Faculty and Staff – or Our COBRE Team

Our Directors

Jennifer F Friedman, MD, PhD, MPH

Director, Rhode Island Hospital, Center for International Health Research
Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, Department of Pediatrics, The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Dr. Friedman is a pediatrician who conducts international health research out of Brown University Health’s Center for International Health Research. Her research addresses quantification of and mechanisms of morbidity of parasitic diseases among pregnant women and children. Her recent work addresses treatment strategies to mitigate morbidity among pregnant women and children and how to change and implement policies for more inclusive treatment programs for schistosomiasis.

Research Profile

Jonathan Kurtis, MD, PhD

Director of Laboratories, Rhode Island Hospital, Center for International Health Research
Chair and Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
Director, MD/PhD Program, The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Dr. Kurtis has studied schistosomiasis and malarial immunity since 1993 and participated in field-based data collection in the Philippines, China, Tanzania, Kenya and Brazil. Dr. Kurtis is an internationally recognized expert in immuno-epidemiology and vaccine development for infectious diseases. Dr. Kurtis pioneered the differential, whole proteome screening method to identify antigens associated with resistance to human falciparum malaria (Raj et al. Science (2014) and Raj et al. Nature (2020) and schistosomiasis (Wu et al. JID (2021)) and is currently leading R01 and Foundation funded projects to move these vaccines into human clinical trials.

Research profile

Meet the Pathogens Advisory Committee

The Advisory committee is an integral part of the COBRE team and our success. They provide advice and oversight on scientific activities and administrative decisions including:

Provide feedback to RPLs, their mentors, and the PD(s)/PI(s) regarding the RPLs’ progress in research and career development.
Approvals for replacement Research Projects, pilot proposals, and approvals for continued RPL funding with the COBRE beyond 3 years.
Providing an assessment report with feedback on the Center’s progress and any recommendations to improve the performance.

OUR RESEARCH

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Ronald Blanton, MD, Chair of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University (Schistosomiasis)

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Beth Kirkpatrick, MD, Chair of Microbiology, University of VT, & Phase II COBRE PI (vaccines/viral pathogenesis)

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Bharat Ramratnam, MD, Professor of Medicine, Brown University, & Vice President for Research, Brown University Health (HIV)

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Louis Rice, MD, Chair of Medicine, Brown University & Brown University Health (Antimicrobial drug resistance)

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Steven Taylor, MD, Professor of Medicine, Duke University, (Malaria, sickle cell)

Pathogens Faculty Mentors

The Advisory committee is an integral part of the COBRE team and our success. They provide advice and oversight on scientific activities and administrative decisions including:

Provide feedback to RPLs, their mentors, and the PD(s)/PI(s) regarding the RPLs’ progress in research and career development.
Approvals for replacement Research Projects, pilot proposals, and approvals for continued RPL funding with the COBRE beyond 3 years.
Providing an assessment report with feedback on the Center’s progress and any recommendations to improve the performance.

OUR RESEARCH

Adam Levine, MD

Associate Director, Brown Global Health Initiative
Inaugural Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies Brown University Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Professor of Emergency Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University

Link here for more on Dr. Levine

Jeffrey A. Bailey, MD, PhD.

Mencoff Family Associate Professor of Translational Research
Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Link here for more on Dr. Bailey

Carole Mitnick, Sc. D.

Harvard Medical School, Blavatnik Institute Global Health & Social Medicine

Link here for more on Dr. Mitnick

CONTACT

Rhode Island Hospital
55 Claverick St.
Suite 101
Providence, RI 02906

sjohnson18@brownhealth.org

RESEARCH FUNDED BY

This website is supported by the Pathogens COBRE funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number P20GM156688. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

QUICK LINKS

CORES RI
CIHR
Pharmacology Core of URI
International Health Institute at Brown Medical School
Global Health Initiative