Jill Huppert, M.D., M.P.H., is an Ob/Gyn who served as a staff physician in the Indian Health Service and was assistant director of an Ob/Gyn residency program before she embarked on a research career. She obtained an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and completed a NRSA general research fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. She joined the CCHMC faculty in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology in order to pursue a career in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescents. David Bernstein, M.D., the project Sponsor, is an established NIH investigator with nationally recognized expertise in viral STIs and a successful mentor. Dr. Huppert has assembled an outstanding multidisciplinary research team to guide her career. She has outlined a training and research plan that utilizes the available research environment, builds on the work of her sponsor and others within the institution, and establishes links with outside resources. Dr. Huppert's overall career goal is to become an independent clinical investigator in adolescent STIs that will translate into prevention practice and improve public health. Her premise is that the accurate and rapid detection of trichomonas vaginalis (TV) in adolescents will result in changes in patient behavior, will improve the detection of other STIs, and ultimately improve STI-related health outcomes. The objective of this research plan is to explore rapid, point-of-care testing for TV and acceptability for self-testing in order to understand how these strategies may enhance a conceptual model for improved STI screening among adolescent females.
Aim 1 : To examine the performance of the new rapid TV test and it's associations with clinical outcomes among high risk adolescent females, in order to design and evaluate clinical guidelines for TV screening. This will be explored with a study of sexually active adolescent females with genitourinary symptoms.
Aim 2 : To explore the test characteristics of self- versus clinician-obtained tests for TV in adolescent females, in order to determine the best screening strategy for TV in adolescent females.
Aim 3 : To explore the acceptability of self- versus clinician-obtained rapid tests for TV in adolescent females, in order to expand the use of self testing as a strategy for STI detection in adolescent females.
Aims 2 and 3 will be explored with a prospective study of asymptomatic adolescent females.
Aim 4 : To evaluate the impact of rapid TV testing on adolescent females on TV detection and treatment and subsequent sexual behavior, including condom use and abstinence. This will be piloted as a prospective longitudinal study of adolescent females.
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