CIRA Talk: "A Collaborative Research and Training Platform for HIV and Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases in Uganda: GEMINI"

OVERVIEW
The burden of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) is significant in Sub-Saharan Africa. A diverse range of RMDs have been described among persons with HIV; unfortunately, most countries in the region have not yet developed the research capacity to address them. The GEMINI project aims to establish a novel registry of patients with co-existing HIV and RMD, and build a collaborative research network to support innovative research in this area.

SPEAKER
Evelyn Hsieh, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology)
Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Hsieh is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) and Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases) at Yale, and Chief of Rheumatology for the VA Connecticut HealthCare System. She enjoys caring for patients and teaching on the medical wards of the West Haven VA Medical Center. Dr. Hsieh is dedicated to bridging the fields of global health and rheumatology, in particular through research training. Her research combines biomedical and behavioral sciences approaches, and has leveraged national cohorts and international registries to better understand drivers of risk for osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and fracture among patients with chronic infection or inflammatory disease. A major focus of her work is on prevention, epidemiology and health services research for these musculoskeletal outcomes among individuals aging with HIV in countries undergoing economic transition (e.g., China and Peru) where incidence of these conditions is increasing, however infrastructure and capacity to diagnose and manage these comorbidities remains fragmented. The tools and models developed through this work have also translated to other low-resource settings and models of secondary osteoporosis (e.g., breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis). More from Yale School of Medicine.

MODERATORS
Luke Davis, MD, MSAssociate Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and of Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine)
Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, CIRA
Dr. Luke Davis is a pulmonary and critical care physician and clinical epidemiologist using implementation science to find, treat, and prevent tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, two of the leading cause of death due to infection worldwide. Dr. Davis teaches and mentors students and direct a graduate program on implementation science at the Yale School of Public Health. He is also involved in several international research training programs focused on implementation science. He is also a Yale Medicine physician, and attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit and the Winchester TB Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital, caring for patients and their families and teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. More from Yale School of Public Health.