My research aims to identify, test, and spread clinical strategies to improve outcomes after stem cell transplant, particularly bloodstream infections. As a physician, I have experienced the devastating impact of

Bloodstream infections in my patients and on more than one occasion, our team has successfully cured a child's cancer through transplant but lost them to infection. In early 2014, we established a robust multidisciplinary task force focused on bloodstream infection eradication. The group consists of key stakeholders, including nursing leadership, bedside nursing, patient care assistants, oncology and bone marrow transplant physicians, members of Infection Control, Vascular Access Team, pathology, nutrition therapy, pharmacy, ad hoc family members, and members of the Divisions of Infectious Disease, Behavioral Medicine, and Pediatric Dentistry. Finally, I was the Principal Investigator of the active National Institute of Health R21 (R21 CA223503) study, Automated Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Adherence System to Reduce Complications after Intensive Cancer Therapy in Pediatrics. I am the PI of the NIDCR UG3/UH3 Study (UG3DE030401-01) Reduction of bloodstream infections from oral organisms in pediatric stem cell transplant: a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating twice-daily oral xylitol.

I have conducted multiple multidisciplinary quality improvement (QI) and clinical research collaborations within Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), as well as nationally through the American Society of Transplant and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (ASPHO), and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). I currently serve as the ASTCT Chair of the Quality Outcomes Committee, Co-Chair of the CIBMTR Committee on Infection and Immune Reconstitution, Co-Physician Lead of the Solutions for Patient Safety Hematology Oncology CLABSI Working Group, Chair of the 2024 PTCTC-ASPHO Meeting Planning Committee, Member of the USNWR Best Children's Hospitals - Cancer Working Group, and Founder and Chair of Engraft: A learning Health Network in Transplant and Cellular Therapy.