Relationship between vaginal micobiota and T. vaginalis acquisition

描述(申请人提供)：候选人：Olamide Jarrett，医学博士，公共卫生硕士，伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校传染病助理教授。她在哈佛大学获得生物学学士学位，在芝加哥大学获得医学博士学位。她在UIC完成了内科住院医师学位，并在塔夫茨医学中心完成了传染病研究员学位。在担任研究员期间，Jarrett博士具有国际艾滋病毒/性传播感染研究的初步经验，调查艾滋病毒感染者的临床结果。 在农村公共部门诊所接受治疗。她目前的研究兴趣是艾滋病毒/性传播感染预防，特别是撒哈拉以南非洲妇女。她的直接职业目标是在发展中国家的性传播感染流行病学领域获得更多的教育和研究经验，特别是在与妇女艾滋病毒/性传播感染预防有关的领域。Jarrett博士的长期目标是成为一名由NIH资助的富有成效的内科科学家，在资源有限的国家进行实用和创新的艾滋病毒/性传播感染预防研究。环境和教育计划：UIC致力于新研究人员的职业发展和促进合作，以扩大其教职员工的研究机会。Jarrett博士将与来自华盛顿大学(UW)的公共卫生硕士Scott McClelland博士合作，后者将担任她这项提案的主要导师。此外，她将与UIC的导师Richard Novak博士和Robert Bailey博士合作，他们将监督她在UIC的研究和职业发展活动。她的研究将在蒙巴萨现场进行，麦克莱兰博士自2002年以来一直担任该现场的负责人。蒙巴萨外地办事处提供了良好的研究环境、成熟的研究实验室和行政基础设施。自1993年建立以来，许多大型流行病学研究已经在该地点成功完成。拟议的教育计划包括在肯尼亚的工作，在威斯康星大学和UIC在艾滋病毒/性传播感染研究方面的高级学习，以及在UIC在流行病学和卫生政策方面的高级学习。研究计划：阴道毛滴虫是最常见的可治愈的性传播感染。还需要更多的数据来了解女性生殖道中阴道毛滴虫的流行病学。这项病例对照研究将通过评估：1)阴道毛滴虫感染后阴道总乳杆菌浓度和总阴道细菌载量的变化，以及2)基线阴道总细菌载量与阴道毛滴虫获得性之间的关系，来探讨阴道毛滴虫与阴道菌群之间的相互作用。我们将使用非培养技术来评估阴道细菌浓度，这对于研究阴道菌群和性传播感染之间的相互作用是新的。将对可能影响阴道细菌浓度的行为、性和微生物危险因素进行研究，以全面了解研究中的阴道菌群与阴道毛滴虫之间的相互作用。这项研究的结果将为制定旨在促进健康阴道菌群的阴道毛滴虫预防策略提供参考。 公共卫生相关性：阴道毛滴虫是最常见的可治疗性传播感染，与妇女不良结局的风险增加有关，包括早产、盆腔炎和艾滋病毒-1传播。降低女性感染阴道毛滴虫的风险可以作为降低这些并发症发生率的重要策略。拟议的目标将有助于我们了解阴道细菌群和阴道毛滴虫之间的相互作用，这将有助于制定公共卫生战略，旨在促进健康的阴道细菌谱，以减少妇女对阴道毛滴虫感染的易感性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Candidate: Olamide Jarrett, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in Infectious Diseases at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She received her BA in biology from Harvard University and MD from the University of Chicago. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at UIC and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center. During her fellowship Dr. Jarrett had her initial experience in international HIV/STI (sexually transmitted infection) research, investigating clinical outcomes in HIV-infected patients receiving care in a rural public sector clinic. Her current research interests are in HIV/STI prevention, with a special interest in sub-Saharan African women. Her immediate career goal is to gain additional educational and research experience in the field of STI epidemiology in developing countries, especially as it relates to HIV/STI prevention in women. Dr. Jarrett's long-term objective is to become a productive NIH-funded physician- scientist conducting practical and innovative HIV/STI prevention research in resource-limited countries. Environment and educational plan: UIC is dedicated to the career development of new investigators and in fostering collaborations to expand research opportunities for its faculty. Dr. Jarrett will work wih Dr. Scott McClelland, MD, MPH from the University of Washington (UW), who will serve as her primary mentor for this proposal. In addition, she will work with UIC-based mentors, Drs. Richard Novak and Robert Bailey, who will oversee her research and career development activities at UIC. Her research will be conducted at the Mombasa field site, which Dr. McClelland has been the director of since 2002. The Mombasa field site provides an excellent research environment, an established research laboratory and administrative infrastructure. Many large epidemiologic studies have been successfully completed at the site since it was established in 1993. The proposed educational plan includes work in Kenya, advanced studies in HIV/STI research at UW and UIC, as well as advanced studies in epidemiology and health policy at UIC. Research Plan: Trichomonas vaginalis is the most prevalent curable STI. Additional data are needed to understand the epidemiology of T. vaginalis in the female genital tract. This case-control study will address the interaction between T. vaginalis and vaginal flora by evaluating: 1) the change in total vaginal Lactobacillus spp concentration and total vaginal bacterial load after T. vaginalis infection, and 2) the association between baseline total vaginal bacteria load and T. vaginalis acquisition. We will use non-culture based techniques to assess vaginal bacteria concentrations, which is novel to the study of interactions between vaginal flora and STIs. Behavioral, sexual, and microbiological risk factors that may impact vaginal bacterial concentrations will be studied, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between vaginal flora of study and T. vaginalis. The results of this study will inform the development of T. vaginalis prevention strategies aimed at the promotion of healthy vaginal flora. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Trichomonas vaginalis, the most prevalent treatable STI, is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes in women, including preterm labor, pelvic inflammatory disease and HIV-1 transmission. Reducing women's risk of T. vaginalis infection could serve as an important strategy for reducing the rates of these complications. The proposed aims will contribute to our understanding of the interaction between vaginal bacterial flora and T. vaginalis, which will inform the development of public health strategies aimed at the promotion of healthy vaginal bacterial profiles to reduce women's susceptibility to T. vaginalis infection.