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Schweizer receives $2.5M AHRQ R01

Marin Schweizer, PhD, associate professor in General Internal Medicine, received a five-year, $2.5M R01 grant from the US Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Schweizer’s proposed research will help prevent Staphylococcus aureus and other high-risk infections from spreading to people using dialysis.

“We are calling this the PAINTS study, or the Povidone-iodine to Stop Access-related Infections and Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus, which is fitting because patients will "paint" the insides of their nostrils with yellow iodine to prevent bacteria transmission,” Schweizer said.

This new intervention could decrease bacteria transmission significantly and create a safer medical environment for people using dialysis. If Schweizer and her team find their nasal povidone-iodine therapy to be both practical and acceptable, this intervention could prevent future hemodialysis patients from contracting S. aureus and other high-risk infections.

Schweizer’s research team from the University of Iowa includes Drs. Loreen Herwaldt, Mony Fraer, Kimberly Dukes, Raj Nair, Amy O’Shea, and Heather Resinger. In addition to the University of Iowa, this study will also be conducted at the University of Illinois Chicago, Emory Healthcare, the University of Pennsylvania, and Washington University.