Gabrielle Gussin, a doctoral candidate pursuing a PhD degree in Public Health, recently made waves with the publication of her first-authored article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Titled “Reducing Hospitalizations and Multidrug-Resistant Organisms via Regional Decolonization in Hospitals and Nursing Homes,” the article emphasizes the importance of combatting antimicrobial resistance on a regional level across healthcare facilities, standing as a significant contribution to the field of public health.
Gussin along with several other contributing authors discovered that protective bathing and nasal decolonization protocol starkly reduced the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, infections, hospitalization, and death within regional hospitals and nursing homes. “This work demonstrates that patients are safer and experience fewer infections when hospitals and nursing homes in a region work together for infection prevention efforts,” she shared.
While there are many significant public health challenges, I am most concerned about the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Infections caused by drug-resistant organisms are increasingly difficult to treat, posing a major threat to global health and patient safety.”
– Gabrielle Gussin, PhD Candidate
With a passion for science and puzzle solving, Gussin’s public health journey started during her Master’s degree training, where she became interested in infectious diseases research during a project examining host-microbiome interactions of influenza infection. Fascinated with questioning the function of each piece of a system, her work as a clinical research coordinator inspired her to pursue doctoral training in public health. She was drawn into studying epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases in healthcare settings and vulnerable populations as she collaborated daily with a multidisciplinary team of infectious disease experts, epidemiologists, and public health stakeholders. Gussin currently holds an NIAID-funded F31 training grant to support her dissertation, entitled “Endemic and Emerging Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Nursing Homes: A Neglected Clinical Setting.
One of the most rewarding experiences of her career in public health has been engaging with local nursing homes for infection prevention and quality improvement initiatives. As a member of the COVID-19 Prevention Team for Orange County nursing homes, she helps to provide education, training, and guidance to prevent a rapid transmission of COVID-19 among the staff and highly at-risk residents. Before her recent first-author publication, Gussin was also recognized for her work on antibiotic resistance as an ambassador for “This is Public Health-Global” by the Association of Schools and Program in Public Health (ASPPH).
“While there are many significant public health challenges, I am most concerned about the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Infections caused by drug-resistant organisms are increasingly difficult to treat, posing a major threat to global health and patient safety,” adds Gussin.
To combat this multifaceted issue, she believes in the employment of multimodal interventions and extensive prevention strategies. For Gussin, public health is a dynamic field that connects people from various contrasting disciplines to understand, address, and intervene in the complex drivers of human health and disease–hoping to solve the puzzle for a healthier community.
Gussin is co-mentored by Dr. Susan Huang (corresponding author on the journal referenced above) in the UC Irvine School of Medicine and Dr. Oladele Ogunseitan in the UC Irvine Program in Public Health.
