July 2023

In the July 2023 newsletter, you will find news about Melinda Pettigrew who was named Dean of the UMN School of Public Health, a feature in Duke’s Magnify Magazine on Tori Kinamon, and new IDSA guidance on the treatment of antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative infections. You can read our mentee spotlight on Helen Zhang, find information on how to access past Grand Rounds events, and review the POP Study lay summary.

 

 

Melinda Pettigrew Named Dean of the UMN School of Public Health

The University of Minnesota (UMN) has appointed Melinda Pettigrew as its new Dean of the School of Public Health. As a part of this new role, she will serve as the chief executive and chief academic officer.

Dr. Pettigrew is the Chair of the ARLG Diversity Working Group and a member of the Laboratory Center Consortium Team. Previously, she served as the interim Dean of the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) where she is currently the Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and the deputy dean of YSPH. Her research explores the effect of microbiome disruptions on antibacterial resistance and the risk for hospital-acquired infections.

The new appointment is the result of a highly competitive national candidate search and will begin in December 2023. Dr. Pettigrew’s leadership will help to advance the UMN School of Public Health’s goals to advance population health and health equity.

Read more

 

Tori Kinamon Featured in Duke School of Medicine’s Magnify Magazine

Tori Kinamon

A June Magnify Magazine article titled “A Fighting Chance Against Infection” featured a profile on Tori Kinamon, ARLG Innovations Working Group member and MD Candidate at the Duke University School of Medicine.

In the article, Kinamon, a former gymnast who acquired a severe Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection during her freshman year of college at Brown University, detailed how that traumatic experience changed her perspective and inspired her to pursue a career in medicine.

As a medical student at Duke, Kinamon reached out to ARLG co-principal investigator, renowned researcher in S. aureus, and Florence McAlister Distinguished Professor of Medicine Dr. Vance Fowler, expressing her interest in infectious diseases research.

Kinamon has since authored multiple publications for scientific journals, participated in an ARLG panel discussion and an infectious disease conference in Dublin, Ireland, and was recently selected for an FDA Antibacterial Drug Resistance (DOOR) Fellowship – a competitive opportunity offered through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). The fellowship evaluates ordinal endpoints using ARLG’s Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) approach for anti-infective clinical trials. DOOR is an innovative approach used in clinical trials to evaluate the global benefits and risks of an intervention.

Kinamon’s personal experience with a drug-resistant infection motivates her commitment to a patient-centered approach to care and the development of innovative treatments and preventive measures, including an infection prevention protocol for athletes, aiming to reduce the risk of infections like MRSA in athletic settings.

Kinamon emphasizes the importance of antibacterial research and development in the face of increasing rates of antibacterial resistance. She credits her fortunate access to an effective treatment for the positive outcome of her infection and expresses a passionate desire to provide the same opportunities for patients in the future.

“I don’t want to look a patient in the eye, or their family in the eye, and tell them they have an infection that we can’t treat. I want patients to have the outcome I was lucky enough to have,” Kinamon said.

Read Kinamon’s full profile for Magnify Magazine here.

 

May 2023

Read the May 2023 newsletter and learn about a recent JAMA article on renewed interest in phage therapy featuring ARLG members and research. The ARLG spotlight this month is on Ahmed Babiker, recipient of the Early Faculty Seedling Award, who is studying how microbiome-based approaches lead to multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) decolonization. Get updates on events, publications, study milestones, and more.

 

Straining for the best outcomes: Top controversies in C. difficile management

ARLG Grand Rounds: Straining For the Best Outcomes: Top Controversies in C. difficile Management
March 3, 2023

Michael Woodworth, MD, MSc.
Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory University

Sarah Doernberg, MD, MAS
Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases
Medical Director, Adult Antimicrobial Stewardship
UCSF Medical Center

 

View the Event Slides

 

Dissecting The Epidemics of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms: A Focus on Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

ARLG Grand Rounds: Dissecting The Epidemics of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms: A Focus on Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae
February 4, 2022

Cesar A. Arias, MD, MSc, PhD
Professor of Medicine,
Co-director, Center for Infectious Diseases Research
Houston Methodist Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical College

View the Event Slides

 

Robin Patel, Robert Schooley, and ARLG Cited in JAMA Article on Renewed Interest in Phage Research

An article published in the March 2023 issue of JAMA, “As Superbugs Flourish, Bacteriophage Therapy Recaptures Researchers’ Interest,” features research and input from a variety of infectious diseases experts including commentary from ARLG’s Laboratory Center Director, Robin Patel, MD and ARLG investigator, Robert Schooley, MD. The article, which discusses the development of phage therapy from the 1915 discovery of bacteriophages to now, also references ARLG’s PHAGE Study and the ARLG Phage Taskforce report, “Considerations for the Use of Phage Therapy in Clinical Practice.”

The JAMA article details how the effectiveness of phages—bacteria-infecting viruses—has been questioned since penicillin was found to be a safe, effective treatment for bacterial infections. Since antimicrobial resistance continues to grow, phage therapy is gaining attention as a potential solution to drug-resistant bacterial infections. Between 2016 and 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quadrupled funding for phage research to $160 million.

When the NIH commissioned the ARLG Phage Taskforce to conduct its evidence review of literature on phage therapy, the final report found “severe gaps” in evidence to support its use in clinical settings. Similar to antibiotics, bacteriophages selectively infect and kill bacterial cells, but ARLG’s report shows the need for more studies to determine the safety and efficacy of phage therapy before physicians can routinely use it in clinical care.

JAMA interviewed Dr. Robin Patel, Director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, ARLG’s Laboratory Center Director, and senior author of ARLG’s report for her input. She stated, “There are still so many questions. As a scientist, that excites me—but as a clinician…we don’t have an answer to whether phage therapy works.”

The article covers the NIH’s effort to address questions about the viability of phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics by funding multiple clinical trials to evaluate safety and effectiveness. It highlights the efforts of many researchers including Dr. Robert Schooley, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), co-founder of the UCSD Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH), and ARLG investigator. JAMA touches on Dr. Schooley’s work as the co-principal investigator for ARLG’s PHAGE Trial, which is currently enrolling participants to take part in research on intravenous phage therapy for adults with cystic fibrosis.

Read the full article in JAMA

 

ARLG at ECCMID 2023

Mark your calendars for the 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), happening online and in Copenhagen, Denmark from April 15 – 18.

All sessions will be available on-demand through the ECCMID 2023 online platform until October 18, 2023. To help you plan, we’ve highlighted some sessions below you won’t want to miss.

 

Date Time (CEST) Session # and Title Presentation Title Speaker Chair
4/15/2023 13:30-14:30 SY041: Hot topics in prosthetic joint infections PJI: Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and novel treatment approaches Robin Patel
4/16/2023 16:15-18:15 SY064: Optimising the diagnosis and treatment of difficult-to-treat cardiovascular infection Diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis 2023 Vance Fowler
4/16/2023 11:00-12:00 ME099: Meet-the-Expert: Why is it still so complex? How I treat persistent neutropenic fever David van Duin
4/16/2023 13:30-14:30 SEL1: Selective Pressure: Quiz Show-Pre-round David van Duin
4/16/2023 14:45-15:45 SEL2: Selective Pressure: Quiz Show- Semi-final and final David van Duin
4/16/2023 14:45-15:45 OS127: Challenges and advances in skin, soft tissue, bone and joint infections Robin Patel
4/17/2023 8:30-10:30 SY151: Responsible publishing in CM/ID Bad behavior and practice David van Duin