Matthew Culyba, MD, PhD, has been awarded funding for a two-year grant by the Competitive Medical Research Fund (CMRF) entitled “Identification of Novel Therapeutic Targets by Tracking the Evolutionary Dynamics of MRSA Bloodstream Infection”.

Minh-Hong Nguyen, MD, has been awarded funding in the amount of $470,655 for a two-year grant by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) entitled “Invasive aspergillosis complicating severe influenza.” This proposal was submitted in response to the competitive funding opportunity entitled NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21) under funding opportunity number PA-19-053.

Erin McCreary, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP is joining the ID Connect team and will transition into a role as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. In her new role, Dr. McCreary will carry forth academic interests in antimicrobial stewardship education, antimicrobial resistance, and the care of immunosuppressed patients to foster the expanding role of ID Connect in antimicrobial stewardship outreach.

Ghady Haidar, MD, has been awarded a KL2 Career Development Award and appointment to the Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Scholars Program through a highly competitive process. Dr. Haidar’s project is entitled “The Gut Microbiome in Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) Colonization, Persistence, Infection, and Tolerance after Lung or Liver Transplantation.”

Katherine Lane, MD, and Andrew Tout, MD, are this year’s University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recipients of the Matthew Eric Piraino Award for Excellence in Infectious Diseases.

Dimiter “Mitko” Dimitrov, PhD, was recently appointed to rank of Professor of Medicine with tenure. Mitko joined the ID Division in November 2017 as a Visiting Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the Center for Antibody Therapeutics (CAT).

Jana Jacobs, PhD, has been awarded funding $50,000 for a one-year grant by the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) which is an integral part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) nationwide network. Jana’s grant entitled “SARS-CoV-2 Immune Escape Variants in Treatment,” was one of 17 funded submissions from a pool of 157 applications.

Yohei Doi, MD, PhD, has been awarded funding for a five-year renewal grant by the NIH/NIAID entitled “Colistin resistance in extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens”.

Sharon Riddler, MD, and, Madhu Choudhary, MD, have been awarded funding for a five-year grant by the NIH/NIAID entitled “Native-like Envelope Trimer Therapeutic Vaccination for Induction of Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies to Facilitate HIV Functional Cure”.

Graham Snyder, MD, MS, has been appointed to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine.