Linda M. Niccolai PhD
Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Director, HPV-IMPACT Project (Emerging Infections Program)
Research Interests
STIs; HIV
Current Projects
- Behavioral and Molecular Epidemiology of Repeat Chlamydia
- HIV risk among Female Sex Workers and their Male Sex Partners in St. Petersburg, Russia
- Integrating Sex and Drug Related HIV Risk and Transmission is St. Petersburg, Russia
- Monitoring Impact of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine in Connecticut
Research Summary
Professor Niccolai is an epidemiologist whose research is primarily focused on sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV. Her main area of interest is in behavioral aspects of HIV/STI prevention. Specifically, she is interested in studying both individual- and partnership-level determinants of sexual risk behaviors, and population-based patterns of transmission dynamics. Her research includes a focus on the underserved populations of adolescents and women, and includes both domestic and international sites. Currently, Professor Niccolai is involved in three main areas of research. First, she is Principal Investigator of a study in Connecticut to examine the behavioral and molecular epidemiology of repeat chlamydia infections among young women. Her second area of research is based in Russia, where she is involved in multiple projects to understand HIV transmission dynamics among injection drug users and commercial sex workers. Finally, working with the Connecticut Emerging Infections Program, she is Project Director of a new effort to monitor impact of the human papillomavirus vaccine.
Extensive Research Description
Linda Niccolai is an associate
professor in the division of epidemiology of microbial diseases in the
department of epidemiology and public health at Yale University School of
Medicine and is the deputy director for Yale School of Public Health’s Center
for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. Her research focuses on sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV. Dr. Niccolai is the principal
investigator of study examining both the behavioral and molecular epidemiology
repeat Chlamydia infections for young women in Connecticut. She also has a
research project focused on the potential for HIV transmission in relationships
of drug-using women in Russia.
Linda Niccolai received her
Sc.M. at Harvard School of Public Health and her Ph.D. at Tulane University.
She is the recipient of Connecticut Infectious Disease Society Thorton Award
for Best Poster Presentation in Clinical Research in Infectious Disease.
Selected Publications
- Niccolai LM, Verevochkin SV, Toussova OV, White E, Barbour R, Kozlov AP, Heimer R. Estimates of HIV incidence among drug users in St. Petersburg, Russia: Continued growth of a rapidly expanding epidemic. European Journal of Public Health 2010 doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckq115.
- Niccolai LM, Shcherbakova IS, Toussova OV, Kozlov AP, Heimer R. The potential for bridging of HIV transmission in the Russian Federation: Sex risk behaviors and HIV prevalence among drug users (DUs) and their non-DU sex partners. Journal of Urban Health 2009;86(Suppl 1):131-43.
- Niccolai LM, Hochberg AL, Ethier KA, Lewis JB, Ickovics JR. Burden of recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis infections in young women: Further uncovering the “Hidden Epidemic”. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2007;161:246-251.
- Foulkes HBS, Pettigrew MM, Livingston KA, Niccolai LM. Comparison of sexual partnership characteristics and associations with inconsistent condom use among a sample of adolescents and adult women diagnosed with Chlamydia trachomatis. Journal of Women’s Health 2009;18:393-399.
- Niccolai, L.M., Stephens, N., Jenkins, H., Richardson, W., Muth, S.Q., and Rothenberg, R. Early Syphilis among Men in Connecticut: Epidemiologic and Spatial Patterns. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 34(3): 183-187, 2007.
- Niccolai, L.M., King, E., D'Entremont, D., and Pritchett, E.N. Disclosure of HIV Serostatus to Sex Partners: A New Approach to Measurement. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 33: 102-105, 2006.
