Interviews and Articles

 As an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Washington and Associate Director of the Microbicide Trials Network Statistical and Data Management Center, Dr. Jennifer Balkus, PhD, MPH, studies the interface between the vaginal microbiome and HIV/STI prevention. In this interview, Dr. Balkus shares her insight on the complex relationships between antibiotics, probiotics, hormones and the vaginal microbiome in an era of antibiotic resistance.

 As a board-certified pediatric dentist and health services researcher, Dr. Donald L. Chi, DDS, PhD, is a professor of Oral Health Sciences at the UW School of Dentistry, as well as a professor in the UW School of Public Health. This interview discusses how researchers are reexamining the impact that antibiotics have on the oral health of individuals with CF, as well as exploring the potential link between oral and pulmonary infections. Areas of improvement in antibiotic stewardship practices are also highlighted.

Policy makers have been at the forefront of COVID-19 mitigation. What began as a public health crisis has grown into a misinformation crisis, and scientific leadership is more critical than ever. Through her experience as the only female physician in Congress, as well as a patient living with the pre-existing condition of Type 1 Diabetes, Dr. Kim Schrier provides unique and necessary insight into acute public health matters such as COVID-19, as well as incoming issues such as antibiotic resistance.

 Though antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, they still play a crucial role in this viral pandemic. Bacterial pneumonia, as well as additional hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA, lurk around the periphery of this pandemic.

Read on to learn more about the  relationship antibiotics have with COVID-19, as well as the current state of antibiotic stewardship practices within both hospitals and the outpatient setting. 

A Seattle-based startup, ARMADA -The Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring, Analysis and Diagnostics Alliance - is leading the fight against antibiotic resistance. 

Founder and expert in the field, Dr. Evgeni V. Sokurenko, M.D., Ph.D, discusses how clonal diagnostics, a bacterial biobank, and multi-sector engagement will be used to track and mitigate antibiotic resistance both locally and globally.

 Nurses are on the front lines of patient care and witness the toll that antibiotic resistance takes on patients and their families.

Learn more about antibiotic resistance in this interview with a nurse who has worked in several departments, including surgery and labor and delivery.

 What do scientific advocacy, fungi, and climate change all have in common? While it may not be immediately obvious, these topics are indeed connected and were recently discussed in this interview with Dr. Rebecca Rashid Achterman, of Bastyr University.