Rima Khabbaz, MD, Director of the National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will open this year’s Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Leadership Conference and Workshop with an update on new approaches and challenges in controlling microbial threats. Her keynote address will follow welcoming remarks on Wednesday, 2 April 2008, at 8:00 am, at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, MD. 

Her presentation, “Controlling Microbial Threats: New Approaches and Ongoing Challenges,” will be an exciting feature of To Your Good Health. Also at the Workshop, attendees will learn how to clarify the epidemiologic aspects and implementation issues for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening programs, minimize errors and enhance the quality of noninstrumented point-of-care testing, improve the quality of life for newborns using the latest screening technology, and expand global standardized quality laboratory best practices.

In an interview, Dr. Khabbaz shared some of the highlights of her upcoming presentation.

What topics will you address in your presentation?

Dr. Khabbaz:  I plan to present an overview of recent domestic and global microbial challenges and threats along with new opportunities for their prevention. Specific topics include the social, industrial, environmental, and ecologic factors that contribute to the emergence of infectious diseases; examples of major infectious threats occurring in the last century; and current research and activities aimed at improving our ability to prevent and control emerging infections. Through examples, I will illustrate how certain diseases and health threats such as antimicrobial resistance have emerged and spread, and discuss the importance of preparedness activities, especially when facing known or unknown pathogens with pandemic potential. The networks, capacities, and infrastructure for effective surveillance and diagnostics are essential components of preparedness. I will also briefly describe the 2005 International Health Regulations, which provide global guidance for reporting of public health events to the World Health Organization (WHO). Of particular importance in these regulations is the shift in focus away from an emphasis on controlling diseases within national borders to containment at their source. 

Why are the topics of microbial threats so important to public health?

Dr. Khabbaz: Infectious diseases remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These diseases severely impact individual lives and can have tremendous economic consequences on national and global fronts. We must take advantage of advances in knowledge, education, and technology to reduce this burden of disease on a global level. 

In terms of microbial threats, what are the key issues that CDC is addressing right now?

Dr. Khabbaz: CDC is focused on a number of priorities for strengthening our ability to rapidly detect and contain infectious diseases. A major priority is preparedness. CDC has developed a number of epidemiologic and laboratory networks to detect and respond to global and domestic microbial threats. Another priority is building and enhancing laboratory capacity, as the laboratory plays a critical role in infectious disease prevention and response efforts. We are also working to reduce antimicrobial resistance and decrease health care-associated infections. Several successful initiatives focused on adherence to strict infection control, handwashing, and judicious use of antibiotics have yielded dramatic results. Another priority for CDC is immunization and research on vaccine-preventable diseases. Prevention of zoonotic diseases is also a main focus of the agency, and includes efforts to increase understanding of the mechanisms of disease spread from humans and animals and mobilization of multidisciplinary approaches for their prevention. 

How do standards and guidelines help in the efforts to control microbial threats?

Dr. Khabbaz: The laboratory plays a key role in efforts to address microbial threats and infectious diseases. Guidelines and standards for laboratories provide best practices and ensure the use of proven methods to allow for a robust and solid laboratory that can support rapid, safe, and efficient responses to microbial threats.

Who will benefit from attending the session at the To Your Good Health Workshop?

Dr. Khabbaz: Microbial threats are fascinating and unpredictable. We do know with certainty, however, that they will continue to present challenges to public health. Anyone with an interest in understanding their emergence and reemergence and how we are working to best prepare and respond to these challenges will benefit from attending this session.

About Dr. Khabbaz

Rima Khabbaz, MD, is the director of CDC’s National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases (NCPDCID), and a clinical associate professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her previous CDC positions include acting deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID); associate director for epidemiologic science, NCID; deputy director of NCID’s Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases (DVRD); associate director for science, DVRD; chief, hantavirus surveillance, DVRD; and medical epidemiologist, DVRD.

Dr. Khabbaz graduated from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, receiving her bachelor’s degree in science in 1975 and her medical doctorate degree in 1979. She completed CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program and then trained in internal medicine and completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD. She is board-certified in internal medicine, and her specialties include health care-associated infections, emerging infectious diseases, viral diseases, blood safety, food safety, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

She served as a member of the Blood Product Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 1995-1999, the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee from 1999-2002, and FDA’s Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee from 2003-2004.

Dr. Khabbaz is a fellow of the IDSA, and a member of the American Epidemiologic Society (AES), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

How to Attend

Register now. Call +610.688.0100, or toll free +877.447.1888. [ return to top ]