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Lars Westblade, PhD

Lars Westblade

Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences

Adjunct Associate Professor

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, NY

Email: law9067@med.cornell.edu

Education

  • 2004 - Ph.D., Biochemistry, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  • 2000 - M.Phil (Res), Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  • 1998 - B.Sc (Hons), The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Biography/Professional Experience

  • 2021-present, Adjunct Associate Professor, Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University
  • 2019-2021, Adjunct Associate Professor, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University
  • 2018-present, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
  • 2015-2018, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
  • 2012-2013, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine at Hofstra University
  • 2009-2010, Assistant Professor, Touro College of Pharmacy, New York

Publications

  • Trzebucki AM, Westblade LF, Loo A, Mazur S, Jenkins SG, Calfee DP, Satlin MJ, Simon MS. (2021). Real-World Implementation and Impact of a Rapid Carbapenemase Detection Test in an Area Endemic for Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol In Press
  • Satlin MJ, Chen L, Douglass C, Hovan M, Davidson E, Soave R, La Spina M, Gomez-Arteaga A, van Besien K, Mayer S, Phillips A, Hsu J, Malherbe R, Small CB, Jenkins SG, Westblade LF, Kreiswirth BN, Walsh TJ. (2021). Colonization with Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Enterobacterales Decreases the Effectiveness of Fluoroquinolone Prophylaxis in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients. Clin Infect Dis In Press
  • Kubiak J, Davidson E, Soave R, Kodiyanplakkal RP, Robertson A, Besien KV, Shore TB, Lee JR, Westblade LF, Satlin MJ. (2021). Colonization with Gastrointestinal Pathogens Prior to Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Associated Clinical Outcomes. Transplant Cell Ther In Press
  • Westblade LF, Magleby R, Trzebucki A, Simon MS, Rajan M, Park J, Goyal P, Safford MM, Satlin MJ. (2021). Reply To Authors. Clin Infect Dis 72:e687
  • Magleby R, Westblade LF, Trzebucki A, Simon MS, Rajan M, Park J, Goyal P, Safford MM, Satlin MJ. (2021). Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load on Risk of Intubation and Mortality Among Hospitalized Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019. Clin Infect Dis In Press
  • Alpert T, … Westblade LF, … Grubaugh ND. Early Introductions and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in the United States. Cell 184:2595-2604
  • Butler D, … Westblade LF, … Mason CE. (2021). Shotgun Transcriptome, Spatial Omics, and Isothermal Profiling of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Reveals Unique Host Responses, Viral Diversification, and Drug Interactions. Nat Commun 12:1660
  • Yang HS, Racine-Brzostek SE, Karbaschi M, Yee J, Dillard A, Steel PAD, Lee WT, McDonough KA, Qiu Y, Ketas TJ, Francomano E, Klasse PJ, Hatem L, Westblade L,
    Wu H, Chen H, Zuk R, Tan H, Girardin RC, Dupuis AP 2nd, Payne AF, Moore JP, Cushing MM, Chadburn A, Zhao Z. Testing-in-a-Probe Biosensors Reveal Association of Early SARS-CoV-2 Total Antibodies and Surrogate Neutralizing Antibodies with Mortality in COVID-19 Patients. Biosens Bioelectron 178:113008
