This year’s program features forward‑looking presentations from clinicians, researchers, innovators, patient advocates, and national leaders who are shaping the future of sepsis care.
Healthcare professionals can earn free AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ or RN CE credits through engaging, practice-focused sessions that explore the latest science, technologies, and system‑level strategies driving improvement in sepsis outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this event, the learner should be able to:
Differentiate current sepsis definitions, diagnostic tools, and clinical criteria across diverse populations, including pediatric and hospital-acquired cases;
Describe evidence-based strategies that strengthen early recognition, timely intervention, antimicrobial stewardship, and post-discharge monitoring to improve outcomes;
List system-level drivers of quality improvement, such as SEP-1, CDI, HVBP, certification pathways, and collaborative models which can be developed into sustainable sepsis care programs;
Evaluate innovative tools, including artificial intelligence, advanced diagnostics, and media-based education, to enhance personalized sepsis management;
Apply trauma-informed approaches that address the experiences of co-survivors and foster healthcare environments that support patients, families, and providers.
Accreditation Statements
Sepsis Alliance is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Sepsis Alliance designates this live activity for a maximum of 7.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP17068 for 9.2 contact hours.
Other healthcare professionals will receive a certificate of attendance for 7.25 contact hours.
Financial Relationship Disclosures:
All individuals in control of content disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Medical Disclaimer
The information on or available through this site is intended for educational purposes only. Sepsis Alliance does not represent or guarantee that information on or available through this site is applicable to any specific patient’s care or treatment. The educational content on or available through this site does not constitute medical advice from a physician and is not to be used as a substitute for treatment or advice from a practicing physician or other healthcare professional. Sepsis Alliance recommends users consult their physician or healthcare professional regarding any questions about whether the information on or available through this site might apply to their individual treatment or care.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
During these opening remarks, Maxine Tatlonghari, a sepsis survivor, will share her personal experience with sepsis and how she uses stories and connections to support other sepsis survivors.
Following Opening Remarks, this keynote offers a national perspective on advancing sepsis care through shared standards, organizational commitment, and continuous quality improvement. Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at The Joint Commission, will share how healthcare organizations can use accreditation and certification frameworks to strengthen sepsis programs, promote consistent practices, and support safer, higher-quality care. Attendees will gain insight into The Joint Commission’s approach to sepsis certification and the opportunities it creates for interdisciplinary teams to evaluate performance, address gaps, and work collectively toward better patient outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the session, the learner should be able to:
Describe how The Joint Commission accredits and certifies healthcare safety and quality.
List the elements of The Joint Commission sepsis certification.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Maxine Tatlonghari
Sepsis Survivor and Advocate
Maxine Tatlonghari is a Los Angeles-based development and marketing executive, writer, and speaker with 25+ years of impact raising critical funds and telling powerful stories for national health organizations. In July 2025, Maxine survived sepsis and multiple organ failure, including a month-long coma, followed by months of recovery and rehabilitation. She writes and speaks publicly about her experience — not as a cautionary tale, but as a firsthand account of what survival actually asks of a patient, a body, and the people who show up for you.
Maxine is the founder of Kintsugi Diaries, a growing Substack, where fellow survivors and people connect through long-form writing and shared story, named for the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold. She's carried this philosophy since living in Tokyo, shaping how she thinks about recovery itself. She brings the same instinct for story and connection to today's event, helping healthcare professionals see sepsis survival through the eyes of the person who lived it.
Arjun Srinivasan, MD
Deputy Chief Medical Officer
The Joint Commission Enterprise
Arjun Srinivasan, MD, is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at The Joint Commission Enterprise. In this role, Dr. Srinivasan supports the organization’s mission to advance healthcare quality and patient safety worldwide, bringing deep expertise in infectious diseases, outbreak response, antimicrobial resistance, and hospital improvement initiatives.
Dr. Srinivasan previously spent 22 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, where he led national efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections and advance antimicrobial stewardship. His leadership played a central role in establishing antibiotic stewardship programs across U.S. hospitals.
Before joining the CDC, Dr. Srinivasan served on the faculty at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was the Associate Hospital Epidemiologist and the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Stewardship Program.
