Dr. Sattar (Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa) is internationally recognized as one of the leading subject matter experts in infection prevention & control and an advisor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the World Health Organization (WHO).
Over the past 50 years of research, he has expanded our understanding of infection control in terms of both practical cleaning practices, as well as innovations towards the prevention of infections in hospitals and other public spaces.
Dr. Sattar has been actively involved in research on all major classes of microbial pathogens for nearly five decades now. A major focus of this work is to better understanding the influence of environmental factors on the survival and dissemination of pathogens through water, food, air, municipal wastes and animate and inanimate surfaces. He also studies the use of safe and sustainable technologies for interrupting the spread of infectious agents in healthcare and other settings. Funding for his investigations has come from peer-reviewed sources as well as research study contracts. He regularly provides expert in-put to various national and international agencies and the private sector. He has an extensive publication record and has also delivered over 350 invited lectures across the globe. Among the books he has written is the 2013 reference text Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation & Sterilization (5th ed; Wiley-Interscience).
Currently Dr. Sattar is the Chief Scientific Officer for CREM Co, Inc.
Dr. Reynolds is Professor and Chair of the Department of Community, Environment and Policy; Program Director of Environmental Health Sciences at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Director of the Environment, Exposure Science and Risk Assessment Center at the University of Arizona. She has over 30 years of experience in academia- specializing in tracking pathogen movement in healthcare environments and evolving predictive risk assessment models for determining pathogen spread, human exposure potentials, adverse health impacts and intervention efficacy. Dr. Reynolds has served as a principal investigator on numerous projects and published over 375 journal articles, book chapters and professional reports. In the last year, her work was featured in over 50 popular media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post. Most recently she co-founded the HITS (Healthcare Infection Transmission Systems) Consortium, utilizing her expertise in integrating academic research teams with medical personnel, clinical diagnostic laboratories, patients, industries and other stakeholders for a multidisciplinary approach toward research, communication and management efforts in infection prevention.
Dr. Osman is a board-certified Neurologist with over 15 years of experience in all stages of preclinical and clinical development across a wide range of therapeutic areas within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices sector. She has held senior positions at CROs, Amgen, Medtronic and Janssen Pharmaceutical, along with a strong background of academic and translational research. Dr. Osman is passionate about improving the quality of life of patients, and improving access to resources particularly those in the developing world. She brings to TIPS an in depth understanding of pharmaceutical and medical device development across all phases of the clinical trial process. She will utilize her expertise as a physician with acumen in clinical development to help guide candidates through the TIPS Science to Market® Program.
Shari Solomon is president of CleanHealth Environmental, LLC. CleanHealth provides
infection prevention, industrial hygiene and OSHA training and consulting services geared
toward facility personnel and vendors responsible for infection prevention, cleaning and
disinfection, and facility operations and maintenance practices. Ms. Solomon possesses
more than 20 years of environmental consulting and federal regulatory experience. An
attorney by trade, combined with her experience in the industrial hygiene field with a focus
on infection prevention, Shari holds a unique expertise and understanding of liability
prevention techniques, offering clients practical and valuable risk management solutions.
Prior to launching CleanHealth, Shari held the position as Director of Training with a full
service industrial hygiene firm and was charged with the development and oversight of all
training programs nationwide. Ms. Solomon’s has trained thousands of individuals, both
here and abroad, spanning 20 years. Shari also conducts infection prevention services
including policy and procedure program development, infection prevention evaluations,
litigation support, and environmental quality assessments.
Ms. Solomon is a Designated Trainer under the Certified Healthcare Environmental Services
Technician Program (T-CHEST) from The Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE)
of the American Hospital Association as well as a member of Durable Coated Fabrics Task
Force, affiliated with the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers (AAHID). Shari
is a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) through the ACAC and holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctorate from The Catholic
University of America.
Patricia (Patty) Olinger is a recognized leader in public health, specializing in biorisk management, bio-detection, and global health preparedness, with a strong focus on biosecurity and indoor air quality. She is the Chief Relationship Officer for Varro Life Sciences, a pioneer in innovative pathogen detection technologies. Additionally, she is the Founder and CEO of BEAMS LLC Consulting and has served on multiple advisory boards for businesses and non-profits.
Patty is the current Convener for the ISO working group responsible for ISO 35001:2019, the international standard for Laboratory Biorisk Management, as well as accompanying technical specifications. Her expertise spans diverse sectors, including pharmaceuticals, life sciences, academia, healthcare, hospitality, and mass gathering venues such as stadiums, convention centers, and spas.
Curtis J. Donskey, MD, is an Infectious Diseases physician at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. He has served as hospital epidemiologist and Chair of the Infection Control Committee since 1999. His research focuses primarily on infection control of healthcare-associated pathogens, particularly Clostridium difficile. He has conducted numerous studies examining the role of the environment in the spread of pathogens and identifying effective cleaning methods. His research has been funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters and review articles. In addition to his research, Dr. Donskey has received awards for teaching of medical students, residents, and fellows.
