In June, the Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease (PFID) featured a profile of ARLG fellow Tori Kinamon whose journey surviving a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection inspired her to pursue a career as an infectious diseases physician and researcher.
The profile is part of PFID’s Faces of AMR series, which strives to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by sharing stories of people who have battled this public health threat.
Tori’s journey began during a gymnastics team competition when she was a freshman at Brown University. Her team won the championships, but in the days that followed Tori began to feel increasing pain and swelling in her left leg along with flu-like symptoms. A visit to the emergency room revealed an abscess in her hamstring that eventually required eight surgeries, more than a month in the hospital, and antibiotic treatment for a MRSA infection that almost necessitated the amputation of her leg.
After trying several antibiotic treatment options, doctors found one that was effective, but later discovered that Tori’s kidneys did not tolerate it well. Luckily, Tori’s hospital had another antibiotic option available, daptomycin, which treated her infection without affecting her kidneys.
“I reflect quite frequently on how having that one extra drug in the stockpile had a significant impact on my outcome,” Tori said.
Tori’ s experience with AMR fueled a passion to advance infectious diseases treatment and research. Today, she is an MD Candidate at the Duke University School of Medicine and a recipient of the FDA Antibacterial Drug Resistance (DOOR) Fellowship. Tori has contributed her insight previously to educational presentations and articles including a July 2021 WebMD feature along with Vance Fowler, MD regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on AMR.