• Jeff Claridge

    Name: Jeffrey A. Claridge

    Title: Director of Trauma, Division Director or Trauma, Critical Care, and Burns

    Institution: MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University

    Clinical Specialty: Trauma, Critical Care, General Surgery, and Bariatrics

    Research Interest: Surgical Infections, Trauma Outcomes, Use of medical informatics to improve the diagnosis of infections in the ICU

    Webpage: http://www.metrohealth.org/physiciandirectory/PhysicianDetail.aspx?ID=116327

    Institution during SIS Fellowship: MetroHealth

    SIS Fellowship Mentor: Mark Malangoni

    SIS Fellowshp Project Title: Using Modern Medical Informatics to Change the Current “Fever Workup” Paradigm

    Fellowship Years: 2006-2007

    Fellowship Publication:

    1. Fadlalla MA, Golob JF,and Claridge JA. Enhancing the “Fever Workup” Utilizing a multi-technique modeling approach to more accurately diagnose infections. Surgical Infections (Larchmt). 2010 Jul 28.
    2. Claridge JA, Pang P, Leukhardt WH, Golob JF, Carter JW, Fadlalla AM. Critical analysis of empiric antibiotic utilization: establishing benchmarks. Surgical Infections (Larchmt). 2010 Apr;11(2):125-31.
    3. Claridge JA, Golob JF, Leukhardt WH, Sando MJ, Fadlalla AM, Peerless JR, Yowler CJ. The “fever workup” and respiratory culture practice in critically ill trauma patients. Journal of Critical Care. 2009 Oct 20.
    4. Claridge JA, Golob JF Jr, Fadlalla AM, Malangoni MA, Blatnik J, Yowler CJ. Fever and leukocytosis in critically ill trauma patients: it’s not the blood. American Surgeon. 2009 May;75(5):405-10.
    5. Fadlalla AM , Golob JF, Claridge JA,. The Surgical Intensive Care – Infection Registry (SIC-IR): A research registry with daily clinical support capabilities. American Journal of Medical Quality. Am J Med Qual. 2009 Jan-Feb;24(1):29-34.
    6. Claridge JA, Golob JF Jr, Fadlalla AM, D’Amico BM, Peerless JR, Yowler CJ, Malangoni MA. Who is monitoring your infections: shouldn’t you be? Surg Infect (Larchmt). 2009 Feb;10(1):59-64.
    7. Golob JF Jr, Fadlalla AM, Kan JA, Patel NP, Yowler CJ, Claridge JA. Validation of SIC-IR: A medical informatics system for intensive care unit research, quality of care improvement, and daily patient care. The Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 2008 Aug;207(2):164-73. Epub 2008 June 24.
    8. Golob JF Jr, Claridge JA Sando MJ, Phipps WR, Yowler CJ, Fadlalla AM, Malangoni MA. Fever and leukocytosis in critically ill trauma patients: It's not the urine. Surgical Infections (Larchmt.). 2008 Feb;9(1):49-56.
    9. We have a couple more that are in review that are still related to the SIS fellowship funding and support.

    How did you hear about the SIS Fellowship? I worked with previous recipients, and I was also aware of it through being an SIS member and from the information on the website.

    Who was the main influence on your choice to become an academic surgeon? Several people:

    1. My Father: Although a skilled tradesman and passed away while I was in High School; he taught me a good work ethic and instructed me to be a "leader" not a "follower"
    2. People at University of Rochester: Dr. [Seymour] Schwartz and Dr. [Palmer] Bessey
    3. Mentorship at the University of Virginia: Robert Sawyer, Jeffrey S Young, Bruce Schirmer, and R. Scott Jones

    How did you get involved in surgical infections research? I began evaluating when working in the Trauma Research Lab at UVA. I have grown more and more focused on Surgical infection research...especially in the ICU. As I see it, it is a great opportunity to improve the efficiency of the evaluation and improve the outcomes of our patients.

    Can you describe how the fellowship helped your career? It has let me be more involved in the SIS organization and gave me additional support to get work done.

    Have you continued this line of research?  Absolutely... My goal is to develop clinical decision support to help physicians more effectively diagnose and treat patients with infection while they are in the ICU.

    Did you obtain further research funding in this area? I have received additional funding from the NIH and Merck.

    What would you tell medical students who are interested in surgery? Best career in Medicine! We save lives and have a very intellectually rewarding job.

    What suggestions would you give to residents who would like to pursue research projects? Find PEOPLE you want to work with!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good mentors and partners.

    What about obtaining funding? Be creative and carve out time to actively pursue funding.  I often do not leave time to pursue funding and wishthat I had.

    How did you first get involved in the Surgical Infection Society? Dr. Sawyer, our President Elect, made the original introduction, but I didn't get seriously involved until after residency while a fellow in Memphis with Dr. Fabian and Croce. They are two excellent mentors who demanded excellence. SIS is a great organization and I look forward to lifetime involvement.

    What was it like to attend the SIS Meeting as a resident? Do you recall your first presentation there? Yes, I presented work from Memphis looking at the role of aerosolized antibiotics in preventing VAP in trauma patient. It was well received and I don’t think I made a fool of myself. Again, good mentorship and preparation was the key.

    Why should young investigators get involved in SIS?

    1. Because it is a really bright group of experts who are focused on a specific area of surgery.
    2. The meetings are excellent.
    3. Great networking.
    4. I like the size of the meeting.
    5. Excellent mentorship available