Dr. Hardwick is a thought leader in the field of infection prevention in the healthcare environment of care and is an expert in antimicrobial surface technologies. He has 20 years of academic research experience, at Georgetown University where he completed his PhD in Cell Biology, and at Johns Hopkins University, where he completed 2 postdoctoral fellowships, one in the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the second in the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute. Dr. Hardwick’s last academic appointment was with the MedStar Health Research Institute where he worked on numerous research initiatives including the use of antimicrobial surfaces in clinical healthcare environments. He is widely published, including several articles on the use of antimicrobials in clinical environments and the role of microbial surface contamination on infection rates in clinical settings.
Chuck Gerba is a professor in the Departments Environmental Science (College of Life Sciences and Agriculture), Epidemiology and Biostatistics (College of Public Health) at the University of Arizona. He obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Miami, Florida and was a faculty member in the Department. of Virology and Epidemiology at Baylor College of Medicine from 1974 to 1981. He conducts research the transmission of pathogens by water, food and in health care environments. He has been an author on more than 500 articles including several books in environmental microbiology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the 1999 Award of Excellence in Environmental Health from National Association of County and City Health Officials.
Rodney E. Rohde, PhD is a Regents’ Professor, Texas State University System, University Distinguished Professor and Chair for the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) Program in the College of Health Professions at Texas State University. He also serves as Associate Director for the Translational Health Research Center. Dr. Rohde is a Global Fellow, Fellow of the Association of Clinical Scientists, and Honorary Professor of International studies. He is an ASCP board certified Specialist in Virology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology. He spent a decade as a public health microbiologist and molecular epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Bureau of Laboratories and Zoonosis Control Division prior to his academic career, including two terms as a CDC Visiting Scientist. Dr. Rohde served as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Health Professions for nine years (2011-20). His research interests include Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs), antimicrobial resistance, and clinical / public health microbiology especially zoonotic diseases (Rabies, Hantavirus, and others). He also continues to enjoy his role as an Associate Adjunct Professor of Biology with Austin Community College (28 years) where he teaches fundamentals of biology and microbiology courses.
With over ten years’ experience in Health Development, Adejoke Ogungbire (MPH) joins InfectionControl.tips as Adivsor Board member, Country Coordinator and Contributory Author for Nigeria. Adejoke is a Public Health Specialist in Health Promotion and Education with a background in Human Nutrition (BSc.) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, West Africa. Through her passion for health development, she has become an advocate for hard-to-reach and underserved populations in parts of Nigeria. She has pioneered a couple of development efforts locally and internationally in the area of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and TB, alongside other health-related challenges.
In 2000-2001, Adejoke worked with UNICEF alonside Ministries of Health and Education in initiating a childcare facility in Markurdi, Benue state, Nigeria, an effort that earned her the State National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Governing Board Chairman’s award (2001). In 2006, she joined the award-winning non-governmental organization, Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) and became part of the editorial team of Nigeria’s popular HIV online resource, E-forum (www.nigeria-aids.org/eforum) and HIV treatment newsletter, Access Alert. She hopes to see a Nigeria, and indeed Africa, where everyone, regardless of age, sex, social or economic status, will be able to access adequate and appropriate health services without constraints.
Vanessa is an internationally recognized South African Facial Difference and MRSA ePatient speaker. She is also the founder of hcsmSA which is an acronym for Health Care Social Media South Africa. In coming years she hopes the ecosystem will connect all aspects that make up South Africa’s population health to improve access to treatment and precision medicine.
Vanessa was the creative director of Artext, a design company which she established in 1997. In 2004, due to a severe car accident in Johannesburg she spent ten years through the medical system reconstructing damage done to her face with a multi-disciplinary team.
Read her story: The “Fatal Warning” Antibiotics Don’t Have
In 2013, she used her patient experience to diversify her business services to include medical websites with animated patient education because one of the biggest issues she experienced was the lack of online specialists and accurate resources.
The initial doctors websites idea, later evolved into a concept of an ecosystem to connect local healthcare and collect data centrally, it was a social network for health care called hcsmSA.
John is the founder and CEO of Environmental Infection Prevention, Inc. (EIP) and President of Lighthouse Healthcare Partners. Environmental Infection Prevention was created as a result of his career long commitment to reducing illness and saving lives through the elimination of infections with best in class people, process and technology. Prior to EIP, John spent over 30 years with Sodexo where he began his career as a housekeeper and rose through the ranks holding US, North American and Global Executive Leadership Positions. These positions included VP of ES/Laundry USA, Head of Innovation for North America and finally the Global Leader for Environmental Infection Prevention where he was responsible for their global environmental infection prevention and cleaning program development across all business segments within 80 countries. In addition to those roles, his experience also includes facilities management and safety experience in hospitals, long term care, corporate and education establishments with direct management experience in environmental infection prevention, maintenance, biomedical engineering, construction, housekeeping, laundry and safety. John was also responsible for program development, technical support of 600 health care locations within the USA. His professional career path has provided him with top to bottom expertise in environmental infection prevention, as well as the ability to establish productive collaboration with all the key stakeholders necessary to impact change.
