Departmental Affiliations
Affiliated
Center & Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
International Health; Epidemiology; HIV/AIDS; Tuberculosis; Global Health
Additional Links
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
University of Cape Town
2008
MPH
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
1999
MD
University of Louvain Medical School
1989
Overview
Jean Nachega, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCP, DTM&H, is a tenured Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at University of Pittsburgh, USA; Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; and Professor Extraordinary and Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases at Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa. He has >25 years’ experience of research, teaching, and professional activities have included planning, design, implementing, and monitoring clinical trials, cohort studies and programs to improve HIV treatment cascade outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.
He conducted a seminal study that showed that the relationship between adherence to Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)-based HIV Therapy and virologic outcomes has linear dose-response pattern and is linked to various virologic outcomes. He was the first to quantify the savings in health care cost per month associated with excellent ART adherence, in a large South African HIV cohort. He has served as the Principal Investigator on several research and/or training grants, including some funded by US National Institutes of Health (NIH), US President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), The European Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP), and The UK Wellcome Trust. He is Clinical Research Site (CRS) Lead Investigator for HIV studies in adults of the US NIH AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) at Stellenbosch University. In addition, he is an ad hoc expert consultant for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; US Centers for Diseases Control & Preventions (CDC); and at World Health Organization (WHO), HIV Department, Geneva, within the HIV Treatment and Prevention Guidelines as well as HIV Drug Resistance Prevention Working Groups, as well as a member-elect of Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf) and African Academy of Sciences (AAS).
He conducted a seminal study that showed that the relationship between adherence to Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)-based HIV Therapy and virologic outcomes has linear dose-response pattern and is linked to various virologic outcomes. He was the first to quantify the savings in health care cost per month associated with excellent ART adherence, in a large South African HIV cohort. He has served as the Principal Investigator on several research and/or training grants, including some funded by US National Institutes of Health (NIH), US President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa (PEPFAR), The European Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP), and The UK Wellcome Trust. He is Clinical Research Site (CRS) Lead Investigator for HIV studies in adults of the US NIH AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) at Stellenbosch University. In addition, he is an ad hoc expert consultant for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; US Centers for Diseases Control & Preventions (CDC); and at World Health Organization (WHO), HIV Department, Geneva, within the HIV Treatment and Prevention Guidelines as well as HIV Drug Resistance Prevention Working Groups, as well as a member-elect of Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf) and African Academy of Sciences (AAS).
Honors & Awards
1) Member Elect, Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society , Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, May 2009; 2) John McGoldrick Senior Fellowship Award, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA, March 2009; 3) Member Elect, The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF) 2008 and Fellow African Academy of Science (FAAS);4) Author (2nd) of a JAMA article nominated for the Lancet 2006 Article of the Year; 5) US National Institutes of Health/NIAID, Mentored-Patient Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23), March 2006; 6) Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) & National Institutes of Health (NIH), Pilot Grant Award, 2002; 7) Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health Recognition Award, MPH Class of 1999; 8) Stelios M. Stelson Award, Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, MPH Class of 1999; 9) Dikembe Mutombo's African Education Award, Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, Atlanta, GA, 1998; 10) B.S. 1985, Magna Cum Laude & M.D. 1989, Cum Laude.
Select Publications
Dr. Nachega has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, including in top-tier journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Plos Medicine. He was the first to conduct a seminal study that showed that the relationship between adherence to Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)-based HIV Therapy and virologic outcomes has linear dose-response pattern and is linked to various virologic outcomes. He was the first to quantify the savings in health care cost per month associated with excellent ART adherence, in a large South African HIV cohort and published in Annal Internal Medicine in 2007. Selected publications below:
- 1) Nachega JB, Hislop M, Dowdy DW, Chaisson RE, Regensberg L, Maartens G. Adherence to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based HIV therapy and virologic outcomes. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Apr 17;146(8):564-73. PMID:17438315. (Impact Factor: 17.202; cited by over 100 PubMed Central articles)
- 2) Nachega JB, Uthman OA, Anderson J, Peltzer K, Wampold S, Cotton MF, Mills EJ, Ho YS, Stringer JS, McIntyre JA, Mofenson LM. Adherence to antiretroviral therapy during and after pregnancy in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. AIDS. 2012 Oct 23;26(16):2039-52. PMID:22951634 (Cited by over 100 PubMed Central articles)(Award for most cited article of Journal "AIDS" in 2014, Clinical Studies Section).
- 3) Nachega JB, Sam-Agudu NA, Mellors JW, Zumla A, Mofenson LM. Scaling Up Covid-19 Vaccination in Africa - Lessons from the HIV Pandemic. N Engl J Med. 2021 Mar 31. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2103313. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33789005.
- 4) Nachega JB, Sam-Agudu NA, Masekela R, van der Zalm MM, Nsanzimana S, Condo J, Ntoumi F, Rabie H, Kruger M, Wiysonge CS, Ditekemena JD, Chirimwami RB, Ntakwinja M, Mukwege DM, Noormahomed E, Paleker M, Mahomed H, Tamfum JM, Zumla A, Suleman F. Addressing challenges to rolling out COVID-19 vaccines in African countries. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Jun;9(6):e746-e748. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00097-8. Epub 2021 Mar 10. PMID: 33713633; PMCID: PMC7946417.
- 5) Nachega JB, Borre ED, Dowdy DW, Chanda-Kapata P, Cleary S, Geng EH. Cost- effectiveness of universal HIV testing and treatment: where next? Lancet Glob Health. 2021 May;9(5):e573-e574. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00089-9. Epub 2021 Mar 12. PMID: 33721567.
Projects
DOT-HAART for HIV-Infected South-African Adults
Evaluation of an Algorithm for the Diagnosis of Smear-Negative Tuberculosis in High HIV Prevalence Settings
Cost-effectiveness of public-private partnerships for HIV infection
Adherence-Based Viral Load Triage in Southern Africa
Peer and Family-Based Social Support For HIV Treatment Adherence in South Africa
Reliability of HIV Treatment Adherence Measurement Tools in Malawi
A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial for Prevention of Tuberculosis-IRIS with NSAIDs in HIV-Infected Adults
mHealth and cDOT to improve pMTCT outcomes in South Africa