{"id":2251,"date":"2025-04-15T09:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T16:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/?p=2251"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:30:01","slug":"announcing-the-recipients-of-the-2024-new-investigator-award-nia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/2025\/04\/15\/announcing-the-recipients-of-the-2024-new-investigator-award-nia\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing the Recipients of the 2024 New Investigator Award (NIA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UW\/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research is pleased to announce the 2024 New Investigator Award (NIA) recipients. The purpose of this award program is to encourage early-stage investigators (at a senior stage of training or recently independent) to conduct independent research, acquire preliminary data to use for exogenous grant submissions, publish, receive mentorship, and write one or more grants to obtain funding to continue their HIV\/AIDS research careers. Recipients are awarded up to $70,000 total (direct costs) for 2-year non-interdisciplinary projects, or $80,000 (direct costs) total for 2-year interdisciplinary projects.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to our 2024 CFAR NIA Awardees, Dr. Taylor Hendrixson<\/strong>\u00a0of the University of Washington, Dr. Brandon Maust<\/strong> of Seattle Children’s, Dr. Michalina Monta\u00f1<\/b>o<\/strong> of Fred Hutch, Dr. Jillian Neary<\/strong> of the University of Washington, Dr. Lilian Njagi<\/strong> of Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Dr. Rachael Parks<\/strong> of Fred Hutch, and Dr. Khai Hoan Tram<\/strong> of the University of Washington!<\/p>\n

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Taylor Hendrixson, MD<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Assistant Professor, University of Washington<\/p>\n

Project Title: <\/strong>Iron Deficiency in Pregnancy and Neuro-developmental Outcomes of HIV exposed Uninfected Infants<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mentor:\u00a0<\/strong>Christine McGrath (UW)<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborating Investigators:\u00a0<\/strong>Benson Singa (Kenya Medical Research Institute), Sarah Benki-Nugent (UW), Tracy Q. Dong (Fred Hutch)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Hendrixson is a neonatologist, pediatric infectious disease physician and Assistant Professor within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. His research has focused on improving maternal and early infant nutrition to optimize growth and improve long-term outcomes in low- and middle-income settings. He works on clinical and clinical-translational trials targeting populations at high-risk for nutritional deficiencies and growth faltering. Dr. Hendrixson is the PI of a K23 award investigating multi-omic interactions of the maternal-breastmilk-infant triad and associations with clinical outcomes among women living with HIV and their infants HIV-exposed uninfected in Kenya. This CFAR NIA aims to investigate anemia and iron status in pregnancy among women living with HIV and associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes of children HIV-exposed uninfected to guide future interventional studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty Profile: Dr. Taylor Hendrixson<\/a><\/p>\n

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Brandon Maust, MD<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Acting Assistant Professor, Seattle Children’s<\/p>\n

Project Title:<\/strong> Alterations of Enteric Microbiota and Inflammation on Kenyan adults taking FTC-TDF for HIV prevention<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mentor:\u00a0<\/strong>Heather Jaspan (Seattle Children\u2019s)<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborating Investigator:\u00a0<\/strong>Jairam Lingappa (UW\/Fred Hutch)<\/p>\n

Dr. Maust is a pediatric infectious disease physician and researcher. He is an Acting Assistant Professor at Seattle Children\u2019s and the University of Washington. His research focuses on interactions between antiretroviral medications and bacterial and viral microbiota to help people with and without HIV who take them to lead healthy and thriving lives. Other projects include studies of penile microbiota in adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and associations between contraception and fungi in the vagina. The CFAR New Investigator award will expand his work in Seattle exploring the impact of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis on systemic immunity through the enteric microbiota to include couples from the Kinga study recruited in Kenya.<\/p>\n

Faculty Profile: Dr. Brandon Maust<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"Michalina Monta\u00f1o<\/b>, PhD, MS<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Research Associate, Fred Hutch<\/p>\n

Project Title:<\/strong> Trends and impact of health system disruptions on prophylaxis against infections among persons with HIV<\/em><\/p>\n

Mentors: <\/strong>Rachel Bender Ignacio (UW\/Fred Hutch), Mari Kitahata (UW), Adrienne Shapiro (UW)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Michalina Monta\u00f1o is a Research Associate at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Her recent postdoctoral research and current K01 are aimed at improving HIV and cancer treatment outcomes and engagement in care in resource-limited settings in East and Southern Africa. Her research uses a combination of epidemiologic and implementation science approaches to understand the epidemiology of co-morbidities, including mpox and HIV-associated malignancies, among people with HIV, and develop locally guided strategies to improve clinical care delivery for this population. She recently completed a study examining the epidemiology of mpox in people with HIV in the United States.<\/p>\n

