Laura A. Guay, M.D.

Laura A. Guay is Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Africa has long had a draw for Dr. Laura Guay. Her 20-year career, devoted to the challenge of curbing HIV infection in women and children on the continent, began with a medical school elective in the former Zaire, followed by a three-year HIV research project in Uganda after residency. Dr. Guay later became a visiting lecturer at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and worked on the landmark HIVNET 012 trial, which demonstrated that a single-dose of the antiviral medication nevirapine could prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Dr. Guay joined the SPHHS faculty in 2008, at the same time she became Vice President for Research at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). As part of a broader effort to strengthen ties between the two organizations, she mentors graduate students conducting research and completing practicums at EGPAF and lectures as an invited guest in Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics courses. Dr. Guay remains on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she has been since 1996. She was the principal investigator of a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institute of Health’s Division of AIDS, which supports the Uganda clinical trials unit collaboratively operated by Makerere and Johns Hopkins.

Bachelor of Arts (Biology/French), University of Rochester, 1981 Doctor of Medicine, George Washington University, 1985 Fellowship, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Case Western Reserve University, 1994

Dr. Guay’s current research interests focus on HIV in women and children, particularly preventing transmission through breastfeeding. She also serves as the technical lead on an SPHHS/UNICEF collaborative project that is analyzing implementation research on preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and on pediatric HIV care.

Dr. Guay is a member of the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator’s Expert Panel on the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV transmission, a State Department entity that makes recommendations for scaling up prevention services. She is also a member of the WHO guideline committee, which is reviewing guidelines for treating pregnant women and preventing HIV transmission to their infants, and of the Pediatric HIV Vaccine Data Monitoring Ethics Committee, which is monitoring HIV vaccine trials in Kenya and the Gambia.