Guests:

• Kelly R Reveles, PharmD, PhD, Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy
• Glenn S Tillotson, PhD, Partner, GST Micro
• Cory Evans, OTR/L, CEO, Clinware Solutions, Inc.

Article link: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00677-7/fulltext

Kelly Reveles

Kelly Reveles is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy and an Adjoint Associate Professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Medicine. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy and Translational Science PhD degrees from UT Austin. Her current research focus is the prevention and treatment of Clostridioides difficile infections and innovative methods to improve the translation of clinical research findings into practice. Her research approach emphasizes multidisciplinary, collaborative research across the translational spectrum, including basic science, preclinical animal studies, human clinical studies, and pharmacoepidemiology studies. She is specifically interested in identifying and implementing clinical strategies for the prevention and treatment of C. difficile infection using national data, the impact of drugs and diseases on the gut microbiome, and the development of microbiome-targeted therapies to mitigate these effects. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and has been awarded over $5 million in federal grants to support her research.

Glenn Tillotson

Glenn Tillotson is a Partner at GST Micro, a microbiologist consultant to the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries. He provides support for both medical affairs and commercialization programs for companies, most notably in the infectious disease area. He has had a number of senior roles in the pharmaceutical industry, with over 40 years experience in clinical research, commercialization, and scientific communications, including publications planning, strategic drug development, life cycle management, and global launch programs. Glenn has published over 230 articles; 5 textbook chapters; been a member of several editorial advisory boards, including Lancet Infectious Diseases; has been a member of scientific steering committees for a range of international congresses; and has been involved in several Clostridioides difficile programs. He is a fellow of IDSA and American College of Chest Physicians and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy journal.

Cory Evans

Cory Evans is a visionary leader revolutionizing post-acute healthcare through AI-driven innovation, financial optimization, and regulatory excellence. With over 16 years of experience, he has spearheaded advancements in reimbursement strategies, operational efficiency, and compliance-driven care models. As CEO of Clinware Solutions, Inc., Cory leads an AI-powered platform that automates medical documentation analysis, streamlining reimbursement processes, reducing administrative burdens, and enhancing care coordination for healthcare facilities. Under his leadership, Clinware Solutions is expanding its partnerships with hospital systems, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and healthcare networks, driving the adoption of AI-driven reimbursement optimization and seamless electronic health record (EHR) integration, which supports SNFs and hospital systems. His expertise in healthcare operations, strategic leadership, and technology-driven solutions positions Clinware Solutions as a premier AI-powered healthcare platform, delivering measurable improvements in reimbursement efficiency and patient care outcomes. Throughout his career, Cory has strengthened Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement strategies, increasing financial efficiency across post-acute care providers. He has led seamless EHR transitions to modern platforms, ensuring workflow efficiency and compliance while reducing administrative costs. His leadership in care coordination has led to a 50% reduction in hospital readmissions through the implementation of evidence-based protocols and strategic collaboration. Prior to Clinware Solutions, Cory held leadership roles in compliance, business development, and operational strategy, overseeing clinical operations, therapy services, and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure seamless care delivery and optimized reimbursement models. His leadership ensures adherence to HIPAA, SOC 1, SOC 2, and Medicare regulations, reinforcing trust in healthcare data management while driving scalable financial growth. Cory holds a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Keuka College and maintains certifications as an Occupational Therapist (OTR/L) and Resident Assessment Coordinator – Certified (RAC-CT). He is an active member of NCBOT, NBCOT, and AAPACN, contributing to advancements in post-acute care standards, regulatory compliance, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Cory is committed to advancing AI-driven healthcare solutions that enhance provider performance and strengthen financial outcomes for healthcare organizations.

Guests: 

1. Lacey Kovar, MPH, CIC, Senior Infection Preventionist, Covenant Children’s Hospital 
2. Chris Gould, MBA, Senior Director of Environment of Care, Facilities Engineering for the Texas-New Mexico Region, Covenant Health 
3. Christie Vandygriff, MSIPE, BSN, RN, Senior Manager of Infection Prevention, Covenant Hea

Article:

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00684-4/abstract

Lacey Kovar

Lacey Kovar, MPH, CIC, serves as a Senior Infection Preventionist at Covenant Children’s Hospital, where she is dedicated to advancing patient safety and reducing healthcare-associated infections. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Texas Tech University and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Board Certified in Infection Prevention and Control, Lacey brings nine years of experience in inpatient care and hospital-based ambulatory clinics. Her career began in public health as an acute disease epidemiologist, investigating communicable diseases and outbreaks, a foundation that continues to shape her evidence-based approach to infection prevention.

Chris Gould

Chris is a seasoned leader in healthcare facilities, with over 14 years of experience at Covenant Health. He is dedicated to cultivating environments that promote safe, efficient, and compassionate care. In his current role as Senior Director of Environment of Care, Facilities Engineering for the Texas–New Mexico Region, he is responsible for the strategic oversight and operational excellence across multiple facilities and facilities teams, ensuring congruence with Covenant Health’s mission and organizational goals.

Chris’s career began as the owner of a custom metal fabrication and home-building enterprise. The bedrock of Chris’s leadership was established during his service in the US Army Corps of Engineers. 

Christie Vandygriff

Christie Vandygriff, MSIPE, BSN, RN, is the Senior Manager of Infection Prevention at Covenant Health, serving West Texas and surrounding communities. She is a registered nurse with more than 20 years of hospital experience and 17 years specializing in infection prevention in healthcare settings.  Christie holds a BSN from Lubbock Christian University, a Master of Science in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology from the University of Providence, and is Board Certified in Infection Control.

Guest:

1. Kayla Ruch, PhD, MPH, CPH, HACP, CIC,  Senior Instructional Developer for Infection Prevention and Control, Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI)

Article Link:

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00696-0/abstract 

Kayla Ruch

Kayla Elizabeth Ruch, PhD, MPH, CIC, CPH, HACP is an infection prevention and control (IPC) leader and public health educator with experience spanning acute care hospitals, public health programming, and applied healthcare epidemiology. She currently serves as Senior Instructional Developer for Infection Prevention and Control with the Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI) at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, where she designs and delivers a multi-year statewide IPC training series and evaluates program outcomes for dissemination and publication. Dr. Ruch has presented her work at national and state conferences including IDWeek, SHEA, and Texas DSHS, and her research includes IPC workforce development and training standardization, including orientation practices and CIC® preparedness.
 
 

Guests: 

1. Sarah Prascius, MPH, CIC, Infection Prevention Specialist, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital  – Michigan
2. Alex Wells, MPH, CIC, CPHQ, Manager of Safety and Reliability, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital – Michigan
3. Tricia Stein, MD, FIDSA, FACP, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship and Chief of the Infectious Disease Section, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital – Michigan

Article Link: 

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00504-8/abstract

Sarah Prascius

Sarah Prascius, MPH, CIC is an Infection Prevention Specialist at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Sarah received her Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University in 2017. From 2017 to 2021, she worked clinically in many specialties including emergency, pediatrics, internal medicine, pain management, and endocrinology. After shifting her focus to epidemiology and public health, Sarah received her Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan in 2022. She began her career at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in 2021 as a Quality Specialist, later transitioning into her current role as an Infection Prevention Specialist at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in 2022. She became board-certified in Infection Control in 2024.

Alex Wells

Alex Wells, MPH, CIC, and CPHQ, is a Manager of Safety and Reliability at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Michigan. Her background is in public health and hospital epidemiology, with a Master of Public Health in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. She started her career in Infection Prevention in 2019 and played a key role in implementing the COVID-19 response at her hospital. Alex’s focus areas include preventing device-associated infections, high-level disinfection and sterilization, and performance improvement. She has been certified in infection prevention and control since 2021 and also holds certifications as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and Central Sterile Vendor Partner (CCSVP). Additionally, Alex serves on her local APIC chapter board.

Tricia Stein

Dr. Tricia Stein, MD, FIDSA, FACP, serves as the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship, as well as the Chief of the Infectious Disease Section at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. She is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease. Dr. Stein actively participates on local and national committees committed to advancing infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship, demonstrating her dedication to excellence and innovation in patient care.

Guests: 

1. Rana Feghaly, MD, MSCI, CPHQ, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Physician, Infectious Diseases Clinical Director, Pediatric Department Director of Quality and Safety, Children’s Mercy Kansas City
2. Matthew P. Kronman, MD, MSCE, Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Associate Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington 

Article: 

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00554-1/abstract

Rana El Feghaly

Dr Rana El Feghaly, MD, MSCI, CPHQ, is a pediatric infectious diseases physician, the infectious diseases clinical director, director of quality and safety in the department of pediatrics, and the director of the outpatient antibiotic stewardship program at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.  

Dr El Feghaly received her medical degree from the Lebanese University. Following pediatrics residency at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, she completed her pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, MO. After working for 4 years at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and completing her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation, she joined Children’s Mercy Kansas City in 2017 where she’s been leading Children’s Mercy’s outpatient antibiotic stewardship efforts. Board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases, she is an elected fellow of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society of Pediatric Research. Dr. El Feghaly serves on the American Board of Pediatrics Pediatric Infectious Diseases Sub-board, the National Board of Medical Examiners chairing their Microbiology and Immunology committee and serves on multiple national committees in the American Board of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

She has led multiple international collaboratives focused on improving antimicrobial stewardship in ambulatory settings. With her expertise in quality improvement, Dr El Feghaly’s research focuses on judicious use of antibiotics and diagnostic tests in the outpatient setting, and health equity related to antimicrobial use.

Matthew P. Kronman

Matthew P. Kronman, MD, MSCE: Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Dr. Kronman’s primary research area of interest is antimicrobial stewardship, using the tools of pharmacoepidemiology to understand current patterns of antimicrobial use, identify the unintended consequences of antimicrobial overuse, and ultimately improve the overall quality of antimicrobial prescribing across various conditions.

His clinical time is split between inpatient Infectious Diseases consultations and the outpatient Infectious Diseases clinic. In addition, he is the Co-Director of Fellows College at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the Associate Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington,

Guests: 

1. Kelly Ann Barrett, MPH, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, New York State Department of Health 
2. Geetika Sood, M.D., ScM, Medical Director, New York State Division of Epidemiology

Article:

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00408-0/fulltext

Kelly A. Barrett

Kelly A. Barrett, MPH is an infectious disease epidemiologist with extensive federal and state public health experience. She is a regional epidemiologist at New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) where she provides technical guidance about communicable disease investigations for nine local health departments in the metropolitan area (outside New York City). During the pandemic she conducted epidemiology and infection control assessments at New York State COVID-19 testing sites and led a team of epidemiologists deployed to conduct case investigations and contact tracing.  

Prior to her work at NYSDOH, Mrs. Barrett was employed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 10 years, where she conducted surveillance for foodborne diseases and antimicrobial-resistant organisms.  Mrs. Barrett has been actively engaged with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist and the New York State Public Health Association. She has presented her work at numerous national conferences and has published 12 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Geetika Sood

Geetika Sood, M.D., ScM, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, Medical Director in the Division of Epidemiology at New York State, and Associate Hospital Epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She completed her medical training, residency in Internal Medicine, and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Sood served as an Associate Program Director and Student Clerkship Director in Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia before moving to Abington Memorial Hospital, where she was the Hospital Epidemiologist. She was recruited to Johns Hopkins University in 2011 and has served as the Hospital Epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, leading several successful process improvement initiatives, especially in the burn intensive care unit, for which she received the Armstrong Clinical Excellence Award in Patient Safety in 2015. In 2023, she was recruited to New York State, where she leads long COVID projects and collaborates with the Bureau of Healthcare-Associated Infections. She is a member of the Maryland Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Board and the Health Service Cost and Utilization Performance Measurement Workgroup. 

