Fellow Research
During the two years in our program, fellows are mentored as they are encouraged to work on a research project with a paired faculty mentor to work on a specific area of interest in infectious disease, of the fellows choosing, that the mentor is an expert in to help guide, design, and complete. Fellows work closely with their mentors to prepare a hypothesis and plan the research work they’ll be doing during their training to give the fellows the tools of fundamental knowledge of scientific study, design and the ability to conduct scientific research. Fellows are encouraged to complete their research upon the end of their fellowship training, with a plan to present their work at the Infectious Diseases Society of America ID Week conference during their second year of training. A final presentation is often given by the fellow to presents their findings/conclusions to faculty and peers prior to graduating. The program’s ultimate aim is to help the fellows have their research projects publicized in reputable infectious disease journals.
Examples:
Interpreting Blood Culture Results as Early Guidance for Infective Endocarditis
Plasmodium vivax Infections among Immigrants from China Traveling to the United States
Disseminated Bartonella quintana Causing Osseous Lytic Lesions
Busting the Myth of “Static vs Cidal”: A Systemic Literature Review
Faculty Research - los angeles general medical center
Rachel Baden, MD
Dr. Baden serves as the Chief of Medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center. Her academic interests are focused on the treatment of hepatitis C in the outpatient setting, with a method to facilitate equitable access of care for eligible patients to receive such treatment. Additionally, she works closely with infectious disease trainees to teach about hepatitis C evaluation, management, and care with a goal to conduct qualitative research to describe trainee satisfaction with hepatitis C treatment during fellowship, in comparison with national training programs. She is also involved in antimicrobial stewardship research where she describes how antimicrobial stewardship, with a focus on “shorter is better” courses, is effectively implemented at Los Angeles General Medical Center.
Devin Clark, MD
Dr. Clark’s research focuses on quality improvement initiatives to optimize care for underserved patient populations and improve the management of complex infectious diseases. He is working to improve resource utilization through diagnostic stewardship of echocardiography in the evaluation of bacteremia to reduce unnecessary testing while ensuring appropriate patient care. Additional research efforts include evaluating oral antibiotic strategies for bloodstream infections, including cefadroxil for gram-positive bacteremia and fosfomycin for pyelonephritis. He also studies the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis, including clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the AMBITION protocol using single high-dose liposomal amphotericin–based induction therapy compared with conventional treatment. Clinically, he has a particular interest in non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections, where the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges underscore the importance of patient-centered communication and longitudinal care.
Kusha Davar, MD, MBA, MS
Dr. Davar is actively undergoing research within the realm of antibiotic stewardship, particularly examining the outcomes of patient care with a Safer at Home program implemented at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. He is assisting to implement and facilitate a safe transition of care to the outpatient setting for the treatment of infectious diseases with oral antibiotics, with a goal to conduct a retrospective review of the data of early transition of care to the outpatient setting for specific inpatient-managed infectious disease syndromes. Furthermore, his prior work has been focused on the outcomes of shorter durations of therapy with oral antibiotics, and particularly on the treatment of neurosyphilis and ocular syphilis with oral doxycycline as compared to traditional intravenous penicillin therapy. Lastly, Dr. Davar has an interest in medical education research and findings ways to optimize the delivery of educational materials to trainees and in team dynamics.
Sarah Freling, MD
Dr. Freling is the Associate Hospital Epidemiologist, Vice-Chair of the Infection Control Committee, and leads the monthly intradepartmental Research Meetings. She has also become the point person for the hospital and Los Angeles Department of Public Health TB Control. Her research interests center on improving infectious diseases outcomes through clinical research, quality improvement, and hospital epidemiology. She is interested in translating clinical evidence into measurable improvements in patient care, with a particular focus on diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship, and prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Her clinical research focuses on serious bacterial infections, including bacteremia, osteomyelitis, and infective endocarditis, with an emphasis on improving diagnostic strategies and optimizing antimicrobial treatment. A major area of interest is the use of oral transitional therapy as an alternative to prolonged intravenous antibiotics, with the goal of challenging traditional treatment paradigms and developing safer, more patient-centered approaches to infection management. She is also interested in utilizing hospital-level data and implementation strategies to reduce healthcare-associated infections and drive sustainable improvements in quality and patient safety.
