Throughout my career, I have been passionate about translating science into practical strategies that improve patient outcomes and keep healthcare workers safe
Gabriela M. Andujar Vazquez, MDA Dartmouth Health infectious disease physician has been appointed to a newly formed national advisory group created to help close a gap in infection prevention leadership left by the discontinuation of a longtime federal advisory committee.
Gabriela M. Andujar Vazquez, MD, an infectious disease doctor and epidemiologist at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, has been appointed to the Healthcare Infection Prevention Advisory Group (HIPAG), a joint initiative of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). The group launched June 1.
HIPAG was established to help address the void left by the discontinuation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), which for decades developed the infection prevention and control guidance used by hospitals and healthcare organizations nationwide. Its dissolution left a significant need for continued expert leadership in the field, and HIPAG was formed to serve as a national resource on infection prevention and the spread of antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings.
As a member of the advisory group, Andujar will help review and contextualize emerging evidence, identify areas where clearer guidance is needed, and support rapid-response strategies during emerging infectious disease threats and other public health challenges. The group’s work spans acute care, ambulatory and long-term care settings, with a focus on practices that protect both patients and healthcare workers.
“It is a privilege to be selected to serve on the SHEA/APIC Healthcare Infection Prevention Advisory Group. Throughout my career, I have been passionate about translating science into practical strategies that improve patient outcomes and keep healthcare workers safe,” said Andujar. “I look forward to collaborating with national leaders in infection prevention to help shape evidence-based guidance that is both scientifically sound and applicable across diverse healthcare settings.”
Andujar joins 15 other infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology leaders from across the country on HIPAG, including representatives from institutions such as UC Davis Health, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Kaiser Permanente, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.