Strathdee: Pioneering HIV Research and the Advancement of Phage Therapy
From tackling the HIV epidemic in marginalized communities to fighting the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, the career of Strathdee has been defined by a commitment to underserved populations and medical innovation. As a Canadian-born infectious disease epidemiologist, her work has bridged the gap between academic research and life-saving clinical application.
Early Career and HIV Prevention
Strathdee began her career focusing on HIV prevention among marginalized groups, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, and people who inject drugs. While working in Vancouver, Canada, she identified a significant HIV outbreak among people who inject drugs. This discovery was particularly striking because it occurred despite the presence of one of North America's largest needle exchange programs. This finding prompted Strathdee and her colleagues to advocate for expanded HIV prevention and treatment services from both provincial and federal governments.
In 1996, she founded the Vancouver Injection Drug Use study and the Vanguard study, which focused on young men who have sex with men. Through this research, she identified social determinants—the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes—as independent predictors of HIV risk-taking. This work earned her a Young Investigator's Award from the International AIDS Society in 1996.
Furthering her impact, Strathdee published a manuscript in JAMA in 1998 revealing that only half of the HIV-positive people who inject drugs in Vancouver who were medically eligible for antiretroviral therapy were actually receiving it. This publication catalyzed efforts to expand access to critical HIV care. Following these achievements, she joined the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as an Associate Professor in 1998, later moving to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2004.
Leadership in Global Health
Between 2008 and 2024, Strathdee served as the Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences. In this role, she oversaw UC San Diego's Global Health Institute (GHI), an organization dedicated to facilitating interdisciplinary research, education, and private partnerships to solve 21st-century global health challenges. Additionally, she served as the chief of the Division of Global Public Health in UC San Diego's Department of Medicine until 2017.
Her commitment to international health extended to the Mexico–U.S. border, where she and her then-husband, Thomas "Tom" Patterson, led an extensive research and training program.
Advancing Phage Therapy Against Superbugs
In 2016, Strathdee's professional expertise intersected with a personal crisis when Tom Patterson contracted a life-threatening infection caused by Acinetobacter baumannii, a multidrug-resistant "superbug." To save his life, Strathdee coordinated an international team of researchers to employ bacteriophage therapy—the use of phages (viruses that target and kill specific bacteria) to treat infections.
While phage therapy had been utilized in Eastern Europe for a century, it was not licensed for clinical use in the United States or most of Western Europe at the time. Tom Patterson is believed to be the first person in the U.S. successfully cured of a systemic multidrug-resistant bacterial infection using intravenous phage cocktails. This landmark case was featured in The Lancet, JAMA, and was named one of the top science stories of 2017 by The Guardian.
Following Patterson's recovery, Strathdee and physician Robert "Chip" Schooley founded the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH) at UCSD. As the first phage therapy center in North America, IPATH focuses on translational research and rigorous clinical trials to secure licensure and widespread use of the therapy.
The impact of IPATH has extended to numerous other patients, including:
- Joel Grimwood: A patient who became healthy enough to undergo a successful heart transplantation after being treated with phage and antibiotic infusions.
- Isabelle Carnell-Holdaway: A 15-year-old who became the first person globally to receive genetically modified phages to fight a multidrug-resistant infection following a lung transplant.
In 2019, Strathdee and Patterson documented their experience in the memoir The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug. Today, IPATH serves as a clinical site for the first NIH-funded trial of intravenous phage therapy, which launched in October 2022.
Key Facts
- Specialization: Infectious disease epidemiology with a focus on HIV and antimicrobial resistance.
- Major Contribution: Founded IPATH, the first phage therapy center in North America.
- Clinical Milestone: Facilitated the first successful U.S. cure of a systemic multidrug-resistant infection using intravenous phages.
- Academic Leadership: Former Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences at UC San Diego (2008–2024).
- Key Publication: Co-authored the memoir The Perfect Predator (2019).
| Period/Year | Role/Achievement | Key Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Founded Vancouver Injection Drug Use study | Identified social determinants of HIV risk |
| 1998 | Published in JAMA | Expanded access to antiretroviral therapy in Vancouver |
| 2008–2024 | Associate Dean, Global Health Sciences | Oversaw UC San Diego's Global Health Institute |
| 2016 | Pioneered Phage Therapy for Tom Patterson | First successful U.S. systemic superbug cure via phages |
| Post-2016 | Founded IPATH | Established North America's first phage therapy center |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is phage therapy?
Phage therapy involves the use of bacteriophages—viruses that specifically target and destroy bacteria—to treat bacterial infections, particularly those that are resistant to traditional antibiotics.
What is IPATH?
The Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH) is the first phage therapy center in North America, located at UC San Diego. It conducts translational research and clinical trials to make phage therapy a licensed and widely available medical treatment.
Who was Tom Patterson?
Tom Patterson was Strathdee's then-husband and a researcher who became the first person in the U.S. to be successfully cured of a systemic multidrug-resistant infection (Acinetobacter baumannii) using intravenous bacteriophages.
How did Strathdee's early work affect HIV treatment?
By identifying gaps in care for people who inject drugs and highlighting the role of social determinants in HIV risk, her research led to increased advocacy and expanded access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention services.
Is phage therapy now widely available in the U.S.?
While IPATH assists patients with life-threatening infections and participates in NIH-funded trials, the center's primary goal is to conduct the rigorous clinical trials necessary to enable official licensure and widespread use.