The Infectious Diseases Division (a sub-specialty of internal medicine) has 12 full-time faculty at the University of Utah Medical Center and 13 affiliated faculty at LDS, IMC, and the VA hospital who are actively involved in clinical, educational, and research endeavors in infectious diseases.
Clinical Care
Our goal is to prevent, treat and care for patients with infectious diseases in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. The division provides general ID, HIV and immunocompromised inpatient consultation services at the University of Utah Health Center and at LDS Hospital, IMC and the VA. The division also has active programs in antibiotic stewardship, infection control and early epidemic investigation.
In Clinic 1A, our providers see patients with general infectious disease problems such as osteomyelitis, septic arthritis and endocarditis. Specialty clinics, specializing in HIV, travel and tropical medicine, transplant infectious diseases, and immunology are available to better serve patients with those needs.
In addition, we run outreach clinics for HIV patients at the Utah prison and in St George and oversee the sexually transmitted disease clinic at the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
Advances in Patient Care
What advances in patient care, historic or current, come from the Division of Infectious Diseases that directly impacts patient care today?
- The PrEP program to prevent HIV in Utah - the first in Utah and one of a few nationally.
- The pneumonia pathway that standardized care and lowered costs.
Research
Our faculty are active in both laboratory and clinical research, with a focus on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases.
Our specific research interests include:
- Epstein Barr virus, Herpes Simplex Virus, HIV, and Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpes virus.
- Opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts especially cytomegalovirus (CMV) and invasive fungal infections.
- Malaria and its complications; Geosentinel surveillance of infections in returning travelers.
- Viral triggers of multiple sclerosis.
- Antibiotic resistance, MRSA, and antibiotic stewardship.
- Immunology of diarrheal diseases and gut dysfunction in returning travelers