Additionally, she previously served as co-chair of the Patient Safety Committee at the National Quality Forum and chaired the Quality Metrics Task Force at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiologists of America. She has taught at the SHEA fellows’ course from 2015 to 2025 and was vice-chair and chair for the SHEA/CDC training course from 2019 to 2021. Her research interests include using big data and machine learning algorithms to predict risks for developing healthcare-associated infections.

Guests:

1. Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Director of Research for the Center of Research, Practice, and Innovation, APIC
2. Albert Shackelford, MPH, Recent Public Health Graduate  and Active-Duty Sailor

Articles:

1. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00430-4/fulltext
2. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00429-8/fulltext

Dr. Sara Reese

Dr. Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC. Sara is the Director of Research for APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Before that, she led infection prevention at Intermountain Health, managed COVID-19 response at Swedish Medical Center, worked with Denver Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health, and mentored countless MPH students. She’s published widely, presented nationally, and has been a leading voice on recruitment and retention challenges in our field. And when she’s not fighting infections, she’s trying to keep up with her 14 and 10 year old boys on snowboards and mountain bikes!  

Albert Shackleford, MPH

Albert is an active-duty sailor and recent MPH graduate from the University of Colorado who is preparing to transition into full-time public health work. His public health passions include community health, systems management research, and mental health and well-being. 

Guests: Dr. Matthew Fifolt and Dr. Lisa McCormick

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00010-0/fulltext

Dr. Matthew Fifolt

Dr. Matthew Fifolt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Organization within the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He also directs the Survey Research Unit (SRU), a formally designated service center at UAB.

Previously, Dr. Fifolt served as the Lead Evaluator for the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control (ARC IPC). He currently acts as Principal Investigator for several statewide surveillance projects, including the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, National Core Indicators for Aging and Disability, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Systems, and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems for both Alabama Medicaid Agency and ALL Kids, Alabama’s Child Health Insurance Program.

Dr. Fifolt’s research and scholarship closely complement his leadership roles with the SRU and the Applied Evaluation and Assessment Collaborative, focusing on program improvement, quality improvement, and program evaluation. Dr. Fifolt is an Associate Scientist with the UAB Civitan International Research Center and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Lisa C. McCormick, DrPH, MPH

Dr. Lisa C. McCormick, DrPH, MPH is the Senior Associate Dean for Academics and Practice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health, where she also serves as Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Organization. Dr. McCormick brings over two decades of experience in public health practice, education, and research to her leadership role.

Dr. McCormick served as Principal Investigator for the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control (ARC IPC). She also led the UAB Nursing Home & Long-term Care Facility Strike Team and Infrastructure Project.  Currently, Dr. McCormick serves as Site PI and Lead Evaluator for the Region IV Public Health Training Center. Additionally, she directs the Research Experience and Training Coordination Core for the UAB Superfund Research Center and is a Senior Scientist with the UAB Social Science and Justice Research Consortium.

Dr. McCormick’s research and scholarship focuses on public health workforce development, program evaluation and needs assessment, community engagement and outreach, and public health preparedness and response. She has secured over $75 million in extramural funding and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.

Guest: Dr. Charles Gerba

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00320-7/fulltext

Dr. Charles P. Gerba

Charles Gerba is a professor in the Departments Environmental Science, Biosystems Engineering (College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Environment), and Community and Environmental Health (College of Public Health) at the University of Arizona. He received a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Miami (Florida) and was a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine before accepting a position at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Gerba is the author of more than 700 articles including several books on environmental microbiology and risk assessment. He conducts research on the contamination and control of pathogens by food, water, and indoor environments. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Academy of Microbiology. In 2020 he received the Water Heroes Award from the Water Environment Federation for his work on SARS-CoV-2.

Guest: 
Frankie Catalfumo, MPH, CIC, CRST, Director of Practice Guidance and Health Equity, APIC

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00285-8/abstract

Frankie Catalfumo

Frankie Catalfumo, MPH, CIC, CRCST, is the Director of Practice Guidance and Health Equity at APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation (CRPI). Frankie is an infection preventionist with over 10 years of experience leading collaborative initiatives in acute healthcare and the federal government. In his current role, he oversees the development of practice guidance tools that are meaningful to the association’s membership. He also leads investigative work regarding the relationship between health equity and infection prevention.

Before joining APIC, Frankie led infection prevention initiatives at Inova Health System, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Department of Defense, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From the global HIV epidemic to the threat of multidrug-resistant bacteria, all infectious agents prompt the need for effective prevention and control measures. Frankie is board-certified in infection control (CIC) and in sterile processing (CRCST).

Guests:

1. Rebecca (Becca) Crapanzano-Sigafoos, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, APIC, Executive Director of the Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation
2. Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, APIC, Director of Research 

Article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36535317/

Rebecca (Becca) Bartles

Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, is the Executive Director of APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Bartles came from Providence Health in Washington, where she served as Executive Director of Infectious Disease Management and Prevention for eight years.

Additionally, Becca has practiced Infection Prevention and Infectious Disease Epidemiology for the last 19 years in various healthcare settings and has numerous publications focused on infection prevention staffing and endoscope safety. Dr. Bartles founded the Master in Infection Prevention degree program at the University of Providence in 2016. She has been CIC-certified since 2008 and is an APIC fellow. As a leader in infection prevention, Dr. Bartles has helped develop APIC’s Infection Preventionist Academic Pathway program to establish IPC degrees at the undergraduate and master’s levels and led the creation of an IP staffing calculator for healthcare facilities. Most notably, Becca is the mother of four amazing daughters, ages 10-25. 

Sara Reese

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, has newly been appointed as the Director of Research for APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Reese served as Regional Director of Infection Prevention at Intermountain Health and as Infection Prevention Manager at Swedish Medical Center, where she led COVID-19 response efforts and reduced healthcare-associated infections. She has also held infection prevention roles at Denver Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and mentored numerous MPH students. Dr. Reese has published widely and presented nationally on infection prevention, most recently addressing recruitment and retention challenges in the field.

Tune in as Jess and Breanna reveal eye-opening insights from their national survey, including why infection preventionists consistently work over 40 hours a week, how staffing levels vary by region and facility size, and the hidden toll of cross-departmental demands. They also explore the future of infection prevention staffing and how AI-driven tools might finally offer the scalable solutions IPs have been waiting for.

Whether you’re an IP, a healthcare leader, or just passionate about health system resilience, this episode offers critical lessons, personal reflection, and a rare behind-the-scenes look at the evolving demands on infection preventionists across the U.S. Don’t miss it!

Guests:

1. Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, CIC, Dartmouth Health System Director of Infection Prevention
2. Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC, Founder and CEO of Innovative Partners Institute

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00104-X/fulltext

Jessica Swain

Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, CIC, IHI Fellow has a Master’s degree in Business Administration, her certification from the American Society for Clinical Pathology as a Medical Laboratory Technician, and Certification in Infection Control from the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology. She is also a Fellow of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. She began her career in the Dartmouth Hitchcock laboratories in 2007 where she developed expertise in anatomic pathology, microbiology, and transfusion medicine research before joining the Infection Prevention program in 2015.

Jessica was promoted to Senior Infection Preventionist in July 2020 as a resource to the D-HH System, and was promoted to Dartmouth Health System Director of Infection Prevention and Control in May 2022. Jessica is active in both national and local infection prevention groups. She has held both the Awards and Nominating Director and Program Director positions on the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) New England Chapter Board of Directors, and is the President for 2025. She is also a member of the editorial panel for APIC National’s “Prevention Strategist” publication, hosts the Dartmouth Health podcast “The Cure”, and is a current co-host for APIC’s American Journal of Infection Control podcast “Science into Practice”.

Brenna Doran

Brenna Doran PhD, MA, ACC, CIC is an accomplished infectious disease epidemiologist with a uniquely diverse background spanning over two decades as a biological sciences professor. Her extensive experience includes 12 years in infection prevention, 8 years as a clinical microbiologist, and a valuable specialization as a certified career and wellness coach, allowing her to bring a holistic perspective to the challenges within healthcare. As the founder and CEO of Innovative Partners Institute, Dr. Doran leverages this multifaceted expertise to provide specialized coaching for infection preventionists, focusing on leadership and well-being, and delivers strategic consulting services in infection prevention and biodefense, informed by her deep understanding of microbiology and epidemiology. Actively engaged in her professional community, she volunteers with the National APIC Professional Development Committee and serves on the Editorial Panel for “Infection Control Today.”

Dr. Doran is also a recognized writer, co-authoring the monthly “IP Lifeline” column in Infection Control Today and contributing insightful articles on critical topics such as COVID-19, infection prevention staffing strategies, and addressing burnout among infection prevention professionals.

Guests:

1. Stephanie Mayoryk, BSN, President and Infection Prevention Consultant, Mayoryk Consulting Services LLC
2. Mary-Claire Roghmann, MD, MS, Professor, Infectious Disease Physician, and Hospital Epidemiologist, University of Maryland School of Medicine 

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00722-3/abstract

Stephanie Mayoryk, BSN

Stephanie Mayoryk is currently the president of Mayoryk Consulting Services LLC, offering Infection Prevention consultation services to healthcare, academic, and industry partners.  She has Infection Prevention expertise in various settings and has led IP program management in academic medical centers, community hospitals, long-term care, and specialty hospital environments.

Ms. Mayoryk has held leadership positions for the Association of Professionals in Infection Prevention and Control (APIC) at both the national and local level.  She has held certification by the Certification Board of Epidemiology and Infection Control (CBIC) since 2003.  She obtained her graduate degree in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Before her consulting career, Ms. Mayoryk served as the System Director of Infection Prevention for a large urban health system in Baltimore, Maryland.  She is a licensed registered nurse, with her clinical experience in the solid-organ transplant patient population.

Mary-Claire Roghmann, MD, MS

Dr. Roghmann is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and serves as a VA Investigator, Staff Physician, and Associate Hospital Epidemiologist for the VA Maryland Health Care System. As an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist, her research focuses on preventing infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Her research was instrumental to the development of Enhanced Barrier Precautions. Dr. Roghmann’s recent study assesses the feasibility and acceptability of implementing Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) in community-based nursing homes to curb MDRO transmission.

Guests:

• Aaron Cheng, MPH, CIC, Infection Surveillance Officer, Mount Sinai Brooklyn
• Karen Brody, MSN, RN, GERO-BC, CIC, Associate Director of Infection Prevention, Mount Sinai Manhattan 
• Waleed Javaid, MD, MBA, MS, Hospital Epidemiologist and Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Mount Sinai

Article Link: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00714-4/abstract

Aaron Cheng, MPH, CIC,

Aaron Cheng is currently an Infection Surveillance Officer at Mount Sinai Brooklyn. He has been dedicated to the field of public health, having over eight years of research and field experience working in local and international settings. Some of his past experiences include working on infant and young child feeding programs, nutrition program evaluations, and hospital quality improvement projects. He graduated with his MPH in 2018, specializing in epidemiology and biostatistics, before attaining his CIC in 2024.

Karen Brody, MSN, RN, GERO-BC, CIC

Karen Brody is currently the Associate Director of Infection Prevention at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and was the Assistant Director of Infection Prevention at Mount Sinai Brooklyn during the writing of this paper. She has been an RN since 2008 with a focus on the acute elderly population before moving into infection prevention in 2016 and achieving her CIC and MSN in 2018. Over her career, she has managed infection prevention in various settings including acute care, long term care, behavioral health, and dialysis units in New Jersey and New York City. She is actively engaged in the Greater New York APIC chapter and currently serves as the President-elect for 2025.

Waleed Javaid, MD, MBA, MS

Dr. Waleed Javaid is a Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, serving as Hospital Epidemiologist and Director of Infection Prevention and Control. With over a decade of experience, he has led initiatives that significantly reduced healthcare-associated infections and improved patient safety. Dr. Javaid actively contributes to national organizations, including the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and is a recognized expert in infection control and antimicrobial resistance.

