Steven W. Johnson (PharmD), associate professor of Pharmacy Practice in the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, was the principle investigator and lead author on a study titled, “Effectiveness of Oral Vancomycin for Prevention of Healthcare Facility–Onset Clostridioides difficile Infection in Targeted Patients During Systemic Antibiotic Exposure.” The article debuted on September 27, 2019 in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a highly respected journal. Co-author Shannon Brown is a fourth-year PharmD student, and the work was supported by an internal research grant provided by Campbell.
“It is a significant accomplishment for a pharmacist to be lead author in this publication,” said D. Byron May, chair of Pharmacy Practice. “We are very excited and proud of Steven’s research and his collaboration with our pharmacy students.”
Dr. Johnson’s practice site is at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center where he is an Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases Clinical Specialist. His research interests include Clostridioides difficile infection, risk prediction models for resistant bacteria and hepatitis C virus.
Dr. Johnson and his colleagues discovered that oral vancomycin prophylaxis appeared safe and effective at preventing healthcare facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection in targeted patients. They noted that further work is required to answer some remaining questions, however, their work provides promising results.