Sarah Benki-Nugent, MS, PhD

Acting Assistant Professor, Global Health, University of Washington

 

Dr. Sarah Benki-Nugent, MS, PhD, received her PhD (Microbiology) and MS (Epidemiology) from the University of Washington. She has been involved in HIV research in Kenya since 2000. Her research objective is to define best practices for optimizing growth and development in children in resource poor settings, particularly children affected by HIV, malnutrition and environmental toxins. She is funded by an NIH/NINDS K01 Award to whether antiretroviral therapy, if provided during infancy, is sufficient to protect long-term neurodevelopment in HIV-infected children, and will evaluate mechanisms of neuropathogenesis in the context of early antiretroviral treatment. Her CFAR New Investigator Award project will evaluate neurocognitive outcomes in older long-term treated HIV-infected children. Her other projects involve piloting a low-cost, potentially scale-able approach for measuring infant motor, social and language skills in Kenya and determining exposure to environmental toxins in Kenyan children and subsequent impacts on their health and development.

Publications

  1. Zuidema, C, Edemba, PW, Riederer, AM, Kipter, VK, Sherris, AR, Olweywe, L et al.. Educational attainment and self-reported environmental exposures of pregnant women living in Nairobi, Kenya. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025;5 (11):e0005453. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005453. PubMed PMID:41252433 PubMed Central PMC12626295.
  2. Okhagbuzo, MI, Njuguna, I, King'e, M, Moraa, H, Muranda, M, Tala, B et al.. Lower working memory and processing speed among children and youth exposed to HIV. AIDS. 2025; :. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000004402. PubMed PMID:41217403 .
  3. Sherris, AR, Edemba, PW, Riederer, AM, Adhiambo, J, Olweywe, L, Owiti, P et al.. Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and birth outcomes in a pregnancy cohort in Nairobi, Kenya. medRxiv. 2025; :. doi: 10.1101/2025.08.01.25332639. PubMed PMID:40766158 PubMed Central PMC12324636.
  4. Reeves, DB, Litchford, M, Fish, CS, Farrell-Sherman, A, Poindexter, M, Ahmed, N et al.. Intact HIV DNA decays in children with and without complete viral load suppression. PLoS Pathog. 2025;21 (4):e1013003. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013003. PubMed PMID:40184428 PubMed Central PMC12002518.
  5. Benki-Nugent, S, Were, FH, Riederer, AM, Gatari, M, Karr, CJ, Seto, EY et al.. Air pollution exposures in early life and brain development in children (ABC): protocol for a pregnancy cohort study. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2025;9 (1):. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002758. PubMed PMID:39922600 PubMed Central PMC11808922.
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