Savita Kanade, MSc

Pune, India
Role: 
Staff
Community Coordinator

Savita Kanade is working as Community and Outreach Coordinator for NIH funded clinical trials at BJGMC-CRS, Pune, India. At present she is serving as Field Representative on A5300B/I2003B/PHOENIx study.

As part of NIH funded HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis clinical trials, since 2007, she was involved in recruitment and retention of participants in clinical trials and in identifying issues related to understanding barriers to participation and retention, addressing stigma and discrimination, administering informed consent, managing socio-cultural issues during the study participation, addressing opportunistic infections such as TB, etc.

She is also involved in networking and communication with state level agencies like National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) and various NGOs working for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.

She is acting as site liaison to the Community Advisory Board (CAB) and facilitates local CAB representation at GCAB and CSS at ACTG network and ICAB at IMPAACT network.

She is been involved in translating the study related material (informed consent forms, education material, CRFs, study flyers, etc.) into local language.

As an Anthropologist, she was involved in public health research for 15 years. She was active in research related to reproductive health, family planning, gender based domestic violence, formation of sexual partnerships, pathways in resolving unintended pregnancy among youth, and parent child communication on sex related issues.

Increasing Market and Public Health Outcomes Through Scaling Up Affordable Access Models of Short Course Preventive Therapy for TB (IMPAACT4TB)

Post Date: 
2019-12-17
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Primary Objective: This study is being conducted in Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The overall goal is to reduce TB incidence among (1) people living with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy, and...

A5300B/I2003B: Protecting Households On Exposure to Newly Diagnosed Index Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients (PHOENIx)

Post Date: 
2019-08-19
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Dr. Amita Gupta is Protocol Co-chair for this multinational clinical trial. BACKGROUND The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were 480,000 incident cases of MDR-TB globally in 2015. MDR-TB has been shown to be almost twice as common in TB...

A5300B/I2003B: Protecting Households On Exposure to Newly Diagnosed Index Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients (PHOENIx)

Post Date: 
2019-08-19
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Dr. Amita Gupta is Protocol Co-chair for this multinational clinical trial. BACKGROUND The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were 480,000 incident cases of MDR-TB globally in 2015. MDR-TB has been shown to be almost twice as common in TB...

A5300/IMPAACT2003: Study of MDR TB Cases and Their Household Contacts: Operational Feasibility to Inform PHOENIx Trial Design

Post Date: 
2015-09-01
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This clinical trial was terminated July 18, 2017. It was a study conducted under both the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) and the the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network, and funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Dr...

Diagnosis of Tuberculosis Infection and Th1 Immune Response in Pregnant Women in India

Post Date: 
2014-09-01
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This study was terminated April 16, 2018. Tuberculosis (TB) disease is a major cause of mortality among Indian women of reproductive age; approximately 20-50% of women in India are latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Due to immune...

Community Home Based India Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (COMBIND)

Post Date: 
2013-09-02
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This study ended May 14, 2019. CCGHE is assessing whether equipping Community Health Workers with mobile health technology and involving them in technology training and personal empowerment seminars can help prevent mother-to-child...

BWI CTU: Baltimore-Washington-India Clinical Trials Unit

Post Date: 
2007-02-02
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Comprising clinical trial sites at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Whitman Walker Health in Washington, DC, and the BJGMC-CCGHE collaboration in Pune, India, the Baltimore-Washington-India Clinical Trials Unit (BWI-CTU) is one of only 25 international HIV/TB clinical trial sites funded by the...

A mobile health-facilitated behavioral intervention for community health workers improves exclusive breastfeeding and early infant HIV diagnosis in India: A cluster randomized trial

Post Date: 
2020-07-03
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Publication: 
Journal of the International AIDS Society
When community health workers used a mobile health intervention with HIV+ women to deliver care, there was a higher uptake of exclusive breastfeeding at two months and early infant HIV diagnosis at six weeks

Acceptability and Feasibility of a Behavioral and Mobile Health Intervention (COMBIND) Shown to Increase Uptake of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Care in India

Post Date: 
2020-05-24
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Publication: 
BMC Public Health
A cluster-randomized trial recently demonstrated that an integrated behavioral and mobile technology intervention improved uptake of key components of a Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) Option B+ program, among HIV- infected pregnant/breastfeeding women in India.

Drug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae colonization is associated with healthcare utilization and antimicrobial use among inpatients in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2018-10-04
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Publication: 
BMC Infectious Diseases
BACKGROUND: Healthcare exposure may increase drug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae colonization risk. Nascent antimicrobial stewardship efforts in low- and middle-income countries require setting-specific data. We aimed to evaluate risk factors for inpatient drug resistant...

Challenges and opportunities for outreach workers in the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) program in India

Post Date: 
2018-09-04
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PLoS One
PLoS One: Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV program in India is one of the largest in the world, and it relies on outreach workers. Our study looked at challenges and opportunities for outreach workers.

Antibiotic utilization and the role of suspected and diagnosed mosquito borne illness among adults and children with acute febrile illness in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2018-05-02
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Publication: 
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Mosquito-borne disease identification is associated with reduced empiric antibiotic use and faster antibiotic discontinuation.

