Category: Faculty and Staff
Blood culture contamination–it’s a big deal
Blood cultures are a key diagnostic test to detect bacteremia and appropriately treat patients with sepsis and are performed approximately 30 million times in the United States yearly. Unfortunately, contamination of blood cultures occurs in the 0.5% to 5% of samples (approximately 25% of positive blood cultures are due to contamination) which leads to inappropriate […]
Jan 21, 2020
Farewell 2019…another year of growth for UNMCID
2019 continued the theme of growth for our Division of Infectious Diseases. We have added several new faculty to our group (and still actively hiring), continued to redesign the College of Medicine Infectious Diseases curriculum, established a new Community Infectious Diseases service line, expanded our social media presence, joined and led multiple national Infectious Diseases […]
Dec 30, 2019
Evaluating Next-Generation Melioidosis Diagnostics
In addition to being one of our ID physicians, Dr. James Lawler serves as the Director or International Programs and Innovation at the Global Center for Health Security, a center that will focus on training federal personnel to manage highly infectious diseases, and Director of Clinical and Biodefense Research at the National Strategic Research Institute. His interest in […]
Dec 23, 2019
PharmToExamTable: What do we know about Etravirine for HIV?
Recently, several of our HIV pharmacist colleagues in our Division of Infectious Diseases at UNMC/Nebraska Medicine, published an invited review in Clinical Pharmacokinetics entitled: Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Etravirine: An Updated Review. The first author, Dr. Josh Havens PharmD, wrote this summary describing the review article. What prompted the review? This was an invited […]
Dec 17, 2019
Following up on pharmacist-led HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis
Earlier this year we featured a study by UNMC ID Drs. Sara Bares and Susan Swindells: “Midwest pharmacists’ familiarity, experience, and willingness to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV.” We’re excited to share an update on their work building inter-professional relationships to increase PrEP education and use in Nebraska that was recently published in Open Forum […]
Dec 6, 2019
This time of year is a time for reflection, gratitude, and appreciation of the blessings we have, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share our thanks from all of us at UNMC ID. We want to thank all of our blog subscribers, those who forward our blog on to others, and all of […]
Nov 28, 2019
#BeAntibioticsAware in the Community Hospital Setting
Bellevue Medical Center (BMC) is a community hospital campus of Nebraska Medicine. In 2017, our Nebraska Medicine Antimicrobial Stewardship Program expanded to include BMC with the expansion of our ASP expertise at our main campus. Danny Schroeder, a pharmacist at BMC, was recruited to lead the stewardship activities on that campus, with expertise provided by […]
Nov 20, 2019
Antibiotic Awareness Week Is Coming! How Will YOU Raise Awareness??
CDC has designated November 18-22, 2019 as US Antibiotic Awareness Week! We are joining the CDC and many organizations around the world recognizing and promoting awareness for appropriate antibiotic use. During #AntibioticAwarenessWeek, collaborative blog posts from UNMC ID/ASP and Nebraska ASAP will be published between November 18 and 22. Check out these videos supporting the Antibiotic […]
Nov 17, 2019
Are you ever involved with prescribing antibiotics in the hospital? We want to hear from you!
The Nebraska Medicine Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) invites you to participate in a research survey entitled: Use of Oral Antibiotic Therapy (OAT) for Definitive Treatment of Uncomplicated Bloodstream Infections (uBSIs): Opportunities for Antimicrobial Stewardship. There are several studies describing successful use of oral antibiotics to treat bloodstream infections, but are clinicians actually using oral antibiotics […]
Nov 14, 2019
UNMC Global Center for Health Security opens new National Quarantine Center
The UNMC Global Center for Health Security (GCHS) has expanded its capability and national role in quarantine care through the establishment of a 20-bed quarantine unit located within the Davis Global Center for Advanced Inter-professional Learning. The National Quarantine Center, funded in October 2016 by a $20 million dollar award from the Assistant Secretary of […]
Nov 12, 2019
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