CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020-2021 G.E.R.M. AWARDEES
Medical students from around the U.S. submitted their applications to receive a $4,000 stipend for their ID/HIV research projects and receive mentorship through the IDSA Foundation’s G.E.R.M. program. Each of the 41 awardees brings a unique perspective and skill to the field of ID research.
MEET THE AWARDEES
Alexis Green
Mentor: Anthony Harris
Institution: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project Title: Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacteremia and the Need for Follow-up Blood Cultures
Alison Smith
Mentor: Henry Blumberg, MD
Institution: Emory University School of Medicine
Project Title: Impact of Dysglycemia on Risk of Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis among Household Contacts of Active Tuberculosis Cases in Ethiopia
Allen Roberts
Mentor: Ruanne Barnabas
Institution: University of Washington
Project Title: Geographic risk scoring tools for predicting HIV incidence in South Africa
Amelia Davis
Mentor: Kristine Erlandson, MD
Institution: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Project Title: Models of Care for Older Adults Living with HIV
Anna Sanford
Mentor: John Schieffelin
Institution: Tulane University School of Medicine
Project Title: Trends in Clinical Sequelae of Ebola Survivors in Sierra Leone
Anne Davidson
Mentor: Michael G. Ison
Institution: Feinberg Northwestern Medical School
Project Title: Human Metapneumovirus Infection in Hospitalized Adult Patients: A Single Center, Retrospective Study
Austin Jones
Mentor: Jeffery Percak, MD
Institution: Tulane University
Project Title: Predicting Retention in Hepatitis C Treatment Following Emergency Department Screening
Camille Morgan
Mentor: Jonathan Parr
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine
Project Title: Spatial epidemiology of hepatitis B transmission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cate Hendren
Mentor: Ross Boyce, MD
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project Title: HIV Mapping in Western Uganda
Eden Altwies
Mentor: Dr. Julie Dombrowski
Institution: University of Washington
Project Title: Characterizing Comorbidities and Evaluating Service Receipt for Substance Use and Psychiatric Diagnoses Among Patients at a Low-Barrier HIV Clinic in Seattle, Washington
Elizabeth Okafor
Mentor: David Boulware
Institution: University of Minnesota
Project Title: NK cell cytotoxicity against Cryptococcus neoformans
Elizabeth Tremblay
Mentor: Kartikeya Cherabuddi, MD, FACP
Institution: Florida State University College of Medicine
Project Title: Development and validation of a clinical calculator for the differentiation of NTM from TB when assessing the need for inpatient airborne isolation
Emily Huebner
Mentor: Kristina Adams Waldorf
Institution: University of Washington School of Medicine
Project Title: Virulence Factors in Group B Streptococcus Isolates from Pregnant Women and Neonates with Invasive Infections
Emma Office
Mentor: Egon Ozer, MD, PhD
Institution: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Project Title: Characterization of the molecular epidemiology of Group A Streptococcus
Emma Thompson
Mentor: Michael Saag
Institution: University of Alabama School of Medicine
Project Title: Exploring Persistent HIV/AIDs Related Stigma in Birmingham, AL
Faisal Ahmad
Mentor: William H. McCoy IV, MD, PhD
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Project Title: Targeting microbial nanomachines to prevent indwelling medical device infections
Francesca Goodstein
Mentor: Marcel Curlin, MD
Institution: Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Project Title: Epidemiology and serological evaluation of flavivirus infection in Thailand
Fred Heller
Mentor: Ana Weil
Institution: Duke University School of Medicine
Project Title: Impact of Microbiome on Development of Long-Term Oral-Cholera-Vaccine-Mediated Protective Immunity
Helena Drolshagen
Mentor: Atul Kothari, MD
Institution: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Project Title: Changing Trends in Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Enterococci and Role of Antibiotic Usage in Patients with Cancer
Holden Richards
Mentor: Christina Lancioni, MD
Institution: Oregon Health and Science University
Project Title: Boosting Babies’ Immunity through Toll-like Receptor-2
