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ScholarsBetaWeill Cornell Medicine

Overview

I am a faculty member of Weill Cornell Medical College and conduct my research and teaching at the Weill Bugando School of Medicine in Mwanza, Tanzania. I have lived in Tanzania for much of the past ten years, gained fluency in the local language (Kiswahili), obtained a Tanzanian medical license, and built collaborations with a study team of Tanzanian research scientists. My research focuses on the relationship between female genital schistosomiasis, mucosal immunity, and HIV susceptibility in girls and women, and on improving adolescent girls’ access to health care in rural Tanzania. I also conduct implementation science research in Tanzania to improve uptake of healthy behavior by rural Tanzanians. My research in Tanzania has been recognized by an award of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (2009), the Weill Cornell Department of Medicine Outstanding Junior Faculty Investigator Award (2011), an NIH K23 Award (2014), a Gates Grand Challenges Award (2014), the Weill Cornell Friedman Family Research Scholar Award (2016), a Spirit of Medicine Award from the American Medical Association (2016), a Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2017), and a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award (2017).

I also train and mentor students interested in global health careers including undergraduate students from Cornell University, graduate students from Weill Cornell Graduate School and Weill Bugando in Tanzania, and medical students from Weill Cornell in New York and Qatar. I am particularly interested in fostering the careers of women scientists in global health. 

Highlights

  1. 1
    BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2020
    JAJennifer A Downs
    PMID: 31937520PMCID: PMC7392489DOISenior author21 citations
  2. 2
    Reproductive health · 2025
    RLRadhika Lu SundararajanJAJennifer A Downs
    PMID: 39955598PMCID: PMC11829388DOISenior author2 citations
  3. 3
    Contraception: X · 2022
    RLRadhika Lu SundararajanJAJennifer A Downs
    PMID: 36324829PMCID: PMC9618975DOISenior author1 citations

Publications

111 publications

Funding

17 grantsView NIH portfolio on RePORTER ↗

Active

10 grants
  • MPI
    Developing Research Leadership in Infectious Diseases Impacting Women
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2024–2029
    R25AI183323-03
  • PI
    Schistosomiasis and Women's Reproductive Health
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2024–2029Career
    K24AI182638-03
  • Co-I
    Regulation of maternal-fetal immune tolerance by gut metabolites
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation · 2026–2028
    INV-111343
  • Co-I
    A type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of Community Health Workers to improve screening for postpartum diabetes in urban slums of India - Foreign Subsite Supplement
    Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development · 2023–2028· 3 renewals
    R01HD112141-03S2
  • PI
    Engaging Religious Leaders to Reduce Blood Pressures in Tanzanian Communities
    National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute · 2022–2027
    R01HL161673-05
  • KP
    HIV and Women's Health
    Fogarty International Center · 2021–2027· 2 renewals
    D43TW011826-04S1
  • PI
    Genital Immune, Mucosal, and Viral Effects of Female Genital Schistosomiasis in Tanzania
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2022–2027
    R01AI168306-05
  • Co-I
    Omuyambi: Traditional Healer Support to Improve HIV Viral Suppression in Rural Uganda - Foreign Subsite Supplement
    National Institute of Mental Health · 2023–2026· 2 renewals
    R01MH132440-04S1
  • Sub-PI
    Evaluation of mucosal antibodies elicited by Poliomyelitis virus-like particles
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation · 2025–2026 · via Dartmouth College
    INV-088375
  • Sub-PI
    Effects of HIV and Gastrointestinal Infections on the Immune Response to Oral Poliovirus Vaccination in Tanzania
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation · 2023–2025 · via Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
    OPP1104756
Completed grants (7)
  • Sub-PI
    Enhancing detection and mobile monitoring of schistosomiasis with urine-based analyte pre-concentration technology
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2023–2025 · via Salus Discovery, LLC
    R43AI172578-01A1
  • PI
    Family Planning in Tanzania: From Obstacles to Opportunities
    Templeton Foundation · 2019–2022
    JT 61399-03
  • PI
    Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Praziquantel Treatment of Schistosoma mansoni on the Female Genital Mucosal Immune System and Microbiome
    Doris Duke Charitable Foundation · 2020–2021
    DDCF 2017067A
  • PI
    Prospective Cohort Study of the Effect of of Praziquantel of the Genital Mucosa in Women With Schistosoma Mansoni Infection
    Doris Duke Charitable Foundation · 2017–2021
    DDCF 2017067
  • Co-I
    Tri-Institutional TB Research Unit: Persistence and Latency
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2020–2021
    U19AI111143-06S1
  • PI
    Schistosomiasis, Mucosal Immunity, and HIV Susceptibility
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2014–2020Career
    K23AI110238-05
  • PI
    Mechanisms of Mucosal HIV Susceptibility and Reversibility in Schistosoma Mansoni Infection
    Gilead Sciences, Inc. · 2017–2019Fellowship
    GS 17070946-02

Clinical research

5 studies

Active

1 study
  • PI
    Engaging Religious Leaders to Reduce Blood Pressures in Tanzanian Communities
    NA · Weill Medical College of Cornell University · OPEN TO ACCRUAL (as of 2021)
    Hypertension
    NCT05416372
Completed & closed trials (4)
  • PI
    Effects of HIV and Gastrointestinal Infections on the Immune Response to Oral Poliovirus Vaccination in Tanzania
    Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2025)
  • PI
    Female Genital Schistosomiasis: Genital Mucosal Immune Cell Populations, Gene Expression, and Impaired Anti-Viral Immunity
    Weill Medical College of Cornell University · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2024)
  • PI
    Multi-country Assessment of Prevalence for Female Genital Schistosomiasis (MAP-FGS) - Tanzania
    Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) · CLOSED TO ACCRUAL (as of 2024)
  • PI
    Bringing Down Hurdles for Female Genital Schistosomiasis Access to Care: A Multi-Country Socio-Structural Integrated Approach to Developing a Community-Based Teaching Platform
    Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences · IRB STUDY CLOSURE (as of 2023)

News mentions

2 mentionsView all WCM news ↗

Mentoring

7 menteesAll publications with mentees →