Guests:

1. Terri Rebmann, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, Divisional Dean, Director of the George Mason University School of Nursing
2. Ashley Hughes, Ph.D., M.S., Associate Professor and Research Informaticist at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine at MetroHealth

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00660-6/fulltext?__cf_chl_rt_tk=uEB9ieiYbzHNuLiQM8PygPtbr68VmkINmR3TzQTV818-1738384746-1.0.1.1-sD._BNGckjNMwIDgTLX2Lc6Hf4OS61J99cOpjLd7FHM

Terri Rebmann, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dr Terri Rebmann is Divisional Dean, Director of the George Mason University School of Nursing. She has been an APIC member and board certified in Infection Control and Epidemiology (CIC) for almost 30 years and is an APIC Fellow (FAPIC). She currently serves on the APIC Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force and Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) Test Writing Committee.

Ashley Hughes, Ph.D., M.S.

Ashley M. Hughes, Ph.D., M.S., is a Human Factors Psychologist with 14 years experience in healthcare and 8 years of experience in infection prevention and control.  Their research focuses on health information technologies use in care coordination. To-date, their work has culminated in more than 50 peer reviewed publications and been recognized by several national agencies, including the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.  For the purposes of this project, she worked as a consultant for APIC while serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Research Health Scientist at the Center of Innovations for Chronic, Complex Healthcare (CINCCH) at the Edward Hines JR VA Hospital. She is currently an Associate Professor and Research Informaticist at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine at MetroHealth. 

Guests:

1. Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Executive Director, APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation
2. Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Director of Research, APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00697-7/fulltext

Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, is the Executive Director of APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Bartles came from Providence Health in Washington, where she served as Executive Director of Infectious Disease Management and Prevention for eight years. Additionally, Becca has practiced Infection Prevention and Infectious Disease Epidemiology for the last 19 years in various healthcare settings and has numerous publications focused on infection prevention staffing and endoscope safety. Dr. Bartles founded the Master in Infection Prevention degree program at the University of Providence in 2016. She has been CIC-certified since 2008 and is an APIC fellow. As a leader in infection prevention, Dr. Bartles has helped develop APIC’s Infection Preventionist Academic Pathway program to establish IPC degrees at the undergraduate and master’s levels and led the creation of an IP staffing calculator for healthcare facilities. Most notably, Becca is the mother of four amazing daughters, ages 10-25.

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, has newly been appointed as the Director of Research for APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Reese served as Regional Director of Infection Prevention at Intermountain Health and as Infection Prevention Manager at Swedish Medical Center, where she led COVID-19 response efforts and reduced healthcare-associated infections. She has also held infection prevention roles at Denver Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and mentored numerous MPH students. Dr. Reese has published widely and presented nationally on infection prevention, most recently addressing recruitment and retention challenges in the field.

Guest Name: 

1. Melissa Feskin, MPH, Infection Prevention and Control Epidemiologist, Washington State Health Department of Health’s Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Section
2. Lisa Hannah, RN, BS, CIC, CDIPC, Infection Prevention Team Supervisor, Washington State Health Department of Health’s Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Section
3. Sara Podczervinski, RN, MPH, DNP, CIC, Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Section Manager, Washington State Department of Health 

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00587-X/abstract

Melissa Feskin, MPH

Melissa Feskin, MPH, is an Infection Prevention and Control Epidemiologist working with the Healthcare-Associated Infections & Antimicrobial Resistance (HAIAR) section of the Washington State Department of Health in Shoreline, Washington. Since 2019, she has been supporting emergent response efforts by performing aggregate data analyses on Infection Control Assessment & Response (ICAR) data, and working closely with community health partners, long-term care facilities, and local health jurisdictions. Melissa is also a member of Washington State Department of Health’s HAI Advisory Committee and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE).

Melissa obtained her master’s in applied Epidemiology from the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and a bachelor’s in public health applied Epidemiology from Lake Washington’s Institute of Technology. She has 12 years combined experience serving in public hospitals and long-term care, focused on wound care, oncology, and infection prevention & control (IPC) audits. Her 12 years of experience in both practical and data-driven IPC response, and expertise with translational research databases exemplify her collaborative approach to public health engagement and advocacy. 

Lisa Hannah, RN, CIC , CDIPC

Lisa Hannah, RN, BS, CIC, CDIPC, is the Infection Prevention Team Supervisor for the Washington State Department of Health’s Healthcare-Associated Infections & Antimicrobial Resistance Section.  She has over 23 years of experience in the field of nursing and infection prevention. Lisa has been Certified in Infection Control (CIC) since 2014 and Dental Infection Prevention (CDIPC) in 2024. She has been active in the Puget Sound APIC chapter since 2013 and has help both board member and advisor positions and has participated in workgroups with the Certification Board of Infection Prevention (CBIC) and the National APIC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity.

Her many years of experience include long term care, acute care, dental, ambulatory surgery, emergency medical services, rural health, and critical access hospitals.  She has a Bachelor of Science Degree as a Paramedic from Central Washington University and completed her nursing education at Lower Columbia College.  Lisa was awarded the 2022 McKnight Prize for Healthcare Outbreak Heroes in response to her leadership during the Covid-19 Pandemic response.

Lisa strives to facilitate the development of systems to improve and sustain quality infection prevention practices in rural areas, joining together local, regional, and state partnerships.

Sara Podczervinski, RN, MPH, DNP, CIC

Dr. Sara Podczervinski (she/her) has over twenty years of public health, nursing, and infection prevention experience.  She has her Bachelor’s in Science and Nursing from Western Michigan University, Master’s in Public Health from University of Michigan, and Doctorate in Nursing Practice from University of Washington. Sara has worked as a local and state public health communicable disease epidemiologist and has clinical experience as a charge and admissions nurse for long-term care.  She was the infection preventionist at a large cancer center for ten years, where she specialized in infection prevention during bone marrow transplantation. Sara received the 2014 Infection Prevention Hero Award from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) for her work on respiratory virus prevention. She has been published in infection control and epidemiology journals, including articles on public health’s COVID-19 response, healthcare worker influenza vaccination, healthcare-associated hepatitis C, and Legionnaires’ disease. She is Chair of APIC’s Member Engagement Committee, a position she’s held since 2022.  Additionally, she has held several board positions at Puget Sound APIC and is a board member for the Lake Washington Technical College’s bachelor’s in public health advisory committee.  She has been Certified in Infection Control (CIC) since 2006 and has an APIC fellow designation.

Since 2015, she has managed the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Section at the Washington State Department of Health.  Her team responded to the first COVID-19 case and long-term care outbreak in the United States.  Her newest role is as a faculty member at the University of Washington’s School of Nursing and Health Studies, where she’ll teach public health courses. Sara is passionate about applied public health practice and works to forge strong connections between healthcare infection prevention and public health entities.

Guests: 

1. Kelly Holmes, MS, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Preventionist, IP&MA
2. Jennifer McCarty, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Preventionist, IP&MA
3. Sandi Steinfeld, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Preventionist, IP&MA

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00628-X/abstract

Kelly Holmes, MS, CIC, FAPIC

Kelly Holmes began working for IP&MA, Inc in 2004, and has been certified in the field since 2006. Ms. Holmes has experience in mentoring novice Infection Preventionists and program management in a wide range of healthcare settings including acute care, long-term acute care, and rehabilitation facilities. Kelly developed a comprehensive internal training process for the company that includes focused support for Infection Preventionists who are studying for certification. Kelly currently performs remote surveillance for several clients and manages a team of infection preventionists providing services to acute care facilities. Ms. Holmes obtained her FAPIC designation in 2024 and is a contributing author to the APIC text, has published abstracts and papers on training infection preventionists, inter-rater reliability for surveillance, and is currently the co-host for APIC’s 5 Second Rule podcast.  

Jennifer McCarty, MPH, CIC, FAPIC 

Jennifer McCarty graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in biology. She went on to obtain a Master of Public Health from the UT-Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health. In 2000, Jennifer joined Infection Prevention & Management Associates and has been CBIC certified in infection prevention since 2003. She was recognized as an Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Fellow in 2021.  

Within IPMA she has focused on developing epidemiologic surveillance systems, assisted in the development of the education program used with new employees and served as a mentor and lead for new infection preventionists. Jennifer has provided program oversight in a variety of healthcare facilities including acute and long-term acute care, rehabilitation, ambulatory and surgical hospitals. She is familiar with JCAHO, DNV and CMS survey methodologies. She has held several leadership positions with the local APIC Houston Chapter over the years. 

Sandi Steinfeld, MPH, CIC, FAPIC 

Sandi Steinfeld has practiced infection prevention with Infection Prevention & Management Associates (IP&MA) since 1998. Sandi attended the University of New Mexico, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, and earned her Master of Public Health in Disease Control with a concentration in Epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health.  She attained Certification in Infection Control in 2000 and is recognized as a Fellow by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.      

Sandi has extensive experience in facility program assessment and management, policy development, regulatory survey preparation, and remote hospital-acquired infection surveillance. Her expertise spans a variety of healthcare settings, including acute care, long-term acute care, rehabilitation, psychiatric, long-term care, and ambulatory surgery centers.    

Ms. Steinfeld is a published author in several clinical publications and has presented at professional conferences. Currently, she serves as a senior associate and holds the role of human resources at IP&MA.   

Guest:

1. Carolyn Chu, MD, MSc, FAAFP, AAHIVS, Chief Clinical Officer/Principal Investigator of the National Clinician Consultation Center

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00157-3/fulltext  

Carolyn Chu

Carolyn Chu, MD, MSc, FAAFP, AAHIVS is Chief Clinical Officer/Principal Investigator of the National Clinician Consultation Center (NCCC), an educational resource and program that operates multiple federally supported tele-consultation services for providers.  Founded in 1993, the NCCC remains committed to offering low barrier, person-centered guidance on HIV, hepatitis, and substance use and advancing health equity.  Dr. Chu completed a Family Medicine residency and clinical research fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY, and previously served as Medical Director for a large network of community health centers in New York City.  She is a Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and care provider at San Francisco General Hospital’s Family Health Center.

Guests:

1. Michael E. Charness, MD, Chief of Staff, VA Boston Healthcare System
2. Kalpana Gupta, MD, MPH, Associate Chief of Staff and Chief of Infectious Disease, VA Boston Healthcare System 
3. Katherine Linsenmeyer, MD, Hospital Epidemiologist, VA Boston Healthcare System

Article Link:  https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00162-7/abstract

Michael E. Charness, MD

Dr. Michael Charness is chief of staff at the VA Boston Healthcare system, where he oversees clinical care, education, and research. He is a professor of neurology and associate dean at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. His research background is in cellular neurobiology, and his recent work has focused on the response of healthcare systems to the pandemic.  

Kalpana Gupta, MD, MPH,

Dr. Gupta is the associate chief of staff and chief of infectious diseases for VA Boston healthcare system. She has a research program focusing on the epidemiology and prevention of healthcare associated infections, including respiratory, urinary tract, and post-surgical infections. 

Katherine Linsenmeyer, MD

Dr. Linsenmeyer is the hospital epidemiologist for the VA Boston Healthcare System.  Her work focuses on the implementation of prevention measures to reduce hospital acquired infections including COVID-19 and C. difficile.

Guests:

1. Cynthia M. Lakon, Ph.D, Professor in the Department of Health, Society, and Behavior, University of California – Irvine
2. John R. Hipp, Ph.D, Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, and Sociology, University of California – Irvine

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(23)00543-6/abstract

Cynthia M. Lakon 

Cynthia M. Lakon is a Professor in the Department of Health, Society, & Behavior in the Program in Public Health at the University of California, Irvine. She received her doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Public Health. Her major research interests include social networks, adolescent substance use, the health of elderly populations, and ecological models of health behavior.  Her work has been published in journals including Social Science & Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Infection Control, Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Health and Place, Tobacco Control and Prevention Science. She was the Founding and Interim Chair of the Department of Health, Society, & Behavior at the University of California, Irvine.

