“For those of us fortunate to have known Barry, he was a tremendous mentor, a deep thinker with a questioning mind and a pioneer in quality improvement. We will miss him greatly.” – Bill Petri and Mitch Rosner
Dr. Barry M. Farr, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Virginia who made profound contributions to the field of infection control and hospital safety, died on February 15. He was 65.
A worldwide authority on healthcare-related infections, particularly antibiotic-resistant and catheter-related infections, Farr was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which forced his retirement in 2004 from UVA’s Division of Infectious Diseases, where he was the William S. Jordan Jr. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology.
Bill Petri, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Mitch Rosner, chair of the Department of Medicine, wrote in an email announcing Dr. Farr’s death that, “For those of us fortunate to have known Barry, he was a tremendous mentor, a deep thinker with a questioning mind, and a pioneer in quality improvement. We will miss him greatly, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, and inspired to attend medical school by physician-poet William Carlos Williams’ autobiography, Farr completed his M.D. at Washington University in St. Louis and an M.S. in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He came to UVA for a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in infectious diseases, and subsequently joined the faculty, serving with distinction as a clinician, teacher and researcher.
Farr directed UVA Hospital’s epidemiology program for 18 years; chaired the Master of Science program in epidemiology for 11 years; and was a mentor to 18 postdoctoral research fellows. His own research output was prodigious, with 167 co-authored journal articles, 137 scientific abstracts, and two books (as co-editor) on catheter-related infections. He was considered a leading authority on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, and his work on this subject continues to inform clinical practice.
Dr. Farr’s obituary noted that he loved literature and was “known to supply an appropriate quotation for any given situation.” Costi Sifri, his successor as UVA hospital epidemiologist, recalled a recent meeting in which they talked about his life in academic medicine: “He quoted from memory a line of Chaucer’s from The Canterbury Tales — ‘And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.’ I think it perfectly encapsulates his approach to medicine, medical education and mentorship, and does so by referencing a literary classic, which is so Barry — as the lit major he was!
On the national level, Dr. Farr served a term as president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the preeminent professional organization for healthcare infection control, and was a long-time editor of SHEA’s journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
A former UVA internal medicine resident who is currently chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa, Dan Diekema, MD, wrote the following in a blogpost titled Standing on the Shoulder of Giants:
[Dr. Farr’s] impact on our field has been substantial. A passionate advocate of active detection and isolation (ADI) for prevention of MRSA and VRE transmission, Barry often sparred with us during the early months of this blog (which encouraged us to continue blogging, since it was evidence that somebody important was reading what we wrote!). [H]is strong advocacy sparked spirited debate and drew increased attention to healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA), which almost certainly played a role in the successful reduction in HA-MRSA that we’ve seen over the past decade.
After retirement, Dr. Farr remained a tireless advocate for patients with multiple sclerosis. He published a book, Multiple Sclerosis: Coping With Complications, as a way to share the knowledge and strategies he had acquired as an MS patient.
A celebration of his life is being planned for the spring; for details, email barryfarrmd@gmail.com.
Filed Under: News and Notes
Tags: ID, In Memoriam