In this latest episode of ASTCT Talks, Dr. Firas El Chaer talks with Dr. Alpana Waghmare and Dr. Michael Ison to discuss the winter “Tridemic,” which includes COVID, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). They discuss the diagnostic and treatment approaches for the Tridemic in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy, examine the precautions and best practices for recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation and more. This podcast was recorded on December 21, 2022.

About Dr. Firas El Chaer

Firas El Chaer, MD, (@FirasElChaer) is an assistant professor of medicine who specializes in hematology and oncology. He completed a fellowship in infectious diseases for immunocompromised cancer patients at the combined program of Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He then pursued a fellowship in hematology and oncology with a focus on blood disorders. Also, he completed a built-in fellowship in stem cell transplantation at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine.

His clinical areas of interest are acute leukemia, chronic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, myeloproliferative disorders, aplastic anemia, and clonal hematopoiesis and blood disorders. His research focuses on improving outcomes for acute leukemia in adults by focusing on targeted therapies and overcoming resistance mechanisms.

About Dr. Alpana Waghmare

Alpana Waghmare, MD, (@alpanaw) is a pediatrician who specializes in the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases with a focus on respiratory infections and their impact on vulnerable populations. Her work on viral infections in immunocompromised patients includes the often-overlooked pathogen, human rhinovirus, or HRV, which is a cause of head colds. She is working on numerous COVID-19 projects, such as studying infections in cancer patients who have received transplants or CAR T-cell therapy, and studying the host transcriptome in both healthy and immunocompromised patients in acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

About Dr. Michael Ison

Michael Ison MD, MS, (@MichaelGIsonMD) completed his medical school training at University of South Florida College of Medicine and the obtained training in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon followed by Infectious Diseases at the University of Virginia and Transplant Infectious Diseases Training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.  After spending 17 years as a Professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Organ Transplantation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, he moved to become the Respiratory Disease Branch Chief within the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at NIAID/NIH.  He also currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Transplant Infectious Disease.