John R. Hipp 

John R. Hipp is a Professor in the departments of Criminology, Law and Society, and Sociology, at the University of California Irvine.  His research interests focus on how neighborhoods change over time, how that change both affects and is affected by neighborhood crime, and the role networks and institutions play in that change.  He approaches these questions using quantitative methods as well as social network analysis.
 
 

Guests

1. Mohamed Yassin, MD, PhD, Infectious Disease Physician, and Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
2. Mathea Schafer, MPH, Infection Preventionist, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center 
3. Heather Dixon, MSN, RN, CPHQ, CIC, Director of Quality, Safety, and Infection Prevention, University of Pittsburg Medical Center

Article Link: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00055-5/abstract

Dr. Mohamed Yassin

Dr. Mohamed Yassin is an Infectious Diseases physician who graduated with honors from Cairo University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Michigan State University and his Infectious Diseases fellowship at Case Western Reserve University. With over 10 years of experience in infection prevention and hospital epidemiology, Dr. Yassin has a special interest in endoscope disinfection, burn infections, and various hospital-associated infections. He has authored over 200 manuscripts and scientific abstracts and has delivered numerous scientific presentations at the APIC national conference and other national and international conferences.

Heather Dixon

Heather Dixon, MSN, RN, CPHQ, CIC is the Director of Quality, Safety, and Infection Prevention at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Mercy in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She received her BSN from Franciscan University and MSN from Waynesburg University.

Ms. Dixon is a member of the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) test committee and APIC. She began her career as a nurse leader and progressed into healthcare quality. She now oversees the hospital’s quality program, including infection prevention, patient safety, experience, and regulatory programs, leading a team of twenty professionals. Under her leadership, the hospital earned a Leapfrog Safety Grade A from 2019 to 2021. She has developed mentoring models for nursing and public health students, is a site director and course instructor for the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and has published works on healthcare quality, infection prevention, and mentorship.

Mathea Schafer

Mathea Schafer, MPH, graduated in 2021 from Creighton University with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, with minors in Biology and Public Health. Originally from Nebraska, she moved to Pittsburgh to pursue her graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh. At the School of Public Health, she earned her Master of Public Health in Infectious Disease and Microbiology, concentrating on Pathogenesis, Eradication, and Laboratory Practices. In 2022, Mathea began working at UPMC Mercy as a student in Infection Prevention, conducting her thesis research on infection prevention during surgical procedures in the operating rooms. After obtaining her MPH, she joined UPMC Mercy as an Infection Preventionist, focusing on surgical areas and high-level disinfection.

Guests

1. Delvina (Mimi) Ford, MPH, BSN, CIC, CPHQ, CCRN-k, Quality Management Consultant, VISN 17Angela Gray, BA, BSN, RN, CIC,  Infection Prevention Specialist for Aspirus St. Luke’s 
2. Dr. Jose Cadena, MD, Infection Prevention and Control Medical Director, South Texas Veterans Healthcare System 

Article:

Effects of COVID-19 hospitalization rates on the incidence of hospital-acquired Candida central line-associated bloodstream infection

Delvina (Mimi) Ford, MPH, BSN, CIC, CPHQ, CCRN-k

Mrs. Ford comes to us with over 29 years in healthcare, eighteen years as an RN. Delvina currently has a master’s in public health from American Public University and a Bachelor of Science in nursing from University of Texas at Arlington. She has an extensive critical care and infectious disease background; she is a board-certified infection preventionist who has been in infection prevention for over eight years. She also holds certifications in Healthcare Quality with a CPHQ and in critical care with a CCRN designation.

She has specialized in infectious disease prior with Tuberculosis care with the Texas Center for Infectious Disease. She has been an adjunct educator and Pilot tester for Heartland National TB Center for TB infection control. And has done professional review and pilot testing for the CDCs “The Core Curriculum on Tuberculosis: What the Clinician Should Know”.

She has authored a peer-review article in the American Journal of Infection Control and has authored or co-authored numerous poster abstracts submitted and accepted by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and ID Week with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Delvina has been an IP program manager for Infection Prevention at South Texas Veterans Healthcare System, where she started her career with the VA in 2017. Since then, she has received the Under Secretary for Health’s National VA Linda Danko Infection Prevention Award for 2021 for excellence in infection prevention & control and currently is a Quality Management consultant for VISN 17 working as a consultant with focus on infection prevention for VISN 17 as a regional position for the VA facilities within Texas.

Dr. Jose Cadena, MD

Dr. Jose Cadena is an Infectious disease physician with South Texas Veterans Healthcare System and the current infection prevention and control medical director with particular interest in the prevention of healthcare associated infections, antimicrobial stewardship and novel therapeutics. A Medical School graduate from the CES University in Colombia and completed internal medicine residency, infectious diseases fellowship and a year of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. He has been the Medical Director for Infection Prevention and working closely with infection preventionists. He has worked in the field of infection prevention and has published papers related to infection control, process improvement to increase compliance with influenza vaccination, tuberculosis prevention and control among healthcare workers, treatment, and epidemiology of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridioides difficile. He has also worked on phase 2 and 3 trials of therapeutics and vaccines for E. coli, C difficile and therapeutic trials for Candidemia and diabetic foot osteomyelitis. He has been part of the CREATE research network within the VA and participated in infection control trials to evaluate surgical site infection prevention, hand hygiene compliance improvement strategies among others.

He has a particular interest in TB prevention and management over the years and published a multicenter trial summarizing the characteristics of patients admitted with TB to 5 healthcare systems in Texas, and the risk factors to miss the diagnosis resulting in potential exposures. He has worked on a review regarding the association between TB and DM. He has also authored the TB chapter for TB prevention in healthcare settings for APIC and has performed quality improvement projects on TB screening protocols in healthcare settings. He routinely manages and treat patients with latent TB infection as well as other infectious diseases.

He is the medical director of the infection prevention at South Texas Veterans healthcare system and has provided infectious disease guidance during the covid-19 pandemic and has participated in the care, development and implementation of infection prevention protocols and therapeutics for COVID-19 patients.  He is also working on evaluating the role of convalescent plasma in the COVID-19 therapeutics may be key to improve management of COVID-19 patients.

Guests
Kathleen McMullen, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, Director for Infection Prevention at Mercy
Angela Gray, BA, BSN, RN, CIC,  Infection Prevention Specialist for Aspirus St. Luke’s
Jessica Banks, RN, Infection Preventionist and Education Coordinator, Mery Hospital Aurora and Cassville 

Article:

Kathleen McMullen, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA

Kathleen received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Masters in Public Health concentrating in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from St. Louis University.  She is the Director for Infection Prevention at Mercy, coordinating efforts for 45 hospitals and healthcare facilities in MO, AR, OK and KS.  Kathleen is Board Certified in Infection Prevention and Control and a Fellow of APIC.  She is past chair of the APIC Practice Guidance Committee and has held several positions on her local APIC chapter board (Chapter 073, St. Louis, MO).  She is also a Fellow of SHEA, and a member of SHEA Disinfection and Sterilization guidelines and AAMI guideline committees.  She has been a presenter at APIC, SHEA and ID Week national meetings and is the author of many IP-related papers and abstracts.

Angela Gray, BA, BSN, RN, CIC

Angela received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, both from the University of Oklahoma. She is the Infection Prevention Specialist for St. Luke’s of Duluth (now part of Aspirus Health), covering the acute care facility, 28 clinics, 3 ambulatory surgery centers, and a critical access hospital. Previously Angela worked with Mercy in Oklahoma, overseeing the infection prevention programs for three critical access hospitals. Angela became Board Certified in Infection Control in 2011. She continues to be a member of APIC, Oklahoma Chapter 125 and now the Minnesota Chapter 18. Angela has also been a member for a local Oklahoma organization called Epidemiologists and Preventionists in Infection Control (EPIC), having served as their president, board member, conference committee vendor coordinator, program coordinator, and most recently the website administrator.

Jessica Banks, RN

Jessica received her Nursing Degree from Crowder College in Cassville MO.  She is the Infection preventionist for Mercy Aurora and Cassville, two critical access hospitals in southwest Missouri. Jessica was just elected this year to the board for the Southwest APIC Chapter.  Jessica has worked her way through the healthcare system in her 18 years of service with Mercy and started Infection Prevention in 2020.  She is a member of MOAHQ, MOSHE and APIC. 

Guests: 
Katreena Merrill, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC,  Professor, Brigham Young University (BYU) College of Nursing
Joan N. Hebden, MS, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, President of IPC Consulting Group LLC
Dana Piatek, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, Clinical Consultant with GOJO Industries

Article: Infection preventionists in public health, consultant and academic roles: Results from the 2020 APIC MegaSurvey

Katreena Merrill, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dr. Katreena Collette Merrill is a Professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) College of Nursing, Provo, Utah, where she teaches interprofessional education, Ethics in Nursing, and pediatrics. She also works as a nursing research consultant for Intermountain Healthcare. She has been a nurse for over 40 years. She started her career at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, specializing in infection prevention (IP) control and continuous improvement (CI). She continued her nursing quality and research work with Intermountain Healthcare and served as a Magnet Program Coordinator. Dr. Merrill’s research focuses on patient safety in healthcare, emphasizing the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). She has published and presented nationally and internationally about HAI prevention. She is Certified in Infection Control (CIC), a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).In her spare time, she enjoys walks with her golden retriever, visiting grandchildren, and refinishing old furniture.

Joan N. Hebden, MS, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA

Joan received her baccalaureate and master’s degrees from the University of Maryland School of Nursing.  She is currently the President of IPC Consulting Group LLC, a Maryland-based company providing infection prevention consultation in acute and non-acute healthcare settings and is a research coordinator for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. She served as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for 28 years at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. An accomplished practitioner, Ms. Hebden is an invited speaker at national epidemiology conferences, participates in research to identify best practices for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and has multiple publications in medical and infection control journals. She is certified in infection prevention and control through the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, is an active member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiologists of America (SHEA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), serves as a board member and reviewer for the American Journal of Infection Control and is a fellow of APIC and SHEA. She was the recipient of the 2018 SHEA Advanced Practice IP award.

Contact info: jhebden1302@comcast.net
jhebden@som.umaryland.edu

Dana Piatek, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dana Piatek, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years of healthcare experience in various settings including acute care, long term care, and public health. She began her career in Infection Prevention in 2010 in a dual role as a Staff Development Coordinator/Infection Preventionist within the long-term care setting. Dana also has extensive experience managing the Infection Prevention department for multiple hospitals and hospital-based outpatient sites. She has been an Infection Preventionist with the Bureau of Epidemiology in the Pennsylvania Department of Health where she was the regional lead for Northwest Pennsylvania’s Infection Control Outbreak Response Team as well as the Infection Preventionist Supervisor for the Project Firstline Grant. Currently Dana is a Clinical Consultant with GOJO Industries as part of their PURELL SMARTLINK® team.

Dana began her nursing career with a diploma in nursing from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, New Castle. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing science from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in nursing science with concentration in education and leadership from Carlow University, and a master’s degree in public health with focus in epidemiology from George Washington University. She achieved board certification in Infection Prevention and Control with the CIC® designation in 2015 and in 2022, she was awarded status as a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC). Dana is a member of multiple professional organizations including APIC, SHEA, and CSTE. She has contributed to the profession as a subject matter expert including publication and peer review activities for the American Journal of Infection Control, presentations at invited seminars and scientific meetings as well as podcasts.

