Anke Hemmerling, MD, PhD, MPH | Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health

Associate Adjunct Professor

W_PR Suspense Berkeley

+1 510 664-9881

Anke Hemmerling, MD PhD MPH, is an Associate Adjunct Professor in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and the Director of the Interdisciplinary MPH Program in the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

She received her medical and public health training at the Humboldt University in Berlin (Germany) and at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). During her clinical training, she repeatedly worked in health projects and hospitals in Latin America.

With a focus on global women’s health, her early career research covered medication abortion, infertility and fertility choices, the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, and safe motherhood.
Her current clinical research is focusing on the prevention of HIV and other genital infections such as bacterial vaginosis in women, conducting a number of clinical trials in the US and South Africa. She served as the protocol co-Chair of the NIH-sponsored multi-site phase 2B study for the prevention of bacterial vaginosis using the live biotherapeutic product LACTIN-V.
She is currently leading an NIH-sponsored phase 1 study to test the safety and acceptability of the live biotherapeutic product MucoCept-CVN, which contains lactobacilli modified to sustainably produce an anti-HIV drug in the vaginal space. A multi-site phase 2 study assessing LACTIN-V for the prevention of cervical cancer is scheduled to start in 2026.

At UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, she is mentoring and teaching several courses for medical students, undergraduate and graduate students in several educational programs.

Dr. Hemmerling serves as a senior technical adviser for the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies for Reproductive Health (IMPT) and on data safety monitoring boards for several clinical studies.

Areas of Interest:
• Prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STI)
• Drug development: Microbicides and live biotherapeutic products to prevent HIV/STIs
• Optimizing the vaginal microbiome
• Fertility Choices
• Safe Motherhood

Publications

Microbiota effects and predictors of Lactobacillus crispatus colonization after treatment with a vaginal live biotherapeutic: results from a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences

Bloom SM, Symul L, Elsherbini J, Xu J, Hussain S, Shih J, Sango A, Mitchell CM, Hemmerling A, Parks TP, Kannan A, Hussain FA, Cohen CR, Holmes SP, Kwon DS

Effect of the vaginal live biotherapeutic LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) on vaginal microbiota and genital tract inflammation among women at high risk of HIV acquisition in South Africa: a phase 2, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

The Lancet. Microbe

Hemmerling A, Mitchell CM, Demby S, Gebremichael M, Elsherbini J, Xu J, Xulu N, Shih J, Dong K, Govender V, Pillay V, Ismail N, Casillas G, Moodley J, Bergerat A, Brunner T, Liebenberg L, Ngcapu S, Mbano I, Lagenaur L, Parks TP, Ndung'u T, Kwon DS, Cohen CR

Acceptability of the live biotherapeutic LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) among young women at high risk of HIV acquisition in South Africa: data from the phase 2 placebo-controlled trial.

Frontiers in reproductive health

Hemmerling A, Govender V, Dong K, Dong M, Pillay S, Ndung'u T, Bhoola A, Moodley J, Casillas G, Lagenaur L, Mitchell CM, Kwon DS, Cohen CR

Vaginal fungi are associated with treatment-induced shifts in the vaginal microbiota and with a distinct genital immune profile.

Microbiology spectrum

Armstrong E, Hemmerling A, Miller S, Huibner S, Kulikova M, Liu R, Crawford E, Castañeda GR, Coburn B, Cohen CR, Kaul R

Vaginal Lactobacillus crispatus persistence following application of a live biotherapeutic product: colonization phenotypes and genital immune impact.

Microbiome

Armstrong E, Hemmerling A, Miller S, Huibner S, Kulikova M, Crawford E, Castañeda GR, Coburn B, Cohen CR, Kaul R

Response to Antibiotic Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis Predicts the Effectiveness of LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) in the Prevention of Recurrent Disease.

Sexually transmitted diseases

Hemmerling A, Wierzbicki MR, Armstrong E, Cohen CR

Editorial: Multipurpose prevention technologies: call for innovative strategies to address critical priorities and gaps.

Frontiers in reproductive health

Soh C, van der Straten A, Hemmerling A, Turpin JA, Young Holt B

Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Family Planning Options in Armenia.

Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.)

Rostomian L, Kliethermes CJ, Hemmerling A

Expanding the pipeline for multipurpose prevention technologies: compounds with potential activity to prevent or treat HIV and other STIs.

Sexually transmitted infections

Young Holt B, Hemmerling A, Moore S, Yang K

Treatment Success Following Standard Antibiotic Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis Is Not Associated With Pretreatment Genital Immune or Microbial Parameters.

Open forum infectious diseases

Armstrong E, Hemmerling A, Joag V, Huibner S, Kulikova M, Crawford E, Castañeda GR, Anzala O, Obila O, Shahabi K, Ravel J, Coburn B, Cohen CR, Kaul R

Recovery and Resilience in the Canal Community: Economic Impacts and Solutions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities

Bichkoff H, Huerta Niño R, Hemmerling A, Ho K, Huancas CG, Burke A, Guzman V, Allen R, Coe L, Salazar E, Wong M

Sustained effect of LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) on genital immunology following standard bacterial vaginosis treatment: results from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

The Lancet. Microbe

Armstrong E, Hemmerling A, Miller S, Burke KE, Newmann SJ, Morris SR, Reno H, Huibner S, Kulikova M, Nagelkerke N, Coburn B, Cohen CR, Kaul R

Metronidazole treatment rapidly reduces genital inflammation through effects on bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria rather than lactobacilli.

The Journal of clinical investigation

Armstrong E, Hemmerling A, Miller S, Burke KE, Newmann SJ, Morris SR, Reno H, Huibner S, Kulikova M, Liu R, Crawford ED, Castañeda GR, Nagelkerke N, Coburn B, Cohen CR, Kaul R