Saman Nematollahi

Interests

No activities entered.

Courses

No activities entered.

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Dong, S., Walker, J., Nematollahi, S., Nolan, N., & Ryder, J. (2024). The ID Digital Institute: Building a digital education toolset and community. Transplant Infectious Disease, 26(4). doi:10.1111/tid.14297
  More info

  Organic digital education (ODE) includes online medical education content that can take various forms, such as blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, or infographics. Multimedia ODE platforms have unique benefits and have quickly become an essential part of medical education. Modern medical educators with competency in digital teaching modalities can leverage these for teaching as well as career development and dissemination of scientific research. The ID Digital Institute is a digital education program with a curriculum designed to equip infectious diseases (ID) professionals with the skills to appraise, create, curate, and integrate ODE into their teaching and career. We share the structure, content, and lessons learned from the ID Digital Institute program. We also illustrate how digital education skills can present unique opportunities to align with current and future transplant and immunocompromised host infectious diseases education efforts.
• Leksuwankun, S., Plongla, R., Eamrurksiri, N., Torvorapanit, P., Phongkhun, K., Langsiri, N., Meejun, T., Srisurapanont, K., Thanakitcharu, J., Lerttiendamrong, B., Thongkam, A., Manothummetha, K., Chuleerarux, N., Moonla, C., Worasilchai, N., Chindamporn, A., Permpalung, N., & Nematollahi, S. (2024). Needs assessment of a pythiosis continuing professional development program. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2024. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0012004
  More info

  Background Pythiosis is a rare disease with high mortality, with over 94% of cases reported from Thailand and India. Prompt diagnosis and surgery improves patient outcomes. Therefore, continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for early recognition. However, a needs assessment related to a pythiosis CPD program has not been performed. Objectives We conducted a needs assessment to develop a pythiosis CPD program. Patients/Methods We conducted a survey study with 267 King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital residents (141 internal medicine (IM) residents and 126 surgery residents). A 30-item survey consisting of a knowledge assessment, demographic section, and an attitudes portion was distributed both electronically and via paper. The data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results Sixty-seven percent completed the survey (110/141 IM residents, 70/126 surgery residents). The mean score [95% confidence interval] on the knowledge assessment was 41.67% [39.64%-43.69%] across all objectives. The three domains with the highest scores were pythiosis risk factors (67.22% correct), microbiologic characteristics (50.83%), and radiographic interpretation (50.56%). The three domains with the lowest scores were laboratory investigation (15.00%), epidemiology (29.17%), and symptomatology (30.83%). Most participants noted that the program should be online with both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, with a preferred length of 60–90 minutes per session. Conclusion The pythiosis CPD program should emphasize education regarding symptomatology, laboratory investigation, and epidemiology, all of which are critical for the early detection of pythiosis to decrease mortality from this devastating disease. Most respondents felt this program was necessary and should be implemented in a virtual blended format.
• Mutcali, S., Hussain, N., Nematollahi, S., Lainhart, W., Zangeneh, T., & Al-Obaidi, M. (2024). The performance of bronchoalveolar lavage Aspergillus PCR testing in solid organ transplant recipients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Transplant Infectious Disease, 26(5). doi:10.1111/tid.14327
  More info

  Background: Invasive aspergillosis affects solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients, carrying a high risk of mortality and morbidity in this population. Rapid and accurate diagnosis is essential to ensure the initiation of correct antifungal therapy. We aimed to evaluate the performance of the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) Eurofins Viracor Aspergillus PCR (AspPCR) in diagnosing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in SOT recipients. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study of SOT recipients in Arizona from February 2019 to December 2022 who had AspPCR done at the time of the clinical encounter. Probable IPA was defined as a positive BAL culture with Aspergillus spp. with clinical and imaging findings of IPA per EORTC/MSGERC criteria. Results: Ninety-nine SOT recipients with 131 encounters with BAL AspPCR testing were included. The median age was 66, the majority were White, non-Hispanics (60%), and males (66%). Among the participants, 93 lung transplant recipients with 87 of the encounters received antifungal prophylaxis active against Aspergillus spp. Sixty-four encounters had BAL galactomannan (GM), all of which had BAL GM
• Penner, J., Berkowitz, A., Nematollahi, S., Alemán, M., & Anampa-Guzmán, A. (2024). “A safe, non-judgmental space where I can really challenge myself:” learner experiences in a virtual, case-based diagnostic reasoning conference for students. Medical Education Online, 29(1). doi:10.1080/10872981.2024.2414559
  More info