Vector-borne disease is a common cause of hospitalized febrile illness in India

Post Date: 
2018-03-26
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Publication: 
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Diagnostic strategies adapted for season and age may reduce diagnostic uncertainty and identify causative organisms in treatable, fatal causes of AFI.

Household food insecurity is associated with low interferon-gamma levels in pregnant Indian women

Post Date: 
2017-07-01
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Publication: 
International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Objective: To determine the association between household food insecurity and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels in pregnancy. Design: Pregnant women in India were administered the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire and underwent an IFN-γ release assay...

High burden of antimicrobial resistance and mortality among adults and children with community-onset bacterial infections in India

Post Date: 
2017-04-15
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Publication: 
Journal of Infectious Diseases
Of 133 isolates from 115 patients, 50% were multi-drug resistant; of 33 isolates tested for carbapenem susceptibility, 36% were resistant.

High prevalence of cryptococcal antigenaemia amongst asymptomatic advanced HIV patients in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2017-03-21
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Publication: 
Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology
Methods : A prospective study was conducted in a large public sector ART centre and the inpatient wards of Sassoon Hospital, Pune, India. All consenting patients> 18 years of age with CD4 count <100 cells/mm3 were screened for CrAg by latex agglutination assay. Those with positive CrAg...

Quantitative IFN-y,IL-2 response and latent tuberculosis test discordance in HIV-infected pregnant women

Post Date: 
2016-06-15
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Publication: 
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Rationale: Pregnant women with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) are at high risk for development of TB, especially if infected with HIV. Objectives: To assess the performance of LTBI tests in pregnant and postpartum women infected with HIV, investigate the...

Source case investigation for children with TB disease in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2014-08-27
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Publication: 
Tuberculosis Research and Treatment
Setting. Contact tracing is broadly encouraged for tuberculosis (TB) control. In many high-burden countries, however, little effort is made to identify contacts of newly diagnosed TB patients. This failure puts children, many of whom live in poor crowded communities, at special risk. ...

Pregnancy differentially impacts performance of latent tuberculosis diagnostics in a high-burden setting

Post Date: 
2014-03-21
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Publication: 
PLOS One
Background: Targeted screening for latent TB infection (LTBI) in vulnerable populations is a recommended TB control strategy. Pregnant women are at high risk for developing TB and likely to access healthcare, making pregnancy an important screening opportunity in developing countries. The...

Research Update: TB Trials Conducted by JHU-India Team Will Shorten Drug-Susceptible TB Treatment for Children and Adults

Post Date: 
2020-12-07
Research Updated
Reporting from the virtual 51st Union Conference on Lung Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced promising findings from 2 TB trials

BJGMC Team Convenes PHOENIx Pre-study Event for Maharashtra Government TB Program Officials

Post Date: 
2019-08-19
Meeting participants, Group Photo
Collaboration and coordination with local government TB program officials are critical for ensuring transparency and a shared understanding of the study’s purpose, methods, consent process, logistics, and potential implications for India’s national TB control efforts.

BJGMC Clinical Research Team Exceeds 6,000 Participant Enrollments in 4 Years

Post Date: 
2018-08-03
Group Photo, BJGMC Clinical Research Site, 2016, Pune, India
The Indo-JHU Clinical Research partnership at BJGMC in Pune, India, is now one of the top enrollers among all ACTG research sites internationally.

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day Recognized with Community Event at BJGMC

Post Date: 
2018-04-17
This year's themes: Maintaining healthy nutrition, addressing mental health challenges, and the latest in TB research.

Women's Empowerment at BJGMC World TB Day 2017

Post Date: 
2017-04-03
Posted 2017-04-03

World AIDS Day 2016 at BJGMC

Post Date: 
2016-12-06
Read more about 2016 World AIDS Day activities at the BJGMC Clinical Site in Pune, India.

Up Close: Savita Kanade

Post Date: 
2016-05-02
Clinical research on the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis and HIV isn’t possible without someone like Savita Kanade, an anthropologist and Community Outreach Coordinator for the clinical research site at Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College (BJGMC-CRS) in Pune, India. As the...

Feasibility Study Complete on Preventive Therapy for Household Contacts of MDR-TB Patients in Pune, India

Post Date: 
2016-03-31
March 31, 2016—Pune, India—The Baltimore-Washington-India Clinical Trials Unit is pleased to announce that the BJGMC Clinical Research Site (BJGMC-CRS) in Pune, India, just finished the feasibility study titled A5300/IMPAACT2003: Study of MDR-TB Cases and their Household Contacts: Operational...

Tuberculosis test may underreport in pregnant women with HIV

Post Date: 
2016-01-28
Source: 
Infectious Disease Advisor
Pregnancy may confound tuberculosis (TB) tests results in women with HIV, according to research published in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine .

BJGMC Clinical Research Site Observes World AIDS Day

Post Date: 
2015-12-14
Pune, India—To mark the struggle of those living with HIV and in commemoration of those who have lost their lives, the Clinical Research Site at Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College (BJGMC CRS) participated in the National AIDS Trust’s World AIDS Day ...