Member Spotlight: Danielle Zerr

Danielle Zerr, MD, MPH, FPIDS, is Professor and Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at University of Washington. Additionally, she serves as Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology there, along with being Affiliate Investigator at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

She earned her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and Master of Public Health from University of Washington School of Public Health. Dr. Zerr completed both her residency and fellowship at University of Washington.

Why pediatric ID? Finding pediatric infectious diseases was a bit of a process for me. In medical school I narrowed my options down to pediatrics and general surgery (I had a very dynamic female chief resident on my trauma rotation, and she inspired my brief consideration of surgery). Luckily, I had great pediatric attendings, including Sarah Long (a leader in peds ID from many perspectives and the author of Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases). Ultimately, I chose pediatrics because I was charmed by the kids!  

In terms of ID, I was fascinated by microbiology in medical school, while in residency, I was most excited by the clinical situations where ID diagnoses were in the differential. I also had the opportunity to be involved in the evaluation of an outbreak of necrotizing fasciitis in children with varicella as a resident. I worked with public health leaders and interviewed the families of affected children to collect the data we needed to perform a case-control study. This made it crystal clear to me that I needed to study the epidemiology of infectious diseases.  

Where have you taken your ID focus? During fellowship I pursued a Master of Public Health. My main focus was studying the epidemiology of human herpesvirus 6 in healthy children and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. With my first faculty position, I took on the role of medical director of infection prevention, which gave me a large administrative responsibility and a second research focus.

What is a recent development in pediatric ID that you are working on?  For the last four years I’ve been part of the Pediatric Pandemic Network as the hub site principal investigator for Seattle Children’s Hospital (Pediatric Pandemic Network – Seattle Children’s). I help lead the analytics core and the infectious diseases domain for the Network. In fact, we have a number of PIDS members involved in the Network’s ID Domain and I’m so grateful for all they bring to the table and all the work they do. The Network is focused on improving the nation’s readiness to provide high-quality pediatric care in everyday emergencies, disasters, and global health threats. I think the work we’re doing regionally and nationally is so important. I’m grateful to be part of this Network. 

What do you enjoy most about being a PIDS member?What keeps you renewing your membership? PIDS is wonderful. I have been a member since the beginning of my career, and I will always want to be part of this vibrant community!