Dr. Erica Lokken received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at UW in 2019 and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Global Health. Dr. Lokken’s research interests sit at the intersection of sexually transmitted infection and reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. As part of her doctoral work, Dr. Lokken led the implementation of the Microbiota & Preterm Birth Study (MPTB Study, PI: Dr. Scott McClelland), which aims to assess preconception vaginal microbiota and risk of spontaneous preterm birth in HIV-negative Kenyan women. Dr. Lokken’s dissertation leveraged this cohort to study the association between vaginal microbiota disruption and fecundity. Dr. Lokken’s post-doctoral research, which is supported by an NIH F32 fellowship and includes mentorship from  Drs. Grace John-Stewart, Scott McClelland, John Kinuthia and others, will explore statistical approaches for modeling vaginal microbiota data as it relates to HIV acquisition and to characterize how pregnancy and the postpartum period impacts concentrations of the vaginal bacteria most strongly associated with HIV risk.

Prior to her doctoral work, Dr. Lokken was a research assistant with the UW START Center completing global health projects in support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, interned with USAID through the Global Health Fellows Program II, and worked for Peer Health Exchange, a domestic health education program.