Project: Development of Tools to Assess Physical Activity Levels of HIV Positive Patients

As a member of the Gator Team, I am involved in seeing HIV positive pediatric patients at Shands Pediatric Immunology Center. Here, I present education concerning nutrition and exercise, as well as obtain diet and exercise recalls. I am also involved in analyzing data from clinic and assessing patients’ growth parameters and their risk for developing other chronic conditions, such as type II diabetes.

Other Roles: Archiving and Database officer

Semester Joined: Fall 2007

Major: Microbiology and Cell Science

Future Plans: Medical School

I recently completed my training as a Gator Team member and am now Gator Buddy to several patients. As a Gator Buddy I monitor patient progress between clinic visits and assess concerning trends in their health. I am also a member of the HIV/Carn research group and am looking forward to developing a personal project.

Semester Joined: Fall 2008

Major: Microbiology & Cell Science

Future Plans: Graduate School

Project: Metabolic Assessment of Babies Exposed to HIV in Utero

Exposure to antiretroviral medications and HIV in utero may place infants at increased risk for abnormal growth, more specifically, stunted linear growth. I am comparing the growth of these exposed infants to a normal population to see if there are significant differences in height, weight, or BMI. In addition, I will be looking at lab parameters associated with anemia to see how our population’s lab values are affected by taking antiretroviral medications.

Other Roles: Team Captain, Clinic Coordinator, Biohazard, HIPAA/IRB and Education Officers

Semester Joined: Fall 2007

Major: Health Science

Future Plans: Graduate School (Public Health)

Project: Prevalence of Insulin Resistance in HIV Positive Pediatric Patients and Its Relationship to Other Metabolic Dysfunctions

Metabolic syndrome (MS) refers to the clustering of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), including abdominal obesity and elevated triglycerides, glucose, and blood pressure. This is especially important for an HIV positive population, as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can lead to dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and visceral adiposity; all major components of MS. Insulin resistance (IR) is believed to be the primary driving force behind MS. It has been shown that the clustering of MS risk factors can develop in childhood and persist to adulthood, and that children with pediatric MS are more likely to develop T2DM 25 to 30 years later than their healthy peers. This places emphasis on identifying those patients at risk for developing IR early in life so that preventative measures can be taken before the onset of MS and T2DM.

Other Roles: IG President, Hardware/Software Officer, Website Officer, Personnel Officer

Semester Joined: Fall 2007

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies - Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Future Plans: Medical school