University of California, San Diego/Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego

TRAINING PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Chris Cannavino, MD

ASSOCIATE/CO-DIRECTOR:  John Arnold, MD

COORDINATOR:  Sharon Young

CHIEF, INFECTIOUS DISEASES:  George Liu, MD, PhD

MAJOR FEATURES OF TRAINING PROGRAM: The UCSD pediatric ID fellowship program seeks to train future leaders in their field. The curriculum is individualized for each fellow to provide an outstanding educational experience that will prepare them for success in the next phase of their career. Fellows are provided with individual mentorship to customize their clinical, research and extracurricular fellowship activities to meet their career goals.

TITLE(S) OF RECENT FELLOWS’ PUBLISHED PAPERS OR RESEARCH PROJECTS:

1. Strutner J, Ramchandar N, Dubey S, Gamboa M, Vanderpool MK, Mueller T, Wang W, Cannavino C, Tovar Padua L, Malicki D, Pong A. Comparison of Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Cycle Threshold Values From Respiratory Specimens in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Children With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2021 May 5:ciab120. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab120. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34060629.
2. Asmerom B, Drobish I, Winckler B, Chiang L, Farnaes L, Beauchamp-Walters J, Bradley JS, Ramchandar N. Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from Joint Aspirate by Metagenomic Sequencing in Disseminated Gonococcal Infection. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2021 Apr 3;10(3):367-369. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piaa108. PMID: 32964934.
3. Ramchandar N, Ding Y, Farnaes L, Dimmock D, Hobbs C, Kingsmore SF, Bainbridge M. Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infection from clinical whole genome sequencing. Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 3;10(1):11020. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67656-5. PMID: 32620939; PMCID: PMC7335102.
4. Ramchandar N, Arnold J, Cannavino C, Bradley JS. Frequency of Dosing of Cephalexin for Oral Step-Down Therapy of Pediatric Osteoarticular Infections Caused by Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2020 Jun;39(6):523-525. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000002661. PMID: 32398570.
5. Farnaes L, Wilke J, Ryan Loker K, Bradley JS, Cannavino CR, Hong DK, Pong A, Foley J, Coufal NG. Community-acquired pneumonia in children: cell-free plasma sequencing for diagnosis and management. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2019 Jun;94(2):188-191. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2018.12.016. Epub 2019 Feb 2. PMID: 30819624; PMCID: PMC7125591.

GRANT FUNDING RECEIVED FOR FELLOW RESEARCH PROJECTS:

UCSD/RCHSD Fellowship Grant

AFFILIATED HOSPITALS:

• Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego
• UCSD Medical Center

NUMBER OF INPATIENT/OUTPATIENT CONSULSTS PER YEAR:  5,702

FELLOWS ACCEPTED EACH YEAR:  2

VISAS ACCEPTED: J1, H1B

FUNDING ENSURED FOR ALL 3 YEARS:  Yes

IS COMPLETION OF PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING IN THE U.S. OR CANADA A REQUIREMENT?  No

Program provides training (didactic lectures, hands on experience, or antimicrobial stewardship meetings/membership) in:

1. Microbiology lab on site
2. Infection control and hospital epidemiology
3. Antimicrobial stewardship
4. Immunocompromised hosts

Opportunities to fulfill the ABP requirements for scholarly activity is available in the following general areas:

1. Antimicrobial agents
2. Antimicrobial stewardship
3. Bacteriology/bacterial infections
4. Clinical trials
5. Epidemiology and statistics
6. Global health
7. HIV
8. Immunizations
9. Infection control/hospital epidemiology
10. Medical education
11. Mycology/fungal infections
12. Parasitology/parasitic diseases
13. Public health
14. Quality improvement
15. Transplant medicine
16. Virology/viral diseases
17. Other:  Microbiome, Microbial genomics, Kawasaki Disease/MIS-C, SARS-CoV-2

Opportunities exist for research outside of the ID Division:  Yes

Program offers the opportunity to obtain a Master’s degree in a field such as Public Health, Education, Clinical Sciences or Epidemiology (assuming appropriate arrangements are made):  Yes