Alumni Division Announcements

Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, FECMM selected to lead the update of the Histoplasma guidelines by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)

Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, FECMM has been selected to lead the update of the Histoplasma guidelines by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA); the first update since 2007. The guidelines haven’t been updated since 2007. Dr Spec was chosen among a large field of candidates based on his research in histoplasmosis. Most recently he conducted first study comparing antifungal therapies for treatment of histoplasmosis in over a decade.   His clinical expertise in management of patients with invasive fungal infections was developed by leading the Invasive Mycoses Clinic at Washington University in St Louis. The next undertaking will be the selection of the full guideline committee from dozens of qualified candidates.

Dr Spec is taking on this challenge after participating in the development of three guidelines with the European Confederation of Medical Mycologists. Since 2018, he has participated in the development of guidelines for rare yeasts, endemic mycoses and Cryptococcus. The guidelines for rare yeast and endemic mycoses have been published in Lancet Infectious Disease, and the cryptococcal guidelines are still pending publication.