A new book by faculty member Patrick Schlievert, Ph.D., entitled "What Was I Thinking? Toxic Shock Syndrome", was recently published.
Dr. Patrick M. Schlievert received his bachelor’s (geology/general science) and Ph.D. (microbiology studying the first defensin) degrees from the University of Iowa. He was a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota from 1976-1979, studying streptococcal scarlet fever toxins as causes of scarlet fever and related more serious illnesses. In 1979, Dr. Schlievert accepted a faculty position at UCLA in the Microbiology and Immunology Department, where he discovered toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin-1, the principle cause of TSS, and demonstrated the main reason why tampons are associated with TSS. Dr. Schlievert returned to the University of Minnesota as a faculty member in the Microbiology Department, where he worked his way through the ranks to full professor in 1990. From 2011 to 2019, he was Chair of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa. He is currently a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Internal Medicine. Dr. Schlievert and his clinical colleagues have described many new toxin-associated human illnesses including streptococcal TSS (the flesh-eating streptococcal disease) in 1987. His major current interests continue in the description of new diseases, drug discovery, and vaccine development. Dr. Schlievert has published over 450 scientific manuscripts. While at the University of Minnesota, he taught one-third of all medical students ever trained at the university. He received the university’s highest education honor for teaching microbiology and immunology. In 2016, Dr. Schlievert was named the American Society for Microbiology Educator of the Year. He was also a member of the Academic Health Center Academy of Excellence in Medical Research at the University of Minnesota.