Current Long-Term AITRP Fellows

Cosmina Gingaras, MD is an AITRP fellow from Romania. Prior to joining the program, she obtained her degree from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy 'Carol Davila', Bucharest and served for a short period as a resident in infectious diseases at the Hospital of Infectious and Tropical Diseases "Dr. Victor Babes" in Bucharest, working with HIV/AIDS infected children. She is currently involved in an HIV laboratory research project under the mentorship of Dr Jason Kimata, M.D., PhD. She intends to apply to the University of Texas School of Public Health, with a major in Biostatistics. Upon completion of the program, Dr Gingaras plans to become involved in clinical research in the HIV/AIDS field, in close collaboration with the Center of HIV Excellence at the National Institute of Virology "St. S. Nicolau" in Bucharest.

Dr. Joyce Kgatlwane is an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) scholar from Botswana. She joined AITRP in August 2008 as a student at the University of Texas School of Public Health where she is pursuing Masters in Public Health, Division of Epidemiology. Before joining the AITRP, she worked for the Ministry of Health in Botswana as a Pharmacist at Princess Marina Hospital, Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital, and Athlone Hospital before joining the Botswana Essential Program at the Ministry of Health. She later joined the Botswana Harvard Partnership, PEPFAR Master Trainer Program where she was involved in providing care to HIV/AIDS patients, and training and mentoring other health care providers at the hospitals and clinics. She was also involved in facilitating the roll out of provision of antiretroviral medicines to the clinics in Botswana. Upon completion of her studies, Dr. Kgatlwane plans to return to Botswana where she will continue providing care to patients with HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions and participate in research.

Nsangi Betty Kintu, MBChB, MPH Dr. Nsangi is an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) fellow with Baylor College of Medicine. She is originally from Kampala, Uganda. She began her training at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston Texas in January 2006. She completed her Masters of Public Health degree with special emphasis in Epidemiology and Global Health. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the same University. Prior to joining the program, she worked as a medical officer in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic (PIDC), Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda for two and half years where she treated and cared for HIV infected children. Upon completion of her training, she plans to get actively involved in pediatric HIV clinical research with and in the management of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic as well as pediatric HIV in general in Uganda. In particular, she is interested in improving the management of TB in HIV-infected children. She looks forward to contributing greatly to the national and regional expansion of pediatric HIV services. Her long term goal is to help in improving the status of HIV infected children and HIV orphans on the African continent.

Edwin Machine is a Kenyan national with substantial experience in community health programs, having worked in Kenya, Sudan and Botswana. He has significant leadership training and practical experience from stints in Washington DC and in his home country of Kenya. His experiences have strongly inspired and motivated him to seek doctoral-level training in the various disciplines, methods and skills that are essential to the design and delivery of effective community health interventions as well as their evaluation. In this regard, Edwin plans to start his Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) studies at the University of Texas, School of Public Health from fall 2009, courtesy of the AITRP Scholarship program.

Edwin began his public health career while working for Samaritan's Purse in Sudan, as Logistics Coordinator of a hospital project and then as HIV/AIDS Program Developer. His experiences in Sudan served as the inspiration for his MPH studies. Edwin completed his MPH in 2007 from the UT School of Public Health that culminated with his Masters Thesis entitled "Issues of Expressed Stigma of HIV/AIDS: A Case study of Health Workers and Community in Lui, Southern Sudan". Edwin has since worked in both Kenya and Botswana with Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, BIPAI, where he currently works in Monitoring and Evaluation, helping examine the strategies, relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of what we do as well as strengthen reporting for accountability.

Long-term, Edwin sees himself continue to be involved with HIV/AIDS prevention programs that empower the uninfected group with coping skills, providing a framework that allows them to feel responsible for their own lives, with knowledge of issues that directly affect them. Through the doctoral program, he aspires to greatly enhance his ability to develop, implement and evaluate educational and risk-reduction programs that will improve the health of African communities in resource-poor settings.

Marape Marape, MB, BCh, BAO, BA Dr. Marape is an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) fellow from Gaborone, Botswana, who joined the AITRP in August, 2007. He currently is pursuing a Masters in Public Health, with special emphasis in Epidemiology at the University of Texas School of Public Health. Before joining the AITRP fellowship program he worked as a Medical Officer at the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence for two and a half years. His work was focused on the management of HIV/AIDS and related conditions in children and families. He was also involved in clinical mentoring, research and education. Dr. Marape's main interest lies in tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS coinfection, especially in children and adolescents. After completion of his training he plans to retrun to Botswana to continue looking after HIV/AIDS infected children and doing research in tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

Vincent Tukei, MBChB Dr. Vincent Tukei is an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) scholar from Uganda. He joined AITRP in August 2008 as a student at the University of Texas School of Public Health where he is pursuing Masters in Public Health, Division of Epidemiology. Before joining the AITRP, he worked for the Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation in Kampala from 2005 to 2008. Dr. Tukei's master's thesis will be on the topic of prevalence of HIV associated malignancies in Ugandan children. Upon completion of his studies, Dr Tukei plans to return to Uganda to continue with his work at the Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation in Kampala Uganda.

