EPISODE271b - Cut version- Janet Stout, PhD -Legionella Issues & Answers

Dr. Janet E. Stout is director of Special Pathogens Laboratory, and a research associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. A clinical and environmental microbiologist, Dr. Stout is internationally recognized for more than 30 years of pioneering research in Legionella. Credited as the first to demonstrate the link between Legionnaires' disease and the presence of Legionella in hospital water systems, her seminal discovery in 1982, shifted the focus from cooling towers to water distributions systems as the primary source for Legionnaires' disease. This changed the direction of research and expanded the water treatment industry's approach to controlling Legionella. Since then, Dr. Stout has evaluated every major Legionella disinfection technology used today. An advocate for prevention, Dr. Stout was instrumental in developing the first U.S. prevention strategy for hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease in 1993. Later adopted by the Veteran's Health Administration and others, the guideline continues to serve as a national model for Legionella prevention. In addition to Dr. Stout's numerous research articles published in major medical and scientific peer-reviewed publications, she co-authors the Legionella chapter in Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control , Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, and the Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Active in scientific and professional associations, Dr. Stout serves on the Legionella standard committee for the Cooling Technology Institute and on the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers' committees for Legionella Guideline 12 and the proposed ASHRAE Legionella standard.