The Emergency Care for Infectious Diseases (EC-ID) research program at UW aims to improve the safety and quality of infectious disease management in the emergency department (ED) and downstream care settings. The primary focus of the program is the inappropriate use of antibiotics in healthcare settings, a global public health threat due to an association with increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
This issue is especially pressing following the outbreak of a global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Widespread use of antibiotics for COVID-19 has been reported worldwide, and the resulting risk of increased bacterial resistance is increasingly recognized as a parallel public health crisis to the ongoing pandemic.
Dr. Michael Pulia leads the EC-ID research program and is considered a subject matter expert in antimicrobial stewardship in emergency care settings. Please contact Dr. Pulia at mspulia@medicine.wisc.edu if you are interested in collaborating on research.
- Poster presentation (M Pulia). “Inpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Large U.S. Sample” at the 31st Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum held in Madison, Wisconsin (March 2, 2023)
- Poster presentation (A Center, M Pulia). “Effect of Skin Pigmentation on Accuracy and Certainty of Cellulitis Diagnosis in the Emergency Department” at the 31st Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum (March 2, 2023)
- Poster presentation (C Michels, M Pulia). “Characteristics of Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department Requesting a COVID-19 Test” at the 31st Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum (March 2, 2023)
- Poster presentation (N Reffat, M Pulia). “A Scoping Review of Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic” at the 31st Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum (March 2, 2023)
- Poster presentation (R Schwei, M Pulia). “Patient-Centered Care Outcomes for Patients in the Emergency Department with a Non-English Language Preference: A scoping review” at the 31st Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum (March 2, 2023)
- Poster presentation (R Schwei, M Pulia). “Co-Occurence of Dysphagia and Frailty in Older Adults Presenting with Community-Acquired Pneumonia Is Associated with Negative Health Outcomes” at the 2023 International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research held in Toulouse, France (March 22-24, 2023)
- Poster presentation (M Pulia). “Inpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Large Sample of U.S. Hospitals” at the 2023 Midwest Clinical & Translational Research Meeting held in Chicago, Ill. (April 24-25, 2023)
- Poster presentation (M Pulia). “A Scoping Review of Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic” at the 2023 Midwest Clinical & Translational Research Meeting held in Chicago, Ill. (April 24-25, 2023)
- Educational presentation (M Pulia) “Implementing Innovations in Infection Identification” at the Emergencies in Medicine Park City Conference (Feb. 27–Mar. 4, 2022)
- Poster presentation (M Pulia): “Dysphagia and Sarcopenia Frequently Co-Occur in Older Adults with Community-Acquired Pneumonia” at the Dysphagia Research Society 2022 Annual Meeting (Mar. 15th–18, 2022)
- Oral presentation (R Schwei, M Pulia). “Comparing Interspecialty Diagnostic Confidence and Accuracy of Cellulitis Diagnosis” at the 30th Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum in Milwaukee, WI (Apr. 21, 2022)
- Poster presentation (R Schwei, … M Pulia). “Beyond Pathogens: Dysphagia and Frailty Profiles in Older Adults with Pneumonia” at the 30th Annual Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Research Forum in Milwaukee, WI (Apr. 21, 2022)
- Educational presentation (M Pulia): “Cutting Edge Antibiotic Stewardship for the Emergency Department” at the American Academy of Emergency Medicine 28th Annual Scientific Assembly in Baltimore, MD (Apr. 23-27, 2022). This session highlighted emerging literature related to improving antibiotic stewardship in the emergency department, including critical updates around best practices in the use of antibiotics for sepsis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and skin infections, as well as discussion of recent changes to the CMS SEP-1 antibiotic measure for sepsis and ongoing controversy related to this quality metric.
- Didactic session (M Pulia): “Synergistic Pandemics: COVID-19 and Antibiotic Resistance” at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting (May 2022)
- Grand Rounds: Dr. Michael Pulia was invited to give Grand Rounds lectures, titled “Human Factors Engineering to Improve Emergency Department Antibiotic Stewardship,” at the departments of emergency medicine at Loyola University and the University of California, San Diego.
