Amita Gupta, MD, MHS

Role: 
Faculty
Professor of Medicine and Public Health; Director, Division of Infectious Diseases
Amita Gupta, MD, MHS

Dr. Gupta is Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is also Faculty Co-chair of the Johns Hopkins Gupta-Klinsky India Institute, and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the JH School of Medicine. She has a joint appointment in International Health at the JH Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in infectious diseases, Dr. Gupta specializes in international public health, clinical research, and education in infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and antimicrobial resistant infections. Since 2003, her work has been focused primarily on India, where she leads several Indo-JHU research collaborations. She serves in leadership positions as Co-Chair of the Faculty Steering Committee of the Johns Hopkins Gupta-Klinsky India Institute, Center Director for the Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine Center for Excellence for COVID-19, the US chair for the Indo-US Vaccine Action Program sponsored RePORT India TB research consortium, which is funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the government of India, Department of Biotechnology. She also serves on the global RePORT International Executive Committee, a multilateral global consortia for TB research. She is Co-principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Baltimore-Washington-India HIV and Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials Unit (BWI-CTU), and she is an active clinical investigator in multi-country trials conducted by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Trials Network (IMPAACT), and has served as protocol chair for high impact studies that have resulted in publications in The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. She is Co-chair of the NIH and AmFAR funded IeDea HIV/TB Working Group and Scientific Committee co-Chair for IMPAACT TB. 

She has been awarded research grants from the NIH, CDC, UNITAID, and several philanthropic foundations to investigate infectious diseases of importance to India and beyond. In 2019, Dr. Gupta was appointed by the US Health and Human Services Secretary for a 4-year term to the NIAID Council, the chief advisory committee for National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In 2020, she was invited to the Governing Board of the Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum. 

Dr. Gupta is an author of more than 200 peer-reviewed research publications and 7 book chapters on prevention and treatment of HIV, TB, and other infectious diseases, primarily in low- and middle-income settings. She has also mentored more than 35 junior scientists in India and the US to run research studies and submit their own scientific findings to peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Gupta received an undergraduate degree from MIT, a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School, and a Master of Health Sciences in clinical investigation from JH Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her internal medicine training at San Francisco General Hospital-University of California, San Francisco, followed by a post-doctoral fellowships with the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases) and at the JHU School of Medicine (Infectious Diseases).

Publications on PubMed

Research Program Building and Leadership

  • 2007-present: Chair, IMPAACT P1078, A Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety of Immediate (antepartum-initiated) Versus Deferred Reduction in TB Incidence and Mortality Among HIV-Infected Women and Their Infants in High TB Incidence Settings
  • 2008-present: Protocol Vice-Chair of ACTG 5274, Reducing Early Mortality Among Patients with Advanced HIV Disease: A Randomized Strategy Trial Comparing the Safety and Efficacy of an Individualized Patient TB Treatment Approach to a Public Health Pre-emptive TB Treatment Approach in Resource-Limited Settings (REMEMBER)
  • 2008-2012: Co-investigator ACTG 5267, A Phase I, Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetic Interaction Study of Single-Dose TMC207 and Efavirenz in Health Volunteers
  •  2008-2012: Co-investigator ACTG 5253 Sensitivity and Specificity of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Screening and Diagnostics in HIV-Infected Individuals
  • 2009-present: Protocol Vice Chair ACTG 5279, Phase III Clinical Trial of Short-Course Rifapentine/Isoniazid for the Prevention of Active Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected Adults with Latent Tuberculosis Infection
  • 2010: Invited by NIAID, NIH to be a part of a NIH delegation to assess scope of TB research in India. Accompanied the Deputy Director of the Division of AIDS, the Associate Director of International Health Programs, NIAID and other NIH delegates on site visits to 15 Indian institutions throughout the country
  • 2011-2012: Selected to participate in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Office in Science and Medicine (OWISM) Leadership Program for Women Faculty
  • 2012-present: Member, ACTG TB Transformative Science Group
  • 2014-present: IMPAACT TB Scientific Committee Vice-Chair
  • 2014-present: Co-investigator IMPAACT 2001 Protocol Team, PK and Safety of INH and Rifapentine in Pregnancy
  • 2014-2016: US Co-chair, NIH-India Government, Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT)
  • 2014-present: Co-chair PHOENIX ACTG A5300/IMPAACT 2003 feasibility study and MDR TB contact prophylaxis trial
  • 2016-present: US Chair, TB Research Consortium, RePORT India
  • 2016-present: Member, Executive Committee, RePORT International
  • 2017: Selected to participate in the Johns Hopkins Leadership Development Program (LDP)
  • 2015-present: Member, Union Interest Group in Maternal-Infant TB working group
  • 2018: Participant, Technical Consultation on Advances in Clinical Trial Design for Development of New TB Treatments, WHO Report generation
  • 2018-present: co Chair, IeDEA TB working group
  • 2019-present: NIAID Council
  • 2020-present: Governing Board Member, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSTTF)
  • 2020-present: Co-Chair, Faculty Steering Committee, Johns Hopkins Gupta-Klinsky India Institute
  • 2020-present: Center Director, Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine Center for Excellence for COVID-19

