Panther on the Hill

Every now and then it’s good to speak truth to power.

This week in Washington, an FIU researcher visited both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue and placed critical FIU research front-and-center in Congressional dialogue on HIV/AIDS disparities.

Mary Jo Trepka conducted a Congressional briefing Oct. 13 on socio-economic indicators impacting racial disparities on AIDS survival. Trepka is a 2011 recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health. The award is one of the country’s highest honors for researchers.

Hosted by Congressman Alcee Hastings, a champion of HIV/AIDS research and treatment, the briefing included representation from the Congressional Black Caucus, House HIV/AIDS Caucus and members of the Florida delegation. Also present were individuals advocating for the federal AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which currently does not meet demand among patients who cannot afford therapy.

“Poverty seems to be one of those social determinants that are changing the face of [HIV/AIDS],” said Penny Noble, of the HIV/AIDS Treatment Action Group.

The day after her briefing on the Hill, Trepka formally received her Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at a ceremony at the Smithsonian. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Trepka is one of 94 researchers so honored this year.

Trepka’s research seeks to find the reason why African Americans diagnosed with HIV/AIDS have higher mortality rates (nine times higher) than Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites diagnosed with the disease. After linking Florida Department of Health surveillance data to the National Death index and U.S. Census, findings suggest that disparities are principally due to social conditions that are affecting people’s ability to fight infection and be treated for it.

Trepka’s collaborators include fellow researchers Theophile Niyonsenga, Spencer Lieb of The AIDS Institute, Florida Consortium for HIV/AIDS Research, Lorene Maddox, Bureau of HIV/AIDS, Florida Department of Health, and FIU doctoral candidates Khaleeq Lutfi, Elena Pavlova-McCalla and Elena Cyrus.

In other FIU-related D.C. news, the Office of Governmental Relations visited the Office of Personnel Management to advocate for internship opportunities for FIU students and to lend support for planning to diversify the federal workforce. Two recent executive orders signed by President Obama aim to create internship pathways and do more to diversify the federal workforce.

Across town, Leo Lagos of FIU’s Applied Research Center presented the FIU DOE Fellows program at the Navy Military Sealift Command as part of the Navy’s Hispanic Heritage Month events. And Ellen Brown, associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing. Her nationally known work includes creating an evidence-based instrument for gauging depression in elderly at home.