Superbugged: A Personal Perspective (CE Session)
Description:
Date/Time: April 10, 2024 | 12:30 - 1:00 pm ET
In this insightful session, the presenters will provide attendees with a formal examination of the pressing issue of superbugs, framed within a deeply personal narrative. The intricate world of infectious diseases, focusing on the notorious ESKAPE pathogens and their alarming implications will be explored, in addition to the nuances of Acinetobacter baummanii, a highly virulent bacterial pathogen.
The foundational principles of phage therapy, a promising frontier in the battle against sepsis caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, will be discussed, empowering participants to grasp the intricacies of superbugs and their potential therapeutic interventions.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner should be able to:
- Describe the ESKAPE pathogens;
- Identify why Acinetobacter baumannii is a particularly virulent bacterial pathogen;
- List the basic principles behind phage therapy for combatting 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.
Steffanie Strathdee, PhD
Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences
UCSD Department of Medicine
Steffanie Strathdee, Ph.D. is an infectious disease epidemiologist. She is Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences and Harold Simon Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego, where she now codirects the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH). In 2016, Dr. Strathdee and colleagues were credited with saving her husband’s life from a deadly superbug infection using bacteriophages –viruses that attack bacteria. The case, which involved cooperation from three universities, the U.S. Navy, and researchers across the globe, shows how phage therapy can potentially treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections expected to kill 10 million people per year by 2050. Dr. Strathdee and her husband co-authored their memoir called The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug. For her efforts to revitalize phage therapy in the West, she was named one of TIME magazine’s Most Influential People in Health Care in 2018.
Thomas Patterson, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
University of California, San Diego
Thomas L. Patterson, Ph.D. obtained his AB from San Diego State University, his MSc from the University of Georgia, and his PhD from UC Riverside. He is an evolutionary sociobiologist and an experimental psychologist. Now a Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, he has renowned expertise on behavioral interventions among HIV-positive persons and those at high risk of acquiring HIV and sexually transmitted infections.
Dr. Patterson and Dr. Strathdee have worked as husband-and-wife AIDS researchers on the Mexico-US border for over a decade. Their work inspired Jon Cohen’s book: Tomorrow Is a Long Time.