The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS)

On this episode we talk with: Dan Mueller, TIPS Advisory Board Member and Senior Vice President, N. American Sales at Kersia Malachy McGlynn, Head of Operations for Healthcare at Kersia Dan and Malachy help us to understand what sustainability really means in the business context and beyond. It's a nuanced discussion that covers: How Kersia approaches sustainability for their own business operations What problems Kersia is trying to solve How they identified and prioritized potential solutions How they measure and report on the efficacy of their internal sustainability initiatives What the market is asking for in terms of sustainability and what is driving the ask The major obstacles to initiating sustainability efforts. The tangible business benefits of sustainability efforts How government regulations play into all of this This is an informative episode for the listener who hasn't thought through all the nuances of sustainability. This is a very tactical episode for anyone actively working on strategic sustainability issues.   For full show notes and links, visit https://deepdive.tips  

On this episode we talk with: Wendy Dietzler, Senior Director of Events and Education for Trade Press Media Group, which produces industry-leading events for facilities, cleaning, and freight rail industries, including the National Facilities Management & Technology Conference, CleanLink Summit, and RailTrends.   Corinne Zudonyi, editor-in-chief of Contracting Profits, Sanitary Maintenance, and Facility Cleaning Decisions magazines. as well as the online resource, CleanLink.com. Wendy and Corinne are going to break down the Cleaning Industry Trends you need to know for 2023 in areas such as: Infection control protocols Cleaning for health and sustainability Employee recruitment and retention New technologies and digital innovations Best practices in cleaning equipment and protocols We also discuss The CleanLink Summit which is coming up on March 23, 2023, in Baltimore, MD.  The CleanLink Summit offers a half-day of deep industry education for executive housekeepers, building service contractors, distributors, and facility managers. This year's summit is co-located with the 2023 National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) Conference and Expo in Baltimore. Summit registration includes access to the expansive NFMT expo hall filled with facility, maintenance, and cleaning resources. For full show notes and links, visit https://deepdive.tips

On this episode, we talk with Hector Bremner. Hector is CEO of Avricore Health which is a pharmacy service innovator focused on acquiring and developing early-stage technologies aimed at moving pharmacy forward. For example, its flagship offering HealthTab™ gives community pharmacies a turn-key solution for rapid testing. The reason they're doing this is because the scope of services being offered by pharmacies is increasing rapidly. And that's happening because our sick-care system, where we wait for folks to develop diseases and then treat them, is becoming unsustainable. It's too expensive, we have workforce shortages including the potential for massive physician shortages in the coming years, and frankly, it's just not a smart way to do things. So, governments are taking steps to move towards a system that is designed to keep people from getting sick in the first place. And looking to do so in a more equitable way.  We discuss all of this today, largely, through the lens of new healthcare policies coming down in Canada. We explore what's driving it, and what it means for Canadian healthcare spending and for healthcare businesses. Hector helps us see how these changes create an opportunity for community pharmacies to expand their role, provide a better experience and better outcomes to patients, and to do so in a way that is equitable, good for the pharmacy, good for the pharmacist, and good for the healthcare system as a whole. A win for everyone involved. For full show notes and links, visit https://deepdive.tips  

There is a critical shortage of Clinical Laboratory Scientists across the U.S. According to today's guest, there's a nationwide gap of roughly 40% and it's creating a national healthcare crisis that the public doesn't quite grasp. On this episode we talk with Dr. Rodney Rohde, a Regents' Professor at Texas State University, and the University Distinguished Chair and Professor for Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS). Dr. Rhode helps us better understand what a Clinical Laboratory Scientist does, why they are so critical to healthcare delivery, and why it's so important to raise awareness of the profession, as well as the risks we face due to the shortage. Dr. Rohde tells us that a big part of who he is today is because he is trying to put a face on this critical function that happens entirely in the background. Dr. Rohde is not just an educator in academia. Throughout our conversation, and in everything he does, his goal is education. This is evident in each topic we discuss including: Airdropping vaccines to quell a canine rabies epidemic in Texas. Raising awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Using social media to combat misinformation (and why more scientists need to do this) Beyond all of this, Dr. Rhode is a founding member of TIPS. He was with us from the start and continues to be one of our most impactful board members. We're grateful for Dr. Rohde's contribution to TIPS and are thrilled to share his story with you today. For full show notes and links, visit https://deepdive.tips.

On this episode, we talk with Max Simonovsky, Founder & CEO of Soapy. Max founded Soapy after an interaction with his young child regarding handwashing. It got him thinking about how environmental triggers and our perceptions of them can impact our behaviors. He followed that thread, and it became Soapy. Soapy's hand-washing technology educates, validates, and modifies behavior. In the field, Soapy technology has been used to increase hand-wash adherence by up to 98%. Adherence paired with proper technique, which Soapy also teaches, has a chance to significantly reduce hospital-associated infections (HAIs). It's education, but it's fun and high-tech, and that's much easier to put in front of a highly intelligent audience than current techniques like asking them to sing happy birthday twice. Soapy is part of the TIPS Science to Market program. Over the years TIPS has worked with soapy on establishing its science and market entry. The Science to Market program is core to the TIPS mission statement, as TIPS exists to advance technologies, programs, and ideas that make a difference in global health. At TIPS we believe that we shouldn't have to wait years for promising innovations to be vetted and accepted. The TIPS Science to Market program provides the ability to communicate the science and successes and make a difference. For full show notes and links: https://deepdive.tips

Dr. Deborah Birx was drawn to science from a very young age. Along with her siblings, and with the full support of her parents, Dr. Birx soldered circuit boards, searched for fossils, and recorded measurements of solar eclipses while other kids her age colored and played hopscotch. Her early scientific exploration led Dr. Birx to study chemistry in college, where she became fascinated by infectious diseases. That fascination led her to medical school, the bedside, the lab, and eventually a 40+ year career as a public health servant. Throughout her career, Dr. Birx looked to the data for guidance. The data, she tells us, helps you to understand what is going on. From there, Dr. Birx adds, you've got to act. First, by planning your response, and second, by implementing your solution in the community. Dr. Birx tells us the second part is often lacking in the U.S. – “sometimes people in public health forget the first word is public and it really means population. And you have to work with everybody in the public and everybody in the population. So, stop making excuses, stop blaming it on people and fix it.” On this episode, we explore Dr. Birx's path from childhood scientist, to practicing physician, researcher, director of CDC's Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA),  Ambassador-at-Large, and U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump (and believe it or not, still much more in-between!). We also discuss how there are 21st-century tools that are available today that can drastically change our experience with infectious disease and why we are not using them. Dr. Birx tells us “We don't have to accept in the 21st century that we continue to succumb to infectious diseases”. For full show notes and links, visit https://deepdive.tips/ ... Dr. Deborah Birx will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming GBAC Symposium on Air Considerations in Chicago on August 16 and 17, 2022. The Symposium is focused on improving the quality of indoor air in non-healthcare settings. Dr. Birx will talk about that in the context of COVID, and Monkey Pox, outlining effective innovations that are available for use today.

This is the second part of our recent discussion with Daniel Pollack. Daniel retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 after a 37-year career. Last time on episode 37 we spoke with Dr. Pollock about his career path at CDC, the launching of the National Healthcare Safety Network, and lessons learned from designing the Antimicrobial Use and Resistance data collection and measurement programs. Today, on episode 38 Dan reflects on his 37-year career at CDC, the COVID response, and how we can most accurately and effectively record the history of COVID for the benefit of future generations. For full show notes and links, visit https://DeepDive.tips.

Daniel Pollock retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 after a 37-year career during which he worked as a medical epidemiologist in the agency's infectious diseases, informatics, injury prevention, and environmental health programs.  From 2004 - 2021, Dr. Pollock led the CDC unit responsible for national surveillance of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use and resistance. This is known as the National Healthcare Safety Network, or NHSN. In the spring of 2020, he served in CDC's COVID-19 emergency response as Deputy Incident Manager for data and surveillance.  This is the first of a two-part discussion with Daniel.  On this episode, we talk with Dr. Pollock about his career path at CDC, the launching of the National Healthcare Safety Network, and lessons learned from designing the Antimicrobial Use and Resistance data collection and measurement programs. For full show notes and links, visit https://DeepDive.tips.

