Advanced Standing Student Monika Dahiya Publishes Book

First-year advanced standing student Monika Dahiya published a book on October 26 through German publisher VDM Verlag. The book is titled, "Prevalence of Oral Manifestations of HIV Infection: A Global Picture," and is available on Amazon.

Dahiya’s book outlines the current epidemiology of HIV associated oral lesions globally and stratifies countries falling under six  World Health Organization (WHO) regional offices according to high, medium, and low prevalence of oral manifestations of HIV infection.

Dahiya gathered information for her thesis, which later became this book, while completing the European Master of Science Programme in International Health. This masters program is part of tropEd, a network of 33 European and 7 non-European institutions for higher education, and is designed to raise awareness of current global health concerns. Students begin their study track with a three-month core course then they carry out a research project within their study track and submit it as a thesis. Dahiya’s participation in this program was funded by the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, a very competitive European Union scholarship awarded annually to 30 masters degree candidates, culled from all over the world.

Dahiya completed her research project at the University of Bordeaux 2, University of Humboldt, and University of Bergen. She also completed a related internship at the WHO, where her thesis advisor was Chief of the WHO Oral Health Program Dr. Paul Erik Peterson. Dahiya received her MS in International Health in 2007.

Dahiya also has a BDS degree from Kurkukshetra University, which is where she initially developed an interest in HIV related oral lesions. She adds, "During an internship I completed in India as part of my BDS, I encountered a few HIV related oral lesions. The first time I saw and correctly diagnosed one on my own, which my instructor later confirmed, my interest in the topic was born."