CURRENT RESEARCH
CUPS AND COMMUNITY HEALTH (CaCHe)
Menstrual cups, maturation of the adolescent vaginal microbiome, and STI/HIV risk
This project is funded by NIH to Dr. Surpiya Mehta (PI) at University of Illinois at Chicago with a sub-contract to NRHS. Among 440 schoolgirls aged 14-25 years, we will study the effects of menstrual cup use on the vaginal microbiome (VMB) and whether this leads to reduced BV and STIs, and how menstrual cup use effects the adolescent VMB over time.
This study is nested within a cluster randomized controlled trial involving over 4,000 schoolgirls in Siaya County, Kenya, to evaluate menstrual cup impact on school dropout, HIV, and HSV-2. The project began in December, 2017 with field preparation and regulatory submissions.
VMMC for HIV Prevention: The Pathway to Sustainability Study.
This is a qualitative study designed to collect information from VMMC implementing partners as well as from Key Stakeholders to help better understand the possible options to affordable and sustainable VMMC in the absence of donor funding within the non-circumcising communities of Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya and Migori counties.
It involves collecting views from the County Directors of Health, County Nursing and Clinical officers, County Aids Services Coordinators (KASCO), Medical superintendents of County Referral hospitals as well as medical superintendents of selected sub-county Hospitals in each county. The study findings will be shared with stakeholders locally and otherwise including National AIDS Control Program (NASCOP) and other relevant stakeholders for possible policy adoption towards continued VMMC programming in Non-Circumcising communities towards sustained HIV prevention in Kenya and beyond.
ANZA MAPEMA KWA AFYA JOZI (AMkAJ)
Characteristics of the penile and rectal microbiomes and mucosal immunology among MSM
THE ANZA MAPEMA KWA AFYA JAMII (AMkAJ) STUDY
PI: Supriya Mehta (UIC)
Investigators: Fredrick O. Otieno (NRHS), Robert C. Bailey (UIC), Stefan Green (UIC), Alan Landay (Rush University)
Duration: August 2013 – July 2016
Status: Completed
Study Sites: Anza Mapema Study Clinic, Tom Mboya Estate
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health; NIAID, DMID
Purpose: Defining to what extent microbiome-related inflammation in the genital or rectal mucosa accompanies disease risk may significantly advance our knowledge of differences in the burden of STIs and HIV, and inform therapeutic and prevention approaches to a wide range of conditions that are common among MSM.