  Case-based diagnostic reasoning conferences, like morning reports, allow undergraduate medical trainees to practice diagnostic reasoning alongside senior clinicians. However, trainees have reported discomfort doing so. Peer-assisted learning offers an alternative approach. We describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a virtual, student-only diagnostic reasoning conference that leverages peer-assisted learning. Student virtual morning report’s (VMR) design was informed by social and cognitive congruence and experience-based learning. We evaluated participant experiences using a survey focused on participant perceptions of Student VMR’s value, their methods for participation, and their preferences for Student VMR compared with VMR with more senior clinicians. 110 participants (28.9%) completed the survey. 90 participants (81.2%) reported that Student VMR was educational. Compared to VMR, participants reported being more likely to participate in Student VMR by turning on their video (50.0%), presenting a case (43.6%), verbally participating (44.5%), or participating in the chat (70.0%). Strengths included a safe learning environment to practice DR and the opportunity to engage with an international learning community. When asked whether they preferred Student VMR or non-Student VMR, most respondents (64.5%, 71/110) identified that they did not have a preference between the two. A student-focused DR conference may offer a valuable complement to, but not a replacement of, apprenticeship-based DR case conferences.
• Phadke, V., Nematollahi, S., Steinbrink, J., Bartash, R., Morales, M., Roberts, S., Ardura, M., & Theodoropoulos, N. (2024). Defining the Landscape of Educational Experiences in Transplant Infectious Diseases: A National Survey of Infectious Diseases Fellows in the United States. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 11(9). doi:10.1093/ofid/ofae473
  More info

  Background: Transplant infectious diseases (TID) is a growing area of expertise within infectious diseases (ID), but TID training is not standardized. Previous surveys of fellows identified opportunities to improve TID education resources but did not explore didactic, clinical, and nonclinical experiences comprehensively. Methods: The American Society of Transplantation ID Community of Practice surveyed adult and pediatric fellows in US-based general ID or dedicated TID training programs to explore their didactic exposure, clinical experiences, and non-direct patient care activities in TID. Results: A total of 234 fellows initiated the survey, and 195 (83%) (190 general ID and 19 TID fellows, including 125 adult, 76 pediatric, and 8 combined adult-pediatric fellows) completed the entire survey. More than half of the fellows described receiving no formal curricular content on most foundational topics in transplant medicine. Almost all respondents (>90%) had some inpatient TID experience, but for >60% of fellows this was
• Roldan, V., Pucci, G., Penner, J., Nematollahi, S., Berkowitz, A., & Alemán, M. (2024). Global impact of a virtual neurology morning report. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 463. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2024.123134
  More info

