Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Sarah K. Parker, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology. She is Medical Director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship program at Children’s Hospital Colorado and innovated “Handshake Stewardship,” considered a leading stewardship methodology by The Joint Commission and CDC. She graduated summa cum laude in Spanish literature from the University of Colorado and obtained her medical degree at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency and Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellowship at the University of Colorado. Dr. Parker’s research interests include judicious use of antimicrobials in pediatric patients, methods of antimicrobial stewardship, antimicrobial dosing in pediatrics, and quality improvement. She won The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America award for Stewardship in 2024, and is past chair for pediatrics for IDWeek. Dr. Parker has more than 75 peer-reviewed publications, and she mentors trainees at all levels. She and the stewardship team work closely with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to improve antibiotic use statewide, and they have recently launched a mobile app (Firstline, CHCO) towards that purpose.
In addition to time with her family, Dr. Parker enjoys spending time hiking, travelling, cooking and fly fishing.