A board-certified infectious diseases physician, Dr. Srinivasan is an adjunct faculty member in the Infectious Diseases Division at Emory University. He has authored more than 150 peer‑reviewed publications and is recognized nationally for his contributions to improving infection prevention and responsible antibiotic use.
Dr. Srinivasan earned his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and his medical degree from Vanderbilt University. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
During these opening remarks, Sepsis Alliance will introduce this year’s 2026 Erin Kay Flatley Spirit Award Winner. Attendees will hear remarks from both Dr. Carl Flatley, the founder of Sepsis Alliance, and our 2026 award recipient. The Erin Kay Flatley Spirit Award recognizes outstanding dedication, sacrifice, and contribution to improving sepsis awareness and reducing the suffering caused by sepsis. The award was named for Dr. Flatley’s daughter, Erin, who died from sepsis in 2002.
Following Opening Remarks, this keynote, Lessons from Sepsis History, will trace the evolution of sepsis from antiquity to modern medicine, exploring how historical concepts have shaped current understanding and care. Participants will examine sepsis as a complex syndrome influenced by uncertainty, quality improvement movements, and modern approaches to recognition and treatment. The session will also highlight key drivers of today’s sepsis burden, including antimicrobial resistance, health inequities, and healthcare system challenges.
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Appreciate how the early historical framing of sepsis as “blood poisoning,” and subsequent definitional paradigms, have shaped, and at times constrained, our current understanding of the syndrome;
Recognize sepsis as a problem of complexity and identify key drivers of sepsis incidence and mortality, such as antimicrobial resistance, systemic faultlines within healthcare, and social determinants of health;
Connect current paradigms of prevention, early recognition, and structured care with the broader quality improvement efforts of the twenty-first century.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Carl Flatley, DDS, MSD
Founder
Sepsis Alliance
On April 30, 2002, Carl Flatley’s life changed. It was the day his daughter, Erin, died from septic shock, something Carl Flatley, DDS, MSD, a retired endodontist, had never heard of. After Erin’s death, Dr. Flatley learned everything he could about sepsis, and was astounded by what he – and millions of other Americans – didn’t know about the condition. He was shocked to learn that, at the time, sepsis killed well over 200,000 people in the U.S. every year and even survivors were often left with serious after-effects. In 2004, Dr. Flatley founded the American Sepsis Alliance, which became Sepsis Alliance in 2007. It became his mission to make sepsis as well-known as cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses. His catchphrase became “So More Survive,” encapsulating his commitment to seeing fewer lives and limbs lost to sepsis. This unending devotion to Erin’s memory has had a significant impact on many people.
Shelby Hoffman, CRAT, LNA
Shelby Hoffman, CRAT, LNA, Sunshine Award Winner, has always been described as someone with a big heart. Her passion for caring for other people and animals started at a young age. Riding horses since she was 6 years old helped build a strong foundation of inner strength, courage and natural empathy. When she was 16, her dad was diagnosed with cancer, underwent a lobectomy, and began intense chemotherapy. She was by his side throughout all these life events, which started her on the path to healthcare. She originally went to school for a degree in equine science, then changed paths to become a Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) to better understand how things worked in a hospital before pursuing a different degree. That later led to her becoming a Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA).
While working on cardiac floors in many different hospitals, she was gradually taught how to read and interpret heart rhythms, officially making the jump to being a monitor tech in 2020 and becoming a Certified Rhythm Analysis Technician (CRAT) in 2026, and is currently working toward her BS in Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University. Her dad passed when she was 21 of septic shock, which fueled her passion for sepsis awareness and increased her dedication to patient safety.
Today as her 30th birthday approaches, she still rides, owns, and shows horses, having recently won awards at the 2026 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show with her horse Kaneki. His name came from the nerdier things she enjoys, like gaming, anime, manga, and collecting Pokémon cards.