  The global shortage and inequitable distribution of neurologists has led to significant gaps not only in neurology care, but also in neurology education. In order to increase access to neurology education, we developed neurology virtual morning report (NVMR), a virtual, open-access, case-based clinical reasoning conference available to learners worldwide. To evaluate NVMR's impact on participants' perception of, interest in, and confidence in neurology, we conducted a survey. Respondents represented 25 different countries of various income levels. The majority of respondents reported that NVMR decreased their perception of difficulty in understanding neurology and increased confidence in various clinical reasoning domains in neurology. Additionally, the majority of medical student participants showed an increased interest in pursuing neurology as a future specialty after participating in NVMR. NVMR represents a potential model for virtual educational conferences and highlights the opportunities digital education has to improve equitable access to neurology education.
• Srisurapanont, K., Lerttiendamrong, B., Meejun, T., Thanakitcharu, J., Manothummetha, K., Thongkam, A., Chuleerarux, N., Sanguankeo, A., Li, L. X., Leksuwankun, S., Langsiri, N., Torvorapanit, P., Worasilchai, N., Plongla, R., Moonla, C., Nematollahi, S., Kates, O. S., & Permpalung, N. (2024). Candidemia Following Severe COVID-19 in Hospitalised and Critical Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Mycoses, 67(10). doi:10.1111/myc.13798
  More info

  Rationale: The epidemiology and clinical impact of COVID-19-associated candidemia (CAC) remained uncertain, leaving gaps in understanding its prevalence, risk factors and outcomes. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted by searching PubMed, Embase and Scopus for reports of CAC prevalence, risk factors and clinical outcomes up to June 18, 2024. The generalised linear mixed model was employed to determine the prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The risk factors and clinical outcomes were compared between patients with and without CAC using the inverse variance method. Results: From 81 studies encompassing 29 countries and involving 351,268 patients, the global prevalence of CAC was 4.33% (95% Cl, 3.16%–5.90%) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. In ICUs, the pooled prevalence of CAC in high-income countries was significantly higher than that of lower-middle-income countries (5.99% [95% Cl, 4.24%–8.40%] vs. 2.23% [95% Cl, 1.06%–4.61%], p = 0.02). Resistant Candida species, including C. auris, C. glabrata (Nakaseomyces glabratus) and C. krusei (Pichia kudriavzveii), constituted 2% of ICU cases. The mortality rate for CAC was 68.40% (95% Cl, 61.86%–74.28%) among ICU patients. Several risk factors were associated with CAC, including antibiotic use, central venous catheter placement, dialysis, mechanical ventilation, tocilizumab, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and total parenteral nutrition. Notably, the pooled odds ratio of tocilizumab was 2.59 (95% CI, 1.44–4.65). Conclusions: The prevalence of CAC is substantial in the ICU setting, particularly in high-income countries. Several risk factors associated with CAC were identified, including several that are modifiable, offering the opportunity to mitigate the risk of CAC.
• Nematollahi, S., Phongkhun, K., Pothikamjorn, T., Srisurapanont, K., Manothummetha, K., Sanguankeo, A., Thongkam, A., Chuleerarux, N., Leksuwankun, S., Meejun, T., Thanakitcharu, J., Walker, M., Gopinath, S., Torvorapanit, P., Langsiri, N., Worasilchai, N., Moonla, C., Plongla, R., Kates, O. S., & Permpalung, N. (2023). Prevalence of Ocular Candidiasis andCandidaEndophthalmitis in Patients With Candidemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi:10.1093/cid/ciad064
• Nematollahi, S., Tackett, S., Grieb, S., Laracy, J., Belcher, A., Marr, K., Shoham, S., Avery, R., Melia, M., Nematollahi, S., Tackett, S., Grieb, S., Laracy, J. C., Belcher, A., Marr, K. A., Shoham, S., Avery, R. K., & Melia, M. T. (2023). Teaching Everyone Everywhere All at Once: Leveraging Social Media to Implement a Multisite Fungal Diagnostics Curriculum. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 10(12). doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad594
  More info