  • Zhang LT, Westblade LF, Iqbal F, Taylor MR, Chung A, Satlin MJ, Magruder M, Edusei E, Albakry S, Botticelli B, Robertson A, Alston T, Dadhania DM, Lubetzky M, Hirota SA, Greenway SC, Lee JR. (2021). Gut Microbiota Profiles and Fecal Beta-Glucuronidase Activity in Kidney Transplant Recipients with and without Post-Transplant Diarrhea. Clin Transplant 35:e14260
  • Shin JH, Choe D, Ransegnola B, Hong HR, Onyekwere I, Cross T, Shi Q, Cho BK, Westblade LF, Brito IL, Dörr T. (2021). A Multifaceted Cellular Damage Repair and Prevention Pathway Promotes High-Level Tolerance to β-Lactam Antibiotics. EMBO Rep 22:e51790
  • Cazer CL, Westblade LF, Simon MS, Magleby R, Castanheira M, Booth JG, Jenkins SG, Gröhn YT. (2021). Analysis of Multidrug Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus with a Machine Learning-Generated Antibiogram. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 65:e02132-20
  • Kamboj M, McMillen T, Syed M, Chow HY, Jani K, Aslam A, Brite J, Fanelli B, Hasan NA, Dadlani M, Westblade L, Zehir A, Simon M, Babady NE. (2021). Evaluation of a Combined Multilocus Sequence Typing and Whole-Genome Sequencing Two-Step Algorithm for Routine Typing of Clostridioides difficile. J Clin Microbiol 59:e01955
  • Mitchell KF, McElvania E, Wallace MA, Droske LE, Robertson AE, Westblade LF, Burnham CA. (2021). Evaluating the Rapid Emergence of Daptomycin Resistance in Corynebacterium: a Multicenter Study. J Clin Microbiol 59:e02052-20
  • O’Leary MK, Chenn SS, Westblade LF, Alabi CA. (2021). Design of a PEGylated Antimicrobial Prodrug with Species-Specific Activation. Biomacromolecules 22:984-992
  • Kondo M, Simon MS, Westblade LF, Jenkins SG, Babady NE, Loo AS, Calfee DP; SHEA Research Network. (2021). Implementation of Infectious Diseases Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Tests and Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Involvement in Acute-Care Hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 42:609-611
  • Hansen G, Marino J, Wang ZX, Beavis KG, Rodrigo J, Labog K, Westblade LF, Jin R, Love N, Ding K, Garg S, Huang A, Sickler J, Tran NK. (2021). Clinical Performance of the Point-of-Care cobas Liat for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in 20 Minutes: a Multicenter Study. J Clin Microbiol 59:e02811-20
  • Jenkins S, Ledeboer NA, Westblade LF, Burnham CA, Faron ML, Bergman Y, Yee R, Mesich B, Gerstbrein D, Wallace MA, Robertson A, Fauntleroy KA, Klavins AS, Malherbe R, Hsuing A, Simner PJ. (2020). Evaluation of NG-Test Carba 5 for Rapid Phenotypic Detection and Differentiation of Five Common Carbapenemase Families: Results of a Multicenter Clinical Evaluation. J Clin Microbiol 58:e00344-20
  • Wang TZ, Simon MS, Westblade LF, Saiman L, Furuya EY, Calfee DP. (2021). Quantitative Characterization of High-Touch Surfaces in Emergency Departments and Hemodialysis Facilities. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 42:474-76
  • Humphries RM, Magnano P, Burnham CA, Dien Bard J, Dingle TC, Callan K, Westblade LF. (2020). Evaluation of Surrogate Tests for the Presence of mecA-Mediated Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus capitis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus hominis, and Staphylococcus warneri. J Clin Microbiol 59:e02290
  • Satlin MJ, Goyal P, Magleby R, Maldarelli GA, Pham K, Kondo M, Schenck EJ, Rennert H, Westblade LF, Choi JJ, Safford MM, Gulick RM. (2020). Safety, Tolerability, and Clinical outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine for Hospitalized Patients with Coronavirus 2019 Disease. PLoS ONE 15:e0236778
