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Infectious Diseases Fellowship Columbia - Research

Advancing research skills in infectious diseases

Our goal is to advance the fellow's knowledge of the basic principles of research, including how such research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients and implemented in patient care.

Prisma Health Infectious Diseases and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia has had a strong legacy of trainee-led projects. 

  • Training is done through the research lecture series, journal club and research mentoring.
  • Faculty provide strong mentorship and support to ensure that all fellows successfully complete one research and one quality improvement project by the end of the fellowship.
  • Fellows identify a research project during the first year and coordinate with a mentor to develop a research protocol and plan.
  • All fellows attend both statewide and national meetings and receive funding for ID Week (Infectious Diseases Society of America) in both years of fellowship. The majority of fellows have received travel grants from IDSA. Fellows can choose to focus research interest from a range of topics drawing from our multidisciplinary research.
  • Collaboration with groups from microbiology, pharmacy, and the School of Public Health.

Examples of areas of recently completed and ongoing areas of research:

  • HIV epidemiology and rural HIV epidemic.
  • Impact of rapid diagnostics and antimicrobial usage.
  • Bacteremia, and development of Antimicrobial Stewardship guidelines and predictive scores for antimicrobial resistance.
  • Non-tuberculous mycobacterial blood stream infections.
  • Local epidemiology and risk factors for bone and joint infections.
  • Hepatitis C clinical outcomes.
  • Infection Prevention outbreak investigations.
  • Antimicrobial pharmacokinetics.
  • Pharmaceutical-based phase three clinical trials.

Examples of fellow publications

Rajiv Amipara, Hana Rac Winders, Julie Ann Justo, P Brandon Bookstaver, Joseph Kohn, Majdi N Al-Hasan.  Impact of follow up blood cultures on outcomes of patients with community-onset gram-negative bloodstream infection.  EClinicalMedicine. 2021 Mar 30.  PMID:  33870154.

P Brandon Bookstaver, Alex Milgrom.  Stewarding the costly antibiotic: considerations for dalbavancin.  Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 19.  PMID:  33211844.

Edwin Hayes, Caroline Derrick, Danielle Smalls, Hilary Smith, Nicole Kremer, Sharon Weissman.  Short-term Adverse Events With BIC/FTC/TAF: Postmarketing Study.  Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Sep 3.  PMID:  32908943.

Dawn K Smith, Man-Huei Chang, Wayne A Duffus, Stella Okoye, Sharon Weissman.  Missed Opportunities to Prescribe Preexposure Prophylaxis in South Carolina, 2013-2016.  Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Jan 1 .  PMID:  29790923.

Sarah E Battle, Matthew R Augustine, Christopher M Watson, P Brandon Bookstaver, Joseph Kohn, William B Owens, Larry M Baddour, Majdi N Al-Hasan.  Derivation of a quick Pitt bacteremia score to predict mortality in patients with Gram-negative bloodstream infection.  Infection. 2019 Aug.  PMID:  30737765.

Elizabeth B Nimmich, P Brandon Bookstaver, Joseph Kohn, Julie Ann Justo, Katie L Hammer, Helmut Albrecht, Majdi N Al-Hasan.  Development of Institutional Guidelines for Management of Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections: Incorporating Local Evidence.  Hosp Pharm. 2017 Nov.  PMID: 29276241

Shah A, Justo JA, Bookstaver PB, Kohn J, Albrecht H, Al-Hasan MN.  Application of Fluoroquinolone Resistance Score in Management of Complicated Urinary Tract Infections.   Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2017 Feb 13.  PMID: 28193655

Edun B, Iyer M, Albrecht H, Weissman S.  The South Carolina rural-urban HIV continuum of care.   AIDS Care. 2016 Dec 16:1-6. PMID:  27984917

Edun B, Shah A, Durkin M, Whitmire M, Williams SP, Albrecht H, Al-Hasan M, Weissman S. Non-tuberculous mycobacterial bloodstream infections in patients with indwelling vascular catheters - the role of sickle cell anaemia. Infect Dis (Lond). 2016 Dec 2:1-6. PMID: 27911152

Caroline Derrick, Bryan L Love, Kamla Sanasi-Bhola.  Successful treatment with ceftriaxone induction and minocycline maintenance for gastrointestinal Whipple's disease.  J Antimicrob Chemother. 2016 Apr.  PMID: 26679252.

Dan S, Shah A, Justo JA, Bookstaver PB, Kohn J, Albrecht H, Al-Hasan MN.  Prediction of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria Causing Bloodstream Infections.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016 Mar 25;60(4):2265-72.  PMID: 26833166

Weissman S, Parker RD, Siddiqui W, Dykema S, Horvath J.  Vertebral osteomyelitis: retrospective review of 11 years of experience.  Scand J Infect Dis. 2014 Mar;46(3):193-9. Epub 2014 Jan 23.  PMID: 24450841

Edun B, Iyer M, Albrecht H, Weissman S.  The South Carolina HIV Cascade of Care.  South Med J. 2015 Nov;108(11):670-4.  PMID: 26539946

Cima M, David Parker RD, Ahmed Y, Cook S, Dykema S, Dukes K, Albrecht S, BS, Weissman S. Cause of Death in HIV-Infected Patients in South Carolina (2005-2013). Int J STD AIDS. 2015 Feb 17. PMID: 25691444

Siddiqui W, Ahmed Y, Albrecht H, Weissman S. Pseudozyma species catheter associated blood stream infection, an emerging pathogen and brief literature review.  BMJ Case Reports. 2014. PMID: 25498807
 
Poursina A, Weissman S. Propionibacterium acnes pyogenic liver abscess and pylephlebitis. Case Reports in Hepatology. 2011; PMID: 25954544
 
Bookstaver PB, Mohorn P, Shah A, Tesh LD, Quidley AM, Kothari R, Bland CM, Weissman S. Management of viral CNS infections: a primer for clinicians. J Cent Nerv Syst Dis 2016. Accepted for publication November 2016.