News, Awards and Events | Infectious Diseases

ID Faculty in the News

  • Dr. John Townes - OPB Think Out Loud
  • Dr. Lynne Strasfeld has been named President of the Infectious Diseases Society of Oregon (IDSO)
  • Congratulations to Dr. Lynne Strasfeld for being appointed Chair of the Department of Medicine Promotion and Tenure Committee!
  • Dr. Luke Strnad has been invited to represent the OHSU Undergraduate Medical Education program in an upcoming virtual symposium series hosted by the American Medical Association to discuss approaches to combating structural racism in UME and GME programs.
  • Dr. Monica Sikka and colleagues publish on SARS-CoV-2 shedding and risk of transmission in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, and highlighted in the OHSU news release here.  
  • Former ID fellow Dr. Andrea Caballero was interviewed by the Anchorage Daily News on the COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska.  
  • Dr. Chris Pfeiffer was interviewed by KOIN News on COVID vaccination efforts at the Portland VA.
  • Dr. Bill Messer discusses the benefit of receiving the COVID vaccine, even for those who have already had COVID - KATU News.  
  • Dr. Bill Messer and colleagues publish a study showing that the blood of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 shows telltale signals of immunity against new variants of the novel coronavirus as long as 11 months following infection - OHSU News.
  • Dr. Cara Varley and Dr. Holly Villamagna on the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, COVID-19 Update Podcast: What We Know Now: Bacterial Co-Infection with COVID-19, November 19, 2020.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Monica Sikka for being appointed to the IDSA Clinical Affairs Committee!  
  • Dr. Bill MesserLessons from Oregon’s 7th wave of COVID-19, OPB
  • Dr. Cara VarleyMaking Hepatitis C care easier when treatment seems impossible, OHSU News
  • Dr. Cara VarleyHospitalists can help eliminate HCVACP Hospitalist.
  • Dr. Marissa Maier joined the Veterans Health Administration She Wears the Boots podcast to discuss Human Papillomavirus vaccination,
  • Dr. Erin Bonura joined IDSA President Steven Schmitt, MD, FIDSA and Wendy Armstrong, MD, FIDSA in the President's Podcast to discuss the 2023 ID Match, their projections, what it means for the field and how IDSA is addressing ID workforce needs.

Awards and Recognition

  • Dr. Sara Gore - OHSU Department of Medicine Fellow Teaching Award, 2020
  • Dr. Morgan Hakki - OHSU Department of Medicine Faculty Teaching Award, 2020
  • Dr. Luke Strnad - OHSU Department of Medicine Contributions to Scholarship Award, 2020
  • Congratulations to Dr. Bill Messer and the Messer Lab on receiving a new R01 grant entitled "Long term immunity following yellow fever vaccination.”
  • Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Winthrop on receiving the 2019-2020 OHSU Continuing Professional Development Clinical Star award.  
  • Congratulations to Dr. Stone Doggett and the Doggett lab for receipt of a VA Merit Award "COVID-19: Optimized Endosome-Targeting Compounds for SARS-CoV-2 and Emerging Coronaviruses".  The work funded by this award will test novel compounds for activity against SARS-CoV-2 in collaboration with Dr. Fikadu Tafesse (OHSU Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology).
  • Congratulations to Dr. Bill Messer for receipt of an NIH Supplement to his R01  "A Prospective Cohort Study to Assess Longitudinal Immune Responses in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19".
  • Congratulations to Dr. Erin Bonura, Dr. Morgan Hakki, Dr. Marissa Maier and Dr. John Townes for being voted to Portland Monthly's Top Infectious Disease Doctors for 2021!
  • Congratulations to our OPAT Nurses - Alyse Douglass, Heather Mayer and Kathleen Young!  They were chosen for the first round of Nursing Equity and Justice Award funding for OPTIONS-DC Data Collection.  Their continued dedication to work on OPTIONS-DC has been so instrumental in the success of our patients with substance use disorder and serious infections!
  • Congratulations to our ID Pharmacist, Jim Lewis, Pharm.D., on being awarded the Oliver M. Nisbet Award.  This award is given to an outstanding faculty member in the School of Medicine, and it is the first time the award has been given to a non-MD faculty member.  
  • Dr. Erin Bonura - OHSU Department of Medicine Distinguished Education Leadership Award, 2021
  • Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Winthrop and Dr. Cara Varley on receiving a research grant from NTM Info & Research (NTMir) - Open label, randomized control pilot study of hypertonic saline in mild to moderate pulmonary M. avium complex disease patients. July 2020.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Cara Varley for receiving a Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, Early Clinical Investigator grant: A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Feasibility of Fitbit for Functional Outcomes in Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease. August 2020
  • Congratulations to Dr. Erin Bonura for being a recipient of the Allan J. Hill, Jr. Award for Clinical Science!  Each year the Allan J. Hill, Jr. Award is given to two faculty members, one in basic science and one in clinical science, who honor the legacy of exceptional teaching of Allan J. Hill, Jr.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Marcel Curlin for receipt of OHSU's New Innovator of the Year award for his contributions to COVID-19 research and inventions!
  • Congratulations to Liz Parkes-Perret for her receipt of the OHSU Patient Advocate Nurse of the Year Award!
  • Congratulations to our OPAT RNs running the OPTIONS-DC program, which was named 1 of the 4 international awardees of this year's Schwartz Center Corman IMPACT Honors!
  • Congratulations to Dr. Cara Varley for receiving a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K Award: "Mycobacterium avium complex Core Outcomes Research (MACCOR)"! 
  • Congratulations to Dr. Bill Messer and the Messer Lab on having a new R21 with a fundable score, entitled Immunogenicity of the dengue vaccine CYD-TDV in a dengue virus serotype 1 immune population (collaboration with Ponce Research Institute in Puerto Rico).  

Events

  • ID Week 2024 - Oct 16-19, 2024
    • Dr. Luke Strnad - Premeeting Workshop: Infectious Disease Clinical Bootcamp for APPs - Clinical Updates in Infective Endocarditis Presentation, Diagnosis, and Treatment for APPs
      • Date: Wednesday October 16, 2024, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM