Mentoring Patient-Oriented Research to Improve Syphilis Screening and Treatment for Mothers and Infants

About This Grant

This K24 mid-career investigator award in patient-oriented research is to support the mentoring, research, and career development activities of Dr. Jillian Pintye, a nurse-scientist and Associate Professor at the University of Washington. The proposed mentoring and research aims are grounded in her work on HIV/STI prevention in pregnancy and will provide protected time to increase the number of clinician scientists mentored by Dr. Pintye. The overall goal of this proposed K24 is aligned with Dr. Pintye's mission to prepare the next generation of scientists with patient-oriented research experiences and skills to advance HIV/STI prevention among pregnant women—a unique and important priority population for STI/HIV research. Her combined leadership roles and five ongoing NIH-funded studies enable her to build a rich mentoring environment with opportunities for patient- oriented research among pregnant people and adolescent girls and young women affected by HIV and STIs. This K24 application proposes to sustain and grow Dr. Pintye's successful mentorship program and will leverage educational, career development, and research support programs available through the University of Washington and its highly productive and supportive HIV/STI research centers. She currently mentors several multidisciplinary clinician-scientists in a variety of clinical and public health fields including nursing science, infectious diseases, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, clinical epidemiology, and implementation science. The K24 Mentoring Plan aligns with Dr. Pintye's mission to grow patient-oriented research in HIV and STIs among pregnant people by mentoring multidisciplinary trainees from the United States, Botswana, and Kenya. Mentees will gain experience in patient-oriented clinical epidemiology and implementation science research in pregnant women with primary mentorship from Dr. Pintye complemented by mentorship from collaborators in Botswana and Kenya. The proposed research aims are designed to provide evidence for HIV/syphilis elimination programs for pregnant women. Aim 1 will determine syphilis burden and clinical outcomes among pregnant women affected by HIV by leveraging clinical epidemiology data from (2) large ongoing RCTs in Botswana and Kenya. Aim 2 will assess clinical and implementation outcomes of incorporating syphilis testing at delivery in a pilot evaluation in maternity wards in Kenya and contribute preliminary data to design a future large-scale hybrid effectiveness-implementation RCT. Aim 3 will gather patient and provider perspectives on root causes of missed opportunities for maternal syphilis testing and treatment. In combination, these studies will contribute key evidence toward syphilis elimination and provide opportunities to develop diverse skills in patient-oriented research. The overall goal of the proposed K24 research aims is to inform policy and clinical practice for pregnant women affected by syphilis and HIV while training patient-oriented researchers. The K24 Career Development Plan includes formal mentorship, leadership, and research training in qualitative research, antenatal syphilis, and directing productive research centers to increase the impact of Dr. Pintye's research and mentorship.