Panel: The Innovation I Need Now to Improve Sepsis Care

Steven Q. Simpson, MD is Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, where he previously served as Division Director, Director of three ICUs, Chair of the Sepsis Team, and Chair of Multidisciplinary Critical Care. He has done research in all areas of severe sepsis from molecular and cellular mechanisms, to translational studies, to quality improvement studies.

He was a founder, in 2005, of the Midwest Critical Care Collaborative, a multidisciplinary and interprofessional collaborative effort to improve the quality of critical care services throughout the Midwest. In 2007, he initiated the Kansas Sepsis Project, a statewide program to improve severe sepsis care and outcomes throughout the state via continuing education both in sepsis and in quality improvement principles, and via inter-professional collaboration. He is currently heading a BCBS-sponsored sepsis collaborative among Kansas City metro area hospitals and is a contributing faculty member of the ongoing Surviving Sepsis Campaign collaboratives, leading the effort in the Midwest. He is a participant in the 2016 review and update of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines.

Dr. Simpson was the North American co-chair of the International Single Day Point Prevalence Study for Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock (IMPRESS) in the fall of 2013. During his tenure at the University of New Mexico, he contributed to the discovery of a particular form of sepsis, the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, and published numerous papers on the clinical description, the hemodynamic description, and the approach to supportive care for patients with the syndrome, including extracorporeal hemodynamic and oxygenation support.

Dr. Simpson received his M.D. degree from the University of Kansas in 1983. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine at KU in 1986 and fellowship training in Pulmonary Diseases at Rush Medical College in 1989. He has been a faculty member at Rush Medical College, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Kansas. He is a regular reviewer for the journals Critical Care Medicine and CHEST, and he reviews on an ad hoc basis for Shock, the Journal of Intensive Care, JAMA, Virology, and Antiviral Therapy. He is the author of over 70 peer reviewed and invited manuscripts, book chapters, and web-based articles and presentations.

Dr. Simpson was the Third Eli Lilly and Company Distinguished Scholar in Critical Care Medicine, sponsored by the American College of Chest Physicians and the Chest Foundation for his work in reducing geographic disparities for severe sepsis care (the Kansas Sepsis Project). In 2013 he delivered the Roger C. Bone Memorial Lecture at the annual international meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, describing the Kansas Sepsis Project. Dr. Bone was Dr. Simpson’s early career mentor and was the progenitor of the criteria used throughout the world to recognize severe sepsis.

June M. McKoy, MD MPH JD MBA. Dr. McKoy is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Preventive Medicine, and Medical Education, anboard certified academic geriatrician, and a NIH funded health services researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Feinberg). She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Geriatric Oncology. A national expert in the field of aging, Dr. McKoy has provided her expertise to organizations and the media as it relates to multiple medical conditions, including infections in older adults. She serves as the program director for the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at Feinberg and is responsible for all aspects of geriatrics education, including the education of residents and fellows about healthcare associated infections, including sepsis, in long-term care facilities. A licensed Illinois attorney, Dr. McKoy provides pro bono legal services on the local and national levels where she often addresses issues at the intersection of law and medicine.

Dr. Cunningham received her medical degree and completed an emergency medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati. She completed the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, Women and Power, and Advanced Crisis Leadership: Innovative Strategies and Designs programs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education and the Homeland Security Executive Leadership Program at The Naval Postgraduate School & The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security. She is the 2012 recipient of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s James Keaney Leadership Award, is the co-principal investigator for the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines project, and served two terms on the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC). Dr. Cunningham was appointed to the Executive Steering Committee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate’s First Responder Resource Group and serves on multiple organizational boards including the Journal of EMS (JEMS), the Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, Eversight, the Tri-C Jazzfest, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Lisa Shieh, MD, PhD, is a clinical professor of medicine and hospitalist in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. She earned an MD from Harvard Medical School and PhD in medical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She moved to California, where she did her residency in internal medicine at Stanford Hospital and Clinics and later joined the faculty. Dr. Shieh is currently the medical director for quality in the Division of Hospital Medicine and the associate physician improvement leader in the Department of Medicine. She recently became an associate chief quality officer for Stanford HealthCare (SHC). Dr. Shieh is known for her creation of Septris, an online sepsis education game, which was the winner of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) innovation competition in 2013. She was selected as the SHM representative at the 2016 update of the Surviving Sepsis Guidelines. In 2018, her newest online game “Safety Quest: Teaching QI through Gamification” was an SHM top five innovation oral presentation. At SHC, Dr. Shieh was the inaugural winner of the SHC 2018 Excellence in Quality and Safety Award. Her interests also include mentoring and teaching learners about QI and patient safety. She is currently the medical director of QI programs for Graduate Medical Education and the faculty sponsor for Stanford’s Medical Student QI interest Group.

Nikunj Vyas, PharmD, BCPS, is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Infectious Diseases currently practicing at Jefferson Health – New Jersey. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from St. John’s University in New York City in 2012. He then went on to complete a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Atlantic Health System in Morristown, NJ and Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Residency at West Virginia University Healthcare in Morgantown, West Virginia.  

At Jefferson Health – New Jersey, Dr. Vyas oversees infectious disease pharmacotherapy and co-chairs the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee, in collaboration with Infectious Diseases service. He also serves as a preceptor and mentor to post-doctoral pharmacy residents and students from numerous pharmacy schools. Additionally, Dr. Vyas serves as a member on numerous committees including the Sepsis Committee, the Infection Control Committee, and the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, where he represents the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and the Clinical Pharmacy Department. 

Dr. Vyas is also well published in gram positive and gram-negative resistant organisms, as well as antimicrobial stewardship strategies in an inpatient setting. He has continued interest in patient quality and safety as well as clinical outcome-based research.

Dr. Vyas was awarded the Pharmacy Practitioner of the Year for the state of New Jersey in 2018 by New Jersey Health System Pharmacists. This big honor was for his dedication to Antimicrobial Stewardship and optimizing patient care. In his free time, Dr. Vyas is a sports fanatic and loves to travel and try different cuisines around the world.