We all know the story of Sir Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin. Similarly, the X-Ray, Insulin, and many more medical and scientific breakthroughs can be traced back to “happy accidents”. Each time the scientist attempted to do something else, found an odd thread and pulled it. Had they not seen it, or decided not to pull it, our modern human experience would have been drastically different. These types of anomalies and variations happen all the time. But we don't always embrace them. In fact, many of us go out of our way to avoid them altogether. And when they do occur, we may be reluctant to be “distracted” by them. Much of our culture values focus and simplicity. “Eyes on the prize”, “Keep it Simple Stupid”, and all that. But how many penicillins, X-rays, and insulins remain undiscovered because of our “efficiency”? Today's guest takes a different approach. Anna Dumitriu is an award-winning British artist who works with BioArt, sculpture, installation, and digital media to explore our relationship to infectious diseases, synthetic biology, and robotics. Anna prefers to “reveal the strangeness” of things… to help us confront the unusual and uncomfortable … to acknowledge the complexity and the beauty around us. Anna's curiosity and her drive to confront the complexities of our world have taken her on a truly fascinating journey. She's edited genes with CRISPR, extracted DNA from killed Yesinia pestis bacteria for her Plague Dress, explored the ethics of artificial intelligence, and much more. Anna calls this “unnecessary research” and she believes it creates opportunities for discovery. It puts her and her colleagues in a place where happy accidents are more likely to occur. We explore why and how Anna does what she does. How her path evolved and led to working side-by-side with scientists in the lab. And why you just might want to consider doing a bit more unnecessary research in your next project. For full show notes and links, visit: https://deepdive.tips/

Dr. Mark Hernandez is a registered professional civil engineer and an expert on the characterization and control of bioaerosols indoors and out.  He runs a research lab that assesses the efficacy of new disinfection practices for the military, industrial hygiene, and sanitary engineering sectors. He's the lead inventor on several patents that support various start-up companies. He's worked side-by-side with some of the greatest minds in the industry throughout his educational career. But, before all of that, Mark was a street kid whose path could have been much different. In his words, “education saved my life”. On this episode, we discuss Mark's journey from street kid to sought-after scientist who's been making a difference the entire way. And we explore how his background and career have made him a champion of diversity, and a mentor to the underrepresented within the scientific community.

Jon Adkins is Senior Vice President at ISSA - The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association. We discuss: - The mechanics of hosting a large tradeshow during a pandemic. - Leaning on the GBAC STAR accreditation program to help them pull it off – The Las Vegas Convention Center and cleaning service contractor, United Service Companies are both GBAC STAR accredited. Resort World and the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport are too. - Driving membership growth in ISSA, which already includes 10,500 members in 105 countries. - The rapid growth of the GBAC STAR Accreditation program. - Supporting ISSA members in driving new commercial opportunities and emphasizing the value of clean through a $5 million multi-channel media investment.   Learn more: ISSA - The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association Or, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Rachel Olsavicky is Regional Marketing Manager, Commercial & Public Interest at Essity Tom Bergin is Healthcare Marketing Director at Essity Professional Hygiene. Nancy Farrell is Senior Product Manager for the Tork Vision Cleaning Service.   We discuss: Tork Interactive Clean Hospital Training: A free, Interactive training for optimal cleaning results in hospital environments. Virtual Reality (VR) Hand Hygiene Training: A free, immersive training based on My Five Moments of Hand Hygiene from W.H.O. The Tork Vision Cleaning Service an IoT facility management solution that helps you track people movement and supply levels throughout your facilities. How real-time usage data helps you better plan and service your facility. How historical data will tell you a new story about your facility and processes over time. Working with customers to give data meaning. Why we need to move away from fire-fighting and get proactive about the future of safe and clean facilities. ... Learn more: https://www.torkusa.com/ ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Gunner Lyslo is the founder and CEO at Surfacide. We discuss: Surfacide Eos™ - a new UVC disinfection modality that is geared primarily outside of the healthcare vertical. A recent University of Iowa study that demonstrated the efficacy of Surfacide's technology against SARS-CoV-2. Bringing evidenced-based solutions for infection prevention from healthcare to other industries. The new obligation for all organizations to provide a safe environment for their patrons and staff. ... Learn more at https://www.surfacide.com/ ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Tim Burns is Vice President – Facility Care Corporate Accounts at Ecolab. We discuss: Ecolab's Peroxide Multi-Surface Cleaner and Disinfectant that's nominated for an ISSA innovation award. It's a three in one product that can be used as a multi-surface cleaner, a glass cleaner, and a disinfectant. The focus on cost and efficiency for offices operating at low capacities. The current struggles with labor… everywhere. Cleaning in the open because your customers want to see it. ... UPDATE: Ecolab Inc.'s Peroxide Multi Surface Cleaner and Disinfectant was nominated for an ISSA Innovation Award and won the Residential Cleaning Choice Award! ... Learn more: https://www.ecolab.com/   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Jim Arbogast is Vice President, Hygiene Sciences & Public Health Advancements at GOJO, makers of PURELL™. We discuss: The importance of providing a great user experience with hand sanitizers and surface cleaners. Delivering on the main promise and eliminating trade-offs. Feel, smell, contact time, dry time, residue, etc. are critical in getting people to use products and use them correctly. The experience becomes even more important with the heightened usage of hand sanitizers and surface cleaners during the pandemic. How to integrate guidance like My Five Moments of Hand Hygiene from W.H.O. into our lives to get the maximum protection with the minimum disruption (i.e., you don't have to wash your hands 1,000 times per day – you just have to wash them at the right moments). Protecting against human norovirus. ... Learn more: https://www.GOJO.com/ Facebook, Twitter @PURELL, LinkedIn, or PURELL Brand on YouTube. ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Dave Maurer is President and CEO at Creative Products International (CPI). We discuss: Four-dimensional cleaning (floors, walls, desks/surfaces, and air) CPI's partnership with GBAC Respecting the cleaning staff and keeping them safe Empowering the cleaning staff with proper training and education Considering the environment, especially as we increase cleaning during the pandemic ... Learn more at https://creativeidea.net/ ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Sara Djubek is Senior Director of Happiness at Aunt Flow. Great title! We discuss: Menstrual equity and the need for free access to safe and effective menstrual products. Period poverty exists in all workplaces and all environments. Why the materials matter when it comes to menstrual products. Raising awareness and giving back. Going back to understanding that we care about each other and have empathy. How can organizations make whoever is entering their space understand that they feel empathy towards them… that they matter… and that they want to make their lives better? ... UPDATE: Aunt Flow's Model R Recessed, Free-Vend Menstrual Product Dispenser helps facilities leaders meet demand to provide free period products in restrooms. It was nominated for an ISSA Innovation Award and won the Distributor Choice Award! ... Learn more at https://www.goauntflow.com/ Or, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Peter Leahy is Senior Marketing Manager for Cleaning and Hygiene at Kimberly-Clark Professional.   We discuss: The IoT-enabled Onvation system that enables smart restroom servicing. It helps predict when devices need to be refilled. Smart restroom servicing enables more efficient staffing and use of resources, less waste, and satisfied customers. The colliding variables that have rendered our past experiences and purchasing patterns obsolete. For example, workers are not back in the office full-time and they are using more soap when they are there. Providing a “frictionless” experience to your customers to keep them coming back for more. Partnering with ISSA to provide GBAC scholarships. ... Learn more at https://www.kcprofessional.com ... This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Avisha NessAiver is Science Advisor to ActivePure and Chief Science Officer at MedStartr Direct. We discuss: How ActivePure uses advanced photocatalysis to bring the self-cleaning mechanisms of the outdoors, inside. Filtration vs. environmental decontamination. The practical application of making people safer and making them feel safer. The economic impact of clean air. ... Learn more at https://www.activepure.com/ and https://www.medstartr.direct/   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Douglas Stein is CEO at PPE Advantage Rob Williams is President at R.L. Williams Company We discuss: Demand for nitrile gloves nearly tripled at the beginning of the pandemic. This opened the door to nefarious activities and fraud that cost U.S. companies billions. Companies lost deposits, got fake gloves, and even used gloves. The PPE Coalition was formed to help organizations that were victims of fraud. The coalition aims to recover as much money as possible and to put systems in place to prevent this type of activity in the future. How ISSA supported the launch of the coalition ... The PPE Fraud Coalition is a group of businesses actively seeking industry and government assistance in recovering funds lost to PPE fraud in Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would also like to see more action taken against criminals and bad actors in foreign countries who have exploited the pandemic for financial gain. Thousands of companies across North America have been affected by fraudulent contracts, counterfeit products, empty deliveries, unreturned deposits, etc. Learn more: https://ppefraudcoalition.com/ Videos: ISSA Media Investigates: Global Fraud and Non-Delivery of PPE and PPE Fraud and its Impact on the Global Cleaning Industry CNN Investigation: https://youtu.be/ntFvPi7yprI   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Kathleen Verceglio-Elvir is Associate Brand Manager at Dial Professional. We discuss: The new Dial Clean and Gentle Antibacterial hand soap It's an antibacterial hand soap that is dye-free, fragrance, free, free from sulfates, parabens, SLS, and SLES. The demand for efficacious, natural hand-soaps. The importance of hand hygiene beyond the pandemic. ... UPDATE: Dial Clean and Gentle Antibacterial hand soap was nominated for an ISSA Innovation Award and won the Manufacturer Representative Choice Award.   Learn more: https://www.dialprofessional.com/ Or, on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Jim Epstein is President at Intercon. We discuss: Intercon's new Blue Planet Disinfectant. As Jim puts it, “it's everything you want in a disinfectant and nothing you don't want”. Finding a way to stabilize Hypochlorous Acid for 18 months enabled a commercially viable, hospital-grade disinfectant that breaks down into simple salt and water after use, leaving no chemical residue. Jim's observations of the industry and its evolution from his first ISSA show to his 40th this year. The role Jim sees for GBAC in the international cleaning industry. How the pandemic “raised the expectation for all of us in this industry, to how can we do a better job, and made the mission bigger than just building businesses, but building something for the benefit of everybody.”   Learn more: https://www.interconchemical.com/   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

