Center for Brazilian Studies director addresses the Zika virus

UCLA International Institute, February 3, 2016 — Dr. Karin Nielsen, a world-recognized pediatric infectious disease specialist whose research has significantly contributed to the reduction of mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus, has been interviewed several times in recent weeks about the Zika virus (see below).

A professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA since 1996 and a working doctor at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, Nielsen is also director of the UCLA Center for Brazilian Studies. A native of Brazil, she went to medical school at the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro and did her pediatric residency at the Hospital dos Servidores do Estado in that city. In addition, she completed an MPH at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health while completing a five-year clinical research and virology fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the Geffen School.

Nielsen has conducted collaborative research in Brazil and Mozambique that has changed HIV standards of care worldwide. Specifically, she has developed or assisted in the development of seven NIH protocols to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.

With over two decades of research on viral pediatric diseases in Brazil, who better to consult about the threat of the Zika virus? See Dr. Nielsen’s recent interviews below:

Fusion News
February 3, 2016: “Zika virus: The new STD”

KPCC public radio
February 2, 2016: “Is there a connection between the Zika virus and birth defects?”

KPCC public radio
January 27, 2016: “Do you need to worry about the Zika virus in Southern California?”

KPCC public radio
April 12, 2016: "Zika may be worse than initially thought"