About

Years: 2019-2020

Training Site: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH)

Country: Peru

Mentors: Seth O’Neal; Hector Garcia; William Lambert,; Mirko Zimic; & Robert Gilman

Title: Gold Mining and Anemia in a Non- Malaria Endemic Area

Program Objectives:

Aim 1: To estimate the prevalence of anemia among children 6-59 months of age in six rural villages in Tumbes and describe the distribution of iron-deficiency and other common etiologies of anemia.

Aim 2: To measure the association of anemia with total hair mercury, while controlling for demographic characteristics, and biologic markers for nutritional, inflammatory and infectious causes of anemia.

Aim 3: To evaluate the performance of a novel smart-phone based conjunctival imaging device for diagnosis of anemia, against the gold standard complete blood count and the point-of-care Hemocue 301 device.

NIH Support: Fogarty scholar doctoral training award, NIEHS supplement