.jpg "Geneva M. Wilson, PhD photo")
Research Health Scientist Specialist
Hines VA
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
My passions and career goals are strongly rooted in antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention, and hospital acquired infections. I recently completed my graduate work at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health in May of 2019. There my work focused on multi-drug resistant bacterial environmental contamination in the healthcare setting. I performed a bioaerosol study looking at the rate of pathogenic bacterial aerosols generated from patients’ toilets after flushing. I also completed a randomized control trial of antimicrobial impregnated curtains to determine their effectiveness at evading pathogenic bacterial contamination compared to standard hospital privacy curtains. In my current position as a Research Health Scientist at Edward Hines Jr. VA I am a part of several large multicenter infection prevention projects. One project involves evaluating the impact of the VA’s policy focused on surveillance and prevention of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and Carbapenemase-Producing (CP) CRE. As part of this work, I am supporting efforts developing education materials for providers related to new VA CP-CRE guidelines, assessing the impact of the guidelines on use of contact precautions, and identifying risk factors associated with CP-CRE in a national cohort of Veterans infected or colonized with CRE. I am also participating in a study assessing effective antibiotic treatments for multi-drug resistant gram-negative organisms (MDRGNO); with a focus on identifying appropriate empiric and definitive antibiotic treatment. In all these studies I am evaluating the effects of these interventions in individuals with spinal cord injuries/ disorders. I am interested in further expanding my research in the area of spinal cord injury and combining this work with my background in antimicrobial stewardship.