CAPT Michael Thigpen, M.D., is the Chief of Clinical Trials at MHRP. Dr. Thigpen received his Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2001 from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, his Doctorate of Medicine in 1997 from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and his Bachelors of Science in 1991 from the University of Tennessee.
After completing subspecialty training in Internal Medicine (University of Colorado) and Infectious Diseases (Emory University), Dr. Thigpen joined CDC in 2003 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. Upon completion of EIS, he joined CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) where he worked on several international clinical trials in Malawi, Uganda, and Kenya evaluating the use of antiretrovirals for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission during breastfeeding. In February 2008 he relocated from Atlanta to Botswana to serve as the Principal Investigator for the TDF2-Botswana HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Study. In September 2010 he moved to Cambodia to initiate a new program in conjunction with the Cambodian Ministry of Health evaluating the effectiveness of mass Japanese Encephalitis vaccination on rates of all-cause meningoencephalitis and Japanese Encephalitis. After completion of this project, he worked with the Division of AIDS at the U.S. National Institutes for Health on clinical trials for the cure and treatment of HIV from 2014-2016. From 2016-2018 he served as CDC’s HIV/STD Research Program Director in Bangkok, Thailand overseeing HIV prevention research including HPTN 083 and MTN 026. Most recently he completed 4 ½ years as CDC’s PEPFAR HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment Advisor and CDC PMI Resident Advisor based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He is also a Captain in the US Public Health Service.
Publications
Estimating the impact of HIV combination prevention in men who have sex with men, the Bangkok MSM Cohort Study, Thailand. Pattanasin S, Cadwell BL, Smith DK, Sukwicha W, Mock PA, Wimonsate W, Ungsedhapand C, Sirivongrangson P, Dunne EF, Thigpen MC. Int J STD AIDS. 2020 Jun;31(7):637-641.
Godfrey C, Thigpen MC, Crawford KW, Jean-Phillippe P, Pillay D, Persaud D, Kuritzkes DR, Wainberg M, Raizes E, Fitzgibbon J. Global HIV Antiretroviral Drug Resistance: A Perspective and Report of a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Consultation J Infect Dis 2017;216:S798–S800.
Thigpen MC, Rose CE, Paxton LA. Antiretroviral preexposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention. N Engl J Med 2013;368:82-3.
Smith DK, Thigpen MC, Nesheim SR, Lampe MA, Paxton LA, Samandari T, Lansky A, Mermin J, Fenton K. Interim Guidance for Clinicians Considering the Use of Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Heterosexually Active Adults. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012;61:586-589.
Thigpen MC, Kebaabetswe PM, Paxton LA, Smith DK, Rose CE, Segolodi TM, Henderson FL, Pathak SR, Soud FA, Chillag KL, Mutanhaurwa R, Chirwa LI, Kasonde M, Abebe D, Buliva E, Gvetadze RJ, Johnson S, Sukalac T, Thomas VT, Hart C, Johnson JA, Malotte CK, Hendrix CW, Brooks JT for the TDF2 Study Group. Antiretroviral preexposure prophylaxis for heterosexual HIV transmission in Botswana. N Engl J Med 2012; 367:423-434.
Thigpen MC, Whitney CG, Messonnier NE, Zell ER, Lynfield R, Hadler JL, Harrison LH, Farley MM, Reingold A, Bennett NM, Craig AS, Schaffner W, Thomas A, Lewis MM, Scallan E, Schuchat A. Bacterial meningitis in the United States, 1998-2007. N Engl J Med 2011;364:2016-25.
Thomas TK, Masaba R, Borkowf CBB, Ndivo R, Zeh C, Misore A, Otieno J, Jamieson D, Thigpen MC, Bulterys M, Slutsker L, De Cock KM, Amornkul PN, Greenberg AE, Fowler MG. Triple-Antiretroviral Prophylaxis to Prevent Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission through Breastfeeding—The Kisumu Breastfeeding Study, Kenya: A Clinical Trial. PLoS Med 2011;8: e1001015.
Cutland CL, Madhi SA, Zell ER, Kuwanda L, Laque M, Groome M, Gorwitz R, Thigpen MC, Patel R, Velaphi SC, Adrian P, Klugman K, Schuchat A, Schrag SJ; the PoPS Trial Team. Chlorhexidine maternal-vaginal and neonate body wipes in sepsis and vertical transmission of pathogenic bacteria in South Africa: a randomised, controlled trial. Lancet 2009;374:1909-16.
Kumwenda NI, Hoover DR, Mofenson LM, Thigpen MC, Kafulafula G, Li Q, Mipando L, Nkanaunena K, Mebrahtu T, Bulterys M, Fowler MG, Taha TE. Extended Antiretroviral Prophylaxis to Reduce Breast-Milk HIV-1 Transmission. N Engl J Med 2008;359:119-29.
Filler SJ, Kazembe P, Thigpen M, Macheso A, Parise ME, Newman RD, Steketee RW, Hamel M. Randomized Trial of 2-Dose versus Monthly Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine Intermittent Preventive Treatment for Malaria in HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Pregnant Women in Malawi. J Infect Dis 2006;194:286-93.