Mentoring in patient-oriented research in global health

项目总结 米里亚姆·劳弗博士致力于开展以预防和治疗传染病为重点的研究 主要影响低资源环境中的儿童的疾病，并培训下一代 传染病研究人员。她最初的K24获奖期支持了她致力于指导两者的时间 美国和国际实习生，成绩突出。她94%的实习生继续 在学术医学或研究方面工作，她的许多受训人员现在是传染病研究的领导者 和政策。她的学员中有五人获得了职业发展奖，三人担任校长 独立联邦拨款的调查人员。有了这份续签申请，劳弗博士将与机构合作 多样性、公平性和包容性方面的领导者，以增强她招募和指导不同类型学员的能力 背景。她的职业发展活动将扩大她在疫苗方面的专业知识，重点是领导 对公共健康有影响的疫苗试验，以及将科学证据转化为政策。建议的新 研究将涉及劳弗博士的两个研究专长领域：(1)确定疟疾的来源 传播和新干预措施对传播水库的影响以及(2)评估影响 关于孕期感染对婴儿健康和儿童发育的影响。通过她在马拉维的领导作用 国际疟疾研究英才中心，劳弗博士和她的受训人员将评估 RTS，S，新推荐的疟疾疫苗，关于疟疾传播。虽然疫苗有很好的效果 预防临床疾病的效果及其对无症状恶性疟原虫感染的影响 配子体是疟疾寄生虫的感染阶段，目前还没有得到很好的描述。在…的支持下 在美国国立卫生研究院的几项拨款中，劳弗博士和她的团队正在招募一大批感染艾滋病毒和未感染艾滋病毒的婴儿 和未接触艾滋病毒的对照组，以评估接触对婴儿免疫和神经认知的影响 发展，直到儿童达到五岁。在新冠肺炎大流行之前就开始招生了， 在大流行期间一直持续，为仔细检查SARS-CoV-2的影响提供了机会 感染及其与艾滋病毒的相互作用对婴儿免疫和儿童发育的影响。鉴于数据的稀缺性， 在宫内接触艾滋病毒和SARS-CoV-2的影响，这是一个真正独特和时间敏感的机会 调查孕妇的感染及其对新生儿、婴儿和儿童结局的影响。这个K24 更新将维持和加强为Laufer博士的受训人员提供的支持性指导环境 本科生通过初级教师和提供创新和公共卫生的相关研究 他们有机会发展自己的独立事业，改善全球健康。

PROJECT SUMMARY Dr. Miriam Laufer devotes her career to conducting research focusing on prevention and treatment of infectious diseases that predominantly impact children in low resource settings and training the next generation of infectious disease researchers. Her initial K24 award period supported her time dedicated to mentoring both U.S.-based and international trainees, with outstanding results. Ninety four percent of her trainees continue to work in academic medicine or research and many of her trainees are now leaders in infectious disease research and policy. Five of her trainees have received career development awards and three serve as principal investigators for independent federal grants. With this renewal application, Dr. Laufer will work with institutional leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion to enhance her ability to recruit and mentor trainees of diverse backgrounds. Her career development activities will expand her expertise in vaccinology, with a focus on leading vaccine trials with public health impact, and the translation of scientific evidence into policy. The proposed new research will address two areas of Dr. Laufer’s research expertise: (1) Identifying the sources of malaria transmission and the effect of new interventions on the reservoirs of transmission and (2) Assessing the impact of infections during pregnancy on infant health and child development. Through her leadership role in the Malawi International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research, Dr. Laufer and her trainees will evaluate the impact of RTS,S, the newly recommended malaria vaccine, on malaria transmission. Although the vaccine has good efficacy in preventing clinical disease, its impact on asymptomatic P. falciparum infection and the prevalence of gametocytes, the infectious stage of the malaria parasite, has not been well-characterized. With the support of several NIH grants, Dr. Laufer and her team are enrolling a large cohort of HIV exposed and uninfected infants and HIV-unexposed controls to evaluate the impact of exposure on infant immunity and neurocognitive development until the children reach five years of age. Enrollment began prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued through the pandemic, providing the opportunity to carefully examine the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its interaction with HIV on infant immunity and child development. Given the paucity of data on the impact of exposure to HIV and SARS-CoV-2 in utero, this is a truly unique and time-sensitive opportunity to investigate both infections in pregnant women and their effect on neonatal, infant, and child outcomes. This K24 renewal will sustain and enhance the supportive mentoring environment for Dr. Laufer’s trainees from undergraduate students through junior faculty and provide innovative and public health relevant research opportunities to develop their independent careers and improve global health.