Message from Division Chief, Eric Houpt MD, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health
Happy New Year! The Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health had a strong 2025, and we are pleased to share some updates in this newsletter.
Our clinical workload has been extremely busy, particularly our Infectious Diseases consult services, and we have expanded to four full-time inpatient services.
Our research productivity held steady this past year, reaching $27.6M in external funding. We have lost some critical funding for the Ryan White Program and are hoping the NIH budget for ID holds.
Our Infectious Diseases fellowship program remains strong. We have welcomed two new faculty members, Drs. Neena Thomas-Gosain and Isaura Rigo, please reach out and welcome them.
Please read below for more details on all of our more than 33 faculty and 100 staff in our Division.
~ Eric Houpt MD
RESEARCH
Scott Heysell MD MPH
Stellah Mpagama MD PhD
by Scott Heysell MD, MPH
A multidisciplinary team of epidemiologists, microbiologists, immunologists, clinical trialists, and biostatisticians completed the first randomized controlled trial of antimicrobial therapy for sepsis among adults in sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast to studies in the Global North, the team found that Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, or “TB”) was the most common pathogen, present in more than half of participants, and the most common cause of bloodstream infection. The trial enrolled adults living with HIV in four hospitals serving semi-urban areas in Tanzania and Uganda, at longstanding partner institutions with the University of Virginia and the Division of Infectious Diseases. Notably, among the participants with TB ultimately identified, those randomized to immediate TB treatment as part of their antimicrobial regimen for sepsis had a significantly improved survival at 28 days (the primary outcome) that persisted at six months.
Christopher C Moore MD
Tania Thomas MD MPH
The study team included nearly 30 staff and led by Stellah Mpagama MD, PhD, Director of Research and Innovation, Kibong’oto Infectious Diseases Hospital, Tanzania and visiting research scholar at UVA, Conrad Muzoora MD, Mbarara University Sciences and Technology, Uganda and visiting research scholar at UVA; and Scott Heysell MD, MPH, Chris Moore MD, Tania Thomas MD, MPH, and Megan Null MPH from the Division of Infectious Diseases. The trial was supported by NIH grants U01 AI150508 (to Heysell and Moore), R21 AI172637 (Thomas), D43TW012247- (Heysell and Mpagama), and K24 AI187675- (Heysell).
The ATLAS trial findings are accepted for publication in Lancet Infectious Diseases: “Immediate or higher dose antituberculosis therapy for human immunodeficiency virus related sepsis: A phase 3, open-label, randomised controlled, 2×2 factorial, superiority trial in Tanzania and Uganda (ATLAS trial)”
Megan Null MPH
And the microbiology will be published concurrently in the Lancet Discovery Series, eClinicalMedicine: “Etiology of sepsis in adults living with HIV in East Africa: a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.”
Based on the study team’s findings, they were recently awarded a new NIH U01 to continue reducing sepsis mortality in similar populations. That trial will be titled “STARS: STeroids and enhanced Antibiotics for the treatment of patients in Africa with Refractory Sepsis,” and the team will also include Amy Mathers, MD, from the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Jeff Sturek, MD, PhD, from the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
Go to the UVA Today article “Simple change in sepsis treatment could save thousands of lives”
ATLAS.Investigators.Meeting.Uganda.2025
EDUCATION
by Patrick E Jackson, MD
Program Director Patrick Jackson and Associate Program Directors Stacy Park and Chris Moore lead the University of Virginia’s Infectious Diseases Fellowship. The ID fellowship program aims to produce world-class physicians prepared for a career of impact in academic infectious diseases. The clinician-investigator training track is a three-year program designed to prepare fellows for success as both skilled clinicians and independent scientists. The entire first year of the track is devoted to research, with no inpatient or outpatient clinical responsibilities. This enables the rapid development of research skills and independent research programs, leading to more productive research during the clinical years of training. The clinician-educator training track is a two-year program designed to prepare fellows for careers as academic clinicians and educators in undergraduate and graduate medical education. Fellows work with one or more faculty members involved in medical education to gain experience and develop a capstone project demonstrating excellence in teaching. Fellows on this track also have the opportunity to deepen their clinical training in areas of particular interest, including antimicrobial stewardship, hospital epidemiology, and infections in immunocompromised individuals.
Three fellows graduated from the program in June: Tom Flynn, David Lehman, and Isaura Rigo. This summer were joined by Sarah Acevedo (UVA), Alex Say (LSU), and Bennett Wisner (UVA). We’re also looking forward to Parmida Parsa (UVA) beginning her fellowship with us in July 2026.
We welcome hearing from residents and students interested in learning more about ID or being connected to research projects in the Division. Please get in touch with Patrick Jackson (pej9j@uvahealth.org) if you would like to hear more about ID training opportunities.
EVENTS
This year, the Division celebrated the winter holidays by hosting a casual Holiday Party at Crozet Pizza at the Buddhist Biker Bar on The Corner. After a long year, it was a wonderful way to meet up with colleagues and connect to wrap up 2025.
View the full edition of the January 2026 Medicine Matters Newsletter
Filed Under: Basic Research, Clinical Research, DOM in the News, Education, In the Know, News and Notes, Notable Achievements, Publications, Research