Select any of the links below to read a short description of the various research and clinical units within the Division of Infectious Diseases, or to be taken to the biography page of a particular faculty member.
Epidemiology Unit
The Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit is a bi-departmental unit within the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh. The mission of the Unit is research, teaching and service in infectious diseases epidemiology. The main research focus of the Unit is the epidemiology and prevention of vaccine preventable and drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, the molecular epidemiology of community-acquired and nosocomial infections, and the epidemiology and prevention of HIV infection in Brazil. The Public Health Infectious Diseases Laboratory supports the Unit's research. The Unit is directed by Dr. Lee Harrison.
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HIV-AIDS Unit
This Unit conducts clinical trials of antiretroviral therapies and therapeutic HIV-1 vaccines. In FY2000, the Unit competed successfully to become part of the NIH-funded AIDS Clinical Trials Group. The main focus of the Pittsburgh AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU) is to develop effective treatment strategies for patients in whom currently approved therapies have failed to control HIV-1 replication. Several new treatment protocols have been developed by the Pittsburgh ACTU and will be implemented this year at ACTUs nationwide. The Unit is directed by Dr. Deborah McMahon.
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UPMC Infection Control Unit
The goal of the Infection Control Unit is to identify and reduce the risks of acquiring and transmitting infections among patients, employees, physicians, and other licensed independent practitioners, contract service workers, volunteers, students, and visitors. This plan applies to all UPMC-Presbyterian programs located at the hospitals, which include but are not limited to, Presbyterian University Hospital, Montefiore University Hospital, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and the Transitional Care Unit, as well as hospital-based off-site facilities.
Surveillance, Prevention and Control Programs:
Infection surveillance is performed to determine the frequency and types of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections seen at UPMC, to identify clusters of infections or single infections of epidemiological significance, and to identify community-acquired communicable diseases that are required to be reported to the Allegheny County Health Department, or which merit special attention regarding isolation or precaution procedures and/or notification of hospital staff.
Prevention and control programs are in place to minimize the risk of acquisition of infections such as device-related infections, surgical-site infections, aspergillus, legionella, CJD, tuberculosis, and drug-resistant organisms. The Infection Control Department works closely with Employee Health to minimize the risk of transmission of infection between patients and healthcare workers. The department is also an active advocate of patient and healthcare worker safety and programs are in place to assess and evaluate safety devices for use by staff. The Unit is directed by Dr. Carlene Muto.
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Viral Diseases Unit
The Viral Diseases Unit is dedicated to fundamental and translational research into the molecular mechanisms of virus replication, antiviral drug action and antiviral drug resistance, primarily as applied to HIV. The Unit's faculty uses a multi-disciplinary approach including biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology and molecular genetics with the goal of identifying new therapeutics and therapeutic strategies, including vaccines and microbicides, for the treatment and prevention of viral disease. The Unit is directed by Dr. John Mellors and Dr. Michael Parniak.
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Antibiotic Management Unit
The Antibiotic Management Program is a joint initiative of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics. The program is staffed by David Paterson MD, Brian Potoski PharmD and Blair Capitano PharmD. Fellows of the Division of Infectious Diseases assist after hours. The Antibiotic Management Program is responsible for limiting the initial prescription of suboptimal antibiotic therapy. This is achieved by an aggressive telephone approval service. Additionally, the Antibiotic Management Program, in collaboration with the Department of Critical Care Medicine, has introduced a number of “order sets”, in order to protocolize appropriate empiric antibiotic therapy for critically ill patients. The Antibiotic Management Program also aids in streamlining antibiotic therapy, and curtailing excessively prolonged therapy. Within 18 months of the introduction of this program, an improvement in antibiotic susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. was observed, while at the same time decreasing cost of antibiotic expenditure.
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Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases Unit
The Transplantation Infectious Diseases Unit is involved in the study of infectious complications in recipients of organ transplants. The Unit provides Infectious Diseases consultations to the transplant surgeons in the various solid organ disciplines at UPMC-Presbyterian.
UPMC Health System provides both cardiothoracic and abdominal transplantation. These include heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, small bowel, and multi-visceral transplant operations. The Unit provides advice not only for transplant recipients but also to transplant candidates before their operation. Although, in general, the transplant recipients have common infectious disease complications, each transplant population has also unique infectious disease problems. Therefore, physicians seeing these patients have a unique opportunity to obtain experience in various aspects of this fascinating branch of Infectious Diseases.
The Infectious Disease Division in collaboration with the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute is offering training to Infectious Disease specialists interested in experience in this field. The Unit is directed by Dr. David Paterson.
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Surgical Infectious Diseases Unit
The surgical infectious diseases unit was designed to provide expertise in complicated surgical infections and continuity of care for patients requiring long-term follow-up. The focus is on patients with neurosurgical, orthopedic, and ENT infections. The Unit is directed by Dr. Karin Byers.
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Geriatric Infectious Diseases Unit
The research interests of the Geriatric ID Unit emphasize the epidemiology, microbiology, treatment, and outcomes of infections affecting older adults. Specific areas of interest include infections acquired in long-term care facilities, nosocomial infections, and multiply antibiotic resistant organisms. A major site of patient care and clinical research is the H.J. Heinz Progressive Care Center (formerly known as the Aspinwall VAMC), part of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. This 300 bed long-term care facility has full-time infection control personnel, and is supported by a modern clinical microbiology laboratory and microbiology research laboratory. The Unit is directed by Dr. Robert Muder.
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Special Pathogens Unit
The Special Pathogens Laboratory at the VA Medical Center in Pittsburgh is an internationally recognized center for clinical and environmental studies on Legionnaires' Disease and other waterborne pathogens. These studies include evaluations of new clinical diagnostic tests and therapies, as well as evaluations of new methods of environmental detection and disinfection. The results of these studies are the basis of national and international guidelines for prevention of Legionnaires' Disease.
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