Pilot Awards Recipients

The DC CFAR has funded a wide variety of research, including basic, clinical, epidemiologic, social behavioral and prevention HIV/AIDS science.

View the archive to learn more about awards given in 2017 or earlier.

2022: Cycle 1

Pilot Award Recipient: Derek Dangerfield II, PhD

Derek Dangerfield II, PhD has received a pilot award to design a shared decision-making tool to improve PrEP initiation among Black Sexual Minority Men

Pilot Award Recipient: Michael Anthony Thomas, PhD

Michael Anthony Thomas, PhD has received a pilot award to study novel strategy to develop Ad-based HIV-1 vaccine

2021: Cycle 2

Pilot Award Recipient: Kellan Baker, PhD, MPH, MA

Kellan Baker, PhD, MPH, MA has received a pilot award to develop Best Practices for Integrating HIV Prevention into Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Adults.

2021: Cycle 1

Pilot Award Recipient: Lee Campbell, PhD

Lee Campbell, PhD has received a pilot award to identify the effects of contemporary opioids on HIV proviral transcription and neuronal functionality

Pilot Award Recipient: Georges Haddad, PhD

Georges Haddad, PhD has received a pilot award to study the effects of cART on the Heart

Pilot Award Recipient: Donaldson Conserve, MS, PhD

Donaldson Conserve, MS, PhD has received a pilot award to study Developing Confirmatory HIV Testing and Linkage to Care Intervention Strategies for Men in Tanzania

2020: Cycle 2

Pilot Award Recipient: Alexander Zestos, PhD

Alexander Zestos, PhD has received a pilot award to study Assessments of potential impacts of cognitive deficits on drug use and their implications for HIV intravenous drug users

Pilot Award Recipient: Mark Laubach, PhD

Mark Laubach, PhD, has received a pilot award to study Effects of HIV1 Tat and Antiretroviral Therapy on the Rodent Frontal Cortex

Pilot Award Recipient: Yan Wang, DrPH, MD

Yan Wang, DrPH, MD has received a pilot award to study Substance use, mental health problems and HIV outcomes among female sex workers

2020: Cycle 1

Pilot Award Recipient: Ruth Kanthula, MD, MPH

Ruth Kanthula, MD, MPH has received a pilot award to study Prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis among female adolescent and young adults with perinatally acquired HIV infection.

Pilot Award Recipient: Chul Kim, MD, MPH

Chul Kim, MD, MPH has received a pilot award to study Evaluation of immune microenvironement in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and HIV infection

Pilot Award Recipient: Katherine Chiappinelli, PhD

Katherine Chiappinelli, PhD, has received a pilot award to study Generation of a CRISPR/Cas9 system to silence latent HIV.

Pilot Award Recipient: Thomas Heinbockel, PhD

Thomas Heinbockel, PhD has received a pilot award to study HIV Tat Protein in CB1 Receptor-Mediated Signaling in Central Olfactory Circuits.

2019: Cycle 2

Pilot Award Recipient: Nickie Niforatos Andescavage, MD

Nickie Niforatos Andescavage, MD, has received a pilot award to study how HIV poses feto-placental development complications.

Pilot Award Recipient: Conrad Russell Cruz, MD, PhD

Conrad Russell Cruz, MD, PhD, has received a pilot award to study the possibility of engineered killer T-cells eliminating the HIV reservoir.

Pilot Award Recipient: Ana María del Río-González, PhD, MA

Ana María del Río-González, PhD, has received a pilot award to study the feasibility and acceptability of non-daily PrEP regimens among Latina transgender women in DC.

2019: Cycle 1

Pilot Award Recipient: Tamara Taggart, PhD

Tamara Taggart, PhD, has received a pilot award to study a community-based open contest approach to increasing PrEP among young persons.

Pilot Award Recipient: Xionghao Lin, PhD

Xionghao Lin, PhD, has received a pilot award to study new classes of anti-HIV-1 drugs by targeting Tat dependent transcription to reach a functional cure by permanently inhibiting HIV-1.

Pilot Award Recipient: Carlos E. Rodriguez-Diaz, PhD

Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, PhD, has received a pilot award to study PrEP uptake among Latinx GBMSM in Washington, DC.

Pilot Award Recipient: Rachel Robinson, PhD

Rachel Robinson, PhD, has received a pilot award to study how increasing financial security could reduce HIV risk among MSM in Abuja, Nigeria.

Pilot Award Recipient: Namita Kumari, PhD

Namita Kumari, PhD, has received a pilot award to study the restriction factor mediated control of HIV-1 in Sickle Cell disease.

Pilot Award Recipient: Nicole Angotti, PhD

Nicole Angotti, PhD, has received a pilot award to study older adults living with HIV (PLWH50+) in Rural South Africa.

2018: Cycle 2

Pilot Award Recipient: Rupali Doshi, MD, MS

Rupali Doshi, MD, MS has received a pilot award to study how traumatic life events and mental illness affect engagement in HIV care among people living with HIV in Washington, DC.

Pilot Award Recipient: Adeline Koay, MBBS, MSc

Adeline Koay, MBBS, MSc has received a pilot award to study if HIV exposure affects inflammation and gut dysbiosis in HIV-exposed infants.

Pilot Award Recipient: Matt Levy, PhD

Matt Levy, PhD, has received a pilot award to study psychological stress, related biomarkers, and atherosclerosis in women with HIV

Pilot Award Recipient: Kate Michel, PhD

Kate Michel, PhD, has received a pilot award to study quantifying the vaginal microbiome-immune relationship among natural HIV controllers.

2018: Cycle 1

Pilot Award Recipient: Blair Spence, MD

Blair Spence, MD, has received a pilot award to study antiretrovirals and neurocognition in HIV infected women.

Pilot Award Recipient: Sabyasachi Sen, MD, PhD

Sabyasachi Sen, MD has received a pilot award to study the impact of current HIV medication regimens on endothelial dysfunction.