Former Long-Term AITRP Fellows

Givans Kay Ateka, MBChB, MPhil, MPH, DrPH was an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) fellow from August, 2003 through August, 2006. During this time, Dr. Ateka completed a Masters in Public Health degree and a Doctorate of Public Health degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health. His Master's thesis is entitled "Assessing HIV/AIDS associations: response to therapy versus social support and HIV status disclosure versus breakdown of social support structures". His Doctoral dissertation is entitled "Evaluation of the City of Houston HIV/STD Prevention Program in Houston Independent School District (HISD) High Schools". Originally from Kenya, Dr. Ateka had worked in Lesotho for seven years prior to joining the Baylor College of Medicine AITRP. Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Ateka returned to Lesotho where he worked to enhance the implementation of that country's prevention of mother to child transmission program until September, 2007. He then moved to South Africa to work with the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID) on an HIV prevention of mother to child transmission program in Polokwane, South Africa. Currently, Dr. Ateka is back in Lesotho and is working as a Programme Advisor in HIV/AIDS for Irish Aid (the Irish equivalent of USAID). Publications that have resulted from Dr. Ateka's research as an AITRP scholar are as follows:

• Ateka GK. HIV status disclosure and partner discordance: A Public Health dilemma. Journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health, 2006; 120:493-496. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
• Ateka GK, Selwyn BJ. Adolescent HIV/STD Prevention Programmes: Are Gender Blind Approaches Justified? Journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health, 2007; 121(9): 682-689.
• Ateka GK, Lairson DR. School-based HIV/STD prevention programs: Do benefits justify costs? J Int Physicians AIDS Care, 2008;7(1):46-51.

Andrea C. Cazacu, MD is originally from Bucharest, Romania. She obtained her medical degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest. Dr. Cazacu, under the mentorship of Dr. Gail Demmler, evaluated two rapid diagnostic tests for influenza viruses with viral culture, performed in the Diagnostic Virology Laboratory at Texas Children's Hospital. She continued her research under the mentorship of Gail Demmler, MD and Mark Kline, MD studying the outcome of infants and children infected with CMV in both the U.S. and Romania, as well as viral pathogens in HIV positive children and their influence on HIV disease. Dr. Cazacu currently serves as Associate Director of Clinical Affairs and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories, University of Massachusetts Medical School. Publications that have resulted from Dr. Cazacu's research as an AITRP scholar are as follows:

• Kozinetz CA, Matusa R, Ruta S, Cernescu C, Hacker CS, Cazacu AC. Alternatives to HIV-RNA and CD4 count to monitor HIV disease progression: a prospective cohort study in Romania. J Med Virol 2005;77:159-63.

Mark Mugo Kabue, BDS, MS, MPH, DrPH was an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) fellow from August, 2003 through August, 2006. During this time, Dr. Kabue completed a Masters in Public Health degree and a Doctorate of Public Health degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health. His Master's thesis is entitled: "Frequency of Contraindications to Antiretroviral Drug Combinations Among HIV Patients With Varying Medical/Drug History and Lifestyle Characteristics". His doctoral dissertation is entitled: "Clinical Factors Associated with Growth and Mortality of Pediatric Patients on HAART at Mulago PIDC, Uganda 2003-2006". Originally from Kenya, Dr. Kabue had been working in Lesotho for seven years prior to joining the Baylor College of Medicine AITRP. Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Kabue accepted a Malawi-based position as HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator for the BIPAI Children's Clinical Centers of Excellence Network. In August, 2009 he left this position to serve as Deputy Program Director for the Howard University Technical Assistance Project (HUTAP) in Malawi. HUTAP's main program objectives are to support the MoH in addressing human resource shortages, strengthening the laboratory infrastructure through refurbishment, and procurement of lab equipment and supplies, pre-service and in-service training programs, implementation of quality assurance systems, and pediatric diagnosis, care & treatment. The publications that have resulted from Dr. Kabue's research as an AITRP scholar are as follows:

• Kabue MM, Kekitiinwa A, Maganda A, Risser JM, Chan W, Kline MW. Growth in HIV-infected children receiving antiretroviral therapy at a pediatric infectious diseases clinic in Uganda. AIDS Patient Care STDs, 2008; 22(3):245-51.
• Kabue MM, Risser JM, and Grimes RM. The role of medical and social history in addressing relative contraindications to antiretroviral medications. Malawi Medical Journal 2007; 19(2):89.
• Kabue MM, Kazembe PN, Chitsulo C, Mizwa MB, Calles NR, Jones DC, Kline MW. A Paediatric HIV care and treatment programme in Malawi, 2008; 20(1):19-22.

