As a child Powers considered becoming as physician.[1] She eventually studied mathematics at Hamilton College and graduated in 1998. After graduating she joined a healthcare consultancy, where she was first introduced to epidemiology.[1] She spent a year at The University of New Mexico where she studied tobacco use in the community.[1] In 2002 she moved to Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she worked as a graduate assistant in the biophysics group.[1] There she developed mathematical models that could describe viral transmission.[1] She was eventually accepted as a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she eared a Master's in Public Health. During her second year at UNC she saw a talk from Myron S. Cohen, and became interest in the use of antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV.[1] She remained at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her doctoral studies, where she studied the transmission dynamics of HIV in the laboratory of Cohen.[2] During her doctoral research, Cohen realised that Powers would need formal training in epidemiology.[1] She spent one year in the United Kingdom, studying at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London.[1] In particular, her research considered acute- and early-stage HIV infection in Lilongwe.[1] She spent weeks at a time visiting a STD clinic in Lilongwe, where she looked to improve patient care as well as track trends in HIV transmission.[1]
Research and career
In 2010 Powers started a postdoctoral research position at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.[1] She identified that almost 40% of HIV transmission occurred before patients or physicians knew about it, meaning that treatment often started after infection had occurred.[3] People who are unaware about their own HIV infection contribute significantly to the ongoing transmission of virus.[4] She was awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill award for research excellence in 2011.[5]
Powers recognised that population-level prevention of HIV would require regular testing, to detect the virus in its early stages, as well as the provision of antiretroviral drugs.[6] Powers was part of the HPTN 052 clinical trial, and demonstrated that there was a 96% reduction in transmission in couples who had been treated with antiretroviral therapy.[1] She looked to apply this understanding to other populations, including in the US prison community. The proportion of HIV positive Americans in the United States prison system is significant; between 5 and 7 times that of the general population.[7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Powers looked to understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in North Carolina.[8][9] She predicted that by early April cases in North Carolina would reach 4,000.[8] Her prediction was proved correct, even without people in North Carolina having access widespread testing.[8][10] Her mathematical model included estimates of the rate at which people interact, and was adapted to take into account quarantine restrictions and social distancing.[11]
