ARLG Clinical Trial Site Spotlight: Corewell Health

Dr. Matthew Sims & the Corewell Health Infectious Diseases Clinical Trial Team

Matthew Sims, MD, PhD
Director of Infectious Diseases Research, Corewell Health
Professor of Medicine and Foundational Medical Studies, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Royal Oak, MI

 

 

1. What is your specialty and your primary area of focus?

My specialty is infectious diseases. Areas of focus include:

  • Antibiotic resistance
  • Sepsis
  • Clostridioides difficile (C. diff)
  • Diagnostics

2. Please tell us a bit about Corewell Health and William Beaumont University Hospital.

Corewell Health is the largest health care system in Michigan, brought about by the merger of Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health in 2022. With 1,101 beds, William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak is the largest hospital in the health system.

William Beaumont University Hospital is an academic hospital with 43 accredited residency and fellowship programs and over 450 residents and fellows. We are in partnership with the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine as its primary teaching site.

3. Please tell us about your research team—sub- or co-investigators, key study coordinators, research nurses, and others—who play a vital role in ARLG studies.

Left to right: Nikolina Sulikowski, RN; Lisa Falls, RN, Susan Highers, RN; Kim Powell, RC II; Dr. Matt Sims; Dr. Carmen Demarco; Chantal Lang, RA II; Alemu Fite, PhD; Loni Lampkins, CRC II; Rachel Call, RN; Maureen Cooney, RN

Dr. Carmen Demarco, the other main investigator within our group, serves as a sub-investigator for most of our trials and has been the principal investigator (PI) on several studies. Dr. Demarco is the PI of MASTERMIND-RING (MM-RING) at our site—her first time as PI on an ARLG study.

Dr. Christopher Carpenter and Dr. Paul Chittick, infectious disease specialists, also serve as sub-investigators.

Maureen Cooney, RN, Clinical Research Manager, oversees our clinical trial staff that includes a clinical research coordinator and five clinical research nurses. Nikolina Sulikowski, RN, was the primary study coordinator (SC) for the DOTS study at our site and is the current primary SC for Pneumonia Direct Pilot (PDP). Susan Highers, RN, was the backup SC for DOTS and is the current primary SC for OPTIMIZE-GNI. Additional team members who have assisted in ARLG studies include Loni Lampkins, CRC II, Lisa Falls, RN, Rachel Call, RN and Maureen Cooney, RN.

The bench laboratory team includes Alemu Fite, PhD, Senior Research Associate; Kim Powell, Research Coordinator; and Chantal Lang, Research Assistant. The lab team is currently working on study startup for MM-RING.

4. Which ARLG projects have you participated in as a clinical trial site?

  • ACUMIN (NCT03369951)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • DOTS (NCT04775953)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • EVADE (NCT02696902)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • MM-RING—Site PI is Dr. Carmen Demarco
  • OPTIMIZE-GNI (NCT06709521)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • PDP (NCT06181669)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • PROVIDE—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims
  • SAATELITTE (NCT02296320)—Site PI is Dr. Matthew Sims

5. Why is the mission of ARLG important to you?
Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest problems facing modern medicine. I often talk about how we are re-entering a pre-antibiotic age. ARLG is directly tackling this issue and approaching it from many directions, not just creating new antibiotics.

6. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your work with the ARLG?
The opportunity to work collaboratively with so many leaders in the field is fantastic!