ICAP

The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) is honoring Dr. Elaine J. Abrams, senior research director of ICAP and professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, for her significant contributions to the field of HIV medicine. As the recipient of the 2016 HIVMA Clinical Educator Award, Dr. Abrams is being recognized for her achievements in clinical care, provider education and her contributions that have changed practice and impacted pediatric and maternal HIV care worldwide.

Dr. Abrams, who is also professor of Pediatrics at Columbia, has dedicated her career to improving health outcomes of children and families living with HIV disease. Her research has primarily focused on the prevention and treatment of pediatric HIV infection. Her work contributed to the evolution of highly effective multi-drug antiretroviral treatment (ART) regimens for infants and children and to a greater understanding of the behavioral and psychological aspects of living with HIV infection during childhood. She has been at the forefront of efforts to optimize approaches to prevention of perinatal HIV prevention, including recommending ART for all HIV-infected pregnant and breastfeeding women. She conducted implementation science research in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, which benefited hundreds of thousands of HIV-infected mothers and their children around the world. She began her work in central Harlem at the Family Care Center, where she developed a comprehensive research and care program for children and families with HIV, and brought much of the learning from New York to inform global health initiatives.

A committed teacher and mentor, Dr. Abrams has been highly committed to mentoring young clinicians and researchers and nurturing the next generation of researchers and clinicians. She has written more than 200 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and received several honors, including the Dr. Linda Laubenstein Award for HIV Clinical Excellence from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute in 2006.

The award ceremony takes place at the Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans at IDWeek, October 26-30.

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