My primary academic interests include the design and implementation of randomized controlled trials and observational studies of maternal, neonatal and child health, and infectious diseases, with emphasis on nutritional factors. Nearly 10 million children under age five die each year. Over three quarters of these deaths occur in the first two years of life, with 40% occurring in the first month. Many of these deaths are caused by poor maternal and fetal conditions during or even prior to pregnancy, such as infections or poor nutrition. Similarly, maternal mortality and morbidity are major public health problems is many developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia. Interventions to reduce infections among women, including HIV infection and postpartum infection, improve maternal nutrition, and strengthen health systems are urgently needed. Our research is focused on addressing global health issues in populations in Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, India, and other developing countries. The effort includes a significant component of building research capacity and training at partner institutions.
Maternal and Child Health: We examine the inter-relationships of nutrition and adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal and child health. We have completed several clinical trials (and others are ongoing) to examine the efficacy of specific micronutrient interventions provided to pregnant women or to children. We are also pursuing efforts to address the problems of maternal and neonatal mortality by providing an integrated set of interventions to strengthen health systems and bridge the gaps between the health facilities and the community.
Infectious Diseases: We address the interactions of nutrition with immune function, disease occurrence and severity. Using observational and intervention study designs we examine the role of micronutrient status, other aspects of nutritional status (anthropometric, breast feeding, dietary intake), and antiretroviral drugs on the rate of HIV disease progression among adults and children, and the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1. We also examine the interactions of nutrition and TB (among HIV infected or uninfected patients), malaria (in pregnancy and among children), and common childhood infections.
