Dr. Boghuma Titanji, from Cameroon, is the winner of the Health Care Innovator/Researcher Award as part of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2023 Health Care Heroes programme. The Health Care Heroes awards recognise doctors, nurses and innovators.
Boghuma K. Titanji, MD, MSc, DTM&H, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA. She joined Emory University School of Medicine in 2016 as an internal medicine resident on the ABIM research track, an integrated programme that combines research training with training in clinical internal medicine and its subspecialties. This pathway is only recommended for doctors who intend to seriously pursue a career in basic science or clinical research.
His clinical work focuses on people with HIV and his current research focuses on chronic inflammation as a mediator of cardiovascular disease in people with HIV. In particular, his research has focused on the cell-to-cell spread of HIV-1 across a virological synapse and how antiretroviral agents can be used to target this unique mode of spread.
Translating clinical research into policy
Dr Titanji is also very passionate about how clinical research can be translated into policies that impact on the lives of vulnerable patient populations, particularly in Africa. As she continues to mature as a clinician and scientist, Dr Titanji hopes to combine translational research with clinical practice to influence health policy from a global health perspective, particularly in the area of infectious diseases.
Prior to joining Emory, Dr Titanji, who was born in Cameroon, obtained a PhD in infectious diseases from University College London, UK. She also holds an MD from the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. Two years after graduating, she worked as a medical doctor, before pursuing postgraduate research training in London, UK. A recipient of the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme, she obtained an MSc in Tropical Medicine and International Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Royal College of Physicians in London and a PhD in Virology from University College London. His research into HIV drug-resistant viruses was aimed at gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance and identifying new ways of targeting resistant viruses.
Ethical medical research
In the course of her research, Dr. Boghuma Titanji met a woman, Céline, who forever changed her view of people who sign informed consent agreements to become research subjects. Since then, Dr. Titanji has become an advocate of ethical medical research, calling on researchers to find less abusive ways of studying diseases in developing countries.
