- College of Medicine Global Health Population Health Research Students
Third-year College of Medicine student Larissa Dixon is the first UCF student to earn a Fogarty International Center Fellowship. Her research will better inform the global effort to combat antibiotic resistance.
Third-year medical student Larissa Dixon’s journey to become a physician is expanding beyond the frontiers of UCF’s College of Medicine campus.
Invigorated by a three-week clinical experience at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas – Escuela de Medicina in Lima, Peru last year, Dixon pursued and recently earned a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fogarty International Center Fellowship to further her studies at Peru’s Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educación (IMPACTA). A former middle school science teacher, Dixon is the first UCF student to earn the prestigious year-long fellowship and one of nearly 100 students selected worldwide this year.
“When I was in Peru, I thought it was such a great experience and I wanted to know how I can come back and do more research,” she said. “I had no idea how I would be able to do that, but I knew the first step was speaking to doctors and researchers about their own career trajectories and how they became involved in global health. From there, I learned about and pursued the Fogarty program.”
Combating Antibiotic Resistance at Home and Abroad
Dixon’s project will examine how Peruvian clinics distribute preventative antibiotics, specifically a newer one known as doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP), and how patients use them to stave off sexually transmitted infections.
She will survey healthcare providers and patients to understand what is needed for safe and effective implementation of DoxyPEP.
Dixon hopes her findings will better inform global efforts to reduce the threat of antibiotic resistance, where bacteria gradually adapt to overcome medical treatments.
“As places start to adopt guidelines, I’m hoping my research can better inform how and when these measures should be used,” she said.
In contrast to the U.S., patients in Peru often get antibiotics without a prescription despite regulations requiring one and so studying the outcomes in both countries gives health care providers a fuller picture on how to combat drug resistance.
Antibiotic resistance can arise when antibiotics are widely used, creating a challenge for new prevention strategies. Dixon’s research focuses on balancing the promise of DoxyPEP, which has been shown to lower rates of STIs in certain populations, with the risks of increasing antimicrobial resistance. By engaging both patients and clinicians, the study aims to identify gaps in care and guidance that can inform educational efforts, strengthen antibiotic stewardship, and support safe and effective STI prevention.
“Antimicrobial resistance is such an important topic because once our antibiotics stop working, it could basically take us back to an era without antibiotics where essentially any minor infection could actually significantly harm you,” she said. “It’s really important thing for all countries to work together and monitor antibiotic use and adopt evidence-based guidelines.”
Dr. Elena Cyrus, a College of Medicine Population Health Sciences faculty member, leads the emerging global health study abroad program that led to Dixon’s fellowship. She said Dixon’s research directly addresses a global need and that it has relevance to populations here in the U.S.
“Antibiotic resistance, the emergence of new STI’s and the overuse of antibiotics are all relevant issues,” she said. “There are ongoing discussions to develop new antibiotics and new diagnostics to detect when overuse can be prevented. Larissa’s project is something that will allow this to be explored comprehensively. Her findings could then be translated to populations in the U.S., and it can help with overuse of medications here at home.”
UCF Taking a Leading Role on the Global Stage
Dixon’s feat is extraordinary not only because of the intense competition for fellowship awards, but because UCF is not yet part of an NIH-supported global health consortium of universities that supports the fellowship. To be considered for a Fogarty International Center Fellowship, scholars must be sponsored by one or more consortium faculty researchers.
So, in addition to creating a research project worthy of NIH funding, Dixon had to seek out mentors and sponsors from across the U.S. and abroad.
She persisted and reached out to the dozens of universities comprising these consortia to advocate for herself.
Dixon is receiving mentorship from Dr. Jenell Stewart through the University of Minnesota as part of the Northern Pacific Global Health Leadership, Education, and Development for Early-Career Researchers consortium in partnership with Dr. Cyrus. She also is receiving mentorship from Drs. Javier Lama and Alexander Lankowski in Peru through IMPACTA.
Dr. Cyrus lauded Dixon for her determination and for navigating the challenging path to earning the fellowship.
“I’m so very excited for Larissa, and she’s a prime example of how the College of Medicine global health program has exceeded what was imagined,” she said. “Fogarty is an incredibly prestigious fellowship that Larissa secured in a relatively short period of time, from when she learned about it in Study Abroad last June to earning the fellowship award this summer, which is phenomenal.”
“With this, we start to build a foundation that supports groundbreaking research, such as Larissa’s project, by other UCF trainees and faculty.” — Dr. Elena Cyrus
Through the increased visibility gained by Dixon’s fellowship, Dr. Cyrus hopes UCF’s global health presence will be significantly elevated enough for consideration into an NIH global health consortium. That distinction would accelerate the university’s medical research enterprise and allow UCF students to seek mentorship directly through UCF, she said.
“One of our goals is to be part of a consortium and spearhead one in the southeast region in the U.S.,” Dr. Cyrus said. “We strive to make UCF’s College of Medicine a flagship institution, and so this was really a dream of ours. With this, we start to build a foundation that supports groundbreaking research, such as Larissa’s project, by other UCF trainees and faculty.”
Translating Experience into Practice
Dr. Cyrus, who earned a Fogarty Fellowship herself in 2012, says Dixon’s experience will further propel her into becoming a leader in global health.
“Fogarty helps you as a first-time principal investigator and introduces you to an elite network of scientists from all over the world,” Dr. Cyrus said. “She’ll get a breadth of exposure that will supplement and enhance her UCF training.”
Dixon’s long-term goal is to divide her time between clinical work and research abroad while teaching and mentoring future students in the U.S. She plans to become an infectious disease physician specializing in HIV and STI research, combining clinical care with global health research focused on prevention, treatment and antimicrobial resistance.
“I think with medicine, you learn how to really impact someone’s life on an individual level,” she said. “Just having that Fogarty fellowship under my belt opens up so many global connections for me.”
About the Fogarty International Center:
According to the NIH, Fogarty International Center is dedicated to supporting global health research conducted by U.S. and international investigators, building partnerships between health research institutions in the U.S. and abroad, and training the next generation of scientists to address global health needs.
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