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Katharine Stewart, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
EDUCATION: Internship (1995-96) Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine Ph.D. (1996) Clinical (Medical) Psychology, UAB M.P.H. (1995) Health Care Organization & Policy, School of Public Health, UAB. M.A. (1993) Clinical (Medical) Psychology, UAB B.S. (1989) Psychology (with honors). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. RESEARCH INTERESTS: Dr. Stewart's primary research interests are in the following areas: (1) evaluation and improvement of adherence to antiretroviral regimens in HIV disease, (2) neuropsychological correlates of central nervous system HIV infection, and (3) sexual risk prevention among adolescents and young adult women. She is a member of the UAB Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), the UAB Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE) and the UAB Center for Health Promotion (CHP), and engages in collaborative research through these centers with medical and behavioral scientists in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Antiretroviral Regimen Adherence Dr. Stewart currently heads the adherence substudy of "Prospective Evaluation of the Effect of Viral Load Monitoring and Antiretroviral Therapy Utilization on Long-Term Clinical Outcomes," a project funded by Glaxo-Wellcome and directed by Michael S. Saag, MD (CFAR, Director of UAB 1917 Clinic). The study examines the relationships between potent antiretroviral regimens and various clinical, functional, and financial outcomes. A central question in this research is the extent to which various levels of nonadherence are related to development of drug resistance. Dr. Stewart's investigation includes evaluation of various methods of adherence assessment in the complex world of antiretroviral regimens; development of interventions to improve adherence by involving patients, physicians, and social support networks; and proposal and evaluation of models that explain the relationships between clinical, psychological, neuropsychological, functional, and demographic variables in adherence. Neuropsychological Correlates of CNS HIV Infection Dr. Stewart is a co-investigator with faculty in the Departments of Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Biophysics in the NeuroAIDS Consortium, a project designed to (1) establish an animal model of AIDS Dementia Complex (ADC) to test the role of the astrocyte in contributing to the disease, (2) establish the validity of measuring changes in intracellular pH levels as an indicator of disease, and (3) determine the relationships between neuropsychological performance, pH levels, and degree of dementia in patients with ADC. These studies are designed to develop non-invasive techniques for the early detection of ADC and, ultimately, for assessment of drug efficacy in this syndrome. Dr. Stewart's role in the project is to supervise the neuropsychological assessment of patients and to assist with interpretation and analysis of this portion of the project. Sexual Risk Prevention Dr. Stewart serves as co-investigator on the NIMH-funded project "Using Social Networks to Reduce Risky Sex in HIVPositive Women," which is directed by Ralph J. DiClemente, Ph.D. (CFAR & School of Public Health). This project's aim is to reduce the risk of re-infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women living with HIV. This project has developed and implemented an intervention (Project WILLOW) to reduce high-risk sexual behaviors and enhance coping among these women, and will conduct an evaluation of the efficacy of the Project WILLOW program relative to the efficacy of a health promotion comparison condition by comparing self-reported condom use and incidence of STIs over a 12-month follow-up period. REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS: Stewart, K.E., & Ross, D. (1999). Editorial comment: Severe adverse life events and depressive symptoms among women with or at risk of HIV infection in four US cities. AIDS, 13 (17). Stewart, K.E., DiClemente, R.J., & Ross, D. (1999). Adolescents and HIV: Theory-based approaches to education of nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30(3). 687-696. Alexander, R.W., Bradley, L.A., Alarcon, G.S., Triana-Alexander, M., Aaron, L.A., Alberts, K.R., Martin, M.Y., & Stewart, K.E. (1998). Sexual and physical abuse in women with fibromyalgia: Assocation with outpatient health care utilization and pain medication usage. Arthritis Care and Research, 11, 102-115. Stewart, K.E. (1997). Applying for academic positions: Guidelines from a survivor. Newsletter of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, 9(2), 1-6. Mountz, J.M., Bradley, L.A., Modell, J.G., Alexander, R.W., Triana, M., Aaron, L.A., Stewart, K.E., Alarcon, G.S., & Mountz, J.D. (1995). Fibromyalgia in women: Alterations in regional cerebral blood flow in the caudate nucleus and thalamus and generalized low pain thresholds. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 38(7), 926-938. Bradley, L.A., Alarcon, G.S., Alexander, R.W., Triana, M., Aaron, L.A., Stewart, K.E. (1994). Pain thresholds, symptom severity, coping strategies, and pain beliefs predict health care seeking in fibromyalgia patients. In Gebhart, G.F., Hammond, D.L., Jensen, T.S., eds. Proceedings of the VIIth Congress on Pain (pp. 167-176). Seattle: IASP Press. Bradley, L.A., Alarcon, G.S., Alexander, R.W., Triana, M., Aaron, L.A., Stewart, K.E., Martin, M., Alberts, K. (1994). Health care seeking behavior in fibromyalgia: Association with pain thresholds, symptom severity, and psychiatric morbidity. Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, 2(3), 79-87. Stewart, K.E., Call, S.A., Cloud, G.A., Westfall, A.O., McKinnon, S.L., Chatham, A.G., & Saag, M.S. (1999). Prospective prediction of ARV adherence: The role of patient-perceived barriers. Poster presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), San Francisco, California. Freeman, T.L., Stewart, K.E., DeMasi, R., & Saag, M.S. (1999). Adherence in the age of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART): racial and gender differences. Poster presentation at the 1999 National HIV Prevention Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. Stewart, K.E., Greene, P., Call, S., Westfall, A., Chatwood, A., Saag, M.S., & Pham, S. Patterns of self-reported adherence to ART in a prospective clinical cohort. (1998). Oral presentation at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), San Diego, California. |
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