Oral Hpv

Infectious diseases consistently interests me since middle school when I read the book, The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston that intricately describes the Ebola virus. While the description of how the virus destroys the human body are unpleasant, this virus fascinated me. Consequently, in my spare time I read about other infectious diseases, such as cholera and tuberculosis, on Wikipedia and other web pages for my personal enjoyment. Years later, I participated in Princeton’s Model Congress in highschool and I first learned about public health. Participants in this organization create mock congressional bills to implement a national change. My bill advocated for the incorporation of HIV tests within annual physicals. The purpose of this bill …show more content…
Therefore, the summer before my senior year in college, I conducted epidemiological research under Dr. Amber D’Souza that focused on oral HPV. My project focused on determining the prevalence and risk factors for oral human papilloma virus (HPV) within a selected cohort from the AIDS Linked to the Intravenous Experience (ALIVE) Study in Baltimore. I learned STATA to conduct the preliminary data analysis and I genuinely enjoyed the that portion of my project because I utilized my quantitative skills and I contributed to the process of drawing meaningful conclusions. Additionally, I appreciated this experience, as it led to my first publication as a second author and it was the first research project that piqued my interest. I believe I had a meaningful experience, in part because I was able to make connections of how a suppressed immune system from HIV can increase one’s risk to other diseases. This experience certainly solidified that I want to become an epidemiologist because this field incorporates math and science with advocating community health. With my long-standing interest in infectious diseases and my understanding about how diseases often disproportionately impact vulnerable communities epidemiology also appeals to me because of this field involves statistical analysis of collected data, ultimately to educate these communities. Furthermore, this field’s focus on health from …show more content…
Specifically, the Behavioral Epidemiology Research Group (BERG) drew my attention because I felt that my past and current experience with HIV and other related sexually transmitted diseases aligned with the mission of several research projects. Moreover, I felt that I could gain an abundance of knowledge as well from participating in one of these studies. The first study that captured my attention was the Informal Medical Injection Use in Cambodia. This project appealed to me because the cohort I studied in my past research focused on injection drug use. Additionally, I always desired to study HIV from a global perspective and I am not as familiar with HIV in Southeast Asia. Therefore, I believe that I could potentially contribute to this project with my knowledge of injection drug use and HIV and I could glean information about HIV in Cambodia. Furthermore, the Epidemiologic Impact of HPV Vaccination immediately caught my attention because the project I assigned to me at Johns Hopkins University focused on oral HPV and I while there, I learned a lot about HPV and about the HPV vaccination. The last study that I deemed intriguing was the mSTUDY – Minority Men Who have Sex With Men Cohort at UCLA Linking Infections Noting Effects. In Washington D.C., HIV greatly impacts men who have sex with men and through working with