  • Westblade LF, Brar G, Pinheiro L, Paidoussis D, Rajan M, Martin P, Goyal P, Sepulveda JL, Zhang L, George G, Liu D, Whittier S, Plate M, Small CB, Rand JH, Cushing MM, Walsh TJ, Cooke J, Safford MM, Loda M, Satlin MJ. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Predicts Mortality in Patients with and Without Cancer Who Are Hospitalized with COVID-19. Cancer Cell 38:661-71
  • Magruder M, Edusei E, Zhang L, Albakry S, Satlin MJ, Westblade LF, Malha L, Sze C, Lubetzky M, Dadhania DM, Lee JR. (2020). Gut Commensal Microbiota and Decreased Risk for Enterobacteriaceae Bacteriuria. Gut Microbes 12:1805281
  • Satlin MJ, Goyal P, Magleby R, Maldarelli GA, Pham K, Kondo M, Schenck EJ, Rennert H, Westblade LF, Choi JJ, Safford MM, Gulick RM. (2020). Safety, Tolerability, and Clinical Outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine for Hospitalized Patients with Coronavirus 2019 Disease. PLoS One 15:e0236778
  • Yang HS, Racine-Brzostek SE, Lee WT, Hunt D, Yee J, Chen Z, Kubiak J, Cantu M, Hatem L, Zhong E, D’Ambrosio D, Chadburn A, Westblade L, Glesby M, Loda M, Cushing MM, Zhao Z. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Characterization in Emergency Department, Hospitalized and Convalescent Patients by Two Semi-Quantitative Immunoassays. Clin Chim Acta 509:117-125
  • Cheleuitte-Nieves C, Heselpoth RD, Westblade LF, Lipman NS, Fischetti VA. (2020). Searching for a Bacteriophage Lysin to Treat Corynebacterium bovis in Immunoscompromised Mice. Comp Med 70:328-35
  • Green DA, Zucker J, Westblade LF, Whittier S, Rennert H, Velu P, Craney A, Cushing M, Liu D, Sobieszczyk ME, Boehme, Sepulveda JL. (2020). Clinical Performance of SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Testing. J Clin Microbiol 58:e00995-20
  • Sepulveda J, Westblade LF, Whittier S, Satlin MJ, Greendyke WG, Aaron JG, Zucker J, Dietz D, Sobieszczyk M, Choi JJ, Russell S, Connelly C, Green DA. (2020). Bacteremia and Blood Culture Utilization During COVID-19 Surge in New York City. J Clin Microbiol 58:e00875-20
  • Craney AR, Velu P, Satlin MJ, Fauntleroy KA, Callan K, Robertson A, La Spina M, Lei B, Chen A, Alston T, Rozman A, Loda M, Rennert H, Cushing M, Westblade LF. (2020). Comparison of Two High-Throughput Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction Systems for the Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. J Clin Microbiol 58:e00890-20
  • Rogers WS, Westblade LF, Soave R, Jenkins SG, van Besien K, Singh HK, Walsh TJ, Small CB, Shore T, Crawford CV, Satlin MJ. (2020). Impact of a Multiplexed PCR Panel on Identifying Diarrheal Pathogens in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients. Clin Infect Dis 71:1693-1700
  • Bushman D, … Westblade LF, … Sell J. (2020). Detection and Genetic Characterization of Community-Based SARS-CoV-2 Infections – New York City, March 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 69:918-22
  • Wang R, Vemulapati S, Westblade LF, Glesby MJ, Mehta S, Erickson D. (2020). cAST: Capillary-Based Platform for Real-Time Phenotypic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Anal Chem 92:2731-8
  • Skov R, Varga A, Matuschek E, Åhman J, Bemis D, Bengtsson B, Sunde M, humphries R, Westblade L, Guardabassi L, Kahlmeter G. (2020). EUCAST Disc Diffusion Criteria for the Detection of mecA-Mediated -Lactam Resistance in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius: Oxacillin versus Cefoxitin. Clin Microbiol Infect 26:122.e1-122.e6
  • Sfeir MM, Satlin MJ, Fauntleroy KA, Jenkins SG, Westblade LF. (2020). Blood-Modified Carbapenem Inactivation Method (Blood-mCIM): a Phenotypic Method for Detecting Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae Directly from Positive Blood Culture Broths. J Clin Microbiol 58:e01377-19
