Category: Epidemiology

Epidemiology

9/7/2009

Unsafe sex is fun.
HIV test: negative.
How ‘bout RNA?

Kim Powers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

My dissertation focuses on HIV transmission dynamics, with an emphasis on the amplifying effects of acute HIV infection (AHI). AHI comprises the three- to four-week period between HIV acquisition and antibody development, and is characterized by high levels of HIV RNA in blood and genital secretions. These elevated viral loads result in a high risk of onward transmission if unprotected sexual contact between infected and uninfected individuals occurs during this time. Unfortunately, conventional HIV tests are based on detecting HIV antibodies (rather than HIV RNA), so acutely infected individuals are unlikely to realize that they are infected, even if testing is performed.

Epidemiology

9/1/2009

TB/HIV:
Probably no deadlier, [1]
But oh! The nerve pain! [2]
Daniel Westreich

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Among HIV-positive adults in Johannesburg, South Africa, I (we, really . all science is we) studied the effect of active tuberculosis (TB) infection on response to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We found that active pulmonary TB at time of HAART initiation did not raise risk of death [1], but that receipt of TB pharmacotherapy concomitant with HAART raised risk of discontinuation of the antiretroviral drug stavudine, a phenomenon we attribute chiefly to drug toxicity, in particular peripheral neuropathy.|
[1] Westreich et al. AIDS, 2009 Mar 27; 23(6):707-15.
[2] Westreich et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2009 Jun 1; 48(11):1617-23.

Epidemiology

9/29/2008

Lil’ Yuri’s voice cracks
too early. Dioxins lurk.
Is coincidence?

Olivier Humblet
Harvard University

My thesis is on whether exposure to dioxin (an environmental pollutant) in a very polluted town in Russia is associated with an earlier onset of puberty in adolescent boys.

Dissertation Haiku in the News!

Doctoral Dissertations in Haiku
“One of my old professors liked to say that a poem isn’t any good unless you can explain it to a three-year-old. I never would have thought one could apply that same standard to a doctoral dissertation, but then I came across a brilliant little website called Dissertation Haiku.”
Full Article in Huffington Post
John Lundberg Writer, Poetry Teacher
09/30/2009 05:12 am ET | Updated Nov 17, 2011

Dissertations are Long and Boring
"This indisputable fact is the impetus behind the genius blog Dissertation Haiku, which explains itself thus: Dissertations are long and boring. By contrast everyone likes haiku. So why not write your dissertation as a haiku?
Full Article in The New Yorker
Macy Halford Contributor
09/23/2009

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