by Paul Govern
Infectious diseases specialist Tom Talbot, MD, MPH, professor of Medicine and chief hospital epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was recently elected to serve in the leadership of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
Regarded as the leading infection prevention professional society in the U.S., SHEA was founded in 1980 and currently has some 1,800 members.
Serving this year as vice-president of SHEA, Talbot will go on to serve as president-elect next year, as president in 2024 and as past president in 2025.
With the slogan “safe health care for all,” SHEA seeks to improve public health by establishing infection-prevention measures and supporting antibiotic stewardship among health care providers. Along with its education and policy efforts, SHEA publishes a longstanding monthly journal, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, as well as a recently launched online open-access journal, Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology.
The SHEA Research Network includes more than 100 health care facilities collaborating on multicenter research projects in health care epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship.
Talbot, who joined the faculty in 2003, received his bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Duke University, his MD from Vanderbilt University in 1996, and his Master of Public Health degree in 2003.
