Infectious Diseases

The Division of Infectious Diseases reflects the multidisciplinary approach essential to the practice of medicine and medical research. Our faculty are involved in patient care, infection prevention and control, basic science, clinical research activities, antimicrobial stewardship, outcomes analysis, clinical trials, and teaching.

Division members have diverse and interrelated interests ranging from very basic mechanisms of molecular pathogenesis to the cascades of care required to ensure that adolescents receive appropriate treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

We are actively engaged in medical education with undergraduate, graduate, medical, and postdoctoral students from all of Columbia's health sciences divisions, as well as in basic science education, with two current PhD postdoctoral fellows, one PhD candidate, and three active Columbia College undergraduates in the lab.

Along with our colleagues in adult ID and pharmacy, we actively review antimicrobial usage and trends in bacterial susceptibility to develop algorithms to guide appropriate and effective antibiotic use. We strive to not only provide optimal clinical care for children with infectious diseases but to understand the pathogenesis of these infections and to implement the most effective strategies to prevent them.  

New Programs 

• Transplant ID - PITCH - Over the past year, we have developed a full-fledged “PITCH” service – Pediatric Transplant and Immunocompromised Host service headed by Paul Sue, MD, and recently joined by Sanya Thomas, MD, with rotating fellows, residents, and students. As our transplant population increases and expands to include patients with genetic disorders as well as cardiac and liver abnormalities, we have many patients with enhanced susceptibility to infection. These patients, in addition to those receiving stem cell transplantation for malignancies, require dedicated ID specialists. We are actively growing this subspecialty within Peds ID, with the goal of having a dedicated Peds Transplant ID sub-specialty fellowship in the future.  
• Development of Clinical Workflows – We are eager to exploit the technological advances provided by AI to ID, a data-driven subspecialty. Jason Zucker, MD, is collaborating with the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) to integrate generative AI into clinical workflows, focusing on chart summarization. The goal is to streamline the review of electronic health records (EHRs) by using AI to generate concise, accurate summaries of patient charts. This tool is particularly helpful in pediatric care, where longitudinal data often spans many years and involves multiple providers. 
• Antibiotic Stewardship in Pediatrics – Antimicrobial resistance is a major issue in the practice of pediatrics at all levels.  Irene Frantzis, MD, is directing our ASP (antimicrobial stewardship) program with new projects to gather data regarding rates of fungal disease and usage of anti-fungal medication, a growing and important area of concern. Dr. Frantzis is actively updating recommendations for surgical prophylaxis and guidelines specifically for cardiac surgery. We are also launching programs to study laboratory utilization, the use of non-culture pathogen detection through Karius, and importantly, the judicious use of specific lab tests to most efficiently diagnose C.diff infection and UTIs.  

New Appointments 

• Sanya Thomas, MD,
  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at CUMC

New Leadership Positions  

• Natalie Neu, MD, MPH  
  • Medical Director for the NYC Prevention Training Center 
  • Associate Director for the Clinical research resource of the CTSA  
• Multi-Principal Investigators: Espinal and Alwyn Cohall, MD; Medical Director: Natalie Neu, MD, MPH
  • Project STAY (Program to Assist Youth) Youth Access Program. New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. C027235B.
• Principal Investigator: Alwyn Cohall, MD, Natalie Neu, MD, MPH; Medical Director: Natalie Neu, MD, MPH. 
  • National Network of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Prevention Training Centers (NNPTC). CDC. 1NU62PS924586.

National Committees

• Sanya Thomas, MD 
  • Executive Member, Workforce Development Committee, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 01/2024-present 
  • Executive Member, Training Programs Committee, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 01/2022-present 
  • Co-Chair, Education Subcommittee, Pediatric Community of Practice (PCOP), American Society of Transplant (AST) 01/2023-05/2026 
  • Member, ABP’s Infectious Diseases Milestones 2.0 to EPAs Mapping Project 05/2023-present 
  • Executive member, Infectious Disease Clinical Care, Advocacy, Research, and Education (ID CARE) Committee, International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA) 05/2023-05/2025 
  • Member-at-Large, PCOP-Executive Committee, AST 05/2023-05/2026 
• Jason Zucker, MD, MS 
  • HIV Glasgow 2024 Scientific Committee 6/2024 – 10/2024 
  • CDC’s Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Treatment Guidelines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical Consultant: Jason Zucker, MD, MS.  

Awards   

• Jason Zucker, MD, MS 
  • Linda Laubenstein Award – Presented by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and honors physicians who, beyond providing the highest quality of clinical care for people with HIV/AIDS, are also distinguished by their compassionate manner and their wholehearted involvement in the ongoing effort to achieve comprehensive care for persons with HIV/AIDS. 12/2024 
  • ACTG John Carey Young Investigator Award – Honors an early-career researcher who exemplifies excellence, dedication, and collaborative spirit in advancing HIV research within the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). 06/2024  

Presentations  

• Our division has been exceptionally well represented with major addresses at national and international meetings as well as invited lectureships around the country over the past year.
  • These include ID Week and SHEA (Saiman, Frantzis, Zucker), Cystic Fibrosis North American Meeting (Riquelme), Gordon Conferences on Acute Respiratory Infection (Prince) and Immunometabolism (Riquelme).   
• Candace Johnson, MD, has also been active in her role in pediatric residency education.   
• Banker S, Wilson-Taylor M, Meyers NK, Fuchs J, Johnson CL, Woolard P.  “I Highly Recommend”: Mitigating Bias when Writing Effective Letters of Recommendation. Presented at: Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting 2024. 2024 May 2-6; Toronto, Canada