Amanda D. Castel, MD, MPH

• Phone: (202) 994-8325
• Fax: (202) 994-0082
• Email: sphaxc@gwumc.edu
• Website: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/faculty/castel_amanda.cfm

Current HIV/AIDS Research Activities:

• Serves as Chief Epidemiologist to the HIV/AIDS Administration through the DOH GWU Public Health Academic Partnership, providing epidemiologic and technical support and expertise to the Administration. Co-Principal Investigator on the monitoring and evaluation project for the HAA routine testing campaign.
• Team member on GWU/World Health Organization contract to develop guidelines for task-shifting in developing countries. Participated in country level visit to Namibia to evaluate regulatory frameworks for task-shifting and writing of country report.
• Sub-investigator to study barriers to care among HIV infected hospitalized patients. Working with faculty from the George Washington University Hospital to design and conduct this study. Involved in the survey tool development, including qualitative and quantitative data collection and database development.
• Serves as the Team Leader on the Project HEART Assessment for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) through the EGPAF/GWU Partnership. The assessment will evaluate Foundation programs that provide HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support services in 5 countries in Africa.

Amanda D. Castel is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Dr. Castel completed a preventive medicine residency at the CDC, at the National Center for Health Statistics in 2006. Prior to this, she was a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer, assigned to the Office of Epidemiology and Disease Control Programs at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is board certified in preventive medicine/public health and pediatrics.

Dr. Castel's research interests center on infectious diseases, including vaccine-preventable diseases and HIV/AIDS, and on international health. As an EIS officer, she has investigated numerous communicable disease outbreaks and researched meningococcal disease among college students. In the international arena, Dr. Castel has conducted research on pediatric HIV/AIDS prevention and has monitored polio eradication campaigns.

Based on her previous experiences in infectious diseases and international health, Dr. Castel joined SPHHS in August 2006 to work on the GWU-DC Department of Health Public Health/Academic Partnership where her focus is on providing epidemiologic expertise and support to the HIV AIDS Administration's Bureau of Surveillance and Epidemiology. Since beginning this partnership, Dr. Castel has worked on transitioning the District to name-based HIV reporting, and on the release of the District's HIV/AIDS Annual Report, as well as evaluating the city's routine HIV testing initiative. Dr. Castel also conducts research on task-shifting in resource limited countries, examines factors related to barriers to obtaining care for HIV infected individuals, and is a member of the GWU HIV/AIDS Institute.