Carolyn Barley Britton | |
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Born | September 13, 1944 Alabama |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Oberlin College, New York University Medical School, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons |
Known for | 1st neurologist president of the National Medical Association |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Neurology, Neuroinfectious disease, HIV |
Carolyn Barley Britton (born 13 September 1944) is an African-American medical doctor known for her national health care advocacy and work in neurological complications of HIV and infectious diseases. She is a full professor at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She was the 9th female president and the 1st neurologist president of the National Medical Association. [1]
Britton grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. She did her undergraduate study at Oberlin College, then went to New York University Medical School, graduating in 1975. She did her internship at Harlem Hospital in New York, andt then completed neurology residency at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she also completed a research fellowship in neuroinfectious disease. [2]
Britton took a position at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the 1980s, during the early days of the HIV epidemic, Britton studied the effects of HIV infection and AIDS on the nervous system, publishing on neurological complications in 1984, [3] and considered a national expert by 1985. [4] She continued to work with these vulnerable patients, published on HIV-related neuropathy [5] and neurological infections secondary to immunocompromise, [6] and arguing for universal counseling and voluntary testing of women for HIV. [7]
Britton also publishes on neurological complications of Lyme disease, and on progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, an infectious process that occurs in the setting of immunodeficiency.
Britton was active for many years in the National Medical Association (NMA) and took on the role of president of the NMA in 2008, at the 106th Annual NMA Convention and Scientific Assembly in Atlanta. [8] She was the 9th female and the 1st neurologist president of the organization. As president, she worked towards universal access to health care and the elimination of racial disparities in research. [9]
In 1988, boxer Mike Tyson injured his head in an automobile accident. Britton cared for him at that time, and due to ongoing symptoms after his concussion, recommended he avoid sparring for 30–60 days. [10]
Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare and often fatal viral disease characterized by progressive damage (-pathy) or inflammation of the white matter (leuko-) of the brain (-encephalo-) at multiple locations (multifocal). It is caused by the JC virus, which is normally present and kept under control by the immune system. The JC virus is harmless except in cases of weakened immune systems. In general, PML has a mortality rate of 30–50% in the first few months, and those who survive can be left with varying degrees of neurological disabilities.
Human polyomavirus 2, commonly referred to as the JC virus or John Cunningham virus, is a type of human polyomavirus. It was identified by electron microscopy in 1965 by ZuRhein and Chou, and by Silverman and Rubinstein, and later isolated in culture and named using the two initials of a patient, John Cunningham, with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The virus causes PML and other diseases only in cases of immunodeficiency, as in AIDS or during treatment with immunosuppressive drugs.
This is a list of AIDS-related topics, many of which were originally taken from the public domain U.S. Department of Health Glossary of HIV/AIDS-Related Terms, 4th Edition.
This is a timeline of HIV/AIDS, including but not limited to cases before 1980.
An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens that take advantage of an opportunity not normally available. These opportunities can stem from a variety of sources, such as a weakened immune system, an altered microbiome, or breached integumentary barriers. Many of these pathogens do not necessarily cause disease in a healthy host that has a non-compromised immune system, and can, in some cases, act as commensals until the balance of the immune system is disrupted. Opportunistic infections can also be attributed to pathogens which cause mild illness in healthy individuals but lead to more serious illness when given the opportunity to take advantage of an immunocompromised host.
AIDS-defining clinical conditions is the list of diseases published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that are associated with AIDS and used worldwide as a guideline for AIDS diagnosis. CDC exclusively uses the term AIDS-defining clinical conditions, but the other terms remain in common use.
The CDC Classification System for HIV Infection is the medical classification system used by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to classify HIV disease and infection. The system is used to allow the government to handle epidemic statistics and define who receives US government assistance.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. It can be managed with treatment. Without treatment it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The central nervous system (CNS) controls most of the functions of the body and mind. It comprises the brain, spinal cord and the nerve fibers that branch off to all parts of the body. The CNS viral diseases are caused by viruses that attack the CNS. Existing and emerging viral CNS infections are major sources of human morbidity and mortality.
Eugene O. "Gene" Major is a senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH). Major conducts research into the neurological diseases including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), caused by JC virus and often found in immunosuppressed patients such as those with HIV/AIDS. Major has published over 140 scientific articles and reviews in the peer-reviewed literature and has contributed to Fields Virology, a standard virology textbook.
Anita Rachlis, M.D. is a Canadian HIV/AIDS researcher and is the principal author of the HIV treatment guidelines in Canada. She is an associate scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Joseph R. Berger is an American internist and neurologist who is known for his research interests in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), the neurological complications of HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other inflammatory disorders of the brain. Particularly, he contributed research on why PML occurs more frequently in AIDS than in other immunosuppressive conditions.
The stages of HIV infection are acute infection, latency, and AIDS. Acute infection lasts for several weeks and may include symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, inflammation of the throat, rash, muscle pain, malaise, and mouth and esophageal sores. The latency stage involves few or no symptoms and can last anywhere from two weeks to twenty years or more, depending on the individual. AIDS, the final stage of HIV infection, is defined by low CD4+ T cell counts, various opportunistic infections, cancers, and other conditions.
Julio S. G. Montaner, is an Argentine-born Canadian physician, professor and researcher. He is the director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the chair in AIDS Research and head of the Division of AIDS in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and the past-president of the International AIDS Society. He is also the director of the John Ruedy Immunodeficiency Clinic, and the Physician Program Director for HIV/AIDS PHC. He is known for his work on HAART, a role in the discovery of triple therapy as an effective treatment for HIV in the late 1990s, and a role in advocating the "Treatment as Prevention" Strategy in the mid-2000s, led by Myron Cohen of the HPTN 052 trial.
HIV in pregnancy is the presence of an HIV/AIDS infection in a woman while she is pregnant. There is a risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in three primary situations: pregnancy, childbirth, and while breastfeeding. This topic is important because the risk of viral transmission can be significantly reduced with appropriate medical intervention, and without treatment HIV/AIDS can cause significant illness and death in both the mother and child. This is exemplified by data from The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): In the United States and Puerto Rico between the years of 2014–2017, where prenatal care is generally accessible, there were 10,257 infants in the United States and Puerto Rico who were exposed to a maternal HIV infection in utero who did not become infected and 244 exposed infants who did become infected.
Suniti Solomon was an Indian physician and microbiologist who pioneered AIDS research and prevention in India after having diagnosed the first Indian AIDS cases among the Chennai sex workers in 1986 along with her student Sellappan Nirmala. She founded the Y R Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education in Chennai. The Indian government conferred the National Women Bio-scientist Award on her. On 25 January 2017, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri for medicine for her contributions towards diagnosis and treatment of HIV.
Lauren V. Wood is an American allergist, immunologist, and staff physician at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where she has served as a principal investigator. She is known for conducting studies of vaccines for cancer, Human papillomavirus (HPV), Hepatitis C, and HIV especially for use with children, teens and young adults. She holds the rank of captain in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS).
Igor Koralnik is an American physician, neurologist and scientist. He is one of the first physicians to study the neurologic complications caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and is a leading researcher in the investigation of the polyomavirus JC, which causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a disease of the central nervous system that occurs in immunosuppressed individuals.
Judith Aberg is an American physician who is the George Baehr Professor of Clinical Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. She was appointed Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research considered infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.