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John R. Koethe, MD, MSCI
Assistant Professor of Medicine
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Biography
Biography
Dr. Koethe is a physician scientist studying the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disease in persons with HIV, and he has a strong commitment to the career development of junior investigators in the field of HIV research. He serves as Director of the Developmental Core of the TN-CFAR, which is responsible for administering pilot grant awards, and mentoring young investigators and those new to HIV research. Dr. Koethe is also the co-principal investigator and Program Director of the Vanderbilt Scholars in HIV and Heart, Lung, Blood, And Sleep Research (V-SCHoLARS) K12 training program. The V-SCHoLARS program trains VUMC and MMC junior faculty in research at the intersection of HIV infection and heart, lung, blood, and sleep comorbidities. Dr. Koethe is well positioned to understand the unique needs of Developmental Core awardees, and VUMC and MMC junior faculty researchers at large, and works to facilitate their engagement with other TN CFAR cores and resources.
More About John R. Koethe, MD, MSCI
I am an Assistant Professor in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Division of Infectious Diseases. Over 80% of my effort is devoted to clinical and translational research on cardiovascular and metabolic disease in HIV-infected (HIV+) persons on antiretroviral therapy. I came to Vanderbilt University as an infectious diseases fellow in 2007 and have been a faculty member since 2010. I first gained HIV/AIDS research experience as a NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia, followed by training in clinical research study design, methods, and biostatistics from the Vanderbilt Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation Program (2010-2012). I previously recruited a 100-person cohort study, supported by a career development grant from NIAID (K23AI100700), which highlighted the cardiometabolic health consequences of obesity in PLWH, and novel associations between body composition, plasma metabolite profiles, innate and cellular immune activation, and vascular function. Data generated from this K23 grant supported subsequent awards of a NIDDK R56 grant (R56DK108352) to study relationships between circulating T cell subsets and the risk of incident diabetes among 2300 HIV+ and HIV-negative Veterans in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS), and a R01 grant (R01DK112262) to recruit a 176-person cohort to explore relationships between adipose tissue T cell phenotypes, receptor clonality and cytokine expression (via single cell RNA sequencing), adipose tissue inflammation, and glucose tolerance in PLWH. I also have a strong commitment to the career development of junior investigators in the field of HIV research. I am co-PI and Program Director of the NHLBI-supported Vanderbilt Scholars in HIV and Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Research (V-SCHoLARS, K12). This program supports 5 trainees for 2-3 years of mentored clinical and translational research on the intersection of HIV and HLBS conditions. Finally, I am the Director of the Developmental Core of the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research (TN-CFAR, supported by NIAID grant P30 AI110527), which is responsible for administering pilot grant awards, and mentoring young investigators and those new to HIV research