John Strom is Vice-President - General Manager, Connected Solutions at Georgia-Pacific. We discuss: GP's new KOLO Smart Monitoring System Data-driven cleaning and how it alleviates labor shortages and improves your customers' experience. CHIPS Value Drivers (Cost, Hygiene, Image, Productivity, Sustainability) How COVID has made hygiene table stakes and driven high-traffic spaces to think more about their patrons' restroom experience Finding a balanced solution that meets your customers' needs and expectations Continuing to think holistically about your customers' experience beyond the pandemic ... Learn more: https://www.gppro.com/gp/solutions/kolo-smart-monitoring-system   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Patricia (Patty) Olinger, is the Executive Director of Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a division of ISSA.   We discuss: - The incredible growth of the GBAC STAR Facility Accreditation. There are now over 3,000 GBAC STAR facilities in just 18 months! - The types of facilities that are benefiting from GBAC STAR. - How GBAC is reaching new customers and the biggest opportunities Patty sees in new verticals. - A new initiative called GBAC STAR Registered Technology & Programs that offers manufacturers and other companies the opportunity to have their cleaning, infectious diseases prevention, or similar type of technology or program earn the GBAC STAR Registered Seal that promotes resilience and strengthens trust with their customers. - Upcoming efforts in training and education. - Making our facilities more resilient for the future.   Learn more: https://gbac.issa.com/   Subscribe to the GBAC STAR Report: https://gbac.issa.com/star-report-subscription/ The STAR Report is a monthly e-newsletter which features unique GBAC-related content for all professionals interested in staying current on infection prevention and control. Each month you'll receive information on a variety of topics such as GBAC STAR™ accreditation, cleaning and disinfection best practices and protocols, updates on infectious disease preparation and response, and more.   Also check out our Deep Dive interview with Patty: Episode 16 - How to Ensure We Are Ready for the Next Pandemic with Patty Olinger   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

Jason Jones is the Director of Strategic Channel Development - Air Treatment at Fellowes Brands. We discuss: - Fellowes AeraMax Pro line of commercial air purifiers which recently tested at a 99.9999% capture rate of COVID-19 in a single pass. - The importance of clean air in our shared spaces during and beyond the pandemic. - Their success in K thru 12 classrooms and the opportunities in other categories like higher education, retail, arenas, elder care facilities, and more. - How demonstrating cleanliness with visible devices, messaging, odor control and more can help bring your customers back. - Preparing for the future and making sure our spaces are ready for any airborne pathogens.   Learn more at https://aeramaxpro.com/   This episode was recorded live at ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas. Check out all of our conversations from the show here: https://deepdive.tips/index.php/2021/11/30/conversations-at-issa-2021/

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our systems and consumed our attention since March 2020. Unfortunately, the other pathogens didn't go away and, in some ways, we're given a new chance to thrive. Patient beds were taken out of the known environments and pushed to the hallway so overworked hospital staff could care for a nonstop influx of patients. PPE and cleaning products were in short supply, so EVS made decisions on the fly about alternative cleaning solutions and methods. The industry did the best it could under the circumstances. Mistakes were made. Approvals were reversed. Confusion ensued. It turns out, as John LaRochelle puts it: “You can't just throw labor at the problem”. There were bright spots too. GBAC designed and launched its GBAC Star Accreditation program during the pandemic and has helped scores of hotels, stadiums, convention centers and more reopen their facilities safely. The public became educated in key public health issues that we could never have gotten them to think about in the past, creating wonderful opportunities to expand our dialogue and improve public safety going forward. And though it was often painful, we learned important messages about how to better communicate science to the public. All of this sets the stage for the cleaning industry's big return to in-person events at the ISSA Show 2021 in Las Vegas from November 15-18, 2021. This event is an opportunity for the best minds in the cleaning industry to come together, take stock of the past 18+ months, and regroup on priorities for 2022.   To help you get ready for the show, we're talking with TIPS board members John LaRochelle and Dr. Rodney E. Rohde. John and Dr. Rohde provide an overview of where the pandemic has led the cleaning industry and they identify key issues that need our attention while we continue to grapple with COVID-19. You can also check out John LaRochelle and Dr. Rodney Rohde (along with Daniel Gordon) speaking at the ISSA Show! They are presenting Post-Pandemic: The Truth About What Really Works in Hospitality on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, from 1-2 PM at Location: W205-W206. If you're headed to the ISSA Show then this episode will get you primed and ready to make the most of it. And even if you're not, it's full of expertise and insights that will help you plan for a productive 2022. ... Complementary listening to expand on the topics discussed throughout this episode:   How to Ensure We Are Ready for the Next Pandemic with Patty Olinger Using the COVID-19 Shared Experience to Make Public Health Communication More Effective with Vanessa Lamers Supporting the Front-lines and Improving Communication During a Pandemic with Dr. Saskia Popescu Overcoming Emergent Problems in a Deepening Crisis with Dr. Angela Rasmussen   For links and show notes, visit: https://deepdive.tips

Elizabeth “EC” Caley and Sam Molyneux have both made a career of working with large, complex data sets, and deconvoluting them to ask simple questions. Whether researching the genetic drivers that cause normal tissues to become cancerous, analyzing vast amounts of scientific literature, or identifying the missing data preventing the next breakthrough, EC and Sam have been aligned in their goal to use information to make a meaningful impact on people's lives. A few years ago, EC and Sam began to ponder the health effects of pathogens in the indoor environment. EC's background had exposed her to the business impacts of pathogens on organizations both large and small. And like all of us, they had both seen the impact the seasonal flu or the common cold could have on their teams. They remarked that there's incredible biotechnology that allows for precise identification of organisms, and methods to quantify, sample and analyze data around them. They wondered why these technologies and techniques, so commonly used in clinical labs, research, and genomics, were not being deployed for the indoor environment. This gap became the next problem for Sam and EC to solve together, and Poppy was born. On this episode, we talk with EC and Sam, Co-founders, and Co-CEOs of Poppy, about the importance of understanding indoor air quality. This, of course, is tremendously important and obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic (especially with the growing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 may be primarily transmitted by aerosols). However, it has always been this important and always will be. We spend much of our time indoors and the quality of those spaces has a dramatic impact on our health and wellbeing. We get into the why, the science and technology (which is fascinating), the potential for impact and scale (which is tremendous), and more... Visit https://DeepDive.tips for complete show notes. Learn more about Poppy: https://poppy.com/

In July 2020, scientists citing the precautionary principle said “It Is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)”. They were rebuffed a month later by experts who cited a lack of evidence and argued: “the concerns raised by the authors are not borne out in clinical experience”. Nearly a year later, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) updated their language to include aerosol transmission and in the case of the CDC, they listed it as the first method of transmission before droplets and fomites. Paradoxically, neither organization updated its guidance to address the implications of the new language. What's going on here? Today's guest is part of a growing body of experts calling on the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) community to accept that SARS-CoV-2 is not only transmitted by aerosols but that the airborne route may be the dominant mode of transmission. Dr. David Fisman, an epidemiologist and professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, along with several colleagues, published Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Fisman tells us that the evidence is clear, but the IPAC community has been slow to accept it because of two main reasons. First, IPAC practitioners are going to lose face – to change course now is to admit they were wrong. Second, this will cause a massive change to IPAC practices in hospitals – some at significant expense. Dr. Fisman believes the Semmelweis reflex – the human behavioral tendency to stick to preexisting beliefs and to reject fresh ideas that contradict them despite adequate evidence – may be at play. Zeynep Tufekci said something similar in a recent NY Times article when she said IPAC experts were “setting a higher standard of proof for theories that challenge conventional wisdom than for those that support it.” And TIPS previously described this type of thinking as Highly Qualified Toxic Culture Syndrome. This resistance to new thinking could be supported by the massive implications (and costs) that would be driven by necessary changes to IPAC protocols. Plus, we cannot discount the effects of the highly charged political environment on every aspect of the pandemic response. Regardless, Dr. Fisman makes a compelling case that it's time for the IPAC community to take a step back and reevaluate the growing body of evidence that points to aerosols as the dominant means of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In addition to the droplet vs aerosol debate, we cover:   The history of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the newly founded University of Toronto Institute for Pandemics David Fisman's background and career path What it's like being an epidemiologist during a pandemic and working under the microscope in a highly charged political environment. Dealing with misinformation. COVID-19 origins Treating vaccine manufacturing capabilities as a strategic asset for national security. The Ontario government's reopening plan and how it seems to acknowledge aerosol transmission without explicitly saying it. Vaccine mixing And much more   You can also catch Dr. David Fisman and others discussing aerosol transmission on CBC's recent story: How delays in acknowledging airborne COVID-19 transmission risked lives.

