AIDS research prize for Warwick academic

A researcher at the University of Warwick has received international recognition for his contribution to AIDS research.

Dr Olalekan Uthman, assistant professor in research synthesis at the University's Warwick Medical School, has received the award for co-authoring the most cited article in the prestigious journal AIDS.

Titled Adherence to antiretroviral therapy during and after pregnancy in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis, the paper has been cited 94 times and was the most cited in its category in 2014.

Dr Uthman said: "The topic examined had not been covered before which is why I think it was so successful."

The international study examined patterns of antiretroviral medication taking in pregnant women with HIV. It identified that four months after delivery women took between 50-70% less medication. It also discovered that women from less wealthy countries were more likely to continue taking their medication than their counterparts in wealthier countries. The large scale study covered 16 countries including the Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, the UK and the USA. More than 20 thousand women were monitored between 1986 and 2011.

The analysis has since been used by the World Health Organisation in developing its guidelines for monitoring the medication taking of pregnant women with HIV.

As well as an interest in long-term long therapies Dr Uthman's research interests include noncommunicable diseases (especially cardiovascular epidemiology) and interaction with infectious diseases (especially HIV/AIDS). He is the recipient of the FAS Marie Curie International Postdoc Fellowship to pursue research on the social and contextual determinants of HIV/AIDS, with a special emphasis on cardiovascular risk factors among HIV infected individuals.

Provided by University of Warwick