BU-CHART Trainees
Daniel Bryant, PhD
Daniel Bryant, PhD earned his PhD from Middle Tennessee State University where he studied the effects of a novel small molecule on the immune response of macrophages, as well as characterizing their fluorescent properties and potential use as fluorophores. He also collaborated heavily with projects examining the ability for botanical polysaccharides to elicit an immune response from macrophages.
Dan received the College of Basic and Applied Science’s Distinguished Doctoral Research Award in 2023.
As a BU-CHART fellow, Dan will be assisting on a project examining the intersection of DNA-damage repair mechanisms and HIV integration. He is also collaborating on a project examining long terminal repeats of HIV-1 isolates from various clades and their association with differences in viral replication and pathogenesis.
Mentors
Andrew Henderson, PhD – Professor Medicine and Virology, Immunology & Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Suryaram Gummuluru, PhD –Professor and Vice Chair of Virology, Immunology & Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Manish Sagar, MD –Professor Medicine and Virology, Immunology & Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Selected Publications
Bryant DL, Kafle A, Handy ST, Farone AL, Miller JM. Aurone-derived 1,2,3-triazoles as potential fluorescence molecules in vitro. RSC Adv. 2022 Aug 12;12(35):22639-22649. doi: 10.1039/d2ra02578g. PMID: 36105995; PMCID: PMC9372874.
Anderson B, Bryant DL, Gozem S, Brambley C, Handy ST, Farone A, Miller JM. Solvent-Dependent Emissions Properties of a Model Aurone Enable Use in Biological Applications. J Fluoresc. 2024 Feb 27. doi: 10.1007/s10895-024-03607-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38411859.
Ghosh R, Bryant DL, Arivett BA, Smith SA, Altman E, Kline PC, Farone AL. An acidic polysaccharide (AGC3) isolated from North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) suspension culture as a potential immunomodulatory nutraceutical. Curr Res Food Sci. 2020 Aug 5;3:207-216. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2020.07.002. PMID: 32914137; PMCID: PMC7473373.
*Ghosh R, *Bryant DL, Farone AL. Panax quinquefolius (North American Ginseng) Polysaccharides as Immunomodulators: Current Research Status and Future Directions. Molecules. 2020 Dec 11;25(24):5854. doi: 10.3390/molecules25245854. PMID: 33322293; PMCID: PMC7763949.
*Indicates equal contributions
Christopher Chiu, PhD, MA
Christopher Chiu, PhD, MA received his PhD and MA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester. He was a predoctoral and postdoctoral fellow in the Behavioral Medicine program at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
During his graduate training, Chris was selected and awarded a competitive 4-year fellowship through the Health Policy Research Scholars program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and received specialized training on translating research into health policy to promote health equity. Prior to joining the BU-CHART program, Chris also served as a project director on two clinical trials that aim to address the psychobehavioral needs of communities with HIV who are sub optimally engaged in care and who have challenges with substance use (R34 and R01, PI: Abby Batchelder). These experiences have shaped Chris’ research interest and goals in addressing social determinants of health that drive health disparities among LGBTQIA+ communities of color.
As a BU-CHART Trainee and Research Fellow, he will continue working within the Behavioral Health Equity program under the research mentorship of Drs. Abigail Batchelder, Allen Gifford, and Carl Streed. During his fellowship, he plans to conduct research that informs the development of status-neutral psychobehavioral interventions that address the mental health and subsistence needs of sexual minority men of color with and vulnerable to HIV.
Mentors
Abigail Batchelder, PhD, MPH – Director of the Behavioral Health Equity Program and Associate Vice Chair of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Allen Gifford, MD – Professor of Health Law, Policy & Management, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Carl Streed, MD, MPH – Associate Professor of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Selected Publications
Chiu C, Gnall K, Kaiser AP, Taft CT, Franz MR, Lee LO, Vasterling JJ. Neurocognitive Performance Predicts Future Partner Violence Among U.S. Iraq-and Afghanistan-deployed Army Soldiers and Veterans. Psychol Violence. 2022 May;12(3):160-169. doi: 10.1037/vio0000408. Epub 2022 Feb 14. PMID: 38463935; PMCID: PMC10923519.
