What’s New: Prevention Epicenter Research

The CDC funded Prevention Epicenters are dedicated to advancing prevention research by working collaboratively with academic partners to create new knowledge that leads to the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), spread of antibiotic-resistant germs and other adverse health outcomes.

CDC Awards $26 Million to Academic Medical Centers, Drives Innovation to Protect Patients

In June 2016, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded $26 million to five academic medical centers as part of the Prevention Epicenters Program. Together with CDC, these Prevention Epicenters develop and test innovative approaches to preventing infections and improving patient safety in health care settings. The new funding more than doubles previous awards and extends the Prevention Epicenters program to 2020.

Some examples of new research include:

• Developing a computer system that will scan lab information and automatically flag a potential outbreak
• Define environmental factors and microbiome characteristics that predict whether patients in intensive care units (ICUs) will become colonized with an antibiotic-resistant germ
• Discovering how antibiotics disrupt the gut microbiome of ICU patients, putting them at risk for infections
• Testing regional, versus single-facility, strategies to prevent infections, and identify and track transmission of antibiotic-resistant germs, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
• Determining which delivery method and concentration of the skin disinfectant chlorhexidine is most effective at preventing infections in ICU patients
• Determining whether fecal transplants are effective in treating urinary tract infection caused by antibiotic-resistant germs

Prevention Epicenters funded from 2016 to 2020:

• Chicago Prevention and Intervention Epicenter at Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Health and Hospitals System
• Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WU), Barnes-Jewish Hospital
• University of Pennsylvania
• Duke University and University of North Carolina
• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and University of California, Irvine

Funding for Prevention Epicenters begins immediately and extends through 2020.

Prevention Epicenters previously awarded and funded through 2018:

• Emory University
• The Johns Hopkins University
• The University of Illinois, Chicago
• The University of Iowa
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore
• The University of Utah

Spotlight on Previous Epicenter Projects

• REDUCE MRSA: Randomized Evaluation of Decolonization vs. Universal Clearance to Eliminate MRSA
• Wake Up and Breathe Collaborative
• Preventing CRE in Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals