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Infectious Diseases Society of America Fellow

UHCOP Professor Vincent Tam Among Distinguished Few Pharmacists Selected for FIDSA Honor

vincent tam photoUH College of Pharmacy Professor and researcher Vincent H. Tam, Pharm.D., BCPS (AQ-ID), has been named as a 2018 Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA) in recognition of his contributions to the field of infectious diseases.

Founded in 1963, IDSA is an organization of more than 10,000 physicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals dedicated to promoting health through excellence in infectious diseases research, education, prevention, and patient care.

Applicants for IDSA Fellowship must be nominated by their peers and meet specified criteria that may include continuing identification with the field of infectious diseases, national or regional recognition, and publication of their scholarly work. Nominees are reviewed and elected by the IDSA Board of Directors.

Cesar A. Arias, M.D., MSc., Ph.D., FIDSA, professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Genomics (CARMiG) at UTHealth as well as chair of the Gulf Coast Consortia Consortium in Antimicrobial Resistance (GCC-AMR), wrote that his support of Tam's nomination was being made with the "highest possible enthusiasm" as he was "one of the most prolific colleagues" with whom he has worked.

"Without a doubt, Dr. Tam has exceeded the requirements and fully deserves this recognition," Arias continued. "His sustained contribution to antimicrobial therapeutics is outstanding and his work ethic and productivity is second to none."

Tam has authored/coauthored more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals since 2001, including a May 2014 paper published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that was recognized as the Pharmacotherapy Paper of the Year Award by the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP).

Over the course of his career, Tam has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, nonprofit associations and foundations, and companies within the pharmaceutical industry. Tam also is co-inventor on two U.S. patents, including one for novel formulations for the last-resort drug polymyxin B and one for a novel rapid diagnostic system to help guide rational dosing of antimicrobials at the bedside.

A past member of the SIDP Board of Director, Tam also was the first pharmacist elected to serve on the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' Board of Directors. His other honors include the University of Houston Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award in 2008 and as a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Best Practices Award-winning team at the St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (now CHI St. Luke's Baylor Medical Center) Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Epidemiology in 2010.

"Among 105 new fellows this year, only five are pharmacists," Tam said. "It is a great honor that my contributions to combating antimicrobial resistance over the years are recognized by my peers."