 

Determination of a reference interval in a population

Post Date: 
2012-02-01
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
National Medical Journal of India
The reference interval is the most widely used medical decision-making tool that separates healthy from diseased individuals. We briefly discuss the methods used to determine reference interval and its limitations.

Sexually transmitted infections and risk behaviors among transgender persons (Hijras) of Pune, India

Post Date: 
2012-01-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
Background: The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Hijras (self-identified transgenders of South Asia), study associated risk factors, and compare the prevalence with that in heterosexual men and men...

Nutrition and disease progression pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and post-HAART: Can good nutrition delay time to HAART and affect response to HAART

Post Date: 
2011-12-15
Publication: 
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Several studies have investigated a variety of nutritional supplementation interventions in adults with HIV. In this narrative review, we summarize the evidence from 31 clinical trials that explore clinical benefits of macronutrient and micronutrient supplementation in this population while...

Early mortality in adults initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC): a systematic review and meta-analysis

Post Date: 
2011-12-15
Publication: 
PLOS One
Background: We systematically reviewed observational studies of early mortality post-antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, as defined by the World Bank, to summarize what is known. ...

Impact of maternal human immunodeficiency virus infection on pregnancy and birth outcomes in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2011-12-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
AIDS Care
Little is known about birth outcomes for HIV-infected women in India. We examine maternal and neonatal birth outcomes in HIV-infected women within the context of enhanced pre-natal care associated with a randomized clinical trial conducted in Pune, India. Birth outcomes of 212 HIV-infected...

Symptom screening among HIV-infected pregnant women is acceptable and has high negative predictive value for active tuberculosis

Post Date: 
2011-11-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Symptom screening is a recommended component of intensified case-finding (ICF) for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) among HIV-infected individuals. Symptomatic individuals are further investigated to either exclude or diagnose pulmonary TB, thus reducing the number of individuals requiring costly...

High rates of all-cause and gastroenteritis-related hospitalization morbidity and mortality among HIV-exposed Indian infants

Post Date: 
2011-07-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
BMC Infectious Diseases
Background: HIV-infected and HIV-exposed, uninfected infants experience a high burden of infectious morbidity and mortality. Hospitalization is an important metric for morbidity and is associated with high mortality, yet, little is known about rates and causes of hospitalization among these...

Building a global health education network for clinical care and research: the benefits and challenges of distance learning tools

Post Date: 
2011-06-15
Publication: 
Infectious Disease Clinics of North America
Expanding the capacity for clinical care and health research is a global priority and a global challenge. In disenfranchised communities facing the largest burden of disease, whether they be in rural Africa or in urban US, there is a great need for more well-trained, competent and dedicated health...

Twelve month follow-up of the SWEN randomized controlled trials: Differential impact of extended-dose nevirapine on mother-to-child transmission and infant death by maternal CD4 cell count

Post Date: 
2011-03-27
   |   
Countries: 
Ethiopia
India
Uganda
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
AIDS Care
Objectives: We previously reported combined analysis of 6-week and 6-month endpoints of three randomized controlled trials [Six Week Extended Dose Nevirapine (SWEN) trials] that compared extended-dose nevirapine through 6 weeks of age to single-dose nevirapine to prevent HIV transmission via...