It may seem premature to be worrying about the next pandemic while we are still knee-deep in the current one. However, the steps required to end the COVID-19 crisis, if executed properly, will prepare us for future pandemics. Today we're talking with Patty Olinger, Executive Director of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC). GBAC is a division of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) that helps organizations and businesses prepare for, respond to, and recover from biological threats, biohazard situations, and real-time crises. Their accreditation program, GBAC Star, is the cleaning industry's only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation and is being used by organizations around the world to ensure a safe re-opening. This accreditation demonstrates these organizations' commitment to their customers' safety and to doing their part to end the COVID-19 pandemic. It also signals their desire to cement these best practices in their policies, procedures, and culture going forward. It is a commitment to doing everything they can to ensure they are ready next time. In this episode, we discuss Patty's personal path to GBAC and explore how her experiences can be instructive for all of us as we find our way out of this pandemic and prepare for the future. Her story begins with personal experiences and “risk assessments” involving the health of her loved ones, invokes lessons learned from protecting the clinicians who treated the first-ever Ebola patient in the U.S., and builds on the observations that lead her to declare in January 2020, "A pandemic is coming, and we are not ready". A few weeks later she would learn how right she was, and that all her plans for GBAC would need to change. This is a fascinating conversation with one of TIPS most important partners. We cover everything discussed above, plus:   TIPS Science to Market Unintended consequences of “Patient-centered” thinking. Risk assessments. How to make recommendations that do not align with the existing guidance. The importance of demonstration and repetition when it comes to establishing new habits and incorporating best practices into your culture. How to market “safety”. How to ensure we are better prepared for the next pandemic   It is truly remarkable what Patty and her team at GBAC have been able to accomplish in the past year. There is something here for everyone in the TIPS audience ad we are thrilled to bring Patty's story to you today!   Patricia (Patty) Olinger, JM, RBP Certified Forensic Operator®, Certified Bio-Forensic Restoration Specialist® Patty Olinger is the Executive Director for GBAC. Prior to joining GBAC, Olinger was an Assistant Vice President in the Office of Research Administration and the Executive Director of the Environmental, Health and Safety Office (EHSO) at Emory University. During Olinger's 13-year tenure, EHSO had university-wide responsibility for all aspects of Environmental, Health and Safety support, including EHS compliance support to Emory Healthcare. This included biosafety support to the Emory Serious Communicable Diseases Unit (SCDU), which cared for four Ebola patients in 2014.   GBAC The Global Biorisk Advisory Council™ (GBAC) helps organizations and businesses prepare for, respond to, and recover from biological threats, and biohazard situations and real-time crises. We offer education, training, certification, response management, and crisis consulting for situations where environments require a much higher level of cleaning, disinfection, and restoration. GBAC is a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association. Explore becoming a member of ISSA to access discounts to GBAC programs and services.   Learn more: https://gbac.issa.com/   Related Episodes   Why Hand Hygiene Matters with Tamás Haidegger – The Hand-in-Scan system is a great example of training by demonstration. Using the COVID-19 Shared Experience to Make Public Health Communication More Effective with Vanessa Lamers – another recent discussion on preserving the lessons learned during the pandemic.

Amidst the damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been given a potent tool that, if properly harnessed, could help us communicate more effectively about everything in public health. For effective communication, the very first thing we need to do is create a connection with our audience. For that, metaphors and shared experience are two of our most effective tools. These, however, are hard to come by and typically must be created anew for every audience. It's rare that we have a shared experience that touches everyone in a direct and visceral way. A shared experience that due to its sheer scope and severity, forces politicians, business leaders, and other key decision makers through a crash course on public health concepts like contract tracing, mass testing, vaccine development and deployment, health access and disparities, public health data infrastructure, non-pharmaceutical interventions, and many more. For public health and emergency preparedness communicators, prior to 2020 at least, this would have been a pipe dream. Yet here we are. The pandemic has taken so much away, but as with any catastrophe, buried in the ashes and rubble, if you care to look for it, you will find opportunity. That is what today's discussion is all about.   The Road to Making a Difference As a college student in the 2000s, Vanessa Lamers studied education and environmental science. Supplementing her academics, she also worked in Willamette University's security office and helped with emergency response and preparedness on campus. During that time, she observed the emergency response efforts to major environmental catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. Later, graduate studies lead her to Yale University where she continued to explore sustainability and environmental science, public health, and infectious disease. At the time, SARS and MERS provided real-world examples of the types of threats Vanessa wanted to help prepare us for. She tells us that “seeing all that happen in real-time and making those ties and realizing that, hey, I want to be one of the people that's helping prevent these disasters.”   Making a Connection Vanessa's unique combination of expertise in environmental science, public health, and infectious disease led to opportunities to hone her skills in Haiti and Zimbabwe. There Vanessa learned that, even with very limited resources, you can still drive amazing health outcomes. Similar to Richard Heinzl's observations in Episode #10, Vanessa realized that the strategic application of the tools you do have, combined with a hands-on, get out in the community approach, can be extremely effective. Vanessa tells us that they deployed community health workers to go door-to-door, seek out the most vulnerable people in the communities and figure out how to take care of them. “There's no need to recreate the wheel”, Vanessa adds, because public health efforts that lack resources often provide “great wrap-around services, building a community around the people who need it.” This approach, of course, is based on meeting people where they are, literally, and making a connection.   Visual Acuity Another important lesson came to Vanessa while she worked at the Yale University Art Gallery. There, she led educational tours of the gallery for everyone from 3rd graders in the New Haven Public School to Yale Medical and master's in public health (MPH) students. The goal was to strengthen visual acuity, a skill that can be very useful in all forms of communication. Vanessa describes it this way, “This skill of visual acuity. How do you look at something? What do you see? What pops out at you? What do you notice? Why are you noticing that first? Why didn't you notice this other thing and the painting? How do you then describe it to the other people that are in your group in terms that they're going to understand? How do you build a shared experience among a group of people when you're looking at the same?”. This experience allowed Vanessa to explore and strengthen her grasp of communication and connections in a variety of new ways.   The Ultimate Shared Experience The varied experiences on Vanessa's journey helped her to understand the importance of connection and the power of shared experience. And it was this understanding that helped her see “the big idea” we came together to discuss. It was another fortuitous occurrence where a lead poisoning audit in Milwaukee (being conducted by Vanessa and team at the Public Health Foundation), began before the pandemic and wrapped-up when were deep in the crisis. Vanessa explains “Pre-COVID I was really struggling to find what a shared experience would be, what metaphor I could use to explain some of the challenges that we were seeing”, but after months of the pandemic “all of these officials had now, unfortunately for them, had to build a full understanding of public health.” The shared experience and accompanying metaphors are very powerful and create the opportunity to say “you know how this was difficult with COVID. It's going to be difficult with lead poisoning.” And this might be data collection, contacting patients for follow-up, contact tracing, or a dozen other complex concepts that all of us now have at least a basic understanding of. This helps your audience create a mental picture to work with (tie-in visual acuity), and greatly increases the chance for connection, shared understanding, and progress. This was a nuanced conversation that explores, in a variety of ways, how to make your public health communication more effective. It's a skill that we should all strive to constantly improve, and we're certain everyone who listens will find something of value.   Vanessa Lammers Vanessa Lamers is the Assistant Director of Performance Management and Quality Improvement at the Public Health Foundation (PHF). She develops and leads programming to build the capacity of state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments and provides technical assistance and training around quality improvement, performance management, and accreditation preparation and maintenance. Ms. Lamers manages and supports a wide array of public health projects related to infectious disease and immunization, environmental health, substance abuse and misuse, and the social determinants of health. Prior to joining PHF in 2015, Ms. Lamers worked at the consulting firm Fresh Advantage on issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act and Community Health Needs Assessment Implementation. She also served as a Research Assistant with the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale and worked with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ms. Lamers holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon as well as a Master of Public Health and Master of Environmental Science, both from Yale University. Twitter: https://twitter.com/vlamers Email: vlamers@phf.org   Public Health Foundation (PHF) Healthy Practices. Healthy People. Healthy Places. The Public Health Foundation (PHF), a private, non-profit, 501(c)3 organization based in Washington, DC, improves public health and population health practice to support healthier communities. Since 1970, PHF has developed effective resources, tools, information, and training for health agencies, organizations, and individuals to help improve performance and community health outcomes. PHF is an independent, non-membership organization, governed by an 11-member Board of Directors composed of two state health officers, two local public health officers, one local board of health member, and six individuals from academic, private sector, and other public health agency settings. Resources Public health systems need access to data and applied public health research in order to make evidence-based policy decisions, strengthen their infrastructure, and improve their performance. To help build this science base, PHF:   Conducts applied research Compiles and presents data Advances the field of public health systems research   In addition to the reports discussed above, PHF offers resources through its online store, the Learning Resource Center, its online learning management system, TRAIN, the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice, and the Public Health Improvement Resource Center. Programs One of PHF's specialties is assisting health departments in performance improvement. A number of tools and programs are available including technical assistance services, the Public Health Memory Jogger II, and the National Public Health Performance Standards Program.    Web: https://www.phf.org/ Twitter: @ThePHF Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PHFDC/ Make a free account on TRAIN.org

