SAEMF Research Training Grant - $300,000

"Mechanism of Thermal Injury After a Heat-Based Therapy for Central Line Infection"

Emergency physicians encounter patients with indwelling central lines for a variety of life-sustaining uses. Infection of these lines is considered a medical emergency requiring prompt source control and antibiotics, involving 1) procedural consultation for removal, 2) loss of limited vascular access sites, 3) increased risk of bleeding and infection from repeat insertion and 4) delay of necessary interventions like hemodialysis. The goal of this project is to determine a) the underlying mechanism and b) the recoverability of the endothelial response to localized thermal injury; this will inform specific parameters for a heat-based infected catheter salvage strategy that minimizes adverse effects while maximizing bacterial killing, obviating the need for catheter removal in septic patients.

Recipient(s)

  • Katrina Muraglia, MD, PhD

    Regents of the University of Michigan

    "Mechanism of Thermal Injury After a Heat-Based Therapy for Central Line Infection"

    Katrina Muraglia, MD, PhD, is completing her emergency medicine residency at the University of Michigan and will transition to a research fellowship and clinical instructor role in fall 2025. She earned her Bachelor of Science in English and Biology from the University of Michigan, followed by both her MD and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ​

    Dr. Muraglia's research focuses on developing adjuvant therapies for central line infections and understanding the cellular mechanisms of endothelial response to physical manipulation and iatrogenic injury. Her upcoming fellowship in Dr. J. Scott VanEpps' laboratory will be supported by the SAEMF Research Training Grant.