About

Dr. Seña has served as a principal investigator or co-investigator on NIH, CDC and industry supported multi-center trials involving epidemiology, novel diagnostics and therapeutic regimens for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). She was a member of the Scientific Review Committee for the NIH STI-Clinical Trials Group from 2007-2021. Her primary research interest is in syphilis, including vaccine development. She is the Co-Project Director for an NIH STI Cooperative Research Center grant for syphilis vaccine development titled “Global sequence and surface antigenic diversity of Treponema pallidum outer membrane proteins,” which involves UNC Project Malawi and UNC Project China. Dr. Seña also has research interests in other bacterial STIs and STI/HIV/hepatitis C public health interventions, having previously served as the Medical and Laboratory Director at the Durham County Department of Public Health from 2001- 2020. Dr. Seña currently serves as a consultant for the NC HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch and the CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, and is the Treasurer of the American STD Association. She has mentored numerous clinical and graduate level trainees in STI research and public health careers at the academic, state and national level, and has been one of the key faculty members on STI/HIV training grants. Dr. Seña provides care on both the general infectious disease and compromised host services, and sees outpatients in the transplant ID clinic.