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen by most objective measures. We're breaking records for cases, deaths, and hospitalizations on a regular basis, and many of our hospitals are operating at or near capacity. Further complicating the situation, scientists are tracking the “UK variant” that is more transmissible, and our vaccine distribution has fallen well short of expectations. Emergent problems in a deepening crisis, of course, make us vulnerable to knee-jerk reactions that distract us from the known path to getting the pandemic under control. On this episode, we're talking with virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen about these emergent issues. She helps us to understand what they mean and puts them in context by pointing out the good things that are happening too. First and foremost, the vaccines are more efficacious than expected (i.e., around 95%). Second, the “UK variant”, while worrisome, has not evolved in any way that makes existing, non-pharmaceutical interventions less effective (e.g., masks, social-distancing, avoid crowds, clean high-touch surfaces, etc.).   The UK Strain Dr. Rasmussen tells us that the B.1.1.7 strain, better known as the “UK variant”, is worrisome. However, travel bans aren't an effective response to the new COVID-19 variant. The new strain was detected first in the UK, but that is likely because the UK is doing more genomic surveillance than most countries. They found it because they were looking, but it could have originated elsewhere. Dr. Rasmussen explains “travel bans are only really effective when you can guarantee that you would not be exporting the virus from one place to another”. And since we don't know for sure where the variant first-evolved, or where it has spread to, there is simply no way to design an effective travel ban. We also discuss:   How viruses mutate and evolve Why the new variant is believed to be more transmissible Potential behavior components that may have impacted the numbers That the known, non-pharmaceutical interventions work against every variant of SARS coronavirus (i.e., the virus hasn't mutated in a way that makes our masks, social-distancing, etc. less effective). We should double-down on those now.   Communicating Science to the Public We continue to examine communications lessons that can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Rasmussen tells us that scientists and media tend to make one of two mistakes:   They default to the worst case scenario and communicate in a very reactionary way They oversimplify things, trying to get the public to understand and comply with certain behaviors   Both approaches create gaps in understanding and acceptance of our message. To mitigate these issues, Dr. Rasmussen tells us to think about three key things whenever we're communicating science to the public:   Talk openly about what we don't know, and about the nuances, so that people become more comfortable with uncertainty End every message with actionable advice. Tell them what they can and should do right now to protect themselves. Repeat the message over and over. In a constantly evolving environment, we may be tempted to jump from topic to topic. Our messaging should always be grounded in the tried and true (e.g., the non-pharmaceutical interventions discussed earlier)   Vaccine Challenges We're dealing with a triple threat when it comes to the vaccine. First, we have our current distribution problems. There are vaccines available and they are being administered much more slowly than we'd like. Second, there are known supply challenges that could worsen if/when we alleviate the distribution delays. Third, we're dealing with vaccine “hesitancy” and the recent discussions around changing dosing regimens, despite the fact that we have no data to support those changes, might cast further doubt for those on the fence. Dr. Rasmussen shares her thoughts on these high-level issues, and gets into the details of each:   What is causing our distribution problems, and what are the steps that can be taken right now? What do we know about the potential for widespread supply issues, and how are our current efforts to head them off distracting us from the distribution problem we have right now? What will it take to achieve herd immunity and slow, or stop community transmission? Why the vaccine is a medium-to-long-term solution, and the importance of redoubling our efforts on non-pharmaceutical interventions to slow community spread in the near-term How we can use the tried-and-true epidemiological path, in conjunction with vaccination to slow community transmission and get us on the right path in the foreseeable future   Dr. Angela Rasmussen Dr. Rasmussen is a virologist studying host responses to infection by combining classical virology with modern systems biology approaches. Her research objectives are to identify host response signatures predictive of infection severity or disease outcome and host pathways to target drug development or repurposing. She is particularly interested in viruses that are highly pathogenic, newly emergent or likely to emerge because of climate change, land development, or ecological disruption. Currently she is focused on SARS-CoV-2, as well as other emerging pathogens with the potential to profoundly impact global health, such as Ebola virus, MERS-CoV, influenza virus, and hemorrhagic fever viruses. She works closely with other faculty and affiliates within the GHSS on the Viral Emergence Research Initiative (the VERENA Consortium), where she leads the core virology team. Dr. Rasmussen has employed uses in vitro systems, animal models, and clinical specimens to study the relationship between host response and pathogenesis. She previously developed a  model of Ebola virus disease in a genetically diverse panel of mice, the Collaborative Cross (CC), leveraging the diversity of CC mouse disease phenotypes to study genetic and transcriptomic factors underlying disease severity in humans. She has applied this model to developing predictive signatures of disease outcome and infection and identify novel drug targets. She is currently evaluating CC mouse models towards investigation of sex-specific host responses to viral infection, as well as to investigate disease presentation in other viruses that pose a major threat to global public health, including SARS-CoV-2. Ultimately, these host response profiles can be used for translational or biodefense applications, such as diagnosing infection, predicting disease severity, informing vaccine design, and developing or repurposing host-targeted drugs to impair virus replication or reverse pathology.  Dr. Rasmussen has published numerous original research articles in the peer-reviewed literature and serves on the editorial board of Cell Reports and mSphere. In addition to her scientific work, she believes that engagement of the public is essential to successful public health initiatives and is an active and outspoken science communicator. She has written for Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Slate, the Guardian, and Leapsmag, and appeared many times in media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CNN, CBC, and BBC. She is also an advocate for equitable and inclusive science, and serves on the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director's Working Group on Changing the Culture to End Sexual Harassment.   Email: ar1692@georgetown.edu Web: https://angelarasmussen.org/ Twitter: @angie_rasmussen   Links and Resources   For mRNA vaccines, we should stick to the schedule Travel bans aren't an effective response to the new COVID-19 variant Pizza-sized boxes and paying a premium: Israel's COVID-19 vaccine rollout Canada has secured more vaccine doses per capita than anyone else, but it's been slow to administer them Doug Ford says Ontario will run out of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines by end of next week