Bruce has been serving the community of the New York metropolitan area as a physician for over 30 years. Bruce received his MD from Cornell University and trained in geriatrics and infectious disease at North Shore University Hospital, Cornell and Albert Einstein. Currently, he is attending physician and assistant professor in the Infectious Disease Division of Northwell Health. Bruce worked through the HIV crisis from its earliest manifestations in New York and has maintained a strong interest in HIV. More recently, he has pioneered microbiome medicine for the treatment of C diff infections. He has a long-standing interest in innovative therapeutics, patient safety and has co- chaired the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee of Northwell Health System. He holds a patent for an infection control device.
Dr. Stone is an Infectious Disease specialist, experienced in conducting clinical research and the author of Conducting Clinical Research, the essential guide to the topic. Judy has survived 25 years in solo practice in rural Cumberland, Maryland, and now works part time as an Infectious Diseases locum tenens physician. She especially loves writing about ethical issues, and tilting at windmills as she advocates for social justice. As part of Dr. Stone’s overall desire to save the world when she grows up, Judy has become particularly interested in neglected tropical diseases. In her next life, she would love to teach overseas. When not slaving over hot patients, Judy can be found playing with photography, friends’ dogs, or in her garden. Follow her on Twitter @drjudystone and her articles on Forbes.com
Michael Ackerman is currently the Director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and Professor of Clinical Nursing at The Ohio State University. Mike has held just about every role in nursing a nurse could hold including Candy Striper to Senior Director. His entire career has been in the critical care arena from staff nurse, nurse manager, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner and most recently Senior Director of Nursing. He has over 50 publications as well as several funded studies. In addition, he has held leadership roles in a number of academic settings. Mike has a passion for critical care nursing as well as innovation. This is evident in his much sought after presentations on a variety of critical care topics in critical care. He also has a passion for the “Crucial Conversations” program which he has implemented in two of his recent institutions. This implementation has been a catalyst in much of Mike’s work in the area of culture change. Mike is a disruptive innovator, a skilled clinician, avid researcher, motivational speaker and caring leader. Leading from the bedside has been a consistent theme in Mike’s career. When he is not busy following his work passion he spends time with his family as well as various athletic activities.
Lisa Veeck has more than 28 years of experience in the cleaning, sustainability, infection control, healthcare, facility maintenance, and office products industries. She owns Clean Communications, a full-service content-generating firm specializing in these industries. She worked for ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, in various executive positions, including Web Content Strategy Director, Media & Publications Director, and Global Communications Director. She has also served as Editorial Director and Editor-In-Chief for five leading industry publications—both print and digital—and has overseen the content of numerous leading industry websites. She is the Associate Editor of Independent Dealer magazine, and her work appears in countless trade publications, websites, and local and national media outlets. Social media-certified, she started and grew the largest LinkedIn social media group for the cleaning industry.
Savannah Hatt, MPH is a Project Manager in the Applied Research Center at NSF International. Savannah’s work focuses on reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by improving environmental cleaning and hand hygiene practices. She joined NSF International in 2017, where she supports development of new service offerings for the clinical space and manages clients seeking microbiological testing for new products. Savannah also serves as the Conference Chair of the Healthcare Infection Transmission Systems (HITS) Consortium and has been an integral part in the organization of their annual conference as well as their ongoing research in reducing HAIs. She holds a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a Master’s of Public Health in epidemiology, with her graduate research focusing on reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
Michael Rochon is a pioneer chemical formulator with a successful track record in developing low-odor and zero-V.O.C.-emission cleaning products. Michael’s ground breaking work in the field of new technology cleaning formulations has led to many patents including United States Patent 6,346,279 B1 Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfectant with Increased Activity. For the past forty years, Michael has worked in the cleaning supply and contract maintenance industry.
Michael’s insight and vision led him to develop new technology cleaning formulations presently used in many hospitals. With foresight, he recognized the need for safer and healthier cleaning product formulations for the general public, and especially for the chemically hypersensitive individuals. Michael’s efforts in bringing to market low-odor cleaning products garnered him endorsements from several environmental organizations. Michael has also pioneered new technology cleaning formulations for disinfection and sanitization markets. Michael is President of Process Cleaning Solutions, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Process Cleaning Solutions is a Canadian company devoted to cleaning in such a way as to protect public health, protect the most sensitive, protect the environment and prevent the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Michael has presented at numerous conferences including: International Policy Forum, Environmental and Professional Hygiene, Toward the Prevention of Drug Resistant Infections, International Society of Microbial Resistance and Office of International Medical Policy School of Public Policy, George Mason University, 11th World Congress on Environmental Health Vancouver, Sept 2010.