James Goodman
Mentor: Jay Nelson, MD
Institution: Oregon Health and Science University
Project Title: Elucidating the effect of Zika Virus mutations on neural tropism
Jessica Rhee
Mentor: Mariam Aziz, MD
Institution: Rush Medical College
Project Title: Impact of Intimate Partner Violence in HIV+ Women in Chicago
John Ryan
Mentor: Stephan Jordan
Institution: Indiana University School of Medicine
Project Title: Metabolic pathways associated with natural clearance of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women
John Sanchez
Mentor: Anne J. Blaschke, MD
Institution: University of Utah
Project Title: Identifying Novel Virulence Factors in Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae Causing Meningitis
Justin Klucher
Mentor: Ryan Dare
Institution: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Project Title: Blood Culture Contamination in the Emergency Department: A Risk Factor Analysis
Krista Moore
Mentor: Emily Blumberg, MD
Institution: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Project Title: Impact of Deceased Organ Donor Substance Use on Infectious Outcomes in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients
Kyle Robinson
Mentor: Claudia Libertin, MD
Institution: Mayo Clinic
Project Title: Expanding Screening and Treatment of HIV and other STI’s in Rural Northwestern Madagascar
Manasa Bhatta
Mentor: Jessica Castilho
Institution: Vanderbilt School of Medicine
Project Title: Factors Associated with Contraceptive Method Use Among Women Living with HIV
Mariam Ebeid
Mentor: Roberto Santos, MD
Institution: University of Mississippi Medical Center
Project Title: Improving HIV screening of adolescents and young adults in Mississippi using electronic reminder (EPIC – best practice alert) and electronic learning module
Megan Meyer
Mentor: Paul Drain, MD
Institution: University of Washington
Project Title: Identifying Sociodemographic Factors Associated with HIV-related Stigma and Measuring Change in Stigma Levels from 2013-2020 in Umlazi Township, South Africa
Nicole Robertson
Mentor: James Zachary Porterfield , MD
Institution: University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Project Title: The Influence of post-tuberculosis exposure status on lung function, respiratory symptoms, and quality of life in low and middle-income countries
Rachael Mahle
Mentor: Ephraim Tsalik, MD
Institution: Duke University School of Medicine
Project Title: The impact of immunocompromise on the host response to bacterial vs. viral infection
Rachel Kupferman
Mentor: Tine Vindenes, MD
Institution: Tufts University School of Medicine
Project Title: Assessment of Tufts Medical Center’s Latent Tuberculosis Infection Care Cascade
Sabahat Rahman
Mentor: Steven Hatch, MD
Institution: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Project Title: Identifying Etiologies and Risk Factors for Serious Bacterial Illness in Liberian Children age 6-59 months
Samantha Herbert
Mentor: Susanne Doblecki-Lewis
Institution: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Project Title: Evaluation of Access to Sexual Health Services Among Recent US Immigrants
Sara Briker
Mentor: Keith Hamilton
Institution: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Project Title: The Influence of Sociobehavioral Factors on the Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions
Tejas Kumar
Mentor: Shital Patel, MD MSc
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Project Title: Development and Implementation of Rapid ART Initiation Programs in Houston
Theodora Bruun
Mentor: Peter Kim
Institution: Stanford University
Project Title: In search of a small-molecule inhibitor of the HIV-1 gp41 hydrophobic pocket
Travis Nielsen
Mentor: Fritzie S. Albarillo MD
Institution: Stritch School of Medicine and Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health at Loyola University Chicago
Project Title: Expanding Antimicrobial Stewardship into the Outpatient Setting
Tyler Rapp
Mentor: Jessica Lin, MD, MSCR
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Project Title: Understanding how geographic factors shape the submicroscopic malaria reservoir in Bagamoyo, Tanzania
Zheyi Han
Mentor: Abhishek Deshpande
Institution: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
Project Title: Impact of Clostridioides difficile Infection on Patient Quality of Life