# Impacting the oral HPV continuum: prevention, screening, and early detection

> **NIH NIH R35** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,057,699

## Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes the majority of oropharyngeal cancers in the United
States, but we do not yet have any effective screening methods to detect these cancers. This
knowledge gap is in part due to difficulties identifying oropharyngeal precursor lesions.
However, several promising salivary and blood biomarkers have recently emerged that may be
good markers of persistent oral HPV16 infection, the presumed pre-cursor to HPV-related
oropharyngeal cancer. Given the increasing incidence of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, I
propose to study the oral HPV continuum to answer the following 4 questions: 1) who is at high-
risk for HPV-OPC and would benefit from screening, 2) What are the biologic and behavioral
factors promoting oral HPV persistence and how can we reduce their effects, 3) how to optimally
screen for persistent oral HPV16 infection and HPV-OPC, and 4) How to follow and treat people
who screen positive for these biomarkers to prevent the development of HPV-related
oropharyngeal cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9976996
- **Project number:** 5R35DE026631-05
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gypsyamber D'Souza
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,057,699
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-23 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9976996

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9976996, Impacting the oral HPV continuum: prevention, screening, and early detection (5R35DE026631-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9976996. Licensed CC0.

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