UNC graduate Dr. Joseph Tucker wins fellowship to work with UNC in China
December 21, 2008 – UNC School of Medicine graduate Joseph Tucker, MD is one of three recipients of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund/American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Postdoctoral Fellowship in Tropical Infectious Diseases.
Joseph Tucker, MDCurrently an infectious disease fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Tucker will work on a research project entitled “Optimizing Integrated Syphilis and HIV Testing in South Chinese STI Clinics.” The award provides 2 years of funding and requires at least 3 months spent in-country on research.
The world’s largest syphilis epidemic is in the People’s Republic of China, where in 2007 an average of one baby was born each hour with congenital syphilis. Syphilis increases the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission, and although the twin epidemics of syphilis and HIV have common demographics and even share testing sites in South China, widespread syphilis testing has been successful while HIV testing has been more difficult to implement.
Despite great advances in HIV treatment and care, implementation of scaled-up HIV testing, prevention, and treatment still presents a formidable public health challenge Integrated syphilis/HIV testing programs could do much to stem tide of HIV in China.
Tucker’s research advisors are Dr. Xiang-Sheng Chen at the National Center for STD Control in Nanjing and IGHD director, Dr. Myron Cohen in the U.S. "Dr. Tucker is exceptional in his truly singular focus on China. His latest award is another great sign of success for this talented UNC graduate," says Cohen.
Tucker is currently in China as a Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow, a program co-sponsored by UNC.
For more on the Burroughs Wellcome/ASTMH fellowship visit http://www.astmh.org/funding/index.cfm
lInstitute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases contact: Lisa Chensvold, (919) 843-5719, lisa_chensvold@med.unc.edu.
