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Infectious Disease Epidemiology Fellows
Publications by current and past trainees
Current Post-Doctoral Trainees, Mentors and Research Projects:
Soniya Gandhi, MD/ Denis Nash, PhD and Mary Ann Chiasson, PhD
Soniya Gandhi is currently working with Denis Nash on identifying programmatic predictors of baseline CD4 counts in ICAP care and treatment facilities, and analyzing the effects of strong linkages between testing sites and care and treatment facilities on CD4 counts. She is also conducting a survey on physician attitudes about the diagnosis and treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) using the quantiferon TB gold assay.
Barbara Taylor, MD/ Scott Hammer, MD and Mary Ann Chiasson, PhD
Dr. Taylor is pursuing clinical research on HIV transmission and treatment outcomes in minority communities in the US and abroad. Her current work examines risk behavior by race/ethnicity in MSM, the impact of migration on HIV care in Latino communities, and HIV treatment outcomes in the Dominican Republic.
Tieu, Hong Van, MD/ Scott Hammer, MD
Hong Van Tieu has been involved in several clinical research projects in Bangkok, Thailand. One study is a prospective cohort study analyzing immunologic markers as predictors of tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in HIV-infected persons initiating antiretroviral therapy in Thailand. Another study is a cross-sectional study evaluating the prevalence and acceptability of male circumcision for prevention of HIV among high-risk heterosexual Thai men.
Current Pre-Doctoral Trainees, Mentors and Research Projects:
Sarah Braunstein, MPH/ Denis Nash, PhD
Sarah Braunstein, MPH, is finishing her fourth year of doctoral studies in the Department of Epidemiology. She presented her thesis proposal in January 2008 on HIV incidence estimation among high-risk women in Kigali, Rwanda.
Michael Marco, MPH/Simon Tsiouris MD, MPH
Michael Marco, MPH, is finishing the second year of his doctoral studies in the Department of Epidemiology. Michael’s research interest include the feasibility and scale-up of male circumcision as an HIV prevention modality in developing countries, and he has recently begun work on his doctoral dissertation focusing on the association between HIV-negative serosorting and the risk of HIV acquisition in gay men who meet sex partners on the internet.
Veronica Frajzyngier, MPH/Crystal Fuller, PhD
Vera Frajzyngier, MPH, is finishing the second year of her doctoral studies in the Department of Epidemiology. She is currently working on an international observational research study concerned with the determinants of post-operative outcomes of fistula repair surgery, as part of her work with EngenderHealth. She is completing her coursework, and is pursuing dissertation topic ideas related to social epidemiology and infectious disease risk.
Past Trainees and Current Positions
Delivette Castor, PhD
Instructor in Clinical Investigation within the Clinical Scholars Fellowship program at The Rockefeller University, The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
Blayne Cutler, (post-doctoral trainee)
Director, HIV Prevention, Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Dr. Cutler’s research projects included A Comparison of the T-SPOT.TB interferon-gamma assay and the tuberculin skin test (TST) in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. This study evaluated predictors of discordance between the newer T-SPOT.TB interferon gamma assay and the tuberculin skin test (TST) in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. The study design was cross-sectional and participants were recruited from two local clinics—the New York City Department of Health and the Columbia University Infectious Diseases Clinic--between September, 2005 and April, 2007. Additionally, she worked in HPTN/MTN 059: Phase II Expanded Safety and Acceptability Study of the Vaginal Microbicide 1% Tenofovir Gel. Assisted with IRB submission, SOPs, study visits, assessment of adverse events and other aspects of the day-to-day conduct of a Phase 2 clinical trial.
Allison Aiello, PhD (pre-doctoral trainee)
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health
David Ferris (post-doctoral trainee)
Attending Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases and AIDS Programs, Department of Medicine, Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University
E. Yoko Furuya (post-doctoral trainee)
Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine, Columbia University
Assistant Director of Hospital Epidemiology, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Assistant Attending Physician in Infectious Diseases, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Yoko Furuya’s research interests are focused in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and hospital epidemiology. During her fellowship, she worked with Dr. Franklin D. Lowy on a CDC-funded study investigating the prevalence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Northern Manhattan. Additionally, she worked on studies investigating the impact of hospital-wide interventions on antimicrobial utilization and resistance.
Magdalena Sobieszczyk (post-doctoral trainee)
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Instructor in Clinical Medicine, Columbia University
Assistant Attending Physician, New York Presbyterian Hospital
Assistant Director, HIV Vaccine Trails Unit, Columbia University
Dr. Sobieszczyk’s research projects included investigating the prevalence of and risk factors for the metabolic syndrome in a cohort of HIV infected women in the WIHS cohort. Another study she participated in, aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics of acute and early HIV-1 subtype C infection in a cohort of high-risk women in Durban, South Africa; she described the prevalence of metabolic abnormalities noted during the early stages of HIV infection.
Simon J. Tsiouris, MD, MPH (post-doctoral trainee)
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology
Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Epidemiology
Columbia University Medical Center
Assistant Attending in Infectious Diseases
New York-Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia Campus
Dr. Tsiouris’s research as a Post-doc CIDER Fellow included work in sensitivity analysis of in-tube interferon gamma release assay for diagnosis of culture confirmed active TB in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuberculin skin test survey of schoolchildren in Cape Town, South Africa to determine prevalence of latent TB infection and annual risk of infection, and Comparison of foreign medical graduate vs US medical graduate physician attitudes regarding tuberculin skin testing and diagnosis of latent TB infection.
