FIU public health professor receives Presidential award for her research


FIU Public Health Professor Mary Jo Trepka received one of the country’s highest honors for researchers on Friday, Oct. 14.

President Obama named Trepka, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, as one of the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.

From left to right: Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mary Jo Trepka, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, and John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Photo: NASA/Paul E. Alers

The award is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Trepka is one of 94 researchers who will receive their awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Trepka’s research focuses on racial disparities in AIDS survival. Her research seeks to find the reason why African Americans diagnosed with HIV/AIDs have lower survival rates than Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites diagnosed with the disease.

It is the first population-based study of racial disparities in AIDS survival rates in Florida. Also, it is the first study in the state to assess the connection between segregation and racial disparities in HIV/AIDS survival. It seeks to evaluate the impact of race at a statewide level and looks at factors such as socioeconomic status, where people with HIV/AIDS live and community support for those with the disease.

“This award recognizes the potential of this important research and will provide a boost to our efforts to improve survival rates,” Trepka said. “There isn’t going to be an easy fix to this problem, but we hope to contribute to the knowledge of why these racial disparities in AIDS survival exist.”

The awards, established by President Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.