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Jillian Neary, PhD, MPH<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow, University of Washington<\/p>\n

Project Title:<\/strong> Effect of breastfeeding and breast milk composition on telomere length among children exposed to HIV<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mentors:<\/span><\/strong> Christine McGrath (UW), Dan Eisenberg (UW), Grace John-Stewart (UW), Dalton Wamalwa (University of Nairobi), Lars Bode (UCSD)<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborating investigators:<\/span><\/strong> Benson Singa (KEMRI), Irene Njuguna (Kenyatta National Hospital\/UW), Tiffany Pan (UW), Michael Wu (UW)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Jillian Neary is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. Her past work focused on strategies to increase pediatric HIV testing and improve HIV care for adolescents with HIV. Recently, her work focused on molecular epidemiology including HIV viral control among children with HIV and biomarkers of biological aging among children who are HIV exposed and uninfected. With the CFAR New Investigator Award, she plans to explore whether breastfeeding and human milk oligosaccharide composition are associated with child telomere length among children who are HIV exposed in Kenya.<\/span><\/p>\n

LinkedIn: Dr. Jillian Neary<\/a><\/p>\n

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Lilian Njagi, MBChB, PhD<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Senior Clinical Research Scientist, Kenya Medical Research Institute<\/p>\n

Project Title:<\/strong> Immunopathogenesis of TB Aerobiology and Infectiousness in HIV Co-infection<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mentors:<\/span><\/strong> Thomas Hawn (UW), Videlis Nduba (KEMRI\/CRDR), David Horne (UW), Kevin Fennelly (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Lilian Njagi is a physician-scientist in Kenya trained in epidemiology, tropical medicine, and infectious diseases. Her early work and recent PhD training centered on HIV medicine and translational research into monitoring the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in people living with HIV. As a Senior Clinical Research Scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Respiratory Disease Research, she leads TB immunologic prophylaxis trials and observational studies, including the TB Aerobiology, Immunology, and Transmission study with her mentors. Her current work and the goal of Dr Lilian\u2019s New Investigator Award is to investigate Mtb transmission mechanisms in HIV co-infection, ultimately leading to the development of targeted interventions for TB prevention and care in people with and without HIV.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn: Dr. Lilian Njagi<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"Rachael Parks, PhD, BS<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Staff Scientist, Fred Hutch<\/p>\n

Project Title: <\/strong>Impact of antigen administration strategy on immune cells in the lymph node<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mentor:<\/span><\/strong> Juliana McElrath (Fred Hutch)<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborating investigators:<\/span><\/strong> Stephen De Rosa (Fred Hutch), Gail Broder (Fred Hutch)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Rachael Parks is a Staff Scientist at the Fred Hutch working with Dr. Julie McElrath. Her research focuses on evaluating B cell responses to HIV immunologic prophylaxis. She hopes to identify features of HIV-specific B cell responses that lead to the production of broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn: Dr. Rachael Parks<\/a><\/p>\n

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Khai Hoan Tram, MD, MS<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Clinician Researcher, University of Washington<\/p>\n

Project Title: <\/strong>Characterizing dynamic mobility patterns within high-burden HIV settings for precision public health<\/em><\/p>\n

Mentors<\/strong>:<\/span> Frank Tanser (Stellenbosch University), Adrian Dobra (UW)<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborating investigator: <\/span><\/strong>Thulile Mathenjwa (Africa Health Research Institute)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Khai Hoan Tram is an infectious diseases physician-scientist in the Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington. Broadly, Dr. Tram’s research uses the tools of epidemiology, geospatial analysis, and infectious diseases modeling to inform data-driven, precision public health interventions against the TB and HIV epidemics. Over the past several years, his research program has honed in on human mobility and infectious diseases as a central theme, starting with studies of population mobility to the measurement of individual mobility and activity spaces in Nairobi as part of a subnational TB prevalence survey. Dr. Tram’s CFAR project builds upon an ongoing investigation of short-term daily mobility using smartphone GPS traces for young adults in a high HIV prevalence area in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Faculty Profile: Dr. Khai Hoan Tram<\/a><\/p>\n

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To learn more, visit the CFAR New Investigator Awards page<\/a>\u00a0or contact us at cfardev@uw.edu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to our 2024 CFAR NIA Awardees, Dr. Taylor Hendrixson\u00a0of the University of Washington, Dr. Brandon Maust of Seattle Children’s, Dr. Michalina Monta\u00f1o of Fred Hutch, Dr. Jillian Neary of the University of Washington, Dr. Lilian Njagi of Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Dr. Rachael Parks of Fred Hutch, and\u00a0Dr. Khai Hoan Tram of the University of Washington!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2592,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251\/revisions\/2592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/cfar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}