Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
University of Colorado/Children's Hospital Colorado
Sarah K. Parker, MD, is Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship at University of Colorado School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital Colorado. As a clinician, Dr. Parker is recognized as one of Denver’s “Best Doctors” multiple years in a row, and she is Children’s Hospital’s first named “Provider of the Month”. Her team won the “Excellence in Quality and Patient Safety Award” in 2015 for the unique design and proven effectiveness of the CHCO stewardship program, "Handshake Stewardship", now considered a best practice by The Joint Commission and included in the CDC core stewardship elements. In addition to work on antimicrobial stewardship, the unique design of this program leads to multiple interdisciplinary collaborations related to antimicrobial use.
Her interest in Pediatric Infectious Diseases stems from 14 months spent between high school and college working in an orphanage in Costa Rica during the Nicaraguan civil war. From there she went to University of Colorado intending to become a nutritionist, but realized her desire for understanding human disease required a broader education. Graduating Summa Cum Laude in Spanish literature, she proceeded to Vanderbilt Medical School, where she received the prestigious David Freedy Memorial Award. From her days in Costa Rica, both Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases were consistent interests. She completed residency and fellowship at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and remained as faculty with a K08 award focusing on mycobacteria, moving her focus to stewardship in 2011.
Her particular interests are antimicrobial stewardship, pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials in pediatrics, musculoskeletal infections, process improvement and quality.
In addition to time with her family, Dr. Parker enjoys spending time hiking, travelling, cooking and fly fishing.