Bhamidipati named Smythe Professorship in Medicine recipient
Divya Bhamidipati, MD, MSc, assistant professor of infectious disease in the Department of Internal Medicine, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Cheves and Isabella Smythe Professorship in Medicine.
Bhamidipati will use the endowment to build upon studies in South Africa that have shown hair salons to be potential avenues for engaging with women about their health and providing counseling regarding STIs and HIV. Studies in the United States have looked at hair salons as a setting to discuss and screen for intimate partner violence, and men’s barbershops educate and counsel men on controlling their blood pressures, but few to none have focused specifically on women’s beauty salons as a setting to discuss HIV testing and PrEP.
Bhamidipati’s study aims to examine the acceptance and feasibility of providing HIV prevention services and counseling in such settings in Houston in neighborhoods with the highest incidences of new HIV diagnoses, focusing on salons catering to Black and Latinx women, the two groups of women noted to be at higher risk for acquiring HIV. This study will gather data regarding attitudes toward PrEP counseling in hair and nail salons with the goal of guiding future interventions.
The Cheves and Isabella Smythe Professorship in Medicine was established in 2009 and is awarded to a scientist with a significant research and/or education program or the promise of developing such a program. The selection is made after a review of all applications by the vice chairs in the Department of Internal Medicine. The professorship carries a prize of $25,000 per year for a 3-year term.
Bhamidipati earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 2016 before completing her internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with a global health track. She completed her infectious diseases fellowship and master of science in clinical research in 2022 at Emory University in Atlanta. Bhamidipati’s research interests include PrEP, community engagement in preventative medicine, and HIV-related clinical trials. Her clinical practice focuses on general ID at LBJ and Memorial Hermann and outpatient care for patients with HIV.