Pantalone DW, Nelson KM, Batchelder AW, Chiu C, Gunn HA, Horvath KJ. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Combination Behavioral Interventions Co-Targeting Psychosocial Syndemics and HIV-Related Health Behaviors for Sexual Minority Men. J Sex Res. 2020 Jul;57(6):681-708. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2020.1728514. Epub 2020 Feb 20. PMID: 32077326; PMCID: PMC7457381.
DeGutis J, Chiu C, Thai M, Esterman M, Milberg W, McGlinchey R. Trauma Sequelae are Uniquely Associated with Components of Self-Reported Sleep Dysfunction in OEF/OIF/OND Veterans. Behav Sleep Med. 2018 Jan-Feb;16(1):38-63. doi: 10.1080/15402002.2016.1173550. Epub 2016 May 16. PMID: 27183394.
Déjà Clement, MS, MPH, PhD
Déjà Clement, PhD, MPH, MS received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, MPH with a specialty in Rural and Underserved Communities, and MS in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavioral Medicine/Health Psychology from Oklahoma State University. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from West Virginia University, where she was also a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. She recently completed her clinical psychology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the Behavioral Medicine program.
Déjà has received several competitively funded research fellowships, including the Fostering Diversity in HIV Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Brigham Research in Infectious Diseases and Global Engagement Fellowship (BRIDGE) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Recently, Déjà was selected to be a research fellow in the Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (REIDS) within the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) at Yale University’s School of Public Health.
Grounded in intersectionality theory and Black Feminist thought, Déjà’s research program aims to combine psychological, public health, and community-informed perspectives to understand and intervene on psychosocial and contextual stressors, including systemic oppression, intersectional minority stress, and experiences of discrimination as they influence health outcomes (i.e., suicide, substance use, and HIV) and health behaviors for minoritized populations (i.e., Black women, women of color). Her current work focuses on developing and implementing adapted psycho-behavioral interventions to improve HIV treatment engagement in individuals at risk or with HIV and who use substances among Black women.
As a BU-CHART Trainee and Research Fellow, she will be working within the Behavioral Health Equity Program under the research mentorship of Dr. Abigail Batchelder, Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, and Dr. Alex Walley. She plans to conduct a study that understands and intervenes on the unique needs of Black women who use opioids and who have HIV/ are at-risk for HIV through the development of a multi-level, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed psycho-behavioral intervention.
Outside of work, Déjà enjoys cooking/eating food, running, and spending time with her dog! Follow Déjà on LinkedIn or X (Twitter) for updates on her work!
Mentors
Abigail Batchelder, PhD, MPH – Director of the Behavioral Health Equity Program and Associate Vice Chair of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Sabrina Assoumou, MD, MPH – Inaugural Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Alexander Walley, MD, MSc –Professor of Medicine and Director of Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Selected Publications
Clement DN, Appleseth HS, Armstrong C, Cole AB, Wingate LR, Leffingwell T. (2023). Minoritized Graduate Student Identity, Wellbeing, and Suicide Risk. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000555.
Clement DN, Oliphant V, Awad S, Wingate LR. Race-Based Rejection Sensitivity and the Integrated Motivational Volitional Model of Suicide in a Sample of Black Women. Clinical Psychological Science. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221147265
Oliphant V, Broyles D, Clement DN, Wingate L. Mental Health Strategies Informed by Black Feminist Thought. Open Cultural Studies, 6(1), 137-146. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2022-0151
Wiglesworth A, Clement DN, Wingate LR, Klimes-Dougan B. Understanding suicide risk for youth who are both Black and Native American: The role of intersectionality and multiple marginalization. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2022 Aug;52(4):668-682. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12851. Epub 2022 Mar 8. PMID: 35258124.
Rebecca Fisk-Hoffman, PhD
Rebecca Fisk-Hoffman, PhD completed her doctoral studies in epidemiology at the University of Florida. Her dissertation work focused on the implementation of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy for HIV treatment and interest in future long-acting HIV treatments and was supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She also worked on the Florida Cohort Study Wave 3, a large, multi-site study seeking to identify barriers to key steps in the HIV Care Continuum. Prior to that she received her MPH from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston.
