PhD
November 18, 2020
Contraception and HIV-1 prevention among women in Africa: informing choices amid expanding options
Introduction Options for both contraception and HIV-1 prevention are expanding in sub-Saharan Africa, offering important opportunities to provide women with products they need to achieve their prevention goals. Decision-making in the face of many options is complex, and we aimed to generate evidence to inform women’s selection of contraception and HIV-1 prevention with the following…
Inflammation and right ventricular structure and function in health and disease
Right heart failure is common and serious. For the vast majority of patients with right heart failure there are few if any treatments beyond diuretics, salt, and fluid management. The lack of drug development in this area may be anchored in the erroneous belief that the right heart is a passive observer in physiology that…
Mathematical modeling to inform implementation of HIV prevention programs in the United States
Despite advances in the detection and treatment of HIV, the incidence of infection in the United States has increased in some subgroups over the past decade and remained stable in others. These trends point to a need for improved strategies for prevention that take into account the social, behavioral, and clinical context of different target…
Following a Firearm Injury: Recidivism and Behavior Change
Firearm injuries remain an important and understudied public health problem. Besides the high cost of injury care, loss of work, potential need for long term care and emotional trauma for the individual injured, firearm injuries pose unique harm to the larger community as well. Individuals with a history of firearm injury are at substantially higher…
Early childhood diarrhea and growth among HIV-exposed, uninfected infants in Kenya
BACKGROUND Diarrhea and poor linear growth are leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in low- and middle- income countries. While global childhood mortality has been significantly reduced in the past decades, further reductions will likely require a better understanding of the causes of and relationship between diarrhea and linear growth in vulnerable populations. The…
Evaluating risk factors and synergistic effects of two common HIV-1 coinfections: schistosomiasis and trichomoniasis
INTRODUCTION HIV-1 coinfections have long been suspected of catalyzing the HIV-1 epidemic by increasing HIV-1 transmission or acquisition risk. The geographical distribution of coinfections may explain why some regions have been more heavily impacted by HIV-1. The primary objective of this dissertation was to expand our understanding of two common HIV-1 coinfections that have been…
Antidepressant medication continuation during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes, including gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, and birth weight
BACKGROUND Every year, approximately 7–8% of pregnant women in the US (~300,000 women) use antidepressants. Use of certain antidepressants in non-pregnant populations has been associated with weight loss, whereas others have been associated with weight gain; in pregnant women, the association of antidepressant use and gestational weight gain has not been thoroughly investigated. Some studies…
Unexpected consequences of cannabis legalization on youth
In 2014, Oregon became the 3rd state to legalize the local production, processing and sale of cannabis to persons 21 and older for non-medical use. The nature and direction of the impacts of this initiative on neighborhoods, underage commercial product use and juvenile justice are unknown. As more states turn to decriminalizing cannabis and opening…
From pediatric to adolescent HIV: mortality, viral suppression and transition to adult care
University of Washington Abstract From pediatric to adolescent HIV: mortality, viral suppression and transition to adult care Irene Nyambura Njuguna Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Grace John-Stewart Departments of Global Health and Epidemiology Introduction: Global scale-up of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs and expansion of pediatric HIV testing and treatment have…
Urethral sexual exposures: relationship with prevalent nongonococcal urethritis, the urethral microbiota, and resolution of symptoms
Non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU), the most common male genital tract syndrome, is often caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Mycoplasma genitalium (MG). However, up to 50% of cases are of unknown etiology, and yet-unidentified pathogens and polymicrobial communities likely play a role in some of these cases. Studies suggest that specific urethral sexual exposures influence the…
Previous page Next page