Dr. Ann Duerr

Dr. Duerr trained in laboratory science, medicine, and infectious disease epidemiology. Throughout her career, Dr. Duerr has been interested in the public health concerns of the developing world. She began her career doing field and bench research on malaria and schistosomiasis, and for more than 15 years she has focused on clinical and epidemiological studies of HIV infection. Dr. Duerr is currently the Associate Director (Scientific Support) of the NIAID-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). The HVTN is an international partnership of research scientists, clinical trial sites, and community representatives working with industry and governments to speed the development and testing of preventive HIV vaccine candidates. With more than 25 sites on 5 continents, the HVTN provides a clinical trials platform for the conduct of safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy studies of HIV vaccine candidates. Prior to joining the HVTN, Dr. Duerr served as HIV Section Chief of the WomenÂ’s Health and Fertility Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she spent 13 years conducting clinical-epidemiological research on HIV infection, particularly in relation to womenÂ’s reproductive health.


Research interests include:
- HIV vaccine trials – The pipeline of potential HIV vaccine candidates continues to grow. The HVTN is currently conducting more than 10 phase I/II clinical trials and anticipates several phase IIB or proof-of-concept trials in 2005. The most promising of these candidates are vaccines that elicit cytotoxic T cell responses which, while unlikely to confer sterilizing immunity, may slow progression of HIV disease and reduce infectiousness in vaccinees who do become infected. Dr. Duerr is particularly interested in the following areas of HIV vaccine research: (1) the logistics of conducting trials in resource-poor settings where the infrastructure to support trial conduct is often poorly developed, (2) how best to measure the efficacy of vaccines that may alter clinical course of HIV infection, without preventing infection itself, and (3) elucidation of factors, such as induction of local mucosal immunity, that contribute to the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV.

- HIV infection and women’s health – Historically, Dr. Duerr has had an interest in factors associated with HIV transmission to women and in the clinical course of HIV infection in women (including the effect of HIV infection on gynecologic conditions such as vaginal infections and HPV-related cervical neoplasia). Recent work has included intervention trials, conducted in Africa, for the prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to their infants through breastfeeding, and trials in the US and Africa testing the utility of physical barriers (such as the diaphragm) and microbicides for the prevention of transmission of STDs and HIV.

- Refugee Health – Much research in refugee health has focused on the importance of infectious disease in complex humanitarian emergencies. Reproductive health has received less attention; maternal mortality and neonatal deaths may be under-reported. Dr. Duerr and colleagues conducted two studies in stabilized refugee settings which found high rates of maternal and neonatal mortality; in one study, the strong association of maternal death with barriers to access to health care suggests opportunities for reducing mortality among refugee women and their children.