohn CS, Fung MK, Gernsheimer T, Holcomb JB, Kaplan LJ, Katz LM, Peterson N, Ramsey G, Rao SV, Roback JD, Shander A, Tobian AAR. Clinical practice guidelines from AABB: red blood cell transfusion thresholds and storage. JAMA. 2016; 316:2025-2035
Goel R, Chappidi M, Patel EU, Ness PM, Cushing MM, Frank S, Tobian AAR. Trends in red blood cell, plasma and platelet transfusions in the United States, 1993-2014. JAMA. 2018; 319: 825-827
Grabowski MK, Gray RH, Makumbi F, Kagaayi J, Redd AD, Kigozi G, Reynolds SJ, Nalugoda F, Lutalo T, Wawer MJ, Serwadda D, Quinn TC, Tobian AAR. Use of injectable hormonal contraception and women's risk for herpes simplex virus type 2 acquisition: a prospective study of couples in Rakai, Uganda. Lancet Global Health. 2015; 3:e478-86
Kaufman RM, Djulbegovic B, Gernsheimer T, Kleinman S, Tinmouth AT, Capocelli KE, Cipolle MD, Cohn CS, Fung MK, Grossman BJ, Mintz PD, OMalley BA, Sesok-Pizzini DA, Shander A, Stack GE, Webert KE, Weinstein R, Welch BG, Whitman GJ, Wong EC, and Tobian AAR. Platelet transfusion: a clinical practice guideline from the AABB. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2015; 162:205-213
Graduate Program Affiliations
Pathobiology
Locations
- The Johns Hopkins Hospital
- 1800 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD 21287
- phone: 410-955-5000
- fax: 410-955-5001
Expertise
Education
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Transfusion Medicine, 2010Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Residency, Pathology, 2009Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Medical Education, MD, 2006Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Graduate School, PhD, 2004Board Certifications
Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
American Board of Pathology, 2013Clinical Pathology
American Board of Pathology, 2009Insurance
- Aetna
- CareFirst
- Cigna
- First Health
- Geisinger Health Plan
- HealthSmart/Accel
- Humana
- Johns Hopkins Health Plans
- MultiPlan
- Pennsylvania's Preferred Health Networks (PPHN)
- Point Comfort Underwriters
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- UnitedHealthcare
- Veteran Affairs Community Care Network (Optum-VACCN)