Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) is a tall task, and it can involve, among other things, raising public awareness about prevention, administering the best in current recommended care, and researching methods of treatment to refine them (and develop new ones).

Researchers at Tulane University are leading a groundbreaking study to seek a more effective treatment for trichomoniasis, an infection that, despite being the most common curable sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide, continues to fly under the radar.

Trichomoniasis affects more than 3 million people in the United States and is particularly prevalent in the Deep South, where the study is being conducted. Yet treatment for this curable disease lags behind standards seen elsewhere.

“More than 10 percent of people who take the recommended treatment still have it. That is just unacceptable. We need better options,” said Dr. Patty Kissinger, professor of epidemiology at Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Kissinger also spearheads "Check it," which is a community testing initiative for STIs in New Orleans youth, making an impact on STIs at the local level (one of several like-minded programs to have been initiated at WSPH).

In addition, several other faculty, such as Dr. Katherine Andrinopoulos and Dr. Janna M. Wisniewski, work in healthcare assessment and guidance, so that STI treatment is handled appropriately.

In sum, those efforts are all part of a large-scale initiative at the school to try to keep STI outbreaks from ever happening in the first place.