By Frank Couch
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing Professor Mirjam-Collette Kempf, PhD, MPH, principal investigator of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) / Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MACS/WIHS-CSS) has announced that UAB School of Medicine Associate Professor Jodie Dionne-Odom, MD, MSPH, from the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases, has been named co-principal investigator on the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study.
Dionne-Odom brings two decades of experience as a physician to the cohort study. Her work in the field of women’s reproductive health in the United States and abroad, previous work with the WIHS cohort, and research focus on preventing hepatitis B, malaria, STI in women with and without HIV, complements and strengthens the current MWCCS team, Kempf said.
“As a clinician scientist, she has a lifelong passion for infectious diseases, HIV/STI, women’s health and global health,” Kempf said. “We are excited to add Dr. Dionne-Odom as a co-principal investigator the MACS/WHIS Combined Cohort Study team. Her expertise strengthens an already exemplary team striving to improve healthcare among vulnerable populations across the South and beyond.”
Dionne-Odom joined the UAB Division of Infectious Disease in the Department of Medicine in 2013 and has assumed the role of Chief of Women’s Health at the 1917 HIV Clinic, Associate Scientist in the Center of AIDS Research, and Associate Director of Global Health for the Center for Women’s Reproductive Health. She was awarded the Pittman Scholarship for Research Excellence in 2018 and she is a highly rated physician and research mentor in infectious diseases. She is recognized as a leader in the field of HIV/STI co-morbidities and a member of the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment as well as coauthor of the 2020 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines and the CDC Yellow Book Health Guidelines for Travelers. With funding from the NIH, she is currently leading several randomized clinical trials in the United States and Africa to improve the prevention and treatment of coinfections in women with and without HIV.
The UAB MWCCS recently added other personnel to their research team, including Silvia Gisiger Camata, MPH, RN, Henry R. Jones and Dannielle Freeman, LPN. Gisiger-Camata brings more than 11 years of research experience to assist with community outreach activities and website management; Jones will assist with recruitment of new study participants and Freeman joins the study’s team of research nurses.
The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) / Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MACS/WIHS-CSS) is a collaborative research effort that aims to understand and reduce the impact of chronic health conditions—including heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) disorders—that affect people living with HIV. It is a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study with this cohort a collaboration of UAB and Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).