  Background. Environmental fungi are threats to personal and public health. Fungal in vitro diagnostics help diagnose invasive fungal infections (IFIs), but clinicians remain underinformed about their use and interpretation. Given the increasing use of social media to share infectious diseases–related content, we designed and implemented a multisite Twitter-based curriculum focused on IFIs and related diagnostics. Methods. Questions were posted through a dedicated Twitter account twice weekly over 8 weeks. We surveyed clinicians at 3 US academic centers before and after completion of the curriculum and interviewed a subset of participants. We undertook quantitative and qualitative evaluations and reviewed Twitter analytics. Results. We surveyed 450 participants. One hundred twenty-one participants (27%) completed the knowledge assessment precurriculum, 68 (15%) postcurriculum, and 53 (12%) pre- and postcurriculum. We found a significant increase (72% vs 80%, P = .005) in the percentage of correct answers in the pre- versus postcurriculum knowledge assessments. Perceived benefits included a well-executed curriculum that facilitated engagement with appropriately detailed tweetorials from a dedicated Twitter account. Perceived barriers included lack of awareness of tweetorial posts and timing, competing priorities, and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The Twitter account accrued 1400 followers from 65 countries during the 8-week period. Tweets with multiple-choice questions had a median of 14 904 impressions (interquartile range [IQR], 12 818–16 963), 798 engagements (IQR, 626–1041), and an engagement rate of 6.1% (IQR, 4.2%–6.6%). Conclusions. Educators can leverage social media to share content with a large audience and improve knowledge while being mindful of the barriers associated with implementing a curriculum on social media.
• Nematollahi, S. (2010). Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in patients with multiple myeloma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Blood Advances, 6, 6198-6207.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). Morning report for all: a qualitative study of disseminating case conferences via podcasting. BMC Medical Education, 21.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Mechanically Ventilated Patients. Clinical infectious Diseases, 1, 83-91.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). Effectiveness of Casirivimab-Imdevimab Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Among High-Risk Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 B.1.617.2 (Delta Variant) Infection. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 9.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). Immunogenicity and Risk Factors Associated With Poor Humoral Immune Response of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines in Recipients of Solid Organ Transplant: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Jama Network Open, 5.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). Online Learning for Infectious Disease Fellows-A Needs Assessment. Open Forum Infect Dis. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 9.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). The association of cytomegalovirus infection and cytomegalovirus serostatus with invasive fungal infections in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 28, 332-344.
• Tanriover, B., Al-Obaidi, M., Gungor, A. b., Anand, P. M., Nematollahi, S., Ayvaci, M., Murugapandian, S., Zangeneh, T. T., Qannus, A. A., Bedrick, E. J., Shetty, A., Johnson, K., ARIYAMUTHU, V. K., Nicole, A., Alam, R., Heise, C. W., Rangan, P., Rangan, P., Heise, C. W., , Alam, R., et al. (2022). Effectiveness of Casirivimab-Imdevimab Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Among High-Risk Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 B.1.617.2 (Delta Variant) Infection. Open forum infectious diseases.
• Tanriover, B., Anand, P. M., Ayvaci, M., Murugapandian, S., Qannus, A. A., Shetty, A., ARIYAMUTHU, V. K., Heise, C. W., Rangan, P., Alam, R., Nicole, A., Johnson, K., Bedrick, E. J., Zangeneh, T. T., Nematollahi, S., Gungor, A. b., & Al-Obaidi, M. (2022).

  Effectiveness of Casirivimab-Imdevimab Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Among High-Risk Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 B.1.617.2 (Delta Variant) Infection

