Uma Nayak

Degree(s): PhD
Graduate School: Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswavidyalayam, India
Primary Appointment: Instructor, Public Health Sciences

Research Interests:
Assist in design and conduct of clinical trials in research areas that have significant Public Health relevance in the US and developing countries

Email Address: un8x@virginia.edu

Research Description

My experience in the fields of operational research and field based clinical research management, began in India, and spans 24 years. My research focus has been in the area of infant and maternal nutrition that has significant Public Health relevance, particularly understanding the complex relationships between malnutrition and infections. I was able to test and implement innovative methods to improve nutrition-related behavior that may have great influence on the nutritional status of the community. Recent research experience includes managing and coordinating phenotypic data for large scale International collaborative trials such as NIH supported multi-centric clinical trials to prevent transmission of HIV from Mother to Infant in India, Ethiopia and Uganda; NIE funded Age-related eye diseases study; Malnutrition and Enteric Diseases study in Bangladesh; NHLBI-funded ACCORD project to study the renal biomarkers in Type 2 diabetic participants and NIH-supported research on type 2 diabetes in African Americans living in the Sea islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. In this capacity, I act as a liaison between on-site study personnel and data coordinating centers in the US, in order to effectively implement the study procedures and data management.

As a member of the research faculty at the Center, I am involved in management of study procedures and data for the ongoing research study to understand and identify the “Biological markers associated with nutritional deficiency, susceptibility to infectious diseases and performance of vaccines among young infants” currently underway in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Kolkata, India. In collaboration with the Biomedical Informatics department at Public Health Sciences, I am assisting in developing an Electronic Data Capture and Data Management Module to promote a secure web-based data entry system to allow online review of data quality, study progress and generate summary reports.

Selected Publications

Mychaleckyj JC, Craven T, Nayak U, Buse J, Crouse JR, Elam M, Kirchner K, Lorber D, Marcovina S, Sivitz W, Sperl-Hillen J, Bonds DE, Ginsberg HN. (2012) “Reversibility of Fenofibrate Therapy-Induced Renal Function impairment in ACCORD Type 2 Diabetes Participants”.  Diabetes Care 35 (5): 1008-14

Ram,M., Gupte,N., Nayak, U., Kinikar,A., Khandve,M., Shankar,A., Sastry, J., Bollinger, R., Gupta, A. For SWEN India and BJMC-JHU Clinical Trials Study Team (2012) “Growth patterns among HIV-exposed infants receiving nevirapine prophylaxis in Pune, India”, BMC infectious Diseases 12: 282-293

Monda KL, Chen GK, Taylor KC, Palmer C, Edwards TL, et.al. (2013) “A Meta-Analysis Identifies New Loci Associated with Body Mass index in Individuals of African Ancestry”, PLoS Genet.9(8):e1003681. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003681.

Liu CT, Monda KL, Taylor KC, Lange L, Demerath EW, Palmas W, Wojczynski MK, Ellis JC, Vitolins MZ, Liu S, Papanicolaou GJ, Irvin MR, Xue L, Griffin PJ, Nalls MA, Adeyemo A, Liu J, Li G, Ruiz-Narvaez EA, Chen WM, Chen F, Henderson BE, Millikan RC, Ambrosone CB, Strom SS, Guo X, Andrews JS, Sun YV, Mosley TH, Yanek LR, Shriner D, Haritunians T, Rotter JI, Speliotes EK, Smith M, Rosenberg L, Mychaleckyj J, Nayak U, Spruill I, Garvey WT, Pettaway C, Nyante S, Bandera EV, Britton AF, Zonderman AB, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Chen YD, Ding J, Lohman K, Kritchevsky SB, Zhao W, Peyser PA, Kardia SL, Kabagambe E, Broeckel U, Chen G, Zhou J, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Neuhouser ML, Rampersaud E, Psaty B, Kooperberg C, Manson JE, Kuller LH, Ochs-Balcom HM, Johnson KC, Sucheston L, Ordovas JM, Palmer JR, Haiman CA, McKnight B, Howard BV, Becker DM, Bielak LF, Liu Y, Allison MA, Grant SF, Burke GL, Patel SR, Schreiner PJ, Borecki IB, Evans MK, Taylor H, Sale MM, Howard V, Carlson CS, Rotimi CN, Cushman M, Harris TB, Reiner AP, Cupples LA, North KE, Fox CS (2013) Genome-Wide Association of Body Fat Distribution in African Ancestry Populations Suggests New Loci. PLoS Genet 9(8): e1003681. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003681

Haque R, Snider C, Liu Y, Ma JZ, Liu L, Nayak U, Mychaleckyj JC, Korpe P, Mondal D, Kabir M, Alam M, Pallansch M, Oberste MS, Weldon W, Kirkpatrick BD, Petri WA Jr. (2014) “Lower Immunogenicity of Oral Polio Vaccine in Bangladesh is Associated with Shorter Breast Feeding Duration, Malnutrition, and Diarrhea”, Vaccine 32: 478– 482.

PubMed listing for this faculty member

Contact Information
Office Address:  PO Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA 22908
Office Phone:  434-982-3749