Associate Professor at the University of Michigan
About
A. Oveta Fuller is an associate professor in microbiology and immunology, director of the African Studies Center (ASC), faculty in the ASC STEM Initiative at the University of Michigan (U-M) and an adjunct professor at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS). As a career virologist, Dr. Fuller's laboratory team and interdisciplinary collaborators have published studies of early events in the replication of herpes simplex and influenza viruses. She is the Ford Foundation Fellows liaison for the state of Michigan and teaches U-M medical, graduate, dental, and undergraduate students about human virus pathogens.
Dr. Fuller earned a BA and a PhD from the University of North Carolina and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. The postdoc included a 1986 Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship. A 2015-16 sabbatical was spent as a visiting scholar in the Department of Sociology at Duke University to study use of religious leader networks in disease prevention. She has received numerous academic and community awards and is an inaugural alumnus of the Ansbacher Women in Academic Leadership Program at the U-M Medical School. Dr. Fuller began a one year appointment in July 2016 as director of the ASC. She lived in the southern African country of Zambia in 2013 as a J. William Fulbright Fellow to conduct research on validity of the Trusted Messenger Intervention (TMI) for HIV/AIDS prevention. She informally mentors and connects a range of students and faculty in academia. She is married to Dr. Jerry Caldwell and they are parents of three young adult children.
Current Work:
Current implementation research with the Trusted Messenger Intervention (TMI) engages networks of religious leaders in communities of Zambia and the USA so these leaders can effectively address HIV/AIDS and its impacts. More recently we are exploring use of the Trusted Messenger approach in other countries with preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia. The research includes a biannual course at Payne Theological Seminary for Masters of Divinity students "What Effective Clergy Should Know about HIV/AIDS." Dr. Fuller leads an experiential learning course, "Global Impact of Microbes: Fieldwork" that takes students for a 3-5 week residency at field sites to use competencies required cultural proficiency and effective partnerships for global health research.
Research Area Keyword(s):
implementation science, HIV/AIDS elimination, virology, global health, cultural proficiencies
