Sylvia LaCourse, MD, MPH | Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Assistant Professor

Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases

Assistant Professor

Department of Global Health

Faculty Information

Biography

Dr. LaCourse’s research focuses on improving TB screening and prevention in HIV-infected peripartum women and their children and has multiple ongoing research projects primarily in Kenya.

Dr. LaCourse is a GWACh (Global Women, Adolescent, and Child health) scientific lead, Kenya Research and Training Center (KRTC) faculty member, Tuberculosis Research & Training Center (TRTC) leadership committee member, and TB ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) faculty. She is committed to the inclusion of children and pregnant women in HIV/TB research as an IMPAACT (International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network) TB Scientific Committee mentored junior investigator, and International Union Against TB and Lung Disease Maternal Child Health Working Group Scientific Co-Lead.

She is an attending physician at the Madison HIV clinic and infectious diseases, general medicine, and HIV inpatient services at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Centers.

Education & Training:

University of Louisville School of Medicine (AOA)

Louisville KY

2007

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency

Warren Alpert Medical School of Medicine, Brown University

Province RI

2007-2011

NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellowship

UNC Project

Lilongwe, Malawi

2011-2012

Fellow

Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington

Seattle WA

2012-2015

MPH Epidemiology

Global Health Track University of Washington

Seattle WA

2013-2015

Honors:

AOA, University of Louisville, School of Medicine

2007

National Medicine/ Pediatrics Residency Association Advocacy/ Community Service Award

2009

CFAR International Pilot Project Award

2014

Firland Foundation Bridge Funding Award

2015

K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award

2016

AIDS 2016 Scholarship Award

2016

CFAR New Investigator Award

2016

Chair of Medicine Award

2018

Contact

Email:

sylvial2@uw.edu

Phone:

(206) 616-5978

Research & Clinical Interests

Research Interests:

My primary research interest is improving TB screening and prevention in peripartum women and children in high HIV/TB burden settings. Recent work has focused on novel non-sputum based TB diagnostics and the effect of pregnancy on LTBI screening and prevention approaches, as well as collaborating with TB immunologist to better understand the unique feature of these populations and how they may effect TB pathogenesis.

Current projects:

NIH/NIAID K23 Impact of maternal HIV on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection among peripartum women and their infants (PI: LaCourse) Mentors: Grace John-Stewart (UW), Amita Gupta (Johns Hopkins)

Thrasher Foundation Preventing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in HIV exposed infants (Co-PI: John-Stewart & Hawn) Role: Project Director, Co-Investigator

NIH/NIAID R01 The effect of HIV exposure and infection on immunity to TB in children (PI: John-Stewart, Day) Role: Co-Investigator

NIH/NIAID R21 NanoDisk-MS measured Mtb antigen peptides for TB diagnosis and treatment monitoring in HIV-infected children (PI: LaCourse) (Co-I Ye Hu, Arizona University BioDesign Institute)

NIH/NICHD R21 Dynamics of tuberculosis immune response in peripartum HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women (Co-PI: LaCourse, Javeed Shah [UW DAID]) Co-I Jai Lingappa, DGH ICRC)

NIH/UW CFAR New Investigator Award (PI: LaCourse) Oral swab analysis (OSA) for TB diagnosis in women, adolescents, and HIV-infected individuals Mentors: Grace John-Stewart (UW), Gerard Cangelosi (UW Dept of Environmental and Occupational Health)

Clinical Interests:

HIV
TB/LTBI (including PLHIV, children, and women of childbearing potential)
HIV PEP in adolescents

Publications

PubMed:

PubMed Bibliography

Publications:

Mathad JS, LaCourse SM, Gupta A. TB prevention strategies and unanswered questions for pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV: the need for improved evidence. J Int AIDS Soc. 2020; 23(3):e25481.

LaCourse SM, Cranmer L, Matemo D, Richardson B, Kinuthia J, John-Stewart G, Horne DJ. Active tuberculosis case finding in HIV-infected pregnant women in Kenya reveals poor performance of symptom screening and rapid diagnostic tests. JAIDS. 2016 Feb 1; 71(2):219-27.
• PubMed Abstract

Jonnalagadda S, LaCourse SM, Otieno P, Lohman-Payne B, Maleche-Obimbo E, Cranmer LM, John-Stewart GC. Incidence and correlates of tuberculosis IGRA conversion among HIV-infected postpartum women. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2015 Jul; 19(7):792-8.
• PubMed Abstract

LaCourse SM, Chester FM, Matoga M, Munthali C, Nsona D, Haac B, Hoffman IF, Hosseinipour MC. Implementation and Operational Research: Implementation of Routine Counselor-Initiated Opt-Out HIV Testing on the Adult Medical Ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi. JAIDS. 2015 May 1; 69(1):e31-5.
• PubMed Abstract

LaCourse SM, Chester FM, Preidis G, McCrary LM, Arscott-Mills T, Maliwichi M, James G, McCollum ED, Hosseinipour MC. Use of Xpert for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in severely malnourished hospitalized Malawian children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2014 Nov; 33(11):1200-2.
• PubMed Abstract

LaCourse SM, Chester FM, Preidis G, McCrary LM, Maliwichi M, McCollum ED, Hosseinipour MC. Lay-screeners and use of WHO growth standards increase case finding of hospitalized Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition. J Trop Pediatr. 2015 Feb; 61(1):44-53.
• PubMed Abstract