In January 2025, Drs. Whasun Chung (Chair and Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences) and Bhavna Chohan (Clinical Assistant Professor, Global Health) from the University of Washington traveled to Nairobi, Kenya. Their work was part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R21 grant (R21TW012033) titled “Dynamics of HIV-infection, oral innate immunity and the development of oral diseases in children.” Their trip focused on analyzing saliva samples from Kenyan children to better understand how HIV infection impacts oral health and immunity. This project aimed to uncover critical links between the virus and the body’s natural defenses in pediatric populations, providing insights that could shape future interventions.
During their time in Nairobi, Whasun and Bhavna worked closely with the staff at Bhavna’s laboratory at the University of Nairobi. Together, they set up and conducted ELISA tests to analyze immune markers in the collected saliva samples, ensuring high-quality data for the R21 study. This grant’s findings are expected to contribute significantly to the understanding of HIV-related oral diseases, while strengthening ties with UW and University of Nairobi, and increasing research capacity in Kenya.