emory center for aids research
Emory Training Program in Translational Research to End the HIV Epidemic
We are currently accepting applications for an August 1, 2026 start date, including one post-doctoral slot and 1–2 pre-doctoral slots.
For interested post-doctoral applicants, please complete the interest form: https://bit.ly/EmoryHIVT32App26.
Pre-doctoral applicants should contact Deaunna Thomas at deaunna.thomas@emory.edu.
About the Program
In 2021, the Emory CFAR launched the Emory Training Program in HIV Translational Research to End the Epidemic T32 program. The program is fully administratively and scientifically integrated into the Emory CFAR to capitalize on the spectrum of ongoing HIV investigation at our institution. The T32 program focuses on translational HIV science at the epicenter of the United States HIV epidemic in the South and was built around research activities in three major focus areas including 1) Laboratory-based basic science, vaccine, and cure research, 2) Patient-centered clinical research, and 3) Public health and implementation science. Trainees will gain expertise to conduct cutting-edge HIV research through hands-on experience and formal didactics with emphasis on educating trainees in the broader context of HIV research across the translational continuum. There are five post-doctoral fellow slots for candidates with a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD degree and one pre-doctoral slot for an Emory PhD student.
Program Goals
- To provide two years of support to five post-doctoral fellows as well as an opportunity for one pre-doctoral student to conduct cutting-edge HIV research through hands-on experience and formal didactics with emphasis on educating trainees in the broader context of HIV research across the translational continuum.
- To encompass research activities in each of the NIH HIV/AIDS research priorities to reduce the incidence of HIV, develop next generation HIV therapeutics, conduct research towards an HIV cure, and address HIV associated co-morbidities, co-infections and complications; but, more importantly, our program also exposes trainees to cross-cutting areas of HIV research and team science to accelerate the translation of discovery into improved health outcomes.
Program Eligibility
Pre-doctoral Applicants:
- Must be an Emory PhD student who has completed their qualifying exam and whose stipend is currently covered by the mentor and not GDBBS
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Must be able to devote two years to training
Post-doctoral Applicants:
- Must hold a PhD, MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent terminal degree with a demonstrated interest in HIV translational research
- Must be within five years of completion of their terminal degree at the time of appointment
- Must meet NIH citizenship eligibility requirements at the time of application, including U.S. citizenship or permanent residency
Program Focus Areas and Mentors
Program Directors
Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH
Program Director for Patient-Centered HIV Clinical Research
Ann Chahroudi, MD, PhD
Co-Program Director for HIV Basic Science
Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Co-Program Director for Public Health and Implementation Science Research
Program Staff
Deaunna Thomas, MSW
Program Coordinator
Natasha Toomer, MBA
CFAR Sr. Financial Analyst
Meet our T32 Trainees
Vinh Dinh, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Ann Chahroudi, MD, PhD
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Department: Pediatrics-Infectious Diseases
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “Determining the Effects of bNAb Immunotherapy in Conjunction with Fostemsavir on Reservoir Establishment and Anti-HIV Response in Early ART-Treated SHIV Infected Infant Macaques”
Alysha Ellison, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Dionna Williams, PhD
Start Date: July 1, 2025
Department: Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “Evaluating the Effects and Mechanistic Underpinnings of Cannabidiol (CBD) Analogues on HIV-Associated Inflammation”
Emily Evans, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Vincent Marconi, MD
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Department: Medicine- Infectious Disease
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: “Predictive Models for Fungal and Mycobacterial Infections in People with Advanced HIV Disease in Vietnam”
Michael Marll, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Sara Auld, MD, MSc
Start Date: June 10, 2024
Department: DOM– Pulmonary
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: “Phenotyping Pulmonary Function and Chest Tomography in Tuberculosis (FACT-TB)”
Emily Muller, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Valeria Cantos, MD
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Department: Medicine-Infectious Diseases
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: “Effectiveness of a Differentiated HIV Service Tool in Reducing 90-day Loss to Follow-Up at a Large Urban HIV Clinic in Atlanta”
