Pitt fighting hospital bacteria breakouts

As medicine grows stronger, so do the bacteria it fights.

But Dr. Lee Harrison, a professor… As medicine grows stronger, so do the bacteria it fights.

But Dr. Lee Harrison, a professor at Pitt’s School of Medicine, is looking for a way to keep three drug-resistant types of bacteria from spreading in hospitals and causing illness in other patients.

Harrison, who recently received a $4.7 million grant that will cover four years of research, will work with a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Kane Regional Medical Centers of Allegheny County, to study three types of drug-resistant bacterial infection: Clostridium difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

‘Most of the patients won’t even know they’ve benefited from the research,’ said Harrison, who has spent the last seven to nine years doing research on bacteria.

‘We’re trying some new things and seeing if we can reduce chances of infection as a whole,’ said Harrison, who hopes to publish his findings and extend the research beyond the Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania area.

Harrison said the researchers plan to use computer modeling to further enhance their findings.

‘It helps to extend the findings of research beyond what we can accomplish in the hospital setting,’ said Harrison.

‘For example, if we find that we can identify and isolate patients who are colonized with certain bacteria, we can use computer modeling to determine what that means in terms of reduced transmission of those bacteria to other patients in the hospital,’ he added.

Harrison explained that the grant was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and will provide enough funding for a dedicated team of researchers and resources.

Harrison said he will use some of the money to train minority students in epidemiological, clinical and laboratory sciences research.

This will provide countless benefits for the University community, Harrison said.

‘It leads to improved care of patients, provides important research and training opportunities for faculty, clinical residents and fellows, medical students and minority trainees and leads to increased visibility for the institution through scientific publications and presentations at scientific conferences,’ said Harrison.