Mimi Hou
Contact information
Mimi Hou
Paediatric Academic Clinical Fellow
My project is on HIV, looking at virus evolution in infants and in mother-to-child transmission. I am looking to see if there is any evidence of a functional immune response in early infancy to drive virus evolution and if there are any specific viral characteristics that favour mother-to-child transmission.
The advantages of the ACF post are the dedicated research time allocated and the support provided as part of the programme (from OUCAGS and through teaching such as the diploma in health research). The paediatric ACF programme allows me to have dedicated research time without extending my clinical training. This does mean significantly less time for clinical work and for completing assessments to get signed off for ARCP.
There is a wealth of world-renowned research in infectious diseases and global health carried out in Oxford, so it’s a great choice for anyone with an interest in these areas. Oxford has a stimulating academic environment, which you have the opportunity to access when becoming an ACF. Oxford was also one of a few deaneries that accepted paediatric ACFs at ST2 level.
The ACF programme has confirmed my plan to pursue a career in academic medicine and I will apply for PhD funding with a view to starting at the end of ST5.
Recent publications
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Blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate RH5.1/Matrix-M in healthy Tanzanian adults and children; an open-label, non-randomised, first-in-human, single-centre, phase 1b trial.
Journal article
Silk SE. et al, (2024), Lancet Infect Dis
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Higher HIV-1 evolutionary rate is associated with cytotoxic T lymphocyte escape mutations in infants.
Journal article
Nazziwa J. et al, (2024), J Virol
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Evaluation of the precision of the Plasmodium knowlesi growth inhibition assay for Plasmodium vivax Duffy-binding protein-based malaria vaccine development.
Journal article
Mertens JE. et al, (2024), Vaccine
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Evaluation of Precision of thePlasmodium knowlesiGrowth Inhibition Assay forPlasmodium vivaxDuffy-Binding Protein-based Malaria Vaccine Development
Preprint
Mertens JE. et al, (2024)
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PvDBPII elicits multiple antibody-mediated mechanisms that reduce growth in a Plasmodium vivax challenge trial.
Journal article
Martinez FJ. et al, (2024), NPJ Vaccines, 9