Inpatient Consultations

About the Program

The Division of Infectious Diseases (ID) supports clinicians at Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear by providing consultations on patients with known or suspected infectious disease illnesses.

Our adult inpatient consultation services are divided into General ID, Oncology ID, Solid Organ Transplant ID, and ID at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

Across our inpatient services, our consultative advice is distinguished by its comprehensive nature and timeliness. We communicate at all important junctures with consulting clinicians as well as with other providers involved in the patient's care. We collaborate closely with colleagues in the microbiology laboratory to facilitate diagnostic evaluation and with the Infectious Diseases pharmacy service to optimize antimicrobial therapies. We interface with multispecialty care providers, counsel patients and families, and prioritize the safe transition of patients receiving ID care from the inpatient to outpatient setting. Sandra Nelson MD serves as the Inpatient Clinical Director.

General Infectious Diseases

The General Infectious Diseases (ID) service is overseen by Dr. Molly Paras. General ID clinicians have expertise in the care of patients with a wide array of infections including HIV, mycobacterial infections including tuberculosis, surgical site infections, musculoskeletal infections, cardiovascular infections, travel/tropical medicine, vector-borne infections, and infections in patients admitted to the critical care units. The general ID service is composed of 6-7 teams and include ID fellows, faculty and advanced practice providers.

The general ID inpatient service serves an important role in training the next generation of physicians; in addition to fellows, medical students and residents will often be members of a team. The general ID service additionally offers important opportunities for research, with the goal to better understand these infections and improve clinical care for our patients.

Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Service

Our transplant and immunocompromised host service, directed by Jay Fishman, MD, participates in the multidisciplinary care of complex immunocompromised patients on the heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas services, both pre- and post-transplant. Our transplant services also sit at the translational interface of basic transplantation immunology and clinical transplantation—with innovative programs, for example, in tolerance induction and xenotransplantation.

The solid organ transplant service team includes first and second year infectious disease fellows, visiting fellows, and an ID attending. We round daily with the abdominal transplant team and also provide timely preventive and consultative care for thoracic transplant recipients. We have developed protocols for the infectious disease care of solid organ recipients as well as addressing changing hospital epidemiology and the deployment of newer antimicrobial therapies. Many of our advanced clinical trainees are actively engaged in research projects on clinically related topics.

Oncology Infectious Diseases Service

The Oncology Infectious Disease service, directed by Sarah Hammond, MD, provides inpatient and outpatient consultation services to the growing cancer and cellular therapy population at Massachusetts General Hospital. The goals of the service are to provide the highest quality multidisciplinary care for cancer and cellular therapy patients with infectious complications while optimizing patient experience and advancing scientific innovation, research and education. Our inpatient team includes an attending physician and an advance practice provider who round on inpatients daily.

We facilitate a seamless transition to outpatient infectious diseases care when patients are ready. We have a dedicated Oncology Infectious Disease clinic at the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, where we aim to schedule follow up that coordinates with the patient’s other oncology follow up visits. This model not only allows patients to return to Mass General Brigham for cancer and infectious diseases follow up on the same day but also enhances communication between the oncology and infectious diseases teams to allow for optimal care.

Mass Eye and Ear ID Service

Dr. Miriam Barshak leads the Mass Eye and Ear (MEE) ID service, which collaborates closely with ophthalmologists and otolaryngologists to provide multidisciplinary inpatient and outpatient care for patients with infections of the eyes, ears, nose, sinuses, throat, and neck. In addition to providing highly specialized care for these patients who are referred from all over the world, the MEE ID service also collaborates in cutting-edge research to improve the care of these patients.