Adriana Norris, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Stefan Sarafianos, PhD
Co-Mentor: Lefteris Michailidis, PhD
Start Date: April 1, 2024
Department: Pediatrics
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “HIV/HBV Co-infection Studies in Primary Cell Culture Systems”
Terra Riddick, MS
Pre-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Jyothi Rengarajan, PhD
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Department: Medicine-Infectious Diseases
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “Investigating Alveolar Macrophage Responses to Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in People with HIV”
Javier Rosado-Franco, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Dionna Williams, PhD
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Department: Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “Microbiome Dysbiosis Caused by PrEP Administration in Rhesus Macaques: A Molecular Look and Possible Consequences ”
Margaret “Maggie” To, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Ameeta Kalokhe, MD
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Department: Medicine-Infectious Diseases
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: “A Syndemic Approach to Trauma in People with HIV using Long-acting Injectable ART ”
Amalia Aldredge, MD
Mentor: Anandi Sheth, MD
Co-Mentor: Cecile Lahiri, MD, MS
Start Date: July 1, 2022
Department: Medicine- Infectious Disease
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: Sex-specific HIV outcomes: the role of low-level viremia
Michael Curtis, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Sophia Hussen, MD, MPH
Start Date: July 1, 2022
Department: Global Health
Primary Area of HIV Research: Public Health and Implementation Science
Research Project: Exploring Associations Between Discrimination, Traumatic Stress, And Substance Use Among Young Black Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV
Danielle Giovenco, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Co-Mentor: Don Operario, PhD
Start Date: July 31, 2022
Department: Epidemiology
Primary Area of HIV Research: Public Health and Implementation Science
Research Project: K application: Preventing disruptions in progress towards ending HIV/AIDS: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
Sydney Bergstresser, BS
Pre-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Deanna Kulpa, PhD
Start Date: July 31, 2023
Department: Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: Bcl-2 antagonism to reduce the reservoir in ART treated SIV-infected Rhesus macaques
Wendy Fujita, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Anandi Sheth, MD
Co-Mentor: Hannah Cooper, ScD
Start Date: July 1, 2022
Department: Medicine- Infectious Disease
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: Substance Use Treatment Utilization Among Women with and at risk for HIV
Udodirim Onwubiko, MBBS MPH
Pre-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Samuel Jenness, PhD
Start Date: July 31, 2022
Department: Epidemiology
Primary Area of HIV Research: Public Health and Implementation Science
Research Project: “Understanding Stigma, Mental Health Diagnoses and their impacts on PrEP Engagement among US MSM”
Sarah Scott, MD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Co-Mentor: Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Department: Medicine- Infectious Disease
Primary Area of HIV Research: Patient-centered Clinical Research
Research Project: “HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Use and Equity Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the
United States — 2018–2023”
Ryan Slack, PhD
Post-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Stefan Sarafianos, PhD
Start Date: January 1, 2022
Department: Pediatrics
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: Interactions between HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase and human APOBEC3G
Kasey Stokdyk
Pre-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Rama Amara, PhD
Start Date: April 1, 2024
Department: Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis
Primary Area of HIV Research: Laboratory-based Science, Vaccine, and Cure Research
Research Project: “Characterization of Trimeric HIV-1 gp120 Immunogens as Vaccine Candidates in Rhesus Macaques”
Seth Zissette, MS
Pre-doctoral Trainee
Mentor: Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Start Date: August 1, 2024
Department: Epidemiology
Primary Area of HIV Research: Public Health and Implementation Science
Research Project: “Measurement of HIV and Tuberculosis
Biomedical Prevention Processes and Impacts Under an Implementation Science Framework”
Contact
To contact the Emory HIV T32 Program, reach out to Deaunna Thomas.
Deaunna Thomas
Program Coordinator
Email: deaunna.thomas@emory.edu
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Center for AIDS Research at Emory University
1518 Clifton Rd, NE
R. Randall Rollins Building, R558
Mailstop: 1518-002-5CC
Atlanta, GA 30322-4201
404.727.2924 | cfaradmin@emory.edu