Learn about Kate O’Brien and her work to reduce death and suffering from respiratory disease among Native American children and those children in resource poor settings around the world. Katherine O’Brien, MD, MPH, a pediatric infectious disease physician, clinical vaccinologist and epidemiologist, wears many hats at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Health, Director of the Center for American Indian Health's Infectious Disease Group and Deputy Director of Research for GAVI’s PneumoADIP. Her research interests center around the clinical and epidemiological aspects of vaccine preventable bacterial and viral infections of children, with a particular focus on respiratory disease.
Within the CAIH, Dr O’Brien has conducted numerous field trials of vaccines for diseases that disproportionately affect children in the Navajo and White Mountain Apache communities including phase III trials of vaccines or biologics against pneumococcus, rotavirus and RSV. Although much of her work over the past decade has focused on the prevention of pneumococcal disease, she recently completed a 4-year, phase III field-based clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody to prevent serious RSV infections among Navajo and Apache children. That project remains in the longterm follow-up phase. On May 6th, 2008, Dr O’Brien was the recipient of the inaugural Young Investigator Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute (SVI). This award was established to honor young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr. O’Brien was recognized for her contributions and dedication towards eliminating pneumococcal disease caused by the seven serotypes prevalent in the Navajo and White Mountain Apache population, and for her role in Pneumo ADIP, a $30 million, five-year initiative aiming to make pneumococcal vaccines available to the world's poorest children.
As Deputy Director of Research for PneumoADIP, Dr. O’Brien has worked towards accelerating access to pneumococcal vaccines playing a leading role in the development and implementation of the PneumoADIP strategic approach, as well as leading efforts in the Pneumococcal Global Serotype Project and the Hib and Pneumococcal Global Burden of Disease Project, the latter a collaboration with WHO and the Hib Initiative. The PneumoADIP will formally be completing its work at the end of December 2008 but the group, led by Dr. Orin Levine, will continue to work in the area of disease prevention through vaccines. Dr. O’Brien will continue to play a leading role within that group through her contributions to three newly awarded grants: - PERCH – Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Estimating the Burden of Serious Pneumococcal and Meningococcal Disease in Older Children and Adults Globally funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Accelerated Vaccine Introduction Initiative/Outsourced Entity (AVI/OSE) a consortium of institutions including JHSPH, funded by GAVI
Overarching her specific roles with CAIH and PneumoADIP, Dr O’Brien is interested in epidemiology and control efforts through vaccines, biologics and risk factor reduction for acute lower respiratory infections, RSV, influenza, group A Streptococcus and group B Streptococcus as well as judicious antimicrobial use and general issues of neonatal sepsis. |
