The Carolina Antimicrobial Stewardship Program honored three collaborators with Super Steward Awards. Stacy Campbell-Bright, PharmD, Briana Castillo, MD, and Will Kwan, Jr., MD were among the award recipients. CASP created the awards in 2022 to recognize colleagues’ efforts to champion stewardship in their settings.
“In CASP, we are very aware that the success of our stewardship program depends so much on the contributions and work of our allies–colleagues who are passionate about stewardship and make it part of their daily practices. We want to recognize and celebrate these individuals through the awards,” said Nikolaos Mavrogiorgos, MD, CASP medical director. He, along with Lindsay Daniels, CASP pharmacy lead, and Zachary Willis, CASP pediatric director, recognized the second cohort of awardees earlier this month.
Dr. Will Kwan has been involved with CASP – attending meetings and collaborating on guideline development and strategy implementation – for three years. Over that time, he has encouraged his colleagues to become familiar with the shortest durations of antimicrobial therapy by championing the Shorter. Safer. Better campaign in late 2021 and collaborating with Dr. Zach Willis and Dr. Bill Wilson on a pediatric antibiotic selection guide in early 2023. He’s supported the core CASP team with brainstorming annual strategies and routinely stepping up to offer his expertise as a Hospitalist. Dr. Kwan “is a willing and capable antimicrobial stewardship advocate”.
Dr. Stacy Campbell-Bright, a Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) pharmacist, was also recognized. Dr. Campbell-Bright is an excellent critical care pharmacist and an advocate for antimicrobial stewardship in the MICU. She promotes optimal antibiotic use for all her patients as a part of her daily work activities. She trains pharmacy students and residents to think from the stewardship perspective. Dr. Campbell-Bright is a role model for stewardship in critical care.
Our final honoree, Dr. Briana Castillo, is a first-year ID fellow with a background in clinical microbiology. She is an avid steward, consistently working to educate others on appropriate ordering and testing.
This became incredibly apparent during her recent rotation in the clinical micro lab. Dr. Castillo quickly recognized inappropriate orders and often questioned the utility of additional testing requested by clinicians throughout the hospital. She regularly offered to reach out to these clinicians, educate them about their orders, and help them pick a more appropriate regimen. In these scenarios, having a physician support the lab’s process can be helpful.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a top priority in Dr. Castillo’s patient care. She consistently discontinues or de-escalates antibiotic therapy appropriately to save her patient’s microbiomes and reduce unnecessary consequences tied to continued antibiotic use.
CASP congratulates the honorees and thanks all those who submitted nominations. Read about the 2022 award winners.