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Phyllis J. Kanki, DVM, ScD (she/her/hers)

Professor
Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health
Boston, MA, United States

Phyllis Kanki is the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She has worked in West Africa since 1984, where her research in Senegal provided the initial description and characterization of HIV-2. A prospective cohort study of registered sex workers over a 24-year period characterized the biology of HIV-2 including reduced virulence, lower sexual and perinatal transmission, slower progression to disease and distinct interactions with HIV-1 subtypes. In 2000, she directed a Gates foundation grant to establish the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN). She led the Harvard’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program supporting prevention, care and HIV antiretroviral therapy in Nigeria, Botswana, and Tanzania (2005-2013).

Her recent research characterizes the epidemiology, antibody and cellular immune responses to endemic arboviruses including Zika (ZIKV) and dengue viruses and the T cell responses to Ebola virus in survivors and exposed health care workers from the 2015 Nigeria Ebola outbreak. An ongoing prospective study of ZIKV, dengue and Chikungunya virus infection in pregnant women is characterizing associated microcephaly and other birth abnormalities.

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose.

Presentation(s):