Brad Spellberg, MD, FACP, FIDSA
Dr. Spellberg’s NIH-funded research interests are diverse, ranging from basic immunology and vaccinology, to pure clinical and outcomes research, to process improvement work related to delivery of care, focusing on safety net hospitals. Dr. Spellberg’s laboratory focuses on novel immunological and small molecule solutions to prevent and treat antimicrobial resistant infections. His lab has numerous high impact publications, that are funded across multiple lines of investigation. Ongoing projects include a first-in-class vaccine that works via Innate, Trained Immunity, rather than traditional, lymphocyte mediated adaptive immunity, and has been shown to mediate protection preclinically against Gram positive pathogens (MRSA, VRE), Gram negative pathogens (CRE, ESBL, CRAB), and fungi; a monoclonal antibody therapeutic targeting Acinetobacter baumannii; and novel small molecule approaches to combatting Gram negative bacterial infections.
Noah Wald-Dickler, MD, FACP
Dr. Wald-Dickler is Chief of the Infectious Disease Division at LA General where he also serves as Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention & Control. In addition to his clinical and teaching duties, his administrative leadership roles include chairmanship of LA General’s Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee as well as directorship of the hospital’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. He is also the former Medical Director of LA General’s Rand Schrader HIV Clinic.
With this mix of clinical and administrative experience, Dr. Wald-Dickler’s research and academic interests within the field of Infectious Disease are diverse. While at Rand Schrader, he was lead investigator of a CSF analysis sub-study of a trial investigating tesamorelin in the treatment of HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction as well as site lead for the MINMON Trial, an ACTG trial of a minimal monitoring strategy for the treatment of hepatitis C. He was co-investigator of a number of inpatient therapeutic clinical trials during the Covid-19 pandemic including mesenchymal stems cells and lenzilumab.
His current research efforts now focus on practical applications of diagnostic stewardship in hospital acquired infections (including publications on diagnostic stewardship in CAUTIs and C. difficile colitis) as well as various topics in hospital-based Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship, with a current project centered on safely shortening antibiotic duration in patients with cirrhosis and acute upper GI bleeding.
Faculty Research - Keck usc hospital
Apu Akkad, MD
Dr. Akkad’s research is focused on solid organ transplantation, prophylactic medicine and pre-transplant vaccinations. His team recently analyzed how transplant recipients responded to the COVID-19 vaccine and how it impacted their post-transplant outcomes. Dr. Akkad’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and featured at medical conferences across Southern California.
Thaidra Gaufin, MD, PhD
Dr. Gaufin’s research interests include studying novel therapeutics for bacterial and viral infections.
Neha Nanda, MD
Dr. Nanda heads Healthcare Epidemiology/Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship at Keck Medicine of USC and its affiliated hospitals and clinics. In this capacity, she leads Keck Medicine’s preparation and response for emerging infectious disease. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, she has led protocol and guideline development as it relates to patient and healthcare safety. Her research interests are geared towards infection prevention strategies and emerging pathogens. Her select publications include the impact of a multidisciplinary approach in reducing preventable harm, treatment strategies and diagnostics for C. difficile and biomarkers for appropriate antimicrobial use.
Sun Park, MD
Dr. Park’s research interests are in the epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases, especially in the field of transplant infectious diseases and fungal infections.
Rustin Zomorodi, MD, MPH
Dr. Zomorodi’s research interests include emerging infectious diseases, potential impact of climate change on microbial ecology and practical approaches to implementation of initiatives in healthcare settings.
Departmental Research Collaborations
Dr. Lucas Osborn is the Director of Microbiology at Keck Medical Center of USC and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology at Keck School of Medicine of USC. He also serves as the Associate Division Chief of Clinical Microbiology at Los Angeles General Medical Center. Dr. Osborn’s research interests include assay development, applications of machine learning in clinical microbiology, reducing the turnaround time of infectious disease diagnostics, next generation sequencing (NGS), and diagnostic stewardship. Dr. Osborn has recently published on the development of a novel NGS assay for infectious disease diagnosis, retrospective clinical utility evaluations of various diagnostic modalities including NGS, and innovative approaches to antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
Dr. Susan Butler‐Wu is the Director of Clinical Microbiology at the Los Angeles General Medical Center and Interim Director of Clinical Microbiology at the USC Keck Medical Center, in addition to an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at Keck School of Medicine of USC. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Microbiology, a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, and is active in committee work for the American Society of Microbiology and the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. Dr. Butler‐Wu’s research interests include rapid diagnostics for the detection of infections and antimicrobial resistance.
Possible fellow projects:
Alternative drugs for the treatment of multidrug resistant organisms
Laboratory diagnostics in mold infections
Diagnostic stewardship for the management of Clostridioides difficile infections
Other research areas in clinical microbiology as based on fellows’ interest