Emily Ciccone, MD, MHS a clinical fellow in the division of infectious diseases in the department of medicine, received an Early Career Award from the Thrasher Research Foundation. The two-year, $25,000 award will allow her to explore the use of a rapid point-of-care C-reactive protein assay to differentiate viral from bacterial respiratory infections among malaria-negative children at the UNC-Chapel Hill research site in western Uganda. The overall goal is to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use without compromising safety in an area where access to care is a real issue.
Ciccone is the fourth division of infectious diseases resident to receive a Thrasher Research Foundation Early Career Award. Previous recipients were Ross Boyce, MD, MSc, and Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, both currently assistant professors in the UNC School of Medicine’s division of infectious diseases in the department of medicine; and Matt Collins, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University.