As a BU-CHART Fellow, she will be working with Dr. So-Armah on the Tuberculosis, Alcohol and Lung Comorbidities Study (TALC) which is assessing the impact of unhealthy alcohol use on the risk of developing post-TB lung disease among people with HIV (PWH) in southwestern Uganda. She will be working with the TALC team to develop and implement an alcohol reduction intervention for delivery in HIV/TB care.
Mentors
Kaku So-Armah, PhD – Associate Professor of Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Mari-Lynn Drainoni, PhD – Research Professor of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Simeon Kimmel, MD, MA – Assistant Professor of Medicine, General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Jeffrey Samet, MD, MA, MPH – Professor of Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Selected Publications
Fisk-Hoffman RJ, Ranger S, Gracy A, Siuluta N, Parisi CE, Payton I, Cook RL, Canidate S. Recommendations for the Design and Implementation of Alcohol Pharmacotherapy Trials: Perspectives of Women With HIV Participating in the WHAT-IF Study. J Addict Med. 2024 Nov 19. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001410. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39560292.
Fisk-Hoffman RJ, Liu Y, Somboonwit C, Widmeyer M, Canidate S, Prosperi M, Cook RL. Who wants long-Acting injectable antiretroviral therapy? Treatment preferences among adults with HIV in Florida. AIDS Care. 2024 Nov;36(11):1545-1554. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2024.2383872. Epub 2024 Aug 1. PMID: 39088731; PMCID: PMC11511631.
Fisk-Hoffman RJ, Ranger SS, Gracy A, Gracy H, Manavalan P, Widmeyer M, Leeman RF, Cook RL, Canidate S. Perspectives Among Health Care Providers and People with HIV on the Implementation of Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine for Antiretroviral Therapy in Florida. AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2024 Jun;38(6):275-285. doi: 10.1089/apc.2024.0067. Epub 2024 Apr 30. PMID: 38686517; PMCID: PMC11301705.
Rich SN, Liu Y, Fisk-Hoffman R, Zheng Y, Hu H, Spencer EE, Cook RL, Prosperi M. Spatial and temporal analysis of HIV clinical outcomes in Florida reveals counties with persistent racial and ethnic disparities during 2012-2019. BMC Public Health. 2024 Mar 9;24(1):749. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17944-w. PMID: 38459461; PMCID: PMC10924316.
Fisk-Hoffman RJ, Parisi CE, Siuluta N, Ding DD, Widmeyer M, Somboonwit C, Cook RL. Antiretroviral Therapy Concealment Behaviors and their Association with Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence among People with HIV: Findings from the Florida Cohort Study. AIDS Behav. 2024 Mar;28(3):1047-1057. doi: 10.1007/s10461-023-04214-w. Epub 2023 Oct 20. PMID: 37861924; PMCID: PMC10922241.
Samantha Malatesta, PhD
Samantha Malatesta, PhD earned her PhD in Biostatistics from Boston University and her undergraduate degree in Statistics from North Carolina State University. Her PhD work focused on developing statistical methods to analyze data collected through respondent-driven sampling with applications to tuberculosis and HIV. She also developed a model to classify tuberculosis disease severity for persons initiating TB treatment that integrates multiple diagnostics.
As a BU-CHART fellow, Sam will continue working with Dr. Laura White and Dr. Karen Jacobson and aims to contribute to statistical methods for understanding tuberculosis transmission that integrates whole genome sequencing data and individual-level clinical data. She is particularly interested in settings with both a high TB and HIV burden where community transmission is common. This project is motivated by her work with Dr. Jacobson’s cohorts in South Africa that aim to understand tuberculosis disease burden and transmission among people who smoke drugs.