Guests:
Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC,  Regional Director of Infection Prevention, Intermountain Health
Jordan Zepeda, MPH, CIC, Infection Prevention Manager, St. Vincent Regional Hospital

Article;
https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(23)00480-7/pdf

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Regional Director of Infection Prevention, Intermountain Health

Dr. Reese has been the Regional Director of Infection Prevention for Intermountain Health since January 2021. Before that, she was the Manager of Infection Prevention at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, CO, and she held that role for 2.5 years. In that role, she led the COVID-19 pandemic response for the Level 1 Trauma Center and oversaw numerous performance improvement projects that resulted in a reduction of healthcare-associated infections. She mentored numerous Masters in Public Health students through shadowing, practicum, and capstone opportunities. Dr. Reese also worked at Denver Health Medical Center for six years as an Infection Prevention Specialist and at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as the Patient Safety Program Coordinator for two years. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and presented at many local and national conference on infection prevention activities. Most recently, Dr. Reese has published on the challenges within recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining infection preventionists.

Jordan Zepeda, MPH, CIC

Infection Prevention Manager, St. Vincent Regional Hospital

Jordan graduated from Carroll College in Helena, MT in 2014 with a Bachelor of Health Science and a minor in Biology. She completed her MPH from the University of Montana School of Public and Community Health Sciences in 2019. Jordan currently manages the Infection Prevention program at St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, MT where she focuses on surgical site infection prevention, process improvement, data analysis, and program management. Outside of work, Jordan enjoying spending time with her family which includes her husband, three adorable children, and one very energetic dog. Jordan and her family love to camp, hike, and enjoy all the beauty the great state of Montana has to offer.  

Guests:

1. Jennifer Sanguinet, DrPH, MBA-HCM, BSIS, CIC, FAPIC, Director Infection Prevention, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital

2. Gerard Marshall, BS, AS, RRT, CIC, Manager of Infection Prevention, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(23)00479-0/fulltext#:~:text=of%20the%20protocol.-,Conclusions,and%20improve%20overall%20patient%20outcomes

Jennifer Sanguinet, DrPh, MBA-HCM, BSIS, CIC, FAPIC

Director Infection Prevention
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital

Jennifer Sanguinet has a Doctorate in Public Health, a Master’s in Business Administration in Healthcare Management, and a Bachelor’s in Information Systems. She has her Certification in Infection Control (CIC) and is a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC). 

Jennifer began her career in Infection Prevention as an administrative assistant at UCLA many years ago, and has served in Infection Prevention in multiple facilities across the state of California.  She has filled many additional roles in the past including Infectious Disease Response Leader, Employee Health Director and Information Systems Director. In 2014, Jennifer joined HCA as the Director of Infection Prevention at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center.  She earned the HCA Clinical Excellence Award for Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Prevention in 2016.  She has been published in numerous publications including AJIC (American Journal of Infection Control) regarding varied topics such as collaboration between the lab and infection prevention, the use of no touch disinfection, and methods for reducing healthcare infections. Jennifer has been privileged to speak on numerous occasions throughout her career including the APIC national conference and the Infection Prevention & Control Annual Conference in the UK.

In 2017, Jennifer moved to her current position as Infection Prevention Director at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.  She serves as the current Co-Chair of the Nevada Antimicrobial Stewardship Program since 2017. She has also just recently been elected as the President Elect for the Southern Nevada Chapter 035. Jennifer is a 25+ year member of APIC and enjoys teaching, sharing and learning about infection prevention and public health. 

Gerard Marshall BS, AS, RRT, CIC

Manager of Infection Prevention
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital

Gerard has been in healthcare since 1979 starting as an Registered Respiratory Therapist in NICU and Labor & Delivery emergency response. He went on to gain skills in pediatrics, adult critical care, and rehabilitation for both pediatrics and adults. From 1992 until 2019 he was in a Director role for PT, OT, ST and RT.

Gerard presented at the 1985 National Nursing Convention on the advent of interventions for Ventilator management of AIDS in the ICU and has spoken on asthma education for the NV Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Association. Gerard was also a non-hospital based NALS educator at its inception in the early eighties.

He was President of the Nevada Society for Respiratory Care for 2 terms and facilitated the initiation of NV State Respiratory Therapy Licensure. He was a NSRC board member for 15 years.

Gerard has been actively involved in student education and has been a field coordinator for PT, OT, RT and Public Health students for 25+ years.

Gerard holds a CIC Board Certification in Infection Prevention and Control and has been involved in Infection Prevention since 2006. Active in NV APIC since 2009. He has been in his current role as Manager of Infection Prevention at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center since 2020.

He has been the Co-Chair of the Nevada Antimicrobial Stewardship Program since 2019 and has been a NVASP Board member since 2010.

Guests:
Casey Lewis, BA, CIC
Senior Infection Preventionist
University of Pittsburg Medical Center Presbyterian – Shadyside

Victoria Crall, MPH, CIC
Senior Infection Preventionist
University of Pittsburg Medical Center Presbyterian – Shadyside

Article:

Casey Lewis BA, CIC Senior Infection Preventionist at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian-Shadyside

Casey graduated University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a minor in religious studies. Casey is currently pursing her RN at Community College of Allegheny County. In her role as a Senior Infection Preventionist she specialized in high-level disinfection and sterilization among numerous hospital-based clinics, sterile processing departments, and procedural units throughout UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside. She is also interested in hemodialysis, cardiology, and cardiothoracic patient populations along with working closely with the environmental services department to ensure a clean a safe patient environment for our patients and families. Her hobbies outside of work are traveling, taking walks with her German shepherd, and trying all new food around Pittsburgh.

Victoria Crall, MPH, CIC, Senior Infection Preventionist at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian- Shadyside

Victoria graduated Duquesne University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a double minor in Mathematics and Biochemistry. She then attended the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health where she completed her MPH, with a focus in Epidemiology, in 2013. In her current role as a Senior Infection Preventionist she specializes in surgical site infection (SSI) reduction and infection prevention (IP) in the perioperative setting. She is also interested in high level disinfection, sterilization, and working closely with environmental services to ensure a clean and safe environment of care. Her hobbies outside of work are traveling, reading, and chasing around her two-year-old son.

Guest: Irina Rajakumar, BScPhm, Infectious Disease and Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist, Alberta Health Services

Article: Impact of Clostridioides difficile length of treatment on rates of recurrence in patients on concurrent antibiotics

Irina Rajakumar, BScPhm, Infectious Disease and Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist, Alberta Health Services

Irina Rajakumar completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 2008 from the University of Toronto, and a Year 1 Hospital Pharmacy Residency in 2009 at the London Health Sciences Centre. Since then, she has practiced extensively in both Hematology/Oncology and Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship, gaining Board Certification in Infectious Diseases in 2018. Irina has precepted many pharmacy residents and residency project, publishing several peer reviewed manuscripts.  Currently, she is a pharmacy clinical practice leader and a Year 2 Infectious Disease and Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacy Residency Coordinator in Alberta Health Services.

Article:

Methodologic challenges and lessons learned through conducting a hospital-based
Salmonella Javiana case-control study

Guests
Lisa Stancill, Epidemiologist, The University of North Carolina Hospitals
Madison Ponder, Pharmacoepidemiology PhD Student, The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Lisa Stancill, Epidemiologist

Lisa Stancill is an Epidemiologist and works as a data analyst in the Infection Prevention department at The University of North Carolina Hospitals. She is responsible for providing an analytical, data-driven perspective to Infection Prevention operations and automating processes for data collection and reporting. She graduated from the University of Maryland where she earned her Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a second major in sociology. Her healthcare career has focused on promoting the use of high-quality data to make the hospital a safer place for patients. 

Madison Ponder, Pharmacoepidemiology PhD Student

Madison Ponder is a pharmacoepidemiology PhD student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill. Prior to starting her PhD program, she received her masters in biomedical and health informatics and bachelors in environmental health science, both from UNC. Her research interests include antimicrobial prescribing patterns and investigating ways to optimize antimicrobial prescribing to reduce adverse outcomes and antimicrobial resistance. When presenting her work, she enjoys creating clever visualizations to represent results more clearly.

Have you ever wondered what prompted a CHG patient refusal bathing study? Join hosts Nikki Shore and Jessie Swain as the podcast “Science into Practice” dives into this topic with Yvette Williams, a nurse who studied CHG bathing in critical and non-critical areas. Hear how Yvette used her experience to create educational materials and one-on-one sessions to educate staff and foster CHG bathing compliance. Tune in to learn more!

Yvette Williams, BSN-RN, CMSRN

Yvette Williams graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a BS in education, then went back to school for nursing. She graduated from Florida Southwestern College with an ASN degree in December 2019. This past May, she graduated from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro with a BSN degree, and received CMSRN certification this past August. She has worked on a General-Surgery unit at Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, for almost three and a half years. During that time, she joined the Clinical Practice and Nurse Practice Councils. After a year as a member, she became the co-chair of the Nurse Practice Council. Within her first year working at Duke Regional, she applied for a yearlong fellowship on the significance of CHG bathing for patients in non-critical areas. From there, she began to develop an interest in infection prevention.

Are you looking to learn about the latest research in the field of infection prevention and control? Join us as we speak to Dr. Stella Hines, MD, MSPH, an occupational medicine physician and pulmonologist, about her study on user acceptance and preference for a novel reusable respirator among healthcare workers. Find out the different types of reusable respiratory protective devices and why user comfort and tolerability is important for increasing compliance with respiratory protection programs. Don’t miss this episode to learn and apply this new information to your work!

Dr. Stella E. Hines, MD, MSPH

Stella E. Hines, MD, MSPH, is an Occupational Medicine physician and Pulmonologist.  Currently serving as the Field Studies Branch Chief in the Respiratory Health Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), she previously was an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  She received her B.A. from Rice University, and M.D. from the Texas A&M College of Medicine.  She completed internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals and pulmonary and critical care fellowship, occupational and environmental medicine residency and Master of Science in Public Health at the University of Colorado-Denver and National Jewish Health.   

Dr. Hines studies reusable respirator use in healthcare to address N95 shortages and has published and presented on this topic at national and international meetings. She also provides clinical care and conducts research related to exposure-related lung disease. She is the immediate past Chair of the American Thoracic Society’s Section on Terrorism and Inhalational Disasters.

Article: Evaluation of a Statewide Collaborative Focused on Antibiotic Usage Surveillance and Stewardship in New York State Hospitals

Author: Dr. Danielle Durant
Co-author: Claudia Guerrazzi-Young

Dr. Danielle Durant

Dr. Danielle Durant serves as Principal Research Associate for Healthcare Delivery and Policy Research at Westat, a Health Services Research firm. Previous to this role, she was Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), where she taught Quality Management & Evaluation in Healthcare for the Healthcare Administration program, among other courses. While pursuing her PhD in Public Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Management and Policy from Rockefeller College of SUNY Albany, Dr. Durant was employed for several years at the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) in their Quality Advocacy and Research Initiatives (QARI) division. Within QARI, she served as Project Management Coordinator for the New York State Partnership for Patients (NYSPFP) program, a $15 million contract with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) aimed at the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and other adverse events in NYS Hospitals. Before her appointment at HANYS, Dr. Durant was a Graduate Fellow at the New York State Department of Health, working directly with the New York State Medicaid Director on Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program implementation, as well as policy liaison for implementation of the New York Medicaid Management Information System. She completed her PhD dissertation, Exploring Three Strategies for the Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Clostridium Difficile Infection in NYS Acute Care Hospitals—Structure, Process, Outcome Model of Quality Improvement, in 2018, graduating with her PhD. Additionally, she has a BS in Finance and Economics, an MBA in Management, an MS in Engineering Management, and is a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt with ASQ.