When she was just 8 years old, Dr. Saskia Popescu's step-mother handed her a copy of The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus. That simple act kicked off a string of events that would positively impact thousands of lives. At TIPS, we believe that one person can make a difference and everyone should try. Sometimes that person becomes a renowned infectious diseases epidemiologist and infection preventionist who specializes in biopreparedness, biosecurity, and pandemic response, and guides hospitals and businesses safely through a pandemic, like Dr. Popescu. Other times they make a difference simply by opening the mind of a child to the great possibilities of the world. Both matter.   What's it really like on the front-lines of healthcare? Dr. Popescu was on the front-lines as an infection preventionist long before the COVID-19 pandemic. And she, like many in the healthcare industry, was already running beyond capacity. Infection Prevention efforts are notoriously under-funded and under-prioritized by hospitals. Dr. Popescu tells us that she's “never seen a fully staffed infection prevention department.” Similarly, doctors and nurses were already struggling with an epidemic of clinician burnout. To truly understand the context of what it's like out there, we must remember that everything our front-line workers are dealing with now is in addition to that existing burden. Dr. Popescu tells us how this feels, how she and her colleagues are dealing with it, and how their hospitals can help. The need, Dr. Popescu tells us, goes way beyond providing access to personal protective equipment (PPE). Some hospitals are smartly supporting their staff with child care, mental health support, meal delivery, and other non-work-related services that go a long way towards helping their teams cope with the pressure.   The challenges of scientific communication Dr. Popescu has been recognized for her communication efforts around the pandemic. In her view, the U.S. has struggled to translate nuanced CDC guidance into actual application, especially when working with people unfamiliar with the science. This is particularly true when dealing with the public. Dr. Popescu shares a few lessons learned through this experience that can and should be improved upon going forward.   We did a poor job of informing the public that guidance was likely to change. We're dealing with a novel virus, and our experts are learning on the fly in unfavorable conditions. It makes sense that things would change, but it also makes sense that people would react poorly if they were not prepared for that change. The statistics and measures we are focused on may not be the most effective for helping the public understand what's going on. We focus on positivity rates, death rates, and ICU bed counts, but little on what's happening outside of the ICU and provide no breakdowns in terms of disease severity.   We also get into the need to account for politics in future communications efforts and much more. Surely, the communications lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic will be dissected for years to come.   Historical Lessons Dr. Popescu also takes us through comparative lessons from past pandemics. The lessons we're learning today can and should be combined with those past experiences to make our next response that much more effective. We can even look to the experiences of dominant nation-states of the past like Rome. The fall of Rome is a complex topic with many factors, but infectious disease certainly contributed to its demise. Dr. Popescu tells us that “disease has a big impact on critical infrastructure and can be very destabilizing”. That is evident today, and we'd be wise not to ignore the challenges that followed these events of the past.   The Path Forward The bulk of our efforts today should be focused on saving lives, supporting healthcare workers, distributing vaccines, and ending this pandemic. However, it's never too early to begin extracting our lessons and planning for the future. Coming out of this, Dr. Popescu says, “I hope that from the top-down, from the bottom-up, we all are much more cognizant of global health security.” That means looking not just at infection control, but antimicrobial resistance testing, lab capacity, healthcare worker capacity, and more. And this can't be a fleeting interest where we throw a bunch of money at the problem and think we're handling it. Instead, we need a sustained, methodical approach with clear metrics for success.   This is a wonderfully thoughtful and thorough discussion on one of the most important topics of our time. I hope you get as much out of it as we did.   Dr. Saskia Popescu Saskia Popescu is an infectious disease epidemiologist and Senior Infection Preventionist in Phoenix, Arizona. She holds academic appointments at the University of Arizona and George Mason University, where she lectures on biopreparedness, and pandemic and outbreak response. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she's worked to prepare for and mitigate the spread of the disease. She has been recognized for her communication efforts around the pandemic, as well as her work on the front lines. Dr. Popescu holds a PhD in Biodefense from George Mason University, a Masters in Public Health with a focus on infectious diseases, and a Masters of Arts in International Security Studies, from the University of Arizona. Dr. Popescu is an Alumni Fellow of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security. She currently serves as a member of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Coronavirus Taskforce and is a member of the Committee on Data Needs to Monitor Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 within the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).  Follow Dr. Popescu on Twitter (@SaskiaPopescu) Read Dr. Popescu's bio on the George Mason university biodefense program website   Links and Resources ‘Long-haul' covid-19 complications are real. I faced similar problems after surviving Ebola. by DR. Craig Spencer This is the NHS video Dr. Popescu mentioned: https://twitter.com/SaskiaPopescu/status/1329070401834475522

Growing up on a mountain range in Austria, Florian Krammer was immersed in nature from a very young age. His interest in plants and animals led him to science, and ultimately to university where he would study food science and biotechnology. His interest in food fermentation soon morphed into the pursuit of a PhD in a laboratory working on the influenza virus and flu vaccines. From there, Florian's path became clear... he wanted to work in a world-class flu lab and landed at Mount Sanai in New York City. Just 3 years later, he founded The Krammer Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sanai to study RNA viruses and continue his quest for a universal flu vaccine. Like many of us, Florian's trajectory changed in early 2020 as the world descended into a pandemic. The Krammer Laboratory was refocused exclusively on SARS-CoV-2 to help their hospitals do battle in what would soon become a global hotspot for the outbreak. This made the Krammer Laboratory an early leader in understanding the virus and they have sent their reagents to some 250 labs around the globe. In addition to the challenge of understanding SARS-CoV-2 itself, Prof. Krammer and his team have had to deal with social and societal fallout from the pandemic along the way. First, there's the challenge of keeping the team safe and productive while fending off the very real risk of burnout that comes with months of long hours in a high-pressure, high-stakes environment. Then there are the communication challenges of keeping the public informed without causing panic and trying to work-around the vast amounts of misinformation that can easily gain steam in our connected world. The situation is endlessly challenging, and it requires a broad set of skills to navigate successfully. In this interview, Prof. Krammer shares what he's learned along the way, and offers an optimistic view of the vaccine candidates that could, in time, lead us out of the pandemic. That, like the rest of the story so far, is fraught with challenges and will require a massive world-wide collaboration around manufacturing, distribution, and other logistical issues. As we like to say at TIPS, one person can make a difference and everyone should try. Prof. Florian Krammer's path has put him in a position to make a real difference during one of the most trying times in modern history. Links and Notes The Krammer Laboratory, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sanai: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/krammerlab/ Prof. Florian Krammer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/florian_krammer Learn more about The Infection Prevention Strategy at www.IC.tips If you liked this podcast, please consider subscribing to the series and leaving a positive review

At the age of 22, first-year medical student, Richard Heinzl, was looking for an adventure while selecting his elective at McMaster University. While hitchhiking in Uganda, a country in the throes of civil war, a jeep pulled up in front of the canteen where he was grabbing a bite to eat. The jeep had a flag emblazoned with the letters M-S-F, and out of it jumped a bunch of doctors, but not like any doctors Richard had ever seen before. They were young, rough-looking, wearing shorts and t-shirts. They were in Uganda on a mission with Médecins Sans Frontières. This encounter changed the course of Richard's life. He had found his people. Richard went on to complete medical school and then he founded the first chapter of MSF in North America, also known as Doctors without Borders, but not without tremendous push-back and challenges. The founders of MSF in France were protective of their organization and they were firmly not interested in developing a North American presence. Dr. Heinzl persisted and ended up traveling the world with MSF, providing care in dangerous and seemingly hopeless situations where even the Red Cross dared not go. Today, Dr. Heinzl serves as the Global Medical Director of WorldCare, an organization that provides expert medical second opinions by a consortium of specialists. This new world of cutting-edge diagnoses may seem to be as far as one can get from his work with MSF, but there is more of a connection than you might think. Follow Dr. Richard Heinzl's journey from an adventurous and curious medical student to the founding of MSF Canada, to now working with the most innovative and cutting-edge technologies. You will be inspired by the contribution he has made to humanitarian medicine and global health.   Links and Notes: McMaster University Medical School (Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine): https://mdprogram.mcmaster.ca/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International: msf.org MSF Canada: doctorswithoutborders.ca MSF USA: doctorswithoutborders.org WorldCare: https://www.worldcare.com/ Richard's book is called Cambodia Calling: A Memoir from the Frontlines of Humanitarian Aid and can be found here Learn more about The Infection Prevention Strategy at IC.tips If you liked this podcast, please consider subscribing to the series and leaving a positive review

While on a bucket list trip to Egypt, Steffanie Strathdee's husband Tom Patterson fell ill with what they first assumed to be food poisoning. They soon discovered it was much more serious. Tom was diagnosed with pancreatitis and gallstones. The gallstones had blocked his biliary duct, which had caused an abscess the size of a small football to form in his abdomen. When the fluid inside the abscess was cultured, doctors found the “worst bacteria on the planet,” Acinetobacter baumannii. This bacteria, nicknamed Iraqibacter due to the veterans who have returned from the middle east with the superbug, is an organism that is very prone to acquiring antimicrobial resistance genes from other bacteria. Tom was very ill. With the combination of pancreatitis and the superbug, his chance of survival was no more than 10%. Acinetobacter baumannii was only partially sensitive to three known antibiotics, and those were considered to be last chance therapies. He was treated with those drugs, but his bacteria resisted all of them. Steffanie is an infectious disease epidemiologist, but felt blindsided by Tom's diagnosis. Luckily, she had the right combination of knowledge, access to research, and willing medical and research professionals to try alternative therapies. Her research led her to phage therapy. Bacteriophage therapy (phage therapy, for short), are viruses that have naturally evolved to attack bacteria. The perfect predator, they have been co-evolving with bacteria for 4 billion years. There are more than 10 million trillion trillion phages on earth and they are everywhere: in water, soil, and our bodies. Phage therapy has been a known treatment against bacteria for decades, but has been practiced more in the former Soviet Union since western countries started relying on penicillin and other antibiotics since the 1940's. The challenge is to find the particular phage that is effective against the bacterial infection being treated. You are going to love this story of love, determination, resourcefulness and triumph. Steffanie cured Tom's illness with the help of three universities, the US Navy and researchers from across the world. What she discovered in the process is a super weapon against multidrug antimicrobial resistant diseases, which are expected to kill more than ten million people per year by 2050.   Links and notes: Steffanie Strathdee and Robert Schooley are co-directors of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (“IPATH”) at UC San Diego Donate to IPATH here Steffanie Strathdee and Tom Patterson's book about their ordeal is called The Perfect Predator Learn more about The Infection Prevention Strategy at ic.tips If you liked this podcast, please consider subscribing to the series and leaving a positive review

