Making History Fighting HPV: A Q&A with Kristin Sherman

Rodney Cotton Did you know that Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is so common that nearly all sexually active, unvaccinated men and women get the virus at some point in their lives? According to the Centers for Disease Control, HPV causes about 37,000 cancers in women and men in the U.S. each year. Cervical cancer is most common among women and oropharyngeal cancers are most common among men. Amazingly, over 90% of those cancers, including almost all cervical cancer, can be prevented by HPV vaccination. HPV testing and treatment make an impact, too. I recently spoke to my friend and fellow Community Health Network board member Kristin Sherman, who is CEO of Kovina Therapeutics, a company that’s developing new therapies to treat cancers and premalignant infections caused by HPV. We talked about HPV vaccination, new HPV therapies and what it’s like to be a female leader in biotech. I’m sharing the conversation with you here. I hope you learn as much from Kristin as I did! ROD: It’s essential for people to be aware of HPV, and today people are so much more well informed, but there’s still a lot of misinformation, fear and stigma, and a resistance to HPV vaccination. Why...