Profile
April Pettit, MD, MPH, FIDSA
Core Director |Â Clinical Sciences Core
Executive Committee Member
Biography
April Pettit, MD, MPH, FIDSA, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She earned her MD from Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed her Master of Public Health and infectious diseases fellowship at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She has provided primary HIV care at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic (VCCC), a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCHM) for people with HIV (PWH) in middle Tennessee and the surrounding areas since 2007. Dr. Pettit also leads a National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded research program utilizing implementation science to identify optimal strategies for the improved uptake of evidence-based interventions to enhance HIV status-neutral continuum of care outcomes. She serves as co-principal investigator of the Tennessee CFAR Implementation Science Hub, the Vanderbilt site-PI for the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems, and a member of the US DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. Dr. Pettit has served as the primary mentor for over 15 diverse trainees, the majority of whom have remained in public health or academic careers. She is the Director of the Clinical Sciences Core and a member of the Executive Committee for the Tennessee CFAR.Â
IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE CONSULTATION HUB
Dr. Pettit will devote 20% of her time to this project. She is a previous 2019 and current 2021 CFAR EHE awardee and has completed formal IS training through the Third Coast CFAR Implementation Science Coordination, Consultation, and Collaboration Initiative (ISC3I). She has long-standing collaborations focused on HIV continuum of care outcomes in collaboration with colleagues in Memphis/Shelby County–the only Phase I EHE jurisdiction in the state of Tennessee as well as with the Tennessee Department of Health. She holds independent research funding via an NIMH R01 award and is mPI on a CDC U01 award with Dr. Audet focused on HIV IS. Along with Dr. Audet, she will oversee all hub activities and participate in the hub’s coaching sessions with a focus on content expertise in clinical HIV treatment and prevention and partnering with health departments. She will also co-lead the multi-site implementation science project given her established collaborations in Memphis.
More About April Pettit, MD, MPH
My interest in the study of the epidemiology and outcomes of HIV began during my medical training at Vanderbilt University where I became involved in clinical research and pursued additional training in epidemiology and biostatistics through the Masters of Public Health program. Following fellowship, I joined the faculty and was awarded a K08 Career Development award, which allowed me to expand my existing knowledge and gain additional expertise in the fields of HIV, biostatistics, and epidemiology with a specific focus on causal inference methods. I now hold the position of Associate Professor of Medicine with independent research funding via a R01 award to develop and validate a prediction model for missing HIV healthcare provider visits using social and behavioral determinant of health data from multiple levels. I have also been awarded an additional administrative supplement to study facilitators and barriers to participation by minority populations in biomedical research. I am currently involved in several projects related to the HIV continuum of care in collaboration with colleagues at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic (VCCC), Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Center for AIDS Research (TN-CFAR), Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, and with partners in the Memphis Area (University of Memphis, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and Shelby County Health Department.