Arlene Seña, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health
Areas of Interest
Syphilis, sexually transmitted infections; transplant and compromised host infectious diseases (clinical)
About
Dr. Seña has served as a principal investigator or co-investigator on NIH, CDC and industry supported multi-center trials involving epidemiology, novel diagnostics and therapeutic regimens for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). She was a member of the Scientific Review Committee for the NIH STI-Clinical Trials Group from 2007-2021. Her primary research interest is in syphilis, including vaccine development. She is the Co-Project Director for an NIH STI Cooperative Research Center grant for syphilis vaccine development titled “Global sequence and surface antigenic diversity of Treponema pallidum outer membrane proteins,” which involves UNC Project-Malawi and UNC Project-China. Dr. Seña also has research interests in other bacterial STIs and STI/HIV/hepatitis C public health interventions, having previously served as the Medical and Laboratory Director at the Durham County Department of Public Health from 2001- 2020. Dr. Seña currently serves as a consultant for the NC HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch and the CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, and is the Treasurer of the American STD Association. She has mentored numerous clinical and graduate level trainees in STI research and public health careers at the academic, state and national level, and has been one of the key faculty members on STI/HIV training grants. Dr. Seña provides care on both the general infectious disease and compromised host services, and sees outpatients in the transplant ID clinic. Dr. Sena is also the Principal Investigator for an NIH-supported contract to develop a syphilis specimen biorepository for future syphilis diagnostics. She is a consultant for the CDC STD Treatment Guidelines and the NC STD/HIV Prevention and Care Branch.
Education
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Undergraduate
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Medical School
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Residency
University of Florida at Gainesville
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Fellowship
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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MPH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
He who knows syphilis knows medicine