Congratulations to Dr. Dorothy Dow and Dr. Wilton Williams for being selected as recipients of this year’s School of Medicine faculty awards!
Dr. Dorothy Dow was awarded the Ruth and A. Morris Williams Faculty Research Prize, which was established to advance research opportunities for younger faculty members and to help publicize the caliber of medical research underway at Duke. The 2022 Williams Prize recognizes outstanding contributions in clinical science research. Dr. Dow is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and an Assistant Research Professor at the Duke Global Health Institute. She is also an Associate Director of the CFAR Clinical Core.
Dr. Dow’s research focuses on prevention and treatment of HIV in pediatric populations with a special interest in adolescent and young adult (AYA) populations. Her research is primarily based in Tanzania with additional studies across sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. focusing on the importance of mental health as a mediator of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and viral outcomes. Dr. Dow is co-developer of a mental health and life skills intervention, Sauti ya Vijana (the Voice of Youth), to improve adherence and viral suppression among AYA living with HIV in Tanzania. She is also co-chair of IMPAACT 2016, a multi-site trial across four countries in Southern Africa to evaluate a group-based, peer-led intervention to improve mental health and ART adherence among youth living with HIV in low resource settings.
Says Dr. Dow, “I was completely shocked and deeply honored to receive this incredible award. So many outstanding researchers whom I deeply respect and emulate have been prior recipients and it is an absolute privilege to be among them. Thank you so much to the Williams family for creating this generous award and to the committee for recognizing the importance of both global health research and the critical population of adolescents and young adults living with HIV with whom I work and share this honor. I am overjoyed and deeply grateful.”
Dr. Wilton Williams was selected to be part of the Whitehead Scholars Program. Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Associate Professor of Medicine, and an Assistant Professor of Immunology. The Whitehead Scholars Program, supported through a gift from the Whitehead Charitable Foundation, help attracts and nurture the most promising biomedical researchers to the faculty at Duke University School of Medicine.
Says Dr. Williams, "I am truly humbled and grateful for this award to build my research program here at Duke!"