Awards:
Pilot Early Career Award for his project titled “Immunomodulation of acute dengue virus disease by concurrent malaria infection” (2016)

Instructor K Support Award for his project titled “Modulation of the B Cell Response to Dengue Virus Infection by Plasmodium falciparum Co-Infection” (2018)

Total Award Amount: $85,000

Background: Dr. Vu explains that Western medical schools teach their students the concept of Occam's razor—that there's one cause for whatever is ailing a patient. Yet, in most areas of the world, co-infections are common and they are often chronic. Dr. Vu is trying to change the way people think about disease in Kenya, where children who present with fever are often given a single diagnosis: malaria. What if it's actually malaria plus something else?

Understanding Co-Infections: Dr. Vu’s Pilot Early Career project built upon the findings of an NIH-funded study led by his mentor, Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases A. Dr. Desiree LaBeaud, MD, MS. That R01 study investigated the burden of dengue and chikungunya infection in Kenya. Armed with data showing that dengue and chikungunya often go unreported, Dr. Vu wanted to understand what happens to children who have malaria and dengue. So much morbidity and mortality in Africa is attributed to malaria, yet a co-infection (or several co-infections) may be responsible for the severity of symptoms seen in children.

Dr. Vu received his Pilot Early Career grant the same year he was accepted into Spectrum’s KL2 Research Training Program, which supports early-stage investigators as they work toward becoming independent researchers. Two years later, Dr. Vu received a K23 research career development grant from the NIH. He was awarded supplemental support through MCHRI’s new funding mechanism, the Instructor K Support Program.

Dr. Vu’s K23 project involves monitoring Kenyan children infected with dengue and others who are not. He is following both groups for for a one-year period and examining their immune systems every couple of months; he hypothesizes that chronic infections, like malaria, have immunosuppressive effects. Dr. Vu recently returned from seven weeks in Kenya—his first trip to Africa. MCHRI funding has paid for his entire support team on the ground, including staffing a clinical officer, field investigators, and lab technicians, and also for supplies.

MCHRI Impact:

“When I learned about MCHRI and the opportunities that were available, I wanted to bring all of my other friends who were postdocs from other institutions that don't have this type of support,” says Dr. Vu. “Being able to get support and that boost in confidence really helped open up my creativity and made me think: Oh, I can do this. Now I have some of my own money that I can actually use to explore.”

“Being able to do international work was something I thought I wouldn’t be able to pursue until retirement age. I had never done it before, and now, just two months ago I started,” says Dr. Vu. “Two solid grants from MCHRI launched my global health research career and continue to support my career development.” 

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