Mentors
Laura F. White, PhD— Professor of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health
Karen Jacobson, MD, MPH— Associate Professor of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Selected Publications
Wijk M, Gausi K, Malatesta S, Weber SE, Court R, Myers B, Carney T, Parry CDH, Horsburgh CR, White LF, Wiesner L, Warren RM, Uren C, McIlleron H, Kloprogge F, Denti P, Jacobson KR. The impact of alcohol and illicit substance use on the pharmacokinetics of first-line TB drugs. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2024 Aug 1;79(8):2022-2030. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkae206. PMID: 38985541; PMCID: PMC11290884.
Myers B, Carney T, Rooney J, Malatesta S, Ragan EJ, White LF, Natcheva H, Bouton TC, Weber SE, Farhat M, McIlleron H, Theron D, Parry CDH, Horsburgh CR, Warren RM, Jacobson KR. Smoked drug use in patients with TB is associated with higher bacterial burden. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2023 Jun 1;27(6):444-450. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.22.0650. PMID: 37231597; PMCID: PMC10407961.
Malatesta S, Weir IR, Weber SE, Bouton TC, Carney T, Theron D, Myers B, Horsburgh CR, Warren RM, Jacobson KR, White LF. Methods for handling missing data in serially sampled sputum specimens for mycobacterial culture conversion calculation. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022 Nov 19;22(1):297. doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01782-8. PMID: 36402979; PMCID: PMC9675206.
Myers B, Carney T, Rooney J, Malatesta S, White LF, Parry CDH, Bouton TC, Ragan EJ, Horsburgh CR Jr, Warren RM, Jacobson KR. Alcohol and Tobacco Use in a Tuberculosis Treatment Cohort during South Africa’s COVID-19 Sales Bans: A Case Series. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 May 19;18(10):5449. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105449. PMID: 34069737; PMCID: PMC8161406.
Katherine Reifler, MD
Katherine Reifler, MD received her medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago and her undergraduate degree from Harvard University. During medical school she worked abroad in Kenya on emergency care systems and screening for HIV in the emergency care setting. Prior to medical school, she worked on public health projects in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. These experiences, as well as her experience working at safety-net hospitals in Chicago and Boston, sparked her interest in tropical infectious disease, migrant health, and global and domestic inequities in access to care.
She completed internal medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship at Boston University/Boston Medical Center. While completing her residency and fellowship training, she began working on research related to Chagas disease in migrants and educational efforts to promote awareness of Chagas disease amongst clinicians. The pandemic put the Chagas research on hold; meanwhile she contributed to COVID-19 research. She is now returning to migrant health and tropical infectious disease.
As a BU-CHART Trainee and Research Fellow, she will continue working on Chagas disease research domestically in Boston under the mentorship of Dr. David Hamer and Dr. Daniel Bourque, as well as in Bolivia under the research mentorship of Dr. Robert Gilman and Dr. Deborah Cotton. In Bolivia, she plans to conduct a study that compares features of cardiomyopathy in patients with T. cruzi and HIV coinfection compared to mono-infection. She is also involved in a collaborative effort with members of the department of Hematology/Oncology to examine infectious screening (with a focus on latent tuberculosis and strongyloidiasis) in high-risk patients prior to cancer treatment.
Mentors
David Hamer, MD— Professor of Global Health and Medicine, Boston University School of Public Health and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Daniel Bourque, MD— Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Robert Gilman, MD—Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Deborah Cotton, MD, MPH—Professor of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian and Avesidian School of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health
Selected Publications
Reifler K, Kytomaa S, Miller N, Bourque D. “Plasmodium species reactivation in the setting of COVID-19 infection.” Ann of Intern Med Case Reports. 2023 May 2; 2(5). DOI: 10.7326/aimcc.2022.1034.
Sinha P, Reifler K, Rossi M, Sagar M. Coronavirus Disease 2019 Mitigation Strategies Were Associated With Decreases in Other Respiratory Virus Infections. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Mar 20;8(6):ofab105. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab105. PMID: 34514014; PMCID: PMC8083776.
Sagar M, Reifler K, Rossi M, Miller NS, Sinha P, White LF, Mizgerd JP. Recent endemic coronavirus infection is associated with less-severe COVID-19. J Clin Invest. 2021 Jan 4;131(1):e143380. doi: 10.1172/JCI143380. PMID: 32997649; PMCID: PMC7773342.