In Part 1, we heard David Ricci's harrowing tale of volunteering at an HIV clinic in Kolkata, India where he was hit by a train. His life-threating injuries lead to the amputation of his leg at a clinic in the slums. Despite that traumatic experience, he endured even greater trauma when he returned home to Seattle and spent over a year combatting an antibiotic-resistant infection.   David found a path in science studying antimicrobial resistance. In 2014 he was asked by the Pew Research Foundation to participate in a coalition of scientists, farmers, patients and activists that had personal stories related to antibiotic resistance. The coalition met with members of Congress and the FDA and what they found was an audience that did not understand the urgency of addressing the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Not a lot has changed in the five years since then, as small changes by governments and big corporations are being lauded as big victories, having the effect of watering down the seriousness of the current crisis.   This podcast is a great primer on the challenges and potential solutions to the dangers of antimicrobial resistance and some of the reasons that it has not received the attention it deserves. Listen to Part 2 of David's story and be inspired by this survivor, scientist and activist.    The name of the documentary David mentioned is Resistance Fighters The website for David's current project, AMR 360, is isbscience.org You can find out more about the AMR Challenge 2019 here: https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/intl-activities/amr-challenge.html Our pan-access journal is at www.ic.tips Learn more about The Infections Prevention Strategy (TIPS) at www.infectiontips.org   If you liked this podcast, please consider subscribing to the series and leaving a positive review. Find more at https://deepdive.tips/

In 2011, David was working at an HIV orphanage in Kolkata, India when he was hit by a train. He suffered profound injuries to his leg and was rushed to a clinic in the slums by rickshaw where his leg was amputated just below the knee. When he returned home to Seattle about a month later, he learned that he had been infected by several antibiotic-resistant bacteria. His doctors did not have a clear treatment path for him, as they had never seen a case like David's. He did not think he would survive this trauma. He endured months of extensive antibiotic treatment with harmful drugs that are typically only used as last resorts due to their toxicity. The treatment caused a lot of pain, as well as massive kidney and immunity damage. Listen to David's gripping story of trial and triumph as we follow his path from victim to survivor to scientist studying antibiotic resistance. In the next episode, hear how David became an activist who is raising awareness about the oncoming danger of a post-antibiotic era and the unregulated overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine. This our first original episode of the TIPS Deep Dive podcast! The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) launched in 2015 during Antibiotic Resistance Week, so it's fitting that David Matteo Ricci is our guest for this first episode. Learn more at https://deepdive.tips/ ... Links from our conversation: Research on 'Iceman' Wim Hof suggests it may be possible to influence autonomic nervous system and immune response

Legionellosis accounts for thousands of hospital admissions and many deaths. It has a 10% mortality rate for those infected and that rate goes up as high as 25% in a healthcare setting. The good news is, it's controllable. In fact, it's largely an engineering problem that has known, low-tech controls. Given the prevalence of the issue, the high mortality rate and increased risk in healthcare settings (especially in LTC), CMS now says that Hospitals must develop water management policies to prevent Legionnaires' disease. They're calling for hospitals to do a risk assessment, implement a water management program and specify testing protocols. The approach sounds like it would be in line with that of a good HIPAA or cyber-security program. That is, you must build a culture of control and manage the issue for the long haul. On this episode, Dave Purkiss and Joseph Cotruvo tell you what Legionella is, how it can be controlled and why health systems should prioritize the issue. Most importantly, they'll tell you about the standards, tools, and approaches that'll help you implement a sound water management program, keep your patients safe, and avoid a non-compliance citation from CMS.   On this episode you'll learn: What is Legionella? Why was it largely unknown prior to 1976? Why does Legionellosis have such a high mortality rate? Can we control the issue and prevent outbreaks? What is the CDC doing to track outbreaks and promote the appropriate measures to control it? How much of a problem is Legionella for U.S. Hospitals? Are Hospital leaders aware of the issue? Why are Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities at greater risk? Are healthcare leaders aware of the tools that exist to properly manage water systems and control Legionella? When did CMS begin to regulate the issue? How does CMS validate that the health systems are properly managing their water systems? Why should a healthcare organization prioritize this issue? What advice would you give a health system leader for getting started with a water management program? How can health systems use tools like the NSF 444 standard and ASHRAE 188 to guide them? Is there a potential for a CMS audit and are there any financial penalties involved? The Legionella 2018 conference: Who's it for? What you'll learn? What are the goals of the conference? How does a good water systems control program relate to a HIPAA program or a cybersecurity program?   This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Show on February 21, 2018.

What happens to an infectious agent once it leaves the human body? Well, it ends up in our cars, airplanes, food, water, and soil. If we know how that contagion behaves “in the wild”, then we'll be able to kill it, filter it, or otherwise prevent it from proliferating, and potentially improve the lives of millions of people in the process. This is the study of Environmental Microbiology and it's a topic that today's guest has spent more than 30 years trying to understand. Dr. Syed Sattar is Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. He is also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at CREM CO.  He's a world-renowned expert who regularly advises national and international agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), and private-sector companies. We're also joined by Bahram Zargar, CEO of CREM CO. This is a company built on top of Dr. Sattar's extensive body of work that aims to speed the assessment, development, and promotion of innovative and sustainable strategies for environmental control of harmful microbes for a safer tomorrow. It blends engineering with environmental microbiology to enable a whole new level of scientific rigor. You'll learn: What happens to infectious agents once they leave the body? What can we do with that knowledge? How air travel and the international food market have eliminated borders in the battle against infectious disease. How engineering can support Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) by enabling scientific rigor and validation. How this science can be used to develop new barrier technologies. What is lacking in today's IPAC efforts and where does it need to go? How disinfectants can lead to their own form of resistance (i.e. bugs resistant to cleaning) and may even contribute to antibiotic resistance. What's the biggest challenge in matching IPAC innovations with potential buyers in the healthcare system? Why we need to enable our “foot soldiers” (i.e. the cleaning staff and environmental services teams at hospitals) with proper training and tools to win this war. Why it's important for innovators and manufacturers to be more scientifically responsible (i.e. don't chase the bug of the month). Why the government needs to increase funding for research and development in IPAC. Why it's so important to stand on the shoulders of the IPAC greats that came before us and build on their work. A few key points that I'd like to highlight: There's very little money set aside by governments for research and development in IPAC. If there's no money, then the best researchers aren't motivated to go after these issues and innovation is starved. We've seen that recently in the U.S with the constant attack on the Prevention and Public Health Fund. We rely on our cleaning staff and Environmental Services (EVS) teams to do a very important job in the hospital, but we don't treat that position with much respect. “If our soldiers are not well trained and ill-equipped for battle, then how do we expect to win the war against the spread of infection?” In a world of increasing antibiotic-resistance and anti-microbial resistance, we must focus on prevention in IPAC.   This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Sow on May 17, 2017.

Sepsis is not an infection. Rather, it's your body's overwhelming reaction to an infection and can lead to some serious health issues. In fact, sepsis is the #1 cause of death for patients in hospitals. Sepsis definitions and protocols have been around for some time, but have been undergoing major changes. Additionally, sepsis is under scrutiny from CMS at the federal level and is subject to public reporting in many states. All of this, plus the importance of quickly diagnosing and treating the condition puts clinicians in a difficult spot. Many times they'll find themselves treating to the protocol, even when their clinical instincts suggest something else. In that regard, sepsis proves to be a very instructive topic in our never-ending quest to unravel the business of healthcare. On this episode, we'll talk with Michael Ackerman who's Director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and Professor of Clinical Nursing at The Ohio State University. Michael is an expert on the topic who speaks on it across the country. He'll help us understand what we're up against and why it's so complicated from both a clinical and administrative standpoint. We discuss: What is sepsis? How is sepsis diagnosed? Why it's so important to diagnose and treat quickly. Why protocols and definitions continue to change. How new definitions of sepsis seem to be at odds with public reporting. How this impacts the clinicians and their ability to treat. How public reporting and media impact the approach. How proper identification and treatment impact healthcare costs. Why we need to focus on quality, but can't ignore the patient experience, the costs of care or the value that you bring to that care. What it all means to the patient and how we can protect ourselves. Why hospital administrators need to take the long-view. How a Sepsis-team can drive tremendous value to the hospital. The importance of incorporating new technology.   This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Show! on May 3rd, 2017.   For more details visit DeepDive.tips