Dr. John Harp

Dr Harp worked as a civil engineer for ten years before attending medical school in Arkansas.  He worked as a research engineer on several orthopedic projects during medical school and during his  Orthopaedic Surgery residency in Little Rock.  After seeing one of his patients experiencing treatment for a deep periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) Dr Harp turned his engineering and research experience toward the topic of airborne microbial contamination in the operating room.  Dr Harp started his independent study of this topic with the mentorship of Dr William Whyte, an international expert on the topic and a coauthor of the pivotal Medical Research Council (MRC) study in 1982.  Dr Harp’s focus has been the introduction of well-known industrial cleanroom techniques into the operating room with the goal of improving patient safety through reduction of PJI risk after total hip and knee replacements.   Dr Harp currently works at Baptist Health Orthopedic Clinic in Fort Smith Arkansas.   His practice focuses on adult reconstruction surgery.  

Guest: Sarah R. MacEwan, PhD

Article: Concerns and frustrations about the public reporting of device-related healthcare-associated infections: Perspectives of hospital leaders and staff

Authors:
Sarah R. MacEwan, PhD
Alice A. Gaughan, MS
Eliza W. Beal, MD, MS
Courtney Hebert, MD
John Oliver DeLancey, MD, MPH
Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS

Dr. Sarah MacEwan, PhD

Dr. Sarah MacEwan is an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST) in the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University. Her work as a health services researcher focuses on improving patient engagement and quality of care using multi-stakeholder perspectives to inform patient- and provider-facing interventions. Dr. MacEwan is a member of the research team that conducted the Searching for Management Approaches to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infection Transmission (SMART) study, led by Dr. Ann Scheck McAlearney, which culminated in the creation of a toolkit of management practices to help reduce device-related healthcare-associated infections.

Guest: Amanda Hessels PhD RN CIC, Elaine Larson PhD RN CIC

Publication Title: Impact of Patient Safety Climate on Infection Prevention Practices and Healthcare Worker and Patient Outcomes

Authors:

Amanda J Hessels, PhD, MPH, RN, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC
Jingwen Guo, MS
Cara Turman Johnson, RN, MPH
Elaine Larson, RN, PhD, FAAN, CIC

Amanda Hessels, PhD, MPH, RN, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC

Amanda Hessels is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University, School of Nursing and a Nurse Scientist at Hackensack Meridian Health. With an exceptional nursing career spanning 25 years, Dr. Hessels is respected as a researcher, educator, and clinician. By bridging academia and the healthcare setting, she is distinctly capable of identifying and addressing real-world problems and through leadership, innovation, and action, she is creating a legacy that includes both scientific acumen and sensitivity to clinical operations and practice. The signature of her substantive sustained and lasting impact on nursing and health is a body of research at the intersection of patient safety and occupational health. By describing and quantifying the role of human factors, organizational and clinical practice predictors of healthcare associated infections and occupational health injuries her work has led to practice and policy change regionally, nationally, and internationally. Advancing these scientific breakthroughs and with current federal funding she is developing interventions to improve adherence to infection prevention practices. Dr. Hessels’ scholarly contributions are vast and include numerous Editorial Board positions nationally and internationally, leadership roles in national organizations, such as the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, and selected invitations and appointments to national scientific panels and committees. Dr. Hessels earned her BSN degree from the University of Rochester, MSN and MPH degrees from the City University of New York, Hunter College, and PhD degree in nursing from Rutgers University, College of Nursing. She completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Columbia University, School of Nursing.

Elaine Larson, PhD, FAAN, RN, CIC

Elaine Larson is Professor Emerita, School of Nursing and Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, and Senior Scholar in Residence, New York Academy of Medicine.  She is a Fellow in the National Academy of Medicine, Society for Healthcare Epidemiologists of America, Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, American Academy of Nursing, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She was Editor of the American Journal of Infection Control for 25 years, has published more than 450 journal articles, four book,s and a number of book chapters.  Elaine is currently the President of the Certification Board for Infection Control and chairs institutional review boards for Columbia University and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Publication Title: Choosing Wisely Initiative for reducing Urine Cultures for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria and Catheter-Associated Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in an 11-Hospital Safety Net System

Guest: Mona Krouss, MD and Harry (Hyung Jin) Cho

Authors:

Mona Krouss, MD
Daniel Alaiev
Da Wi Shin, MD
Joseph Talledo
Sigal Israilov, MD
Komal Chandra, PhD
Milana Zaurova, MD
Peter Alacron Manchego, MD
Surafel Tsega, MD
Gabriel Cohen, MD
Nathaniel Bravo
Tania Kupferman, MD
Hyung J Cho, MD

Mona Krouss, MD

Dr. Mona Krouss is the Assistant Vice President for Value & Patient Safety for NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health care system in the US. She is also an Associate Professor of Medicine and practices clinically as a hospitalist at Elmhurst Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Dr. Krouss’ research involves the intersection of overuse and patient safety, and studies the downstream harms of unnecessary tests and procedures. Her work has been published in AJIC, JAMA Internal Medicine, Journal of Hospital Medicine, among others. She is a certified patient safety specialist and was recently recognized by Becker’s healthcare has a top patient safety expert to know in 2022. 

Dr. Harry (Hyung Jin) Cho, MD, FACP, SFHM

Dr. Harry (Hyung Jin) Cho, MD, FACP, SFHM is Vice President of Quality at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and faculty at Harvard School of Medicine. In the past decade, Dr. Cho received over 70 awards and recognitions for his leadership, including Top 25 Innovators by Modern Healthcare and was recognized in 4 national “Under 40” lists – Becker’s Hospital Review, National Minority Quality Forum, Modern Healthcare, and Medscape. He strives to improve outcomes across complex healthcare settings through developing innovative, scalable solutions. His research focuses on the intersection of overuse and patient safety and aims to eliminate unnecessary testing and treatment that cause physical and financial harm to patients.

Publication Title: The Power of Feedback: Implementing a Comprehensive Hand Hygiene Observer Program: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(22)00477-1/fulltext

Authors:
Kimberly B Wilson, MPH
Lauren N Satchell, MPH
Lauren F Le Goff, MS, MLS
Sarah A Smathers, MPH
Julia S Sammons, MD, MSCE
Susan E Coffin, MD, MPH

Kimberly B. Wilson, MPH

Kimberly B. Wilson has been described as a connector who uses enthusiasm, understanding, and honesty to solve problems and inspire action in others. Kimberly began her career as a Hand Hygiene Program Observer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, within the Department of Infection Prevention and Control, and over the course of nine years grew to oversee one of most successful and well-known observation programs in the organization. During her time as Program Manager, Kimberly was responsible for supporting hospital operations and driving change in infection prevention practice. Through her work in the Hand Hygiene Program, Kimberly increased overall awareness and executive-level support for hand hygiene practice to become successfully embedded into the organizational culture of patient safety. Kimberly credits her entire observation team for successfully forging and improving relationships between Infection Prevention and Control and clinical disciplines, various stakeholders, and multiple departments to ensure the delivery of safe and high-quality care. Kimberly earned her Master of Public Health from Temple University in Philadelphia and holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification from Rutgers University. Today, Kimberly serves as a Project Manager within CHOP’s Information Services department, but remains a supporter of infection prevention, patient safety, and quality improvement in healthcare.

Guest: Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN

Publication Title: Associations among infection prevention professionals’ mental/physical health, lifestyle behaviors, shift length, race, and workplace wellness support during COVID-19
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655322003376

Authors:
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk PhD APRN-CNP FAANP FNAP FAAN
Andreanna Pavan Hsieh MPH
Jinjian Mu PhD
Devin A. Jopp EdD
Sara Miller MBA CAE PMP

Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk PhD APRN-CNP FAANP FNAP FAAN

Dr. Melnyk is currently vice president for health promotion, university chief wellness officer, dean and Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of Evidence-based Practice at The Ohio State University. She also is professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Ohio State’s College of Medicine.

Dr. Melnyk is recognized nationally and globally for her expertise in evidence-based practice, mental health, intervention research, and her innovative approaches to a wide range of health and well-being challenges. She is both a pediatric nurse practitioner with an adolescent specialty and a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Melnyk has received numerous national and international awards, including being recognized as an edge-runner three times by the American Academy and Nursing for her cutting-edge evidence-based programs and national initiatives and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. She recently received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the State University of New York and served terms on the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the NIH/NINR National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, and the National Quality Forum’s Behavioral Health Standing Committee. Dr. Melnyk is founder and current president of the National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities, a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience, is an elected executive board member for the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and recently served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Promoting Emotional Well-Being and Resilience in Children and Adolescents Expert Panel. She has over 490 publications, is an editor of 7 books, has received $36 million in grant funding as PI from federal agencies, including NIH, and foundations, and is editor-in-chief of the top ranked journal, Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing. Melnyk is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Nursing, the National Academies of Practice, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

In her role as chief wellness officer and vice president for health promotion at The Ohio State University, the first at an institution of higher learning in the country, Dr. Melnyk spearheads the building and sustaining of a wellness culture that supports healthy lifestyle behaviors and improved population health and wellbeing outcomes using an evidence-based quality improvement model that targets the grass roots of the organization through top leadership. This comprehensive model has been highlighted as an exemplar by the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience.

Guest: Geetika Sood, M.D., Sc.M.

Article: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in a previous room occupant predicts CDI in subsequent room occupants across different hospital settings.

Authors:
Geetika Sood
Shaun Truelove
Geoff Dougherty
B Mark Landrum
Sonia Qasba
Mayank Patel
Amanda Miller
Christina Wilson
John Martin
Cindy Sears
Alyson Schuster
Mark Sulkowski
Richard Bennett
Noya Galai

Geetika Sood, M.D., Sc.M.

Geetika Sood, M.D. ScM is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and Hospital Epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She completed her medical training, residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in Infectious Diseases at Temple University Medical School. Dr. Sood served as an Associate Program Director and Student Clerkship Director in Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, before moving to Abington Memorial Hospital where she was the Hospital Epidemiologist. She was recruited to Johns Hopkins University in 2011 and she has been the Hospital Epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center where she led several successful process improvement interventions particularly in the burn intensive care unit for which she won the Armstrong Clinical Excellence Award in Patient Safety in 2015. She is a member of the Maryland Healthcare-associated Infections Advisory Board and has taught at the SHEA fellow’s course since 2015. Her research interests include using big data and machine learning algorithms to predict and ultimately mitigate the risk for developing healthcare-associated infections.

Guest: Diana Cervantes, MS, MPH DrPH

Publication Title: State of infection prevention and control in nonacute care US settings: 2020 APIC MegaSurvey. Published online August 10, 2022:S0196-6553(22)00599-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.08.005.

Authors:
Diana Cervantes, MS, MPH DrPH
Amanda Hessels PhD, MPH, RN, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC
Janet N Franck MBA, BSN, CIC, FAPIC
Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz PhD, MPH

Dr. Diana Cervantes worked in public health practice for over 15 years as an infectious disease epidemiologist and as a public health microbiologist where she responded to several outbreaks in both acute and long-term care settings. Dr. Cervantes was also the infection prevention manager in a large acute care facility. She is currently an Assistant Professor and the Director of the MPH Epidemiology Program at The Health Science Center in Fort Worth. Dr. Cervantes is certified in Public Health (CPH), Infection Control (CIC), and is a Technologist in Molecular Biology MB(ASCP).  She is also a fellow with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC). Her teaching and research focus include applied epidemiology, infectious disease prevention and control, and public health gerontology advocacy and practice.

Guest: John Boyce, MD and Richard A. Martinello, MD

Publication Title: Pilot study of using thermal imaging to assess hand hygiene technique. Am J Infect Control. Published online September 14, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.07.015

Authors

John Boyce, MD
Richard A. Martinello, MD

John Boyce, MD

Dr. Boyce is currently President of J.M. Boyce Consulting LLC, a position he assumed in 2015 after retiring from his positions as Director of Hospital Epidemiology & Infection Control at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT and as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. He worked as a hospital-based infectious diseases specialist for many years, and as a hospital epidemiologist in several university-affiliated facilities over a period of 40 years, and now spends his time as an infection control and prevention consultant. He served as president of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) in 1999. He was lead co-author on the HICPAC/APIC/SHEA/ IDSA “CDC” Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings, and was a contributing author to the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care. He has co-authored numerous articles dealing with multiple aspects of hand hygiene.

