Jessica Kahn, MD, MPH
Dr. Kahn’s research program focuses on prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related diseases through pap testing, HPV DNA testing, and HPV vaccines. Recent studies have characterized clinician recommendations and adolescent uptake of HPV vaccines; epidemiology and risk factors for HPV in adolescents; immunogenicity and safety of HPV vaccines in HIV-infected young women and men; risk perceptions and behaviors after HPV vaccination; and the epidemiologic impact of HPV vaccine introduction in communities. Dr. Kahn’s team published two studies during the past year characterizing the real-world impact of HPV vaccine introduction in the Cincinnati metropolitan area between 2006 and 2017: a study in pediatrics which demonstrated high vaccine effectiveness and herd protection among young women, and a study in human vaccines and immunotherapeutics demonstrating evidence for cross-protection, but not type-replacement, in young women. Dr. Kahn’s research program receives funding from National Institutes of Health, foundations, and the World Health Organization since 2002. Her published articles total more than 175 articles.
Frank Biro, MD
Dr. Biro’s primary research activity has been principal investigator of the breast cancer and the environment research program over the past 16 years. This project has been examining factors impacting onset of puberty in a longitudinal cohort of young women followed since ages 6 and 7. He and his colleagues published data on the earlier onset of pubertal maturation in girls, and the factors driving this change. In the past year, the major papers discuss factors associated with onset of menarche (first menstrual period) and impact of several endocrine disrupting chemicals on pubertal onset.
Emmanuel L. Chandler, MD
Emmanuel Chandler, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist who is the medical director for the
Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center. He is also the residency rotation coordinator for adolescent medicine. His clinical and research interest is in young men's health, reproductive and sexual health, juvenile justice health, decreasing health care disparities among adolescents, and health equity. He has collaborated with his adolescent medicine colleagues on research in the epidemiology of human papillomavirus in young men, and also improving the use and understanding of the healthcare system by juvenile justice involved youth.
Lee Ann E. Conard, RPh, DO, MPH
Lee Ann Conard, RPh, DO, MPH, conducts clinical research to improve health outcomes for transgender and gender expansive youth. She and her colleagues are hosting the first Midwest Multisite Transgender Research Collaborative to increase the scope of research for this population with health disparities. Dr. Conard works closely with the Living With Change Foundation to educate the community around transgender issues.
Kerry Gannon-Loew, MD, MS
Kerry Gannon-Loew, MD, MS, is an adolescent medicine specialist with clinical and research interests in the areas of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and substance abuse. She previously evaluated the role of expedited partner therapy in decreasing the rate of reinfection of sexually transmitted infections. Her particular interest is in improving access to care and treatment outcomes in adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder. She is developing a medication-assisted treatment program for adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder at Cincinnati Children’s.
Corinne Lehmann, MD, Med
Corinne Lehmann, MD, MEd, is an adolescent medicine specialist and directs the Family Care Center for pediatric and adolescent patients with HIV Infection and directs medical student education in the UC Department of Pediatrics. Her chief education duty includes directing the third year medical student clerkship in pediatrics. Her clinical research interests include adolescent vaccination, sexually transmitted infections, and the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection. Her medical education research and scholarship interests include interprofessional education, the use of virtual reality in medical student curricula, feedback, student scholar programs, teaching otoscopy skills, standardized patients, and faculty use of educator portfolios. Her collaborations with others across the country on teaching otoscopy skills resulted in the award for the best poster at the annual Committee on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics meeting in 2019.
Tanya K. Mullins, MD, MS
Tanya Mullins, MD, MS, is an adolescent medicine physician and director of research for the Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine. Her primary research interest is prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Her current work focuses on understanding ways to improve the delivery and uptake of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) by adolescents and young adults who are at risk of HIV infection, through studies conducted with primary care physicians and HIV-infected youth.
Lea Widdice, MD
Lea Widdice, MD, focuses her research on developing and field testing a novel point-of-care diagnostic test for detection of genital infections from Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhea in clinical settings with a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections. This research builds upon previous work to move rapid point-of-care testing from concept to commercialization. As a member of the Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) team, she and her cohorts in the Gamble Program received the faculty Research Team Achievement Award at Cincinnati Children's. Dr. Widdice continues her collaborative work in evaluation of control measures against diseases other than AIDS through administration, clinical operations support, and concept and protocol development, implementation, and assays. The Gamble Program is integral in the development and testing of novel vaccines and vaccine delivery systems.
Jason F. Woodward, MD, MS
Jason Woodward, MD, MS, directs the
Transition Medicine program in the
Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine. His research, quality improvement, and educational interests focus on developing interventions to improve health outcomes for adolescents and young adults with chronic childhood conditions as they transition from pediatric to adult health care. He also directs the multidisciplinary
Center for Spina Bifida Care in the
Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and is PI for the clinic’s CDC funded participation in the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry. He was a contributor to the national Spina Bifida Association’s recently released Guidelines for the Care of People with Spina Bifida and currently a site co-PI for Down Syndrome Clinical Trials Network (DS-CTN) and The Longitudinal Investigation for Enhancing Down Syndrome Research Study (LIFE-DSR). He is co-chair of the Health Care Transition and Disease Self-Management Special Interest Group of the Academic Pediatric Association.