  . Open forum infectious diseases.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). A Comprehensive Evaluation of Risk Factors for Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Adult Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Transplantation, 105, 2291-2306.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). Does Post-Transplant Cytomegalovirus Increase the Risk of Invasive Aspergillosis in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients? A Systematic Review and MetaAnalysis. Journal of Fungi, 7.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on Lung Allograft and Clinical Outcomes in Lung Transplant Recipients: A Case-control Study. . Transplantation, 105, 2072-2079.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). Morning report goes virtual: learner experiences in a virtual, case-based diagnostic reasoning conference. PubMed, 9, 89.95.
• Nematollahi, S. (2021). New Strategies in Clinical Guideline Delivery: Randomized Trial of Online, Interactive Decision Support Versus Guidelines for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Treatment Selection by Trainees. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 72, 1608-1614.
• Nematollahi, S., Ganeshan, S., Patel, A., & Minter, D. J. (2021). Medical Communities Go Virtual. Journal of Hospital Medicine. doi:10.12788/jhm.3532
• Nematollahi, S. (2020). Comparing Students' Clinical Grades to Scores on a Standardized Patient Note-Writing Task. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 11, 3243-3247.
• Nematollahi, S. (2020). Development and Evaluation of a Fully Automated Molecular Assay Targeting the Mitochondrial Small Subunit rRNA Gene for the Detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Specimens. The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, 22, 1482-1493.
• Nematollahi, S. (2020). Reduced Mortality of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia in a Retrospective Cohort Study of 2139 Patients: 2007-2015. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 70, 1666-1674.
• Nematollahi, S., Minter, D. J., Geha, R. M., Manesh, R., & Chan, H. (2020). More Is Less. Journal of Hospital Medicine. doi:10.12788/jhm.3488
• Nematollahi, S. (2016). A novel fresh cadaver model for education and assessment of joint aspiration. Journal of Orthopaedics, 13, 419-424.
• Nematollahi, S. (2016). Pre-matriculation clinical experience correlates with higher USMLE Step 1 scores. American Medical Student Research Journal, 3, 20-5. doi:DOI: 10.15422/amsrj.2016.05.002
• Nematollahi, S. (2015). Introduction of a fresh cadaver lab during the surgery clerkship improved emergency technical skills. The American Journal of Surgery, 210, 401-403.
• Nematollahi, S. (2014). Advanced age dissociates dual functions of the perirhinal cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 467-480.
• Nematollahi, S. (2013). Assessment of alcohol withdrawal in native american patients utilizing the clinical institute withdrawal assessment of alcohol revised scale. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 7, 196-9.
• Nematollahi, S. (2013). Utilization of a Non-preserved Cadaver to Address Deficiencies in Technical Skills During the Third Year of Medical School: A Cadaver Model for Teaching Technical Skills. World Journal of Surgery, 37, 953-5.
• Nematollahi, S. (2012). Reduced gamma frequency in the medial frontal cortex of aged rats during behavior and rest: implications for age-related behavioral slowing. Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 16331-16344. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1577-12.2012
• Nematollahi, S. (2012). Representation of three-dimensional objects by the rat perirhinal cortex. Hippocampus, 22, 2032-2044. doi:10.1002/hipo.22060
• Nematollahi, S. (2011). AgeAssociated Deficits in Pattern Separation Functions of the Perirhinal Cortex: a CrossSpecies Consensus. Behavioral Neuroscience - American Psychological Association, 125, 836-847. doi:10.1037/a0026238
• Nematollahi, S. (2011). The Influence of Objects on Place Field Expression and Size in Distal Hippocampal CA1. Hippocampus, 124, 559-573. doi:10.1002/hipo.20929
• Nematollahi, S. (2010). Pattern Separation Deficits May Contribute to Age Associated Recognition Impairments. Behavioral Neuroscience - American Psychological Association, 124, 559-573. doi:10.1037/a0020893

Presentations

• Nematollahi, S. (2022). “Coccidioidomycosis in Solid Organ Transplantation”. Research presentation. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Abdominal Transplantation Division.
• Nematollahi, S. (2022). “Leveraging social media to improve fungal diagnostic practice”. Fisher Center. Baltimore, MD.
• Nematollahi, S. (2020). “Leveraging social media to improve fungal diagnostic practice”. University of Arizona Infectious Diseases Division. Tucson, AZ.
• Nematollahi, S. (2019). “50-year-old woman with worsening hoarseness”. Baltimore “Pus Club” MeetingUniversity of Maryland Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
• Nematollahi, S. (2018). Emphysematous Pyelonephritis. Senior Medical Resident lecturer, house-staff and faculty, Medicine-Radiology Conference. New York, NY.