Parsa Shahinpoor, MD
Hospitalist and Quality Improvement Leader
Northwest Permanente PC
Parsa Shahinpoor, MD, is a frontline hospitalist, teaching physician, and quality improvement leader at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, where he has spent nearly two decades advancing sepsis care–, a role that has connected him with experts around the world. He completed his medical training at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where he served as an assistant professor of medicine and directed the internal medicine medical student clerkship. He is the author of Blood Poison: The Untold Story of Sepsis (Amplify Publishing, July 2026), available at BloodPoison.com. Blending science, history, and narrative, he writes to make one of medicine's most urgent challenges vivid and accessible, bringing to life the patients and families whose stories illuminate the human cost of sepsis. Outside of medicine, Dr. Shahinpoor is passionate about playing and composing classical and modern piano. He also enjoys mountaineering, windsurfing, and stand-up paddleboarding in the Pacific Northwest.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Refractory septic shock remains one of the most challenging conditions encountered in critical care, with high mortality despite advances in sepsis management. As patients fail to respond to conventional resuscitation and vasopressor strategies, clinicians are increasingly faced with complex decisions regarding the selection, sequencing, and escalation of vasoactive therapies. This session will provide an evidence-based review of current pharmacologic approaches to refractory septic shock, including emerging vasoactive agents and evolving treatment paradigms. Attendees will examine recent clinical data, evaluate the strengths and limitations of available therapies, and explore future directions that may shape the next generation of septic shock management.
Session Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Review pharmacologic options for management of refractory septic shock;
Evaluate recent literature examining pharmacologic therapies for refractory septic shock.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Susan E. Smith, PharmD, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP
Associate Professor
University of Georgia College of Pharmacy
Susan E. Smith, PharmD, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP, is an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, where she is a founding member and Chair of the University of Georgia Critical Care Collaborative (UGAC3) and Director of the Post-Doctoral Academic Fellowship in Critical Care program. She is a co-author of the book "InteGREAT: A Guidebook for Creating Great Healthcare Teams," a robust research program dually focused on hemodynamic management of sepsis and optimizing team-based care in the ICU. She is also an author on the 2026 SCCM/ESICM consensus statement on the Clinical Criteria for the Definition of Refractory Septic Shock.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Sepsis diagnostic tools are often evaluated according to clinical performance, speed, and mortality outcomes. Yet, these measures may not capture the full impact of delayed, missed, or uncertain diagnoses on patients and families. This session brings the patient perspective into conversations about diagnostic value, examining how real-world experiences can reveal overlooked consequences and priorities across the care journey. Attendees will consider how partnering with patients and caregivers can produce more relevant evidence and support diagnostic innovations that improve care in ways that are meaningful to those directly affected by sepsis.
Session Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Describe how patient and caregiver experience data can identify gaps in the sepsis diagnostic journey and inform more patient-centered approaches to evaluating the clinical utility of sepsis diagnostic tools.
Explain why outcomes that matter to sepsis survivors and caregivers extend beyond mortality, and how incorporating these patient-centered outcomes can strengthen assessment of diagnostic protocols.
Restate strategies for meaningfully engaging patients and caregivers as research partners to generate evidence that improves the earlier use of and evaluation of sepsis diagnostics.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Suz Schrandt, JD
Founder and CEO
ExPPect
Suz Schrandt, JD is a patient and patient engagement activist with a health and disability law and policy background. She is Founder and CEO of ExPPect, a patient engagement “do-tank”, and previously served in engagement leadership roles at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Arthritis Foundation, and the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Her career spans work in health reform, bioethics, disability rights, and ongoing efforts in patient-led health professions education. Schrandt has served on the FDA’s Patient Engagement Advisory Committee, the Geneva Foundation for Military Research’s Scientific Advisory Board, the Innovation and Value Initiative’s Board of Directors, the National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Committee, and as chair for the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Global Patient Council. Schrandt received her law degree from the University of Kansas and has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed articles on health policy and the value of patient engagement.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
This session focuses on practical knowledge and clinical reasoning skills that new graduate nurses need for recognizing and responding to sepsis early. Participants will be able to connect the “why” behind common sepsis interventions, including cultures, antibiotics, fluid resuscitation, reassessment, and escalation, with the nurse’s role at the bedside. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing subtle changes in patient condition, anticipating time-sensitive interventions, communicating concerns, and mobilizing the appropriate resources to help prevent progression of sepsis and clinical deterioration.
