Our December 14^th Levy CIMAR Science Seminar will explore antimicrobial resistance from both clinical and basic science perspectives. We will hear from two speakers this month: Tufts Medical Center’s Kap Sum Foong, MD, an Attending Physician with expertise in antimicrobial stewardship and infection control, and Juan Hernandez-Bird, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of CIMAR’s Ralph Isberg, PhD, studying how the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii evolves antibiotic resistance. Please join us on Thursday, December 14th, at 12 noon in Behrakis Auditorium (1st floor, Jaharis Building, 150 Harrison Ave., Boston) and by Zoom (details to come).

Dr. Foong will present on “Uncovering Antibiotic Allergy in Massachusetts Long-Term Care Facilities: Reporting Patterns and Impact on Antibiotic Prescribing.” He was recently awarded the IDSA’s Leaders in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship and Public Health (LEAP) Fellowship for his project, “A Point Prevalence Survey of Antibiotic Allergy Labels Among Long Term Care Facility Residents in Massachusetts – Variation by Race/Ethnicity and Impact on Antibiotic Patterns.” He is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for this research. (Learn more about Dr. Foong here.)

Mr. Hernandez-Bird will present on “Applying the Mouse Pneumonia Model of Acinetobacter baumannii for the Evolution and Characterization of Colistin-Selected Mutants.” His research in the Isberg Lab looks at how A. baumanii evolves drug resistance in the context of an in-vivo infection, and how the presence or absence of an immune response affects this process. Mr. Hernandez-Bird was a Levy CIMAR Featured Trainee in 2020. You can learn about his current work here.