Infectious Diseases

Erol Fikrig, MD, Section Chief

Vincent Quagliarello, MD, Clinical Chief

New Yale Center for Infectious Diseases

Construction has been completed for the new Yale Center for Infectious Diseases at 200 Orchard Street in New Haven. The facility opened as a collaborative project between Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health on October 30, 2023. Lydia Aoun-Barakat, MD, serves as director, and oversees the center’s planning, implementation, and clinical operation.

The new facility will improve access to comprehensive patient-centered care, and lead to growth and efficiencies by consolidating the services from four clinics in one location. Services at the new center include HIV care and prevention; general infectious disease consultation; transplant infectious disease evaluation; and travel-related infectious disease issues.

Research and Initiatives

Sandra Springer, MD, led an initiative to open Connecticut’s first legal mobile retail pharmacy. The mobile care system includes a retail pharmacy and a clinic on wheels designed to provide care to people where they are, improving accessibility for patients with HIV, hepatitis C, and substance use disorders.

Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh, was the principal investigator of a trial that assessed the safety and efficacy of the new HIV medication lenacapavir (Sunlenca). Based on the data from Ogbuagu’s study, the FDA approved the medication in December 2022 for multidrug-resistant HIV.

Maudry Laurent-Rolle, MD, PhD, conducted research showing that the protein CMPK2 restricts Zika virus replication by inhibiting viral translation. The protein also inhibits the replication of such other flaviviruses, as dengue, yellow fever, and Kunjin virus (KUNV). Her findings provide a basis for the development of new therapeutics.

Infection Prevention

The Yale infection prevention team works to reduce rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and surgical site infections, among others. The team also monitors infection rates in the hospital and compliance with such precautions as hand hygiene and equipment sterilization—in addition to undertaking research and providing consultation services for quality improvement.

Richard Martinello, MD, oversees infection prevention for Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS); and Scott Roberts, MD, handles adult services. They work closely with infection preventionists across all YNHHS locations.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Infectious Diseases Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism (ID2EA) consortium aims to address systemic racism and promote diversity and equity within the infectious disease section at Yale and beyond via interactive learning sessions. The group’s goal is to leverage collective expertise to transform the culture of the section. Topics in the ID2EA training curriculum include medical experimentation, geographic racism, medical mistrust, COVID-19 and the Latino/a/e population, transgender experiences within the medical system, and the gender tax.

Supporting Older Patients with HIV in Ukraine

The Section of Infectious Diseases received two grants from the National Institutes of Health for research to aid older Ukrainians with HIV. Led by Yulia Rozanova, PhD, the projects will help patients diagnosed with HIV at an older age make informed decisions about HIV disclosure, and assist older adults with HIV in receiving further HIV care and treatment after war-related disruptions. Co-investigators on the grants include Frederick Altice, MD, and Sheela Shenoi, MD, MPH.

Honors and Awards

Dana Dunne, MD, MHS, led the development of a new Yale learning initiative, Clinical Learning Environment Optimizing Uptake Training (CLOUT), one of six recipients of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Catalyst Awards for Transformation in Graduate Medical Education. CLOUT will bring chief residents together to participate in a longitudinal curriculum to learn skills for de-escalating emotionally charged patient and family encounters, and to respond immediately to trainees who have been subjected to verbal abuse by patients.

Benjamin Goldman-Israelow, MD, PhD, was selected for a 2023 American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) Council Young Physician-Scientist Award. Goldman-Israelow is focused on developing a novel vaccine strategy called “prime and spike,” which uses a nasal vaccine against COVID-19 to “jump-start” the respiratory system’s immune response to the virus.

Matthew Grant, MD, was selected by the Physician Associate Program Class of 2022 to receive the Outstanding Didactic Course Award. Grant is interested in invasive fungal infections and medical device infections.

Ya-Chi Ho, MD, PhD, was elected a new American Society for Clinical Investigation member. Ho investigates mechanisms of HIV persistence in the blood and tissue using virology, immunology, molecular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, and translational approaches.