There are two things I can say for sure. First, healthcare-associated infections (HAI) cause a lot of suffering and cost a lot of money. Second, it's really hard to sell into healthcare, even when you have an innovative product that attacks a well-known problem in a common-sense way. On this episode, we get to dive into both of those things. Infection Control and Environmental Surfaces Over the past decade, substantial scientific evidence has accumulated indicating that contamination of environmental surfaces in hospital rooms plays an important role in the transmission of several key HAIs. Environmental surfaces contribute to cross-transmission of pathogens. These surfaces include both nonporous (hard) surfaces and soft surfaces such as bed linens, gown, mattress, etc. The more a patient comes into contact with a surface, the more important it is to keep it clean. Well, what happens if you can't keep your pillows clean? Many standard-issue hospital pillows allow pathogens to enter through sewn seams, vents, and non-barrier covers. Then patients put their heads on them. It's an issue that seems to have a common-sense call-to-action, much like hand-hygiene. But as we've seen, common sense and good products are not all you need to penetrate the healthcare market. Selling into the Hospital Innovators and entrepreneurs who want to make it in the healthcare business should absolutely focus their efforts on delivering products and services that help patients. That is, after all, the whole point of what we're doing. But if your sales strategy relies on what you've deemed to be "common sense" and "good for the patient" and nothing else, then you're likely to fail. When David Woolfson and his team at Gabriel Scientific started winning awards for their hermetically sealed pillow with a filter, they thought they had short-circuited the healthcare sales cycle. As we'll hear, it drove some VC attention but did little to open doors at the health systems. David's story is instructive in many ways, but it delivers a truth that many in the startup community won't want to hear: it's going to be a grind and there are no short-cuts. This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Show! on May 3rd, 2017. Episode 004  On this episode, we talk with David Woolfson to learn: How soft surfaces like pillows and mattresses contribute to the spread of infection in hospitals. How outbreaks close hospital rooms and impact revenue How working in infection prevention often makes you feel like Cassandra (in Greek mythology she had the power of prophecy but was cursed so that no one would ever believe her). How to isolate your value, show direct economic impact and get on your buyer's priority list. The importance of understanding the purchasing systems of your prospects and adjusting your approach to match it. The importance of understanding your buyer and their personal needs as much as the hospital's needs. What the heck "Stars and Stripes selling" means. How to get the experts talking about your product and leveraging that to open doors (even just a crack) Who is the hardest person in the hospital to convince How to keep yourself safe and healthy at home, at the hotel, and the hospital. And most importantly, how an Irishman can be an asset on St. Patrick's day and get you free pints!   For more details visit DeepDive.tips

Clostridium difficile (klos-TRID-e-um dif-uh-SEEL), often called C. difficile or C. diff impacts 453,000 people every year. And with 29,000 associated deaths, it takes more lives than AIDS and drunk-driving combined. Yet, most people have never even heard of it. That's a big problem because you can't protect yourself from a threat when you don't even know it exists. The impact on the business of healthcare is significant too. A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that C. diff-associated diarrhea (CDAD) increases hospital costs by 40% per case (an average of $7,285 ) and puts those infected at high risk for longer hospital stays and readmissions.  Some even believe those numbers are likely underestimated. C. diff presents us with an interesting problem at the cross-section of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC). It's an environmental bacterium that's found pretty much everywhere and is difficult to kill, but it's usually held in check by the good bacteria in our bodies. The problem usually occurs when a patient is in a weakened state from some other healthcare intervention. That may be an antibiotic treatment for another healthcare-associated infection or chemotherapy, etc. With our bodies in a weakened state and our good bacteria depleted by antibiotics, we become susceptible to C. diff. So, it's important that we avoid unnecessary antibiotics and execute on all the other IPAC practices like proper hand hygiene and surface cleaning in the hospital so that, as our guest puts it, we can disrupt the chain of events that allow to C. diff to proliferate.   This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Show! on April 26th, 2017.   On this episode, we're joined by the co-founder and Executive Director of the Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF), Christian John Lillis.  Like so many people who've dedicated their lives to driving change in the healthcare industry, Christian has a very powerful “why”. He lost his mother to a clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection in April 2010. After struggling with the fact that he lost his mother to a disease he never heard of, and later finding out that it impacts so many people, Christian, along with his brother Liam, founded PLF and are building a nationwide C. diff awareness movement by educating the public, empowering advocates and shaping policy. Christian gives us a deep and personal take on his family's experience with C. Diff and the work that the Peggy Lillis Foundation is doing to help. We discuss: What is clostridium difficile (C. diff)? Is C. diff a Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) or something else? How important are hand hygiene and environmental cleaning in preventing the spread of C. diff? Why haven't more people heard of C. diff? Why is it so hard to measure the true impact of C. diff on our health system? How do we fix that? Why do only some states require reporting on outbreaks? How does that affect the business of healthcare? How does it affect the patients? What is the Prevention and Public Health Fund? Why is it under fire and what is the impact to the CDC, states and beyond? What is the financial impact of C. diff?   Christian's story is powerful and it's full of wisdom that can help patients, families, and providers. In our quest to unravel the business of healthcare, it's important to understand the people we serve and how our work impacts their lives. This is a crash course and I hope it touches you as it did me. Enjoy. For more details visit DeepDive.tips

Hand hygiene is the number one line of defense when it comes to controlling the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and infectious disease.  Since we know that antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance is on the rise, and few new antibiotics are being developed, it becomes exceedingly important that we prevent people from acquiring these infections in the first place. We know that hand-washing is effective when done right, and we know that when monitored, we do it right. In fact, right after we recorded this podcast the Jama Network showed us that patient mortality decreased during unannounced accreditation surveys at US Hospitals. The point is that you can expect what you inspect.   This episode originally aired on >The #HCBiz Show! on April 19th, 2017.   On this episode, we get into the details with Tamás Haidegger and discuss: Why hand hygiene is so important How the struggle to get it right goes back to the 1800s The complex human psychology that we need to address to solve this problem The astonishing number of people who fail hand-washing tests even when they know they're being monitored Engineering solutions that can help keep us objective How hand-hygiene can save the U.S. healthcare system $9 Billion next year   For more details visit DeepDive.tips

Rik Heller is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Wello.  A self-confessed technology and healthcare geek, Rik has also been called the Grandfather of Active RFID and holds many patents in this area that are licensed globally. With a background in math and electrical engineering, he has been working in healthcare since 1989. In 1999 Rik Heller founded FreshLoc and became a pioneer of environmental monitoring for compliance and reporting in the healthcare industry. FreshLoc is a remote temperature monitoring technology for hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, and other healthcare entities to help comply with temperature related safety regulations. More recently, Rik has pursued interests in infection prevention and control, founding Wello. There he has developed, among other high-tech digital solutions, a hands-free, self-service fever screening, identification and notification platform that is focused on controlling entry of potentially contagious persons to very high-risk patient areas. Rik calls this a “barrier technology” and believes that in the battle against Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) it's critical that we “separate the match from the fuse”.   This episode originally aired on The #HCBiz Show! on April 12th, 2017.   We cover a lot of ground on this episode, including: How infections spread Why it's only partly a healthcare solution that we need to seek The role of humidity in mitigating or amplifying a contagion Why we must dispel the myth that asymptomatic people are the problem How 10% of the sick are “super-spreaders” and how we can identify them Why you should stay home when you're sick and why your employer should make you Where the CDC gets it wrong Why good hair days are bad health days

The Infection Prevention Strategy (TIPS) is a not for profit that exists to advance innovations, ideas, and processes that make a difference in global health.  TIPS extends to 30+ countries and is the key strategic partner for many notable organizations, initiatives, and events. In the past few years, TIPS has contributed millions in Scientific Impact.  Many of our successes are published on our Open Access Journal www.IC.tips and discussed on this podcast series. The TIPS Deep Dive interview series is all about the inventors, scientist, leaders and great minds behind the promising innovations, ideas, and processes that our team helps advance through evidence-based science. This podcast was created by Michael Diamond, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of TIPS, and me, Don Lee, Founder, and Co-host of The #HCBiz Show! Michael and I have been working on global health content for The #HCBiz Show! for the past several years. The response has been so positive that we've decided to create an entire show dedicated to it. This show! Over the next two weeks, we're going to kick this party off with more than a dozen interviews that we've worked on together for The #HCBiz Show!. After that, you can expect to hear brand new deep-dive interviews with the best minds in global health. So, my all to action for you is this: Subscribe now so that you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts and at DeepDive.tips. We'll see you soon!