Richard A. Martinello, MD

Dr. Richard Martinello is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. He is board certified in adult and pediatric infectious diseases and completed his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He trained in adult and pediatric infectious diseases in addition to healthcare epidemiology at Yale. Dr. Martinello serves as the Medical Director of Infection Prevention for Yale New Haven Hospital and the Yale New Haven Health System. Dr. Martinello’s research interests include the epidemiology and prevention of respiratory virus infections, disinfection of surfaces and air, and the prevention of healthcare associated infections. Dr. Martinello was recently funded by CDC to develop processes and recommendations to improve infection prevention and controls in hospitals, improve systems for identifying and tracking patients who may present risk to other patients/staff, and to develop a novel educational platform to improve the awareness and practice of infection prevention and control in healthcare.

Guest: Janet Glowicz, PhD RN

Article Title: Keeping Healthcare Linens Clean: Underrecognized Hazards and Critical Control Points to Avoid Contamination of Laundered Healthcare Textiles

Authors:

Janet Glowicz, PhD RN
Isaac Benowitz, MD
Matthew J. Arduino, MS, DrPH
Ruoran Li, ScD
Karen Wu, DVM, MSPH
Alexander Jordan, MPH
Mitsuru Toda, PhD
Kelley Garner, MPH
Jeremy A. W. Gold, MD, MS

Janet Glowicz, PhD RN

Dr. Janet Glowicz is a senior Infection Preventionist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. She holds a Master’s in Public Health/Epidemiology from the Health Science Center at University of North Texas and a PhD in nursing from the University of Texas at Arlington. Janet has practiced infection prevention both as a nurse epidemiologist in public health, acute and outpatient settings.  She currently assists with outbreak investigations in healthcare settings and serves as the subject matter expert for hand hygiene in healthcare settings. Dr. Glowicz is the Immediate Past President of the Certification Board in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Guest:  Erin Sparnon MEng

Article:

Healthcare Worker Feedback on Duodenoscope Reprocessing Workflow and Ergonomics

Authors:

Amanda D. Sivek PhD
James Davis MSN, RN, CCRN-K, HEM, CIC, FAPIC
Patrice Tremoulet PhD
Mairead Smith BSME
Chris Lavanchy BSME, BS
Erin Sparnon MEng
Dheerendra Kommala MD

Erin Sparnon, MEng

Erin Sparnon is a Senior Engineering Manager in the Device Evaluation Group at ECRI, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings worldwide.   In this role she leads a team of engineers and analysts in the testing and evaluation of medical devices as well as accident and forensic investigations involving device failures. The team includes Dr. Amanda Sivek, principal investigator on a landmark survey of ergonomic issues related to duodenoscope reprocessing. Ms. Sparnon also provides consulting services for hospitals and health systems and coordinates with national organizations on safety initiatives related to medical devices, electronic health records, and health IT.

esparnon@ecri.org

Article:

Risk factors for isolation of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales from normally sterile sites and urine

https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(21)00847-6/fulltext

Authors:

Mary Elizabeth Sexton MD, MSc
Christopher Bower MPH
Jesse T. Jacob MD

Marybeth Sexton, MD, MSc

Marybeth Sexton, MD, MSc is Chief Quality Officer at the Emory Clinic and ESA and is an epidemiologist at The Emory Clinic.  She also serves as an Assistant Professor within the division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University.

Office: 404-712-2349
marybeth.sexton@emory.edu

Guest: 

Valerie Vaughn, MD, MSc

Article:

Reducing Overuse of Antibiotics at Discharge Home: A Single-Center Mixed Methods Pilot Study

https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(21)00761-6/fulltext

Authors:

Daniel L. Giesler, MD, PharmD
Sarah Krein, PhD, RN
Adamo Brancaccio, PharmD
Daraoun Mashrah, PharmD
David Ratz, MS
Teial Gandhi, MD
Linda Bashaw
Jennifer Horowitz, MA
Valerie Vaughn, MD, MSc

Dr. Valerie Vaughn

Dr. Valerie Vaughn is an Assistant Professor and Director of Hospital Medicine Research at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on improving the safety of hospitalized patients by combating healthcare associated infections and reducing antibiotic overuse, particularly during transitions of care. As a practicing hospitalist, she works to understand the role hospitalists play in inappropriate antibiotic use related to common infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infection. She is the hospitalist lead for an initiative to improve antibiotic use within the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium.

Guests: 

Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS

Article:

Identifying Management Practices for Promoting Infection Prevention: Perspectives on Strategic Communication

Article Authors:

Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS
Sarah R. MacEwan, PhD
Megan Gregory, PhD
Lindsey Sova, MPH
Courtney Hebert, MD, MS
Alice A Gaughan, MS

Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS

Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS, is Associate Dean for Health Services Research, Distinguished Professor of Family and Community Medicine, and Executive Director of CATALYST, the Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research in the College of Medicine (COM) at The Ohio State University (OSU). She also holds appointments in the College of Public Health and the Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Pediatrics in COM at OSU. She has over 30 years of health services research experience during which she has been actively involved in both performing research and disseminating research results to academic and practitioner audiences. Dr. McAlearney is internationally known for her expertise in both qualitative and mixed methods analyses, and has been continuously funded for over 20 years. She has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications, 11 books/edited books and more than 100 book chapters. Dr. McAlearney has served as a grant reviewer for 18 years including for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the National Science Foundation. Dr. McAlearney currently leads a major research project focused on applying management practices to prevent transmission of healthcare-associated infections, as well as co-leading the NIH-funded Center to Stop-COVID at OSU. Her additional ongoing research focuses on addressing care disparities, information technology innovations in health care, population health management, quality improvement and organizational development. Dr. McAlearney received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Ann.McAlearney@osumc.edu
Phone: (614) 293-8973

Guests: 

Paula A. Eckardt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, AAHIVS
Rachel Guran, MPH, BSN, RN, CIC
Kelsi Canavan, MPH, MPA, CIC

Article:

Containment of a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii complex outbreak in a COVID-19 intensive care unit

Authors:

Paula Eckardt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, AAHIVS, Kelsi Canavan MPH, MPA, CIC
Rachel Guran, MPH, BSN, RN, CIC
Elizabeth George, MLS (ASCP)
Nancimae Miller, PhD, D(ABMM)
Dianeysis H. Avendano, PharmD., CPh., BCPS
Myeongji Kim, MD
Khaled Himed, MD
Karen Heidi Gonzalez Ramirez, BS

Paula A. Eckardt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, AAHIVS

Dr. Eckardt is the Chief – Division of Infectious Disease, Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Control and the Medical Director of MHS Ryan White Clinic at the Memorial Health Care System in Hollywood, Florida. She is also an Clinical Assistant professor of Medicine FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Clinical Biomedical Science FAU College of Medicine.

Rachel Guran, MPH, BSN, CIC

Rachel Guran is the Director of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention at the Memorial Healthcare System. She has worked in infection prevention and control for nine years. She is passionate about adding to the body of literature in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention, translating new research into clinical best practices, and policy creation. She is currently in the DrPH program at University of South Florida. You can see Rachel’s dedication to health promotion through her YouTube music videos on hand washing and influenza vaccination.

Amy Rachel Guran, MPH
rguran@mhs.net
561-843-9669

Kelsi Canavan, MPH, MPA, CIC

Kelsi Canavan, MPH, MPA, CIC is an Infection Preventionist at Memorial Regional Hospital. She was previously the Manager of Infection Control at Memorial Hospital Miramar. She holds a Master of Public Health and Master of Public Administration and is also CIC. She has worked in infection prevention and control for 9 years. She is passionate about sterilization, high level disinfection and working with IT to enhance surveillance software and reports that aid the Memorial Healthcare System Infection Prevention team.

Guests:

Jingjing Shang, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN

Debra Runyan, BS, MT (ASCP), CIC

Articles and Authors:

Influenza Vaccination of Home Healthcare Staff and the Impact on Patient Hospitalizations

Evaluation of an Aerosolized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection System for the Reduction of Clostridioides difficile Hospital Infection Rates Over a 10 Year Period

Authors:

Jingjing Shang, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN
Jordan Harrison, PhD
Ashley M Chastain, DrPH, MPH
Patricia W Stone, PhD, RN, FAAN, CIC
Uduwanage Gayani E. Perera, PhD, MS
Elizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAAN
Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, PhD, MPH, CIC
Andrew W Dick, PhD

Evaluation of an Aerosolized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection System for the Reduction of Clostridioides difficile Hospital Infection Rates Over a 10 Year Period https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(21)00788-4/fulltext

Authors:

Christopher L. Truitt, PhD
Debra A. Runyan, MT(ASCP), CIC
John J. Stern, MD
Carolyn Tobin
Wesley Goldwater, MBA
Rodney Madsen, MBA, MPH

Jingjing Shang, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, OCN

Dr. Jingjing Shang is a professor and health services researcher at Columbia University School of Nursing. She received multiple federal grants to study infection prevention and control in the home healthcare setting which has helped to establish critical evidence and demonstrate that infection is a significant but understudied issue in home healthcare. Dr. Shang’s team conducted the first national survey of infection prevention and control in home healthcare and examined how agency policies were associated with infection outcomes using multiple longitudinal national data. She served in the American Cancer Society peer review committee for scholarships and has been a reviewer in CDC Special Emphasis Panel in infectious diseases since 2015.

Debra Runyan, BS, MT (ASCP), CIC

Debra Runyan was the Director of Infection Prevention at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia until her retirement in May 2020. Pennsylvania Hospital, a non-profit teaching 475 bed acute care institution, is part of the Penn Medicine health system. She now works per diem for the department. She has a Medical Technology Bachelor of Science degree from Nasson College and has been certified in Infection Prevention since 1995. She served as her local APIC chapter secretary from 2004- 2005 as well as the Membership Chair from 2006-2007. She also served on Medline’s Advisory Board from 2009-2010. In 2011 Debra received the APIC Hero of Infection Prevention designation for her work in the implementation of a securement device for peripheral IVs.

Debra and her team have also won several Penn Medicine Patient Safety Awards for their work in implementing strategies to reduce VAP rates and developing an environmental room monitoring program.

In 2015, she presented her team’s strategies in reducing C. difficile to the International Congress of Epidemiology and Public Health in Puebla, Mexico. APIC abstracts include Reduction of SSI in C. section population, Use of Alcohol Impregnated Caps to Reduce BSI and Infection Prevention & Environmental Services Working Together to Reduce C. difficile. In 2017 she did an oral presentation on the use of CHG clothes and Nasal Iodine to Reduce Orthopedic Surgical Site Infections at National APIC.

Guest:   

Lisa Sturm, MPH, CIC, FAPIC  

Articles and Authors: 

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on hospital onset bloodstream infections (HOBSI) at a large health system 

Lisa K. Sturm, MPH, CIC; Karl Saake, MPH; Phil B. Roberts, BS; Frederick A. Masoudi, MD, MSPH; Mohamad G.Fakih, MD, MPH; Mohamed Adawee, MSN-IPC, CIC, CPHQ; Lauretta Ellsworth, MPH, RRT, CIC; Chaney Manarin, MPH 

Lisa Sturm, MPH, CIC, FAPIC  

Lisa Sturm has been in the field of infection prevention for almost 30 years, is certified in infection prevention and is a Fellow of APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control).  She is active at the local and national level with APIC.  She joined her APIC Chapter, then called APIC-Greater Detroit, in 1992 when she was a graduate student.  She knew then she wanted to be an “IP” when she grew up.  She is currently the Chair of APIC’s Public Policy Committee and Legislative co-chair for APIC Great Lakes Chapter. She is widely published in numerous peer reviewed journals, is the author of infection prevention chapters in books, and has presented internationally on infection prevention.  Her most recent research is centered around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), and has recent publications in Infection Control & Epidemiology (ICHE) as well as American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC).   

