University of Pennsylvania

• Identify risk factors and characterize outcomes for healthcare-associated viral infections in hospitalized children
• Use of biomarkers (indicators) to inform antimicrobial prescribing
• Study antimicrobial stewardship in healthcare and community settings
• Streamline antimicrobial therapy through information technology approaches
• Conduct socio-behavioral studies of infection prevention and antimicrobial prescribing
• Study multi drug-resistance organisms in long-term acute care settings
• Study MRSA colonization, infection, and transmission in households
• Study the impact of the microbiome on antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections
• Study copper-based interventions to limit healthcare-associated infections
• Reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics in the intensive care unit (ICU)
• Additional projects underway include:
  • Understanding the role of various biomarkers in predicting clinical outcomes, as well as the utility of biomarkers to distinguish specific anatomic sites of infection
  • Developing of a point-of-care tool for antimicrobial stewardship
  • A collaborative project involving all CDC Prevention Epicenters sites resulted in the development of a stewardship tool designed to be of greater utility, regardless of the degree of dedicated stewardship infrastructure at a given healthcare facility
  • Reducing transmission of pathogens in the healthcare setting by evaluating the impact of copper-impregnated linens on healthcare-associated infections as well as colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms
  • Using novel socio-behavioral approaches to evaluate the beliefs and attitudes surrounding the use of contact precautions and how these characteristics may vary based on the clinical setting

Principal Investigator: Ebbing Lautenbach, MD, MPH, MS