Speaker: Irene Njuguna, MBChB, MSc, PhD

Title: Understanding the role of schools in supporting treatment outcomes for HIV positive adolescents-TIMIZA study

Irene Njuguna is a research scientist at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya and affiliate assistant professor, Department of Global Health, UW. Her research interests and are in pediatric and adolescent HIV. She has led the implementation of multiple randomized clinical trials including  Pediatric Urgent Start of HAART (PUSH) study (PI; Grace John Stewart), PedVacc 002 - testing safety and immunogenicity of a candidate HIV vaccine among HIV exposed uninfected infants (PI: Tomas Hanke, Walter Jaoko), Financial incentives to increase Pediatric HIV testing (PI: Jennifer Slyker and Irene Njuguna) and observational and implementation studies in Kenya in collaboration with UW faculty. 
Her current roles include: Project Director for the Adolescent transition to adult HIV care (ATTACH study, PI: Grace John-Stewart), a cluster randomized trial testing an adolescent transition package in HIV clinics in Kenya;  Principal Investigator for the ELEWA study,  a cross-sectional survey of causes of mortality among HIV positive adolescents and young adults; collaborator for secondary studies in the PUSH cohort focusing on CMV and TB in severely ill HIV positive children and the Data Informed Stepped Care (DiSC) study, focusing on differentiated care in adolescents and ethics of adolescent HIV research. She recently received the NIH Emerging Global Leader career development award (K43) to study how schools can support adolescent HIV treatment outcomes.