Lisa works at Ascension as the senior director of infection prevention. Ascension is a non-profit faith-based health system that is in 21 states with over 140 hospitals.   

There are approximately 165 IPs at Ascension that form a very tight knit group called the IP Community.   Lisa is proud to represent such an amazing group of professionals, who she feels have contributed significantly to the on-going challenges of the pandemic.   

Guests:  Mohamed Adawee, MSN-IPC, CIC, CPHQ and Sharon Kramer, PhD

Articles and Authors:

An Evaluation of Interventions to Improve Outcomes for Hospitalized Patients in Isolation

Sharon Kramer, PhD, Olumuyiwa Omonaiye, PhD, Robin Digby, PhD, Debra Berry, Julie Considine, PhD, Trisha Dunning, PhD, Alison M Hutchinson, PhD, Anastasia Hutchinson, PhD, Elizabeth Manias, PhD, Bodil Rasmussen, PhD, Tracey Bucknall, PhD

Utilizing Technology to Increase Efficiency of Infection Prevention Data Collection: Our Experience Using Electronic Medical Records for Symptom Surveillance

Mohamed Adawee, MSN-IPC, CIC, CPHQ, Lauretta Ellsworth, MPH, RRT, CIC, Chaney Manarin, MPH

Mohamed Adawee MSN-IPC, CIC, CPHQ

System Director of Infection Prevention and Epidemiology at Sparrow Health System

Mohamed Adawee is the System Director of Infection Prevention and Epidemiology at Sparrow Health System in Michigan. He has over 23 years of experience in healthcare with over 16 of those years being in infection prevention. Mr. Adawee received a master’s degree in Infection Prevention and Control and is certified in infection control (CIC) and in healthcare quality (CPHQ). He is a member of the APIC Practice Guidance Committee and uses his education and experiences to mentor infection preventionists and help them become certified in infection control. His research interests are healthcare associated infections and IP competency and development.

Sharon Kramer, PhD

Dr. Kramer is an early career researcher and postdoctoral fellow at the Centre of Quality and Patient Safety, Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University. She has a background in physiotherapy and has worked clinically in stroke rehabilitation in the Netherlands. Her research is focused on developing and testing non-pharmacological interventions to improve fitness and increase physical activity, with a strong focus on consumer engagement. She has qualitative and quantitative research experience and has extensive experience in clinical trial designs. She has worked for several years at the Dutch and Australasian Cochrane Centres supporting and teaching researchers about Cochrane Systematic Review methods.

Article:

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Health Care Workers, Communication and Policy-Making

Authors:

Stephanie M. Toth-Manikowski MD, MHS, Eric S. Swirsky JD, MA, Rupali Gandhi MD, JD, Gina Piscitello MD

Gina Piscitello MD

Rush University Medical Center

Gina Piscitello MD is an assistant professor of palliative medicine, hospital medicine, and ethics consultant at Rush University Medical Center. Her research interests involve patient, family and clinician communication, ethics education for medical trainees, health equity, and allocation of scarce medical resources.  

Article Title:

A Simulation Study to Assess Fluid Leakage Through the Glove-Gown Interface in Isolation Settings

Authors: Zafer Kahveci, PhD, F. Selcen Kilinc-Balci, PhD, Patrick L. Yorio, PhD

Selcen Kilinc-Balci, Ph.D.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL)

Selcen has been working for National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a senior research scientist for over 11 years. She received her PhD in Polymer & Fiber Engineering from Auburn University, where she also worked as a post-doctoral researcher. Before joining CDC, she worked for DuPont as an R&D engineer. She has more than 20 years of experience in PPE, clothing comfort, testing/evaluation, fibers/fabrics, and standards/regulations. She holds a US patent, has authored/coauthored two books, four book chapters, several manuscripts, and has presented webinars. She participated in the development of CDC PPE guidelines in response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic. Selcen has been a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Advisory Committee for Innovative PPE and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on PPE for COVID-19. Selcen is an editorial board member of Journal of Engineered Fibers & Fabrics for “Protective Fibers & Fabrics” and regular reviewer for various journals, like AJIC, ICHE, JOEH, and TRJ. She has worked on several projects funded by CDC, NASA, NTC, USDA, and the US Air Force. Selcen is an active member of technical committees of several organizations, including: ISO, ASTM, AAMI, NFPA, AATCC, and TAPPI where she leads and supports the developments/improvements of technical standards.

Study:

All Alone: A Qualitative Study of Home Health Aides’ Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York

Authors: Zainab Toteh Osakwe, PhD, NP, Jennel C. Osborne, PhD, MPhil, MSNEd, RN, Tonya Samuel, EdD, MSPH, Gabriella Bianco, MPH, Amarilis Céspedes, PhD, MPH, Michelle Odlum, MPH, EdD, Ana Stefancic, PhD

Zainab Toteh Osakwe, PhD, NP

Assistant Professor
Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health

Dr. Osakwe is an assistant professor at Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health. Her clinical and research career is dedicated to access and quality of care in the home healthcare setting.  Her current work focuses on home health aide information needs on patient care plans, particularly home health aides with limited-English proficiency. As a nurse researcher, she has leveraged national data sets to investigate quality of care in the home healthcare setting.  Dr. Osakwe has published widely on the topics of long-term care, health disparities, infections in the home health care setting including, COVID-19.

Zainab received her PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing at University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, and BSN at Adelphi University.

Our interviews are based on the following AJIC articles:

PPE Training and the Effectiveness of Universal Masking in Preventing Exposures: The Importance of the Relationship Between Anesthesia and Infection Prevention

Authors: Jay Sanford, DO and Jill E. Holdsworth, MS, CIC, FAPIC, NREMT, CRCST 

Capturing portable medical equipment disinfection data via an automated novel disinfection tracking system

Julie Ann Martel, BS, Piyali Chatterjee, PhD, John David Coppin, MPH, Marjory Williams, PhD, Hosoon Choi, PhD, Mark Stibich, PhD, Sarah Simmons, DrPH, Deborah Passey, PhD, Chetan Jinadatha, MD, MPH

Guests

Jill Elizabeth Holdsworth, MS, CIC, FAPIC, NREMT, CRCST 

Manager, Infection Prevention Department
Emory University Hospital Midtown

Jill obtained a Bachelor of Science from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Biology and a Master of Science from Marshall University in Exercise Science. She began her career as a cardiac rehab therapist in Huntington, WV.  Jill began working as an IP in 2009, obtained her CIC after 1 year in the field, and became a Fellow of APIC in 2016.  Jill became involved in APIC in 2009 with the DC Chapter, becoming the secretary in 2012, President-Elect in 2013 and the President in 2014.  Jill was the 2015-2016 APIC Emergency Management Committee Chairman and is currently the AAMI Protective Barriers Committee co-chair.  Jill is a certified EMT and is certified in sterile processing through IAHCSMM.  She is currently working in Atlanta, GA as the Manager of Infection Prevention at Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Jay Sanford, DO

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Chief, Division of Pre-Operative Medicine
Department of Anesthesiology
Emory University SOM

Dr. Sanford currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Perioperative Medicine within the Department of Anesthesiology in the Emory University School of Medicine. In that role, he is responsible for overseeing operations and medical decision making within the Anesthesia Preoperative Clinics at both the Emory University Hospital Main and Midtown Campuses. He also serves as the residency site director at our Midtown campus, is co-chair of the residency’s Clinical Competency Committee, and is the current ERAS lead/liaison for our department in that location.  He is also actively involved in departmental quality initiatives, research, and implementation. 

Chetan Jinadatha, MD, MPH

Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
Clinical Associate Professor, College of Medicine
Texas A & M University, Texas, USA

Dr. Chetan Jinadatha received his Medical Doctor from JJM Medical College, in India, and his Masters in Public Health from the School of Public Health, Texas A & M Health Science Center, Bryan, Texas. He completed his internship, residency and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, in Temple, Texas.

Dr. Chetan Jinadatha currently is the Chief of Infectious Diseases Section at Central Texas Veterans Health Care System in Temple, Texas.  He is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Texas A & M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX.  He has extensive experience in prevention of healthcare acquired infections (HAIs).  His clinical and research interests focus on the role of surfaces in causation of HAIs and how technology might be able to solve the problem of HAIs as well as Legionella and COVID prevention. Dr. Jinadatha has also testified as an expert witness on the use of technology for prevention of HAI in front of Science, Technology and Space Committee of the U.S. Congress in June 2014 and participated in several task forces related to Legionella prevention in the VA as well as waste water surveillance for COVID. Dr. Jinadatha has also authored chapters in the APIC textbook of Infection prevention and control and has published several manuscripts in peer reviewed journals

Our interviews are based on the following AJIC articles:

Rural Infection Preventionists’ Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From Focus Groups Conducted with Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC) Members

Infection Preventionists’ Experiences During the First Nine Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From Focus Groups Conducted with Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC) Members

Authors: Terri Rebmann, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, Rebecca T Alvino, RN, MS, CNS, CIC, Rachel L Mazzara, BS, Jessica Sandcork, BS, MPH

Guests

Terri Rebmann PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dr. Terri Rebmann is the Special Assistant to the President, Director of the Institute for Biosecurity, and a Professor of Epidemiology in the Saint Louis University College for Public Health & Social Justice. She is a PhD Nurse researcher with an emphasis in infectious disease emergency preparedness.

In addition, she is board certified in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology and an APIC Fellow. Her past work experience includes research and clinical practice with HIV/AIDS patients and hospital infection prevention and epidemiology. In her current role as Special Assistant to the President, she is responsible for helping to manage and inform Saint Louis University’s COVID-19 response. In her current position with the Institute for Biosecurity as the Director, she is responsible for managing all aspects of the Institute’s Certificate, MPH, and PhD academic programs, as well as conducting research.

Her research areas of focus include healthcare and public health professional disaster preparedness, long-term use of respiratory protection, and addressing barriers to vaccine uptake. She publishes and lectures on bioterrorism, pandemic planning, emerging infectious diseases, and infection prevention practices on a national basis. Dr. Rebmann has served on several national and international task forces and committees aimed at minimizing morbidity and mortality related to emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism threats. Examples include being a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) COVID-19 Task Force, a member of the APIC Ebola Task Force, and being a former member and Chair of the APIC Emergency Preparedness Committee.

Rebecca Alvino, RN, MS, CNS, CIC

Rebecca Alvino is the Field Unit Manager for Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention at UCSF Health, specializing in perioperative and procedural infection prevention. Originally beginning her career in public health during the early years of West Nile virus in Upstate New York, Rebecca became a surgical nurse in 2005—building the foundation for her knowledge and skills in perioperative and procedural infection prevention.

Rebecca joined UCSF Health in 2013 as an infection preventionist, and concurrently continued her work as a surgical nurse on a per diem basis until COVID-19 arrived at UCSF Health in early February 2020, when her work shifted exclusively to infection prevention and control. In addition to her work as an infection preventionist and as a surgical nurse, Rebecca periodically works as an academic coach with the University of Texas-Arlington for their RN-to-BSN program.

Rebecca graduated from the University at Albany, State University of New York with a bachelor’s degree in human biology, St. Joseph’s College of Nursing in Syracuse, New York with an associate’s degree in nursing, and the University of California, San Francisco with her master’s degree specializing in advanced public health nursing and minor in global health. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 2013, and is a member of several professional organizations, including AORN and IAHCSMM. She is the infection prevention advisor for the California Central Service Association, and an active member of APIC, where she serves as a director for the board of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter and is a member of the APIC’s Annual Conference Committee.