The National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) has awarded its grant for Oral microbiome and periodontal diseases in oral HPV infection among people living with HIV to Canhua Xiao (contact PI), PhD, RN, FAAN, an associate professor with Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and Lisa Flowers, MD, MPH, FACOG, a professor with Emory University’s School of Medicine. The R01 Research Project grant provides funding for five years of $3,930,416 to understand the role of the oral microbiome and periodontal diseases in oral HPV infection among people with HIV (PWH).
HPV infection has been identified as a carcinogen for oropharyngeal cancer, the most common HPV-associated cancer in the U.S. Among people with HIV, rates of oral HPV infection, along with oropharyngeal cancer, are significantly higher than in the general population.
The R01 Research Project grant gives Drs. Xiao and Flowers and their team the opportunity to examine the associations among oral microbiome, periodontal diseases, and oral HPV infection. This research project will also examine immunological underpinnings of oral HPV infection and whether social determinants of health play a role in the oral microbiome and oral HPV infections for PWH. The findings may indicate new biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for preventing and managing oral HPV infection.
Dr. Canhua Xiao is an Associate Professor, tenured, and joined Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor in 2014. Dr. Xiao’s general research interests focus on patient-reported outcomes, cancer-related symptoms/symptom clusters, and cancer related fatigue and its biological mechanisms. Dr. Xiao’s research has contributed to the understanding of symptom clusters and fatigue in patients with head and neck cancer. This disease has seen increasing incidence in the U.S. due to the prevalence of Human Papillomavirus.
For more information on Dr. Canhua Xiao, visit her faculty profile. To learn more about the R01 Research Project grant, visit the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) website.