- Poster presentation (M Pulia,…R Schwei). “Beyond Pathogens: Dysphagia and Frailty Profiles in Older Adults with Pneumonia” at the 2022 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Great Plains Meeting in Milwaukee, WI (Sept. 7-8, 2022)
- Symposium presentation (M Pulia): “Novel Approaches to Stewardship in the Emergency Department” presentation, part of the Optimizing Stewardship Interventions in Challenging Populations Symposium at IDWeek 2022 (Oct. 22, 2022)
- Poster presentation (M Pulia,…R Schwei). “Co-Occurring Dysphagia and Frailty are Common and Associated with Increased Disease Severity in Older Adults Presenting with Community-Acquired Pneumonia” at IDWeek 2022 (Oct. 2022)
- Grand Rounds: Dr. Pulia was invited to give Grand Rounds lectures, titled “Human Factors Engineering to Improve Emergency Department Antibiotic Stewardship,” at the following departments of emergency medicine:
- The Ohio State University
- Vanderbilt University
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency
- Invited lecture (M Pulia): “COVID-19 Epidemiology Update” at The American Speech and Hearing Association Annual Convention (November 18-20, 2021)
- Oral presentation (M Pulia): “Risk Factors for Dysphagia in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19” at The American Speech and Hearing Association Annual Convention (November 18-20, 2021)
- Dr. Pulia was invited to serve as a Technical Expert Panel Member with the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium for Project: NQF Measure Development for Over-Diagnosis of Pneumonia and UTI (October 2021).
- Dr. Pulia presented two posters at the Diagnostic Error in Medicine 14th International Conference (SIDM2021): “Validation of Skin Surface Thermal Imaging to Differentiate Cellulitis from Pseudocellulitis in the Emergency Department” & “Misdiagnosis of Cellulitis in the Emergency Department: A Threat to Public Health and Patient Safety” (October 25-25, 2021).
- Dr. Pulia presented an abstract at ID Week 2021 new approaches to diagnostics poster session: “Skin Surface Thermal Imaging to Differentiate Cellulitis and Pseudocellulitis in the Emergency Department” (October 2021).
- Dr. Pulia gave a guest lecture for the University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery Voice and Swallow Clinics Lecture Series, titled “COVID-19 Updates: Epidemiology, Treatment, Infection Control and Dysphagia.” The lecture is available to watch online here. (Sept. 2021)
- Dr. Pulia presents an oral abstract at the 2nd World Dysphagia Summit in August 2021, “Prevalence of Dysphagia among Older Adults with Suspected Pneumonia in the Acute Care Setting.” The virtual Summit was originally intended to be held in Nagoya, Japan.
- In March 2021, Dr. Pulia was invited to give the opening plenary session at the Dysphagia Research Society’s 29th Annual Meeting. The session discussed COVID epidemiology, transmission, and infection control and was voted People’s Choice for Best Presentation by attendees selecting from more than 80 invited speakers. Pulia was also invited to give an oral research presentation on the second day of the conference regarding his work on dysphagia profiles and management patterns in emergency department patients with COVID-19.
- Dr. Pulia presented during a national webinar in December 2020 hosted by Vizient, the largest member-driven, health care performance improvement company in the country. As a member of the 2020-2021 Vizient National Research Project Team – Antimicrobial Stewardship, Dr. Pulia led the initial portion of the webinar, “Impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Stewardship in Acute Care: National Research Project Kickoff,” to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on emergency medicine antibiotic prescribing practice. View the webinar recording.
- Dr. Pulia was invited to present at the American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders annual Meet the Masters event. The event is an ongoing continuing education course that consists of seven pre-recorded sessions from dysphagia experts to provide timely, critical information about the assessment and treatment of dysphagia during the COVID pandemic. Dr. Pulia’s session, “SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: A Primer for Deglutologists,” provided a broad overview of the pathophysiology underlying SARS-COV-2/CoVID-19 and its clinical manifestations.
- On December 7th, 2020, Dr. Pulia was invited to speak about COVID-19 updates at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee North Shore.
- Dr. Pulia was invited to present with the Baystate Institute for Healthcare Delivery & Population Science (IHDPS). Dr. Pulia’s live presentation on in November 2020, titled “Human Factors Engineering Applied to Antibiotic Stewardship” was part of Baystate IHDPS’s Research in Progress Seminar series.
- Dr. Pulia invited to present during the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR): Project Echo COVID-19 Clinical Rounds. The peer-to-peer learning network is broadcast to over 30 countries. “Operational Redesign to Enhance Infection Control During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Watch a recording of the session and download the corresponding presentation.
- Dr. Pulia invited to present UW emergency medicine antibiotic stewardship research to hospitals in the National Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Antibiotic Stewardship Centers of Excellence Network. The webinar had over 120 medical centers in attendance. “Building Bridges to Improve Antibiotic Stewardship in the ED.”
- Dr. Pulia invited to present at the 2019 IDWeek. “Human Factors Engineering in Antibiotic Stewardship.”
- Dr. Pulia delivered an invited plenary session at International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine in March 2019, entitled “Challenges to Antibiotic Stewardship,” and an invited didactic session, titled “Optimizing Antibiotic Prescribing in the Emergency Department.”