Fellow Research
During the two years in our program, fellows are mentored as they 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:
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. Additionally, she is 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 efforts focus on quality improvement interventions to optimize care of our underserved patient population. He is involved in spearheading a multi-disciplinary endocarditis team to discuss complex cases with multiple specialists to ensure patient’s receive the best possible care, including social and addiction support where appropriate. He has also working to improve resource utilization with diagnostic stewardship of echocardiography in the evaluation of bacteremia to prevent unnecessary tests, while still providing appropriate evaluation depending on level of concern. Additional research efforts are focused on the outcomes of treatment of cryptococcal meningitis with one-time high dose amphotericin and oral flucytosine with high dose fluconazole as compared to standard induction therapy. He is leading a retrospective review to compared clinical outcomes in addition to adverse events observed with intravenous versus oral induction treatment. Clinically, he has a particular interest in non-tuberculous mycobacteria with the many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges – it is an area where patient-centered communication and longitudinal care are especially vital.
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, Dr. Davar is overseeing a fellow-run research project comparing the rates of endocarditis occurring in correlation with the number of blood cultures positive on hospital admission. Also, he is is leading a retrospective review of 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. She has been leading and involved in a variety of research areas, with a focus on antimicrobial stewardship and use of oral stepdown therapy, quality improvement (QI) projects for diagnostic stewardship, and reducing hospital acquired infections. Dr. Freling has recently completed and published her research in Clinical Infectious Diseases on oral stepdown therapy for infective endocarditis (IE). She has now taken that special interest in IE and is co-leading a QI project with the faculty and fellows on Transthoracic Echo utilization in patients with bacteremia, as well as creating a multi-disciplinary team committee for IE with ID, cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists, addiction medicine, and social workers. She is also working on a project analyzing the likelihood of IE based on blood culture data. In an additional research area, she is participating in a project reviewing oral TMP-SMX use and evaluating the real-world application, including the adverse events many are concerned about – hyperkalemia and acute kidney injury. Moreover, another QI project she is involved in is – reduction of hospital onset C. difficile Infection (CDI). She analyzes CDI rates monthly, the data pre- and post- PDSA cycles, and brainstorms areas of opportunity for future interventions. Lastly, she has actively writing a case-based book aimed to help educate and guide other trainees, providers, hospital staff, etc. on antimicrobial/diagnostic stewardship and she is happily recruiting more contributors. Dr. Freling enjoys working with students, residents, and fellows, of which almost all her projects have active involvement from these learners, and is always open to new research ideas and to helping guide our ID fellows in their areas of research interest.
Martin Sattah, MD
Dr. Sattah serves as the Associate Director of the Rand Schrader clinic and his research has been involved with the treatment of HIV in the outpatient setting. He has worked in treating acute retroviral syndrome in the emergency department setting, analyzing the benefits of early treatment and comparing inflammatory markers and the effects on the “viral reservoir” seen in early infection. His past research efforts have focused on the sensitivity of interferon-gamma testing in low CD4 T-cell, immunocompromised patients and the outcomes of such results following the treatment of tuberculosis. Dr. Sattah additionally leads the quality improvement initiatives in the Rand Schrader clinic, working closely with the rotating infectious disease fellows.
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, Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention & Control, as well as Chair of the Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee at Los Angeles General Medical Center. He also chairs the P&T Antimicrobial Subcommittee and is Director of LA General's Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. He is also the former Medical Director of the Los Angeles General Rand Schrader HIV Clinic. As such, his research and academic interests in Infectious Disease are varied. 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 antimicrobial stewardship and hospital-based Infection Control.
Faculty Research - Keck usc hospital
Apu Akkad, MD
Dr. Akkad’s research interests include – incidence and outcomes of COVID-19 in liver transplant recipients. He is working to establish guidelines and protocols on pre transplant vaccination and medication prophylaxis as well as post transplantation protocols.
Liana Atallah, MD
Dr. Atallah’s research interest includes complex infectious disease cases as well as the education of trainees. She has an additional interest in treating patients with prosthetic joint infections and other orthopedic infection-related complications.
Edward Jones-Lopez, MD
Dr. Jones-Lopez’s area of research is the transmission and diagnostics of tuberculosis as well as the study of household TB contact. His research also includes the epidemiology and translational science of TB.
Neha Nanda, MD
Dr. Nanda’s areas of research is strategies to prevent healthcare associated infections and optimize use of appropriate antimicrobials. In addition, her research also includes epidemiology of novel pathogens like COVID-19 and associated therapeutics
Saahir Khan, MD, PhD
Dr. Khan conducts research on novel diagnostic assays to assess the immune response to viral respiratory infections and vaccination. He has also participated in clinical trials related to COVID-19 therapeutics.
Departmental Research Collaborations
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