{"id":89,"date":"2019-11-06T07:04:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T07:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deepdive.tips\/?p=89"},"modified":"2019-12-27T18:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T18:12:00","slug":"understanding-infectious-agents-in-the-environment-dr-syed-sattar-and-bahram-zargar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deepdive.tips\/index.php\/2019\/11\/06\/understanding-infectious-agents-in-the-environment-dr-syed-sattar-and-bahram-zargar\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Infectious Agents in the Environment | Dr. Syed Sattar and Bahram Zargar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Understanding Infectious Agents in the Environment<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

What happens to an infectious agent once it leaves the human body? Well, it ends up in our cars, airplanes, food, water and soil. If we know how that contagion behaves \u201cin the wild\u201d, then we\u2019ll be able to kill it, filter it, or otherwise prevent it from proliferating, and potentially improve the lives of millions of people in the process.  This is the study of Environmental Microbiology and it\u2019s a topic that today\u2019s guest has spent more than 30 years trying to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Syed Sattar is Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. He is also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at CREM CO.  He\u2019s a world-renowned expert who regularly advises national and international agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), and private-sector companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re also joined by Bahram Zargar, CEO of CREM CO. This is a company built on top of Dr. Sattar\u2019s extensive body of work that aims to speed the assessment, development, and promotion of innovative and sustainable strategies for environmental control of harmful microbes for a safer tomorrow. It blends engineering with environmental microbiology to enable a whole new level of scientific rigor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll learn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. What happens to infectious agents once they leave the body?<\/li>
  2. What can we do with that knowledge?<\/li>
  3. How air travel and the international food market have eliminated borders in the battle against infectious disease.<\/li>
  4. How engineering can support Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) by enabling scientific rigor and validation.<\/li>
  5. How this science can be used to develop new barrier technologies<\/a>.<\/li>
  6. What is lacking in today\u2019s IPAC efforts and where does it need to go?<\/li>
  7. How disinfectants can lead to their own form of resistance (i.e. bugs resistant to cleaning) and may even contribute to antibiotic resistance.<\/li>
  8. What\u2019s the biggest challenge in matching IPAC innovations with potential buyers in the healthcare system?<\/li>
  9. Why we need to enable our \u201cfoot soldiers\u201d (i.e. the cleaning staff and environmental services teams at hospitals) with proper training and tools to win this war.<\/li>
  10. Why it\u2019s important for innovators and manufacturers to be more scientifically responsible (i.e. don\u2019t chase the bug of the month).<\/li>
  11. Why government needs to increase funding for research and development in IPAC.<\/li>
  12. Why it\u2019s so important to stand on the shoulders of the IPAC greats that came before us and build on their work.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    A few key points that I\u2019d like to highlight:<\/p>\n\n\n\n