Additional Programs

• The Microbial Pathogenesis Interest Group (MPIG): The division has been instrumental in forming the cross-departmental MPIG with 10 investigators from five departments (pediatrics, internal medicine, pathology, molecular biology and genetics and molecular microbiology and immunology) in two schools (the school of medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health). MPIG members currently present their research activities in one of our division’s Friday conferences and hope to develop — for the first time on the Johns Hopkins campus — a collaborative research group on microbial pathogenesis.
• Electronic-Based Approval System of Restricted Antimicrobials: Antimicrobials are the most commonly prescribed therapeutic agents, comprising approximately one third of all hospital-administered drugs. Restrictions of certain antimicrobials have been in place at Hopkins Children’s Center since the 1980s. Increasing numbers of such requests in recent years (e.g., approximately 6,000 requests per year) demand more Infectious disease involvement. Our continued comprehensive restricted antimicrobial program will control and monitor inappropriate use of restricted antimicrobials, which will benefit our efforts to control antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and improve patient safety, as well as decrease expenditure of restricted antimicrobials.
• Bioterrorism: Division members work with a team of experts from the schools of medicine and public health developing clinical management algorithms on children with suspected anthrax exposure and smallpox.