Harrison Njoroge Kamiru, DDS, MS, DrPH was an AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) fellow from August, 2003 through August, 2006. During this time, Dr. Kamiru completed a Masters in Public Health degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health. His Doctoral dissertation is entitled: "Evaluation of a Training Program to Increase the Capacity of Health Care Providers to Provide Antiretroviral Therapy to Pediatric Patients in Sub-Saharan Africa". Originally from Kenya, Dr. Kamiru had been working in Lesotho for seven years prior to joining the Baylor College of Medicine AITRP. Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Kamiru accepted a position with the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in Swaziland as an HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator for the BIPAI Children's Clinical Centers of Excellence Network. He left this position in December, 2008 to continue working in Swaziland as a Program Monitoring Advisor with the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) at Columbia University. Publications that have resulted from Dr. Kamiru's research as an AITRP scholar are as follows:

• Selane P, Kamiru H, Ross M. Dimension of Fear of AIDS Scale among South African Students, Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Health, 2006; 2(2):1-4.
• Essien EJ, Ogungbade GO, Kamiru HN, Ekong E, Ward D, Holmes L. Emerging socio-demographic and lifestyle predictors of intention to use condom in human immunodeficiency virus intervention among uniformed services personnel. Mil Med, 2006; 171(10):1027-34.

Poloko Kebaabetswe, R.N., M.P.H., Ph.D. joined the Baylor AITRP from Gaborone, Botswana. She began her training in August, 2001, and completed training in May, 2004. During this time, she obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health, with a major in behavioral sciences. Her dissertation is titled "Factors that influence pregnant women to accept or reject the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV program (PMTCT) in Gaborone, Botswana". Upon completion of her AITRP training, Dr. Kebaabestwe returned to Botswana to work with the Botswana Harvard Aids Institute Partnership for HIV Research and Education. The publication that has resulted from Dr. Kebaabetswe's research as an AITRP scholar is as follows:

• Kebaabetswe P. Barriers to participation in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission program in Gaborone, Botswana a qualitative approach. AIDS Care, 2007; 19(3):355-60.

Gerardo Martinez-Aguilar, M.D. joined the Baylor AITRP from Durango, Mexico. He began training in August, 2001, and completed training in August, 2003. During this time, Dr. Martinez-Aguilar pursued postdoctoral laboratory training in bacterial infections in children with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Martinez-Aguilar successfully applied for bridge funding in the amount of $25,000 to facilitate his research protocol titled "Molecular epidemiology of hospital and community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. Aureus in Mexico". He is an author on the following publications related to his AITRP research:

• Martinez-A G, Hammerman W, Mason E, Kaplan S. Clindamycin treatment of invasive infections caused by community-acquired, methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J, 2003; 22:593-598.
• Gonzalez B, Martinez-A G, Mason E, Kaplan S. Azithromycin compared with lactam antibiotic treatment failures in pneumococcal infections of children". Pediatr Infect Dis J, 2004; 23:399-405.

Claudia Robayo, M.D. is originally form Colombia, though is a citizen of Mexico. She attended medical school at Universidad de Guadalajara. She completed her residency and fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatria in Mexico City, including one year of endoscopy in Centro Medico Siglo XXI. Dr. Robayo joined the AIDS International Training and Research Program at the Baylor College of Medicine in January, 2004. Her current research involves the investigation of congenital deficiency of disaccharidases, which are enzymes that digest sugar and starch. This deficiency of disaccharidases can also be a cause of diarrhea secondary to HIV infection.

Moorine P. Sekadde, MBChB Dr. Sekadde was an Aids International Training Research Program (AITRP) fellow from Kampala, Uganda, who joined the BIPAI AITRP in August, 2007 and returned to Uganda in June, 2009. She received a Masters in Public Health degree at the University Of Texas School Of Public Health with a major in epidemiology. Her master's thesis was titled: Mean Corpuscular Volume as a Marker for Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among HIV Infected Children and Adolescents in Uganda. Before joining the AITRP fellowship program, Dr. Sekadde worked with Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Uganda (formerly Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic). Dr. Sekadde has returned to continue her work with Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation Uganda, with a new emphasis on research.

Nicoleta Vaseliu, DDS, MA joined the Baylor AITRP from Constanta, Romania. She began her training in July, 2002, and completed training in June, 2004. During this time, Dr. Vaseliu obtained a master's degree in clinical investigation at the Baylor College of Medicine. Her thesis is entitled "Longitudinal study of the prevalence and prognostic implications of oral manifestations in Romanian children infected with human immunodeficiency virus type-1". Upon completion of her AITRP training, Dr. Vaseliu served as the Executive Director of the Baylor Black Sea Foundation in Constanta, Romania, before returning to private dental practice. The publication that has resulted from Dr. Vaseliu's research as an AITRP scholar is as follows:

• Vaseliu N, Carter AB, Kline NE, Kozinetz C, Cron SG, Matusa R, Kline MW. Longitudinal study of the prevalence and prognostic implications of oral manifestations in Romanian children infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2005; 24(12):1067-71.

Salvador Villalpando, M.D. joined the Baylor AITRP from Mexico City, Mexico. He begain training in July, 2001, and completed training in June, 2003. During this time, Dr. Villalpando pursued post-doctoral research focused on the nutritional problems of children with protein-energy malnutrition and HIV/AIDS. He also earned a Certificate of Added Qualification from the Clinical Scientist Training Program at the Baylor College of Medicine. He currently holds the position of Director of the Nutrition Research Laboratory at Hospital Infantil de Mexico in Mexico City.