Compiling Observational Research During a Pandemic: A Necessary Bridge.

My research is focused on optimizing the use of antimicrobials and preventing healthcare-associated infections via interventions made by antimicrobial stewardship programs in acute care hospitals. I aim to develop, implement, and evaluate the utility of outcomes important in assessing the success of hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs, which will then serve as a means to optimize program development. I am also an active clinician with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. I am uniquely positioned to study antimicrobial stewardship program optimization in my role as Co-director for Research of the Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Network. This network’s mission is to develop practical approaches and support for implementation of antimicrobial stewardship in the community hospital setting, which includes outcomes assessments that utilize benchmarking to network data. This network is made up of >30 community hospitals which share a common data infrastructure, access to comparative antimicrobial use data, consultation with Duke liaison pharmacists and physicians, and educational materials. In addition, I serve as medical director of the Duke University Hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship and Evaluation Team (ASET) and actively practice front-line stewardship at my home institution.