Professor/Hospital Epidemiologist
Stanford University
After a long career studying the molecular and cellular basis of pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori, Legionella pneumophila, Campylobacter jejuni and other bacterial pathogens with continuous NIH grant support, and as a pioneer in the field of molecular epidemiology of hospital acquired infections, beginning several years ago, I refocused my research efforts to translational clinical research and quality improvement activies focused on healthcare epidemiology. These include a clinical research project to use WGS and phylogenetic analysis to characterize C. difficile strains among immunocompromised patients at Stanford and to investigate hospital transmission. A former fellow and I recently addressed the impact of new method developed by our clinical microbiology laboratory director to detect and report the impact of new diagnostic method on the treatment of C. difficile infections among patients. Currently, I am the principle investigator of a quality improvement study on the impact of a new device to lower or eliminate blood culture contamination