Dr. Jennifer Jao Named IMPAACT Network Co-Chair
The IMPAACT Scientific Leadership Group (SLG) is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Jennifer Jao as the new IMPAACT Network Co-Chair. Dr. Jao will serve alongside Dr. Sharon Nachman in guiding the Network’s critical work to improve the health and well-being of infants, children, and pregnant/postpartum individuals affected by HIV and its co-morbidities worldwide. Together with other members of the SLG and scientific committees, they will lead the Network as it prepares for the anticipated 2026 re-competition and continues its mission to advance groundbreaking research in our key populations of interest. Dr. Jao’s appointment follows the solicitation for Network Co-Chair applications broadly distributed on 11 September 2024. Her term will officially begin later this year.
“I am extremely humbled and excited to co-chair the IMPAACT network as it ends the HIV epidemic in the most strategic populations for our future: infants, children, and pregnant individuals,” said Jao. “As an infectious disease specialist, site Principal Investigator, and Principal Investigator of multiple NIH-funded international and domestic studies, I understand the unique potential of the IMPAACT network. I very much look forward to learning from and partnering with Dr. Nachman and the current IMPAACT leadership to lead the network into the future.”
Dr. Jao currently serves as Protocol Co-Chair of IMPAACT P1115 and as a member of the IMPAACT Therapeutics Scientific Committee. Dr. Jao is a Professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as well as Director of the Section on Maternal, Pediatric, and Adolescent HIV at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, located in Illinois, USA. She serves as one of the Principal Investigators of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) network and will continue in this role. In addition, she has led multiple studies worldwide of pregnant people living with HIV, and their children, as well as adolescents and youth with perinatally acquired HIV.
Dr. Jao’s background and experience, coupled with Dr. Nachman’s proven track record as Network Chair, positions IMPAACT well to achieve the aims of our robust scientific agenda. We look forward to working with Dr. Jao in her new role, as the Network continues to pursue its vital mission.
As indicated in the Network Co-Chair solicitation, the SLG plans to issue a call for Network Vice Chair applications early this year.