  • Magruder M, Sholi AN, Gong C, Zhang L, Edusei E, Huang J, Albakry S, Satlin MJ, Westblade LF, Crawford C, Dadhania D, Lubetzky M, Taur Y, Littman E, Ling L, Burnham P, De Vlaminck I, Pamer E, Suthanthiran M, Lee JR. (2019). Gut Uropathogen Abundance is a Risk Factor for Development of Bacteriuria and Urinary Tract Infections. Nat Commun 10:5521
  • Westblade LF, Satlin MJ, Albakry S, Botticelli B, Robertson A, Alston T, Magruder M, Zhang LT, Edusei E, Chan K, Lubetzky M, Dadhania DM, Pamer EG, Suthanthiran M, Lee JR. (2019) Gastrointestinal Pathogen Colonization and the Microbiome in Asymptomatic Kidney Transplant Recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 21:e13167
  • Naccache SN, Callan K, Burnham CA, Wallace MA, Westblade LF, Dien Bard J; Staphylococcus Ad Hoc Working Group of the CLSI Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Subcommittee. (2019). Evaluation of Oxacillin and Cefoxitin Disk Diffusion and Microbroth Dilution Methods for Detecting mecA-mediated -lactam Resistance in Contemporary Staphylococcus epidermidis Isolates. J Clin Microbiol 57:e00961-19
  • Canver MC, Tekle T, Compton ST, Callan K, Burd EM, Zimmer BL, Bemis DA, Carroll KC, Westblade LF. (2019). Performance of Five Commercial Identification Platforms for the Identification of Staphylococcus delphini. J Clin Microbiol 57:e00721-19
  • Wipf JRK, Deutsch DR, Westblade LF, Fischetti VA. (2019). Genome Sequences of Six Prophages Isolated from Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Strains Recovered from Human and Animal Clinical Specimens. Microbiol Resour Announc 8:e00387-19
  • Cross T, Ransegnola B, Shin JH, Weaver A, Fauntleroy K, VanNieuwenhze MS, Westblade LF, Dörr T. (2019). Spheroplast-Mediated Carbapenem Tolerance in Gram-negative Pathogens. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 63:e00756-19
  • Canver MC, Satlin, MJ, Westblade LF, Kreiswirth BN, Chen L, Robertson A, Fauntleroy K, Spina M, Callan K, Jenkins SG. (2019). Activity of Imipenem-Relebactam and Comparator Agents against Genetically Characterized Isolates of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 63:e00672-19
  • Sfeir MM, Hayden JA, Fauntleroy KA, Mazur C, Johnson JK, Simner PJ, Das S, Satlin MJ, Jenkins SG, Westblade LF. (2019). EDTA-Modified Carbapenem Inactivation Method: a Phenotypic Method for Detecting Metallo--Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae. J Clin Microbiol 57:e01757-18
  • Canver MC, Gonzalez MD, Ford BA, Arnold AR. Lawhon SD, Burnham CA, Jenkins SG, Burd EM, Westblade LF. (2019). Improved Performance of a Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of PBP2a in Non-Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcal Species. J Clin Microbiol 57:e01417-18
  • Cheleuitte-Nieves C, Gulvik CA, McQuiston JR, Humrighouse BW, Bell ME, Villarma A, Fischetti VA, Westblade LF, Lipman NS. (2018). Genotypic differences between strains of the opportunistic pathogen Corynebacterium bovis isolates from humans, cows, and rodents. PLoS One 13:e0209231
     

Awards and Honors

  • 2017, Infectious Diseases Faculty Excellence Award. In grateful recognition of outstanding teaching efforts and compelling record of contributing to the professional development of the Infectious Diseases Fellows. Weill Cornell Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine.
  • 2016, Rising Star of Pathology (https://thepathologist.com/power-list/2016/ accessed December 24, 2016). One of