Infection Prevention and Control

Country Readiness Strengthening

WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE)

Dr. Stroud has enjoyed professional experiences in Industry, Academic Research and Teaching, Private Veterinary Practice and One Health. Before Veterinary School she worked in the Poultry Industry as Manager of a Quality Control lab. After practicing veterinary medicine briefly she completed a Masters and PhD in Endocrine Physiology, then worked in basic research at Pennsyl-vania State University studying variant molecular forms of prolactin and growth hormone in sheep and cows and reproductive hormones in populations of women from around the world.

Since by leading International Who’s Who in One Health webinars (2014 and 2016) and creating a Who’s Who in One Health web resource and maps. In 2016 the OHC spearheaded creation of an annual global One Health Day that is now officially celebrated every year on November 3. The OHC also leads a global One Health Awareness Month campaign each January, providing One Health resources for stakeholders to use when teaching about One Health. 

Dr. Stroud became Executive Director of the One Health Commission late in 2013 and has been identifying and connecting One Health stakeholders around the world ever since. She teaches about the One Health concept and shares updates about the global One Health movement with many global audiences giving over 120 invited presentations since 2014 (40 in 2020 and 2021 with the pandemic). During that time the One Health Commission has hosted or supported over 110 webinars and published over 65 One Health Happenings monthly newsletters to a listserv that has grown to over 16,500 international One Health supporters. The OHC slogan, and her motto, is ‘Connect, Create, Educate’ about One Health and One Health issues; i.e. the OHC seeks to connect One Health stakeholders into Action Teams, strategic networks and partnerships that can educate about the full scope of and critical need for One Health thinking and acting at all levels of academia, research, clinical practice, government and policy.

Dr. Denise Cardo is the director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Cardo joined CDC in 1993 as a medical epidemiologist and, after holding several leadership positions in DHQP, she was selected as division director in 2003. Dr. Cardo leads CDC activities to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings, sepsis, and to promote healthcare safety. She has been involved in several CDC responses to emerging infection threats, including to COVID-19. In addition, she has served as CDC Acting Deputy Director for Surveillance, Epi and Lab systems (OSELS) and as CDC Acting Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases (DDID).

Prior to joining CDC, she had a distinguished career in the division of infectious diseases at one of Brazil's prestigious medical institutions, Escola Paulista de Medicina, where she received her medical degree, completed her residency and fellowship, and joined the faculty as associated professor of infectious diseases. She also did a sabbatical at the Hospital Epidemiology Program, University of Tennessee, Memphis.

Dr. Cardo has been involved in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention for several decades and is internationally recognized as an expert and leader in the area. Her interests include patient safety, prevention of healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance, sepsis, and public health-healthcare interactions to promote health. She is the author of several research and reviewed papers including book chapters and has received several awards for her work.

Professor Marilyn Cruickshank RN, PhD, FACN, FACIPC, has a conjoint appointment with the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Professor Cruickshank provides extensive research and team leadership, being nationally and internationally recognized as a leader on policy development and implementation strategies for safety and quality, antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship and healthcare associated infection. Professor Cruickshank has a strong pediatric clinical background as clinical educator, nurse unit manager, and clinical nurse consultant with areas of expertise involving health project management, health policy, and, program development and evaluation.

Within her role at UTS, Professor Cruickshank has a national and international profile as past-President of the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC), a member of the national Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Committee, a member of the Australian Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee for Antimicrobial Resistance (ASTAG), a member of the Confederation of National Nursing and Midwifery Organizations (CoNNMO), Board member of the International Federation of Infection Control (IFIC), inaugural chair of the Australian Pediatric Nurse Scientists (AusPANS), member of SPHERE Nursing and Midwifery Academy, member of the SPHERE Triple I Clinical Academic Group, and a member of UTS Centre for Nursing Research (CeNseR).

Stephanie is a medical microbiologist in NHS Lanarkshire and Professor of Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. She edited the Journal of Hospital Infection for over 20 years, five of them as editor-in-chief, and now edits for Infection, Disease & Health and International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. She trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London followed by postgraduate studies at Guy's Hospital, where she gained a thesis on the epidemiology and biochemistry of toxin-producing staphylococci. She has worked and travelled all over the world, including the Canadian High Arctic, where she resuscitated 30,000-year-old organisms from glacial ice. She spent six years as Infection Control Officer for Argyll before moving to Health Protection Scotland as their inaugural microbiologist (2002-5). There, she set up MRSA surveillance for Scotland, evaluated real-time PCR for MRSA screening and helped establish the Scottish Microbiology Forum. She has been a member of various working groups on antibiotic prescribing, MRSA and hospital cleaning, and is a current or recent member of NHS Scotland Decontamination; UK NICE (infection control & antimicrobial prescribing); UK HTA (screening and diagnostics); ESCMID groups on infection control, MRSA & multi-resistant Gram-negative bacilli; and 2023 ECCMID conference committee. She advised DEFRA on surface cleaning and hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been collaborating with an international group of virologists, physicists, ventilation engineers and aerosol scientists on airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2. She has published books, book chapters and over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals on hospital cleaning, antimicrobial management, infection control and MRSA. At present, she balances editorial duties with research and teaching, specifically antimicrobial stewardship and environmental control of hospital pathogens.