Maternal tuberculosis: a risk factor for mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus

Post Date: 
2011-02-01
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Background: Maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load, CD4 cell count, breast-feeding, antiretroviral use, and malaria are well-established factors associated with mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV; the role of maternal tuberculosis (TB), however, has not been well...

Tuberculosis in women and children

Post Date: 
2010-12-15
Publication: 
The Lancet
Apart from improvement of tuberculosis control, innovative strategies to advance tuberculosis prevention and treatment in women and children would contribute to the attainment of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 by reduction of the mortality rate in young children and women of...

Stigmatizing attitudes and low levels of knowledge but high willingness to participate in HIV management: A community based survey of pharmacies in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2010-08-27
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
BMC Public Health
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the role of pharmacists in low-income settings be expanded to address the increasing complexity of HIV antiretroviral (ARV) and co-infection drug regimens. However, in many such settings including in India, many pharmacists and...

Physician estimate of antiretroviral adherence: poor correlation with patient self-report and viral load

Post Date: 
2010-03-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
AIDS Patient Care and STDs
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is critical in maintaining viral suppression and minimizing resistance in HIV-infected patients. We compared physician estimates of their patients' ART adherence with participant's self-reported adherence to determine patient-provider agreement and identify...

One-, two-, and three-class resistance among HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy in private care clinics: Mumbai, India

Post Date: 
2010-01-26
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses
HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy (ART) in India are not all adequately virally suppressed. We analyzed ARV drug resistance in adults receiving ART in three private clinics in Mumbai, India. HIV viral load was measured in 200 patients with the Roche AMPLICOR HIV-1 Monitor...

Extended-dose nevirapine to 6 weeks of age for infants to prevent HIV transmission via breastfeeding in Ethiopia, India, and Uganda: an analysis of three randomized controlled trials

Post Date: 
2009-07-26
   |   
Countries: 
Ethiopia
India
Uganda
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
The Lancet
Background: UNICEF/WHO recommends that infants born to HIV-infected mothers who do not have access to acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable, and safe replacement feeding should be exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months. The aim of three trials in Ethiopia, India, and Uganda was...

Nevirapine resistance and breast-milk HIV transmission: effects of single and extended-dose nevirapine prophylaxis in subtype C HIV-infected infants

Post Date: 
2009-01-01
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
PLOS One
Background: Daily nevirapine (NVP) prophylaxis to HIV-exposed infants significantly reduces breast-milk HIV transmission. We assessed NVP-resistance in Indian infants enrolled in the “six-week extended-dose nevirapine” (SWEN) trial who received single-dose NVP (SD-NVP) or SWEN for prevention...

Traditional Indian medicine and homeopathy for HIV/AIDS: a review of the literature

Post Date: 
2008-12-22
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
AIDS Research and Therapy
Background: Allopathic practitioners in India are outnumbered by practitioners of traditional Indian medicine and homeopathy (TIMH), which is used by up to two-thirds of its population to help meet primary health care needs, particularly in rural areas. India has an estimated 2.5 million HIV...

High risk for occupational exposure to HIV and utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis in a teaching hospital in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2008-10-21
   |   
Countries: 
India
   |   
Clinical Sites: 
BJGMC
Publication: 
BMC Infectious Diseases
Background: The risk for occupational exposure to HIV has been well characterized in the developed world, but limited information is available about this transmission risk in resource-constrained settings facing the largest burden of HIV infection. In addition, the feasibility and utilization of...

The Indian pediatric HIV epidemic: a systematic review

Post Date: 
2008-09-15
   |   
Countries: 
India
Publication: 
Current HIV Research
Despite an estimated 70,000 Indian children living with HIV infection, little is known about India's pediatric HIV epidemic. Generalizations about epidemiology, natural history, and treatment outcomes from other resource-limited settings (RLS) may be inaccurate for several biologic and social...

Selenium and HIV-1: Hope or hype?

Post Date: 
2007-12-10
Publication: 
Archives of Internal Medicine
We read with great interest the article by Hurwitz et al on the impact of selenium supplementation in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Studies examining the association between micronutrients and HIV, particularly prospective studies, have been limited to...

Pages