Child work and labour among orphaned and abandoned children in five low and middle income countries.

Director, Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research
Research Director, Hart Fellows Program,
Professor, Public Policy and Global Health 
Professor, Nursing and Community & Family Medicine 
Pronouns: they/them

Kathryn Whetten is the Principal Investigator on multiple grants and publishes numerous scientific articles every year. In addition, they mentor many students and give guest lectures and presentations throughout the year.

Broadly, my research focuses on a range of clinical and social issues that affect persons living with or at risk for HIV infection in resource-poor settings. In Tanzania, our group is applying novel methods to optimize HIV testing uptake among high-risk groups. We recently demonstrated that the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), a form of stated preference survey research, is a robust tool for identifying (a) which characteristics of HIV testing options are most preferred by different populations and (b) which tradeoffs individuals make in evaluating testing options. Building on more than a decade of productive HIV testing research in the Kilimanjaro Region, the next phase of our NIMH funded project will test the hypothesis that DCE-derived HIV testing options significantly increases rates of testing among groups at high risk for HIV infection. This work holds promise not only for optimizing HIV testing uptake in the Kilimanjaro Region, but also for applying novel tools in the service of translational epidemiology and implementation research.

My research interests are in early development risk: drug exposure, HIV infection, and iodine deficiency. I have ongoing research in developmental outcomes of children exposed prenatally to drugs and alcohol. They include the Infant Care Project (Pediatrics) and the Family Care Project (Psychiatry). I am co-investigator on a NIDA study of SIDS risk with prenatal cocaine exposure. I am involved at Duke and nationally in the study of the neurodevelopmental effects of pediatric HIV infection. I Chair the Pediatric Neurology Scientific Committee for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (NIAID) coordinating the development of protocols for new drug trials and data analysis of completed ones. Currently at Duke, I have one federally funded study of the developmental needs of HIV infected children. The third area of work is in iodine deficiency in China. We have completed the fieldwork, with two publications for 1993-1994, one in Lancet from this year; and the NEJM paper will be published 29 December 1994.

I am completing the first of two semesters for a MPH in Epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill. The goal is to expand my research skills to population based studies. We are planning a proposal to NIDA to study our now 3 and 4 year old drug exposed group. The original Infant Care Project is being replicated in the Franklin County Health Department for the next two years, with a subcontract from our Duke grant. Anticipated shifts in direction are not major; but I have an interest in the perinatal transmission of HIV in developing countries.