Examining levels of estriol and seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus during pregnancy in India

In Northern India, nearly 60% of viral hepatitis in pregnant women is attributed to hepatitis E infection (HEV). Given the growing rates of HEV in South Asia and the hypothesis that levels of hormones may affect disease severity in pregnant women with HEV, this study proposes a cross-sectional approach to examine estriol levels and seroprevalence of anti-HEV (IgG and IgM) in village dwellers in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Long-term impacts of early childhood de-worming

Parasitic worms infect over 1 billion people in the developing world today, yet the treatments are inexpensive. For people infected with worms, taking these medications can improve school attendance and performance, but little is known about the long-term gain from de-worming treatment early in life. In my study this summer, I aim to collect data to answer exactly that question, in the context of de-worming interventions that took place in East Africa from 1998-2001.

Development of a simple prognostic test for rheumatic heart disease

We aim to develop a simple prognostic tool for rheumatic heart disease. In the first phase of the project we aim to identify a set of
peptides that induce a pro-inflammatory cytokine response from T cells isolated from rheumatic heart disease patients in Salvador, Brazil. The development of a prognostic tool which is inexpensive, simple and portable will help neglected populations get the appropriate treatment and care necessary to prevent severe outcomes from this preventable and neglected disease.

A point-of-care malaria drug resistance assay

We propose to develop a palm-sized microfluidic device which permits culturing of malaria-infected red blood cells under physiological conditions in suspension. The extent of parasitemia is determined by a label-free magneto-optic technique. Such a device will enable point-of-care antibiotic resistance assays for testing different malarial strains primarily targeting countries in the developing world.