Jemilat Badamas
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Mentor: Michael Edmond, MD, FIDSA
Project: Examine the rates of nosocomial bloodstream infection, nosocomial urinary tract infection, and ventilator-associated pneumonia in the medical, surgical, burn, and neuroscience intensive care units

Nickhill Bhakta
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Timothy P. Flanigan, MD, FIDSA
Project: Communal perceptions of tuberculosis and HIV among TB suspects in a high burden HIV environment

Lara Bishay
New York University School of Medicine
Mentor: Sumathi Sivapalasingam, MD
Project: Clinical and community dynamics of vertical HIV transmissions in Mombasa, Kenya

Tyler Bold
New York University School of Medicine
Mentor: Joel D. Ernst, MD, FIDSA
Project: Characterization of a low MHC class II-expressing subset of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected cells

Daniel Burke
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Mentor: Franklin D. Lowy, MD, FIDSA
Project: Investigate the pathogenesis of ventricular assist device infections

Anna Karina Celaya
University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
Mentor: Robert Larsen, MD, FIDSA
Project: Cryptococcal in vitro susceptibility testing to amphotericin B

Lisa Marie Cranmer
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Mentor: Joel Gallant, MD, FIDSA
Project: Pediatric tuberculosis/HIV co-infection in Ethiopia

Shana A. Crystal
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Mentor: Samir S. Shah, MD
Project: 1. To describe the epidemiology of Acinetobacter species bacteremia occurring in children
2. To identify risk factors for Acinetobacter species bacteremia among a cohort of patients with Gram-negative bacteremia
3. To determine whether clinical outcomes differ in patients with Acinetobacter species bacteremia from those in patients with other Gram-negative bacteremia

D’Antoni Dennis
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Mentor: John Sixbey, MD, FIDSA
Project: Comparing methylation patters within variably reiterated terminal repeats of EBV

Darpun Dhawan
Brown Medical School
Mentor: Kenneth H. Mayer, MD
Project: The use of biomarkers of inflammation in vaginal microbicide trials

Sarah Dunn
Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine
Mentor: John V. Williams, MD
Project: Seroepidemiology of human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus

Monique R. Farrow
Washington University School of Medicine
Mentor: David B. Haslam, MD
Project: Characterization of small molecules that inhibit intracellular trafficking of bacterial toxins

David Ham
Washington University School of Medicine
Mentor: Steven J. Lawrence, MD
Project: Analysis of risk factors for influenza infection in stem cell and renal transplant patients

Caitlin Hansen
Brown Medical School
Mentor: Karen T. Tashima, MD, FIDSA
Project: 1. Review of success of antiretroviral therapies in an HIV clinic in Rhode Island
2. Designing a clinical trial for smoking cessation and treatment of other complications of HIV infection

Zibing Jiang
University of Minnesota Medical School
Mentor: Phillip Peterson, MD, FIDSA
Project: Effect of cytomegalovirus infection on the differentiation of neural stem cells

Sharma F. Joseph
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Mentor: Gopala K. Yadavalli, MD
Project: Screening of low frequency nevirapine resistance

Sanjat Kanjilal
Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Stephen B. Calderwood, MD, FIDSA
Project: Gene expression profiling and functional pathway mapping in Vibrio Cholerae

Kelvin D. Kemp
University of Texas Medical School
Mentor: Barbara E. Murray, MD, FIDSA
Project: The use of genetically altered sortase genes to identify surface proteins that might be associated with virulent strains of Enterococcus faecalis

Melanie Lo
University of Minnesota Medical School
Mentor: Jonathan I. Ravdin, MD, FIDSA
Project: Intestinal antilectin immunoglobulin A antibody response and immunity to Entamoeba histolytica infection

Janina Morrison
University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine
Mentor: Joel M. Palefsky, MD
Project: Curbing the transmission of tuberculosis in high-incidence households in South Africa

Megan Olejniczak
University of Minnesota Medical School
Mentor: Mark R. Schleiss, MD
Project: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission

Tracy L. Pepper
Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine
Mentor: Timothy R. Sterling, MD
Project: Implementation of an HIV voluntary counseling and testing program among reproductive-aged women in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala

Christina S. Polyak
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Mentor: Robert F. Breiman, MD
Project: Clinical effectiveness and preventive impact of zinc treatment for acute diarrhea in children

Alex B. Ryder
Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine
Mentor: John V. Williams, MD
Project: Characterization and immunogenicity of the human metapneumovirus (hMPV) G protein

Adrienne Schwartz
University of Minnesota Medical School
Mentor: Gregory A. Filice, MD, FIDSA
Project: Evaluation of a computerized decision support system

Michael Sein
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Mentor: Graeme Forrest, MD
Project: Evaluation of non-culture based diagnostic techniques and determination of cytokine profile over the course of infection of invasive mycoses

Mark E. Shaffer
Harvard Medical School
Mentor: G. Sonia Nagy, MD
Project: Evaluation of Biosand water filtration system in Nicaragua

Priya B. Shete
Yale University School of Medicine
Mentor: Michael Cappello, MD, FIDSA
Project: Immunoepidemiology of hookworm infection in the Peruvian Amazon

Jeff Sulpher
Queen’s University School of Medicine
Mentor: B. Craig Lee, MD
Project: Heme acquisition, cell aggregation, and Congo red binding in Haemophilus ducreyi

David Weingarten
Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine
Mentor: Judith Guzman-Cottrill, DO
Project: Modifications in peri-operative practices for pediatric ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement and their impact on infection rates, length of stay, and hospital costs

2006 Awards:  ERF/NFID Research Award Recipients

IDSA is proud to announce the winners of the 2006 Postdoctoral Fellowships and Young Investigator Awards, supported by the IDSA Education and Research Foundation and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. 

Congratulations to the 2006 ERF/NFID Research Award Recipients

Pfizer Global Felloship in Clinical Disease

Yohei Doi, MD, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
Research Topic: Community-associated extended spectrum ß-lactamases

Association of Subspecialty Professors Young Investigator in Geriatrics

Christopher J. Crnich, MD, MS
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Section of Infectious Diseases
Research Topic: Group-level determinants of antimicrobial resistance in nursing homes

Wyeth Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development

Sing Sing Way, MD, PhD
University of Washington
Department of Immunology
Research Topic: TLR-dependent and TLR-independent pathways for triggering Th1-type immunity to Listeria monocytogenes