Session Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Recognize clinical findings and changes in patient condition that may indicate sepsis or evolving clinical deterioration;
Explain the clinical rationale for time-sensitive sepsis interventions, including obtaining cultures, administering antimicrobials and fluids, reassessing response to treatment, and escalating care;
Identify nursing priorities and potential next steps in the care of a patient with suspected or confirmed sepsis;
Apply structured communication and escalation strategies to communicate concerns and mobilize appropriate resources for patients with suspected sepsis or worsening clinical status.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Stephanie Griffeth, MSN, RN, CCRN-K
Co-Founder
Confident Nurse Academy
Stephanie Griffeth, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, is an award-winning nurse educator and co-founder of Confident Nurse Academy, a clinical-readiness program designed to accelerate the transition from graduation to bedside practice by teaching the highest-leverage clinical skills first. Her clinical and educational experience spans medical-surgical nursing, intensive care, PACU, university nursing education, NCLEX preparation, curriculum development, and system-level clinical education. She has taught thousands of nurses and developed programs focused on critical care, hemodynamics, sepsis, and evidence-based practice. Stephanie is passionate about transforming complex clinical concepts into clear, practical bedside frameworks that help nurses recognize deterioration sooner, think critically under pressure, communicate concerns effectively, and deliver safer patient care.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Early recognition and timely treatment remain foundational to improving outcomes for patients with sepsis. This session will examine the relationship between prompt administration of antibiotics and fluid resuscitation and key hospital outcomes, with a particular focus on discharge disposition. Participants will review current evidence demonstrating how early sepsis management influences recovery trajectories and increases the likelihood of patients being discharged home rather than to post-acute care facilities. This session will also explore the clinical implications of timely, evidence-based interventions and their role in optimizing patient outcomes across healthcare settings.
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Describe hospital outcomes associated with sepsis, including discharge disposition;
Explain the impact of early antibiotic administration and fluid resuscitation on hospital outcomes for patients with sepsis.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Hallie Prescott, MD, MSc
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Critical Care
University of Michigan
Hallie Prescott, MD, MSc, is a Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care within Michigan Medicine and a Staff Physician at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She is the physician lead on the HMS Sepsis and Mi-COVID19 Initiatives. Hallie completed medical school, residency, and chief residency at Ohio State University, and fellowship and Masters in Health Services Research at the University of Michigan. She is interested in sepsis, performance measurement, and long-term outcomes after critical illness. She serves as Co-Chair of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines, as a council member of the International Sepsis Forum, and on the advisory board of Sepsis Alliance.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Sepsis is a time-sensitive clinical challenge in which timely recognition, evidence-based treatment, and reliable implementation of best practices can have a meaningful impact on patient outcomes. Quality improvement (QI) efforts play an important role in improving sepsis recognition and care processes, yet translating evidence-based practices into consistent, routine care can be challenging. Implementation science offers an additional set of tools to understand and address the factors that influence whether evidence-based practices are adopted, implemented, and sustained.
This session introduces implementation science as a complement to traditional quality improvement and explores how these approaches can work together to strengthen efforts to improve sepsis care and other areas of clinical practice. Participants will learn foundational concepts in implementation science, including determinants, implementation strategies, and implementation outcomes. The session will distinguish the purposes and applications of quality improvement and implementation science methodologies and introduce the use of a determinants framework to systematically identify barriers and facilitators affecting the adoption and uptake of an evidence-based practice.
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
Define implementation science, determinants, strategies, and outcomes;
Compare the purposes of quality improvement and implementation science methodologies;
Describe the use of a determinants framework to identify barriers and facilitators affecting the adoption and uptake of an evidence-based practice.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Adam Thompson, MPH
Practice Facilitator
Plain Speak Consulting Inc.
Adam Thompson, MPH holds an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Theology, a master’s degree in public health from the Jefferson College of Population Health, and a certificate in Practice Facilitation from the University of Buffalo. Adam has served as a coach and faculty on state and national quality improvement learning collaboratives and facilitates multiple regional practice transformation networks supporting Ryan White HIV/AIDS Programs, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Tribal Health Centers. Adam has co-developed and facilitated multiple curricula aimed at improving patient engagement in quality improvement activities, increasing the use of practice facilitation methods amongst capacity-building providers, and increasing the adoption and uptake of implementation science research methods into practice-based settings for both national and international audiences.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) remain a significant cause of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization among infants and children worldwide. Because pediatric patients can deteriorate rapidly, timely pathogen identification is critical for guiding effective antimicrobial therapy and improving outcomes. Although blood cultures remain the diagnostic gold standard, conventional microbiologic methods often require 24 to 72 hours to provide definitive organism identification and antimicrobial susceptibility results, delaying targeted treatment decisions. Rapid diagnostic technologies that test directly from positive blood cultures can identify pathogens and key resistance markers within hours, enabling earlier optimization of antimicrobial therapy. When paired with prompt communication and antimicrobial stewardship interventions, these tools have the potential to accelerate clinical decision-making, reduce unnecessary antibiotic exposure, shorten hospital stays, decrease healthcare costs, and ultimately improve survival and recovery in pediatric patients.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Session Supporter:
Sepsis Alliance gratefully acknowledges the support of this session provided by Diasorin.
James J. Dunn, Ph.D., D(ABMM), MT(ASCP)
Professor of Pathology & Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine
James J. Dunn, Ph.D., D(ABMM), is a nationally recognized clinical microbiologist, educator, and laboratory leader with more than 25 years of experience in infectious disease diagnostics, molecular microbiology, and pediatric laboratory medicine. He currently serves as Professor of Pathology & Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine and Medical Director of the Microbiology and Virology Laboratories at Texas Children’s Hospital, where he oversees advanced diagnostic testing and laboratory innovation. Board-certified in Medical Microbiology, Dr. Dunn has led numerous industry-sponsored clinical studies evaluating cutting-edge molecular diagnostic technologies, authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications, contributed chapters to leading microbiology and infectious disease textbooks, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. A respected educator and mentor, he founded Baylor’s accredited Medical and Public Health Postdoctoral Microbiology Fellowship and has trained numerous clinical microbiology fellows who now hold leadership positions across the United States. His contributions to laboratory medicine, research, education, and healthcare quality have earned multiple awards, including Baylor College of Medicine’s Faculty Excellence Award and Texas Children’s Hospital’s COVID-19 Hero Award.
This session was part of Sepsis Alliance Summit 2026
Septic shock remains a leading cause of mortality in critically ill patients, with limited therapeutic options beyond supportive care. This sponsored session will review emerging blood purification strategies designed to target the pathophysiologic drivers of sepsis, with a focus on endotoxin removal and extracorporeal therapies. Using the recently published TIGRIS trial as a guide, Dr. Javier Neyra will examine the rationale for polymyxin B hemoadsorption in patients with endotoxic septic shock, key efficacy and safety findings, and the implications for precision medicine approaches in sepsis care.
Target Audience:
Nurses, advanced practice providers, physicians, emergency responders, pharmacists, medical technologists, respiratory therapists, physical/occupational therapists, infection prevention specialists, data/quality specialists, and more.
Session Supporter:
Sepsis Alliance gratefully acknowledges the support of this session provided by Vantive.
Javier Neyra, MD, MSCS
Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Javier Neyra, MD, MSCS, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he serves as Associate Director of the UAB Nephrology Research and Training Center and Co-Director of the Critical Care Nephrology Program. He is an internationally recognized expert in critical care nephrology, acute kidney injury, renal replacement therapies, and extracorporeal blood purification technologies.
Dr. Neyra earned his medical degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, completed his Internal Medicine residency at Henry Ford Hospital, and pursued fellowship training in Nephrology and Clinical Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he also earned a Master of Science in Clinical Sciences.
His research focuses on improving outcomes for critically ill patients through innovative approaches to organ support, precision medicine, and blood purification therapies. Dr. Neyra served as a lead investigator of the TIGRIS trial, a landmark study evaluating polymyxin B hemoadsorption for endotoxic septic shock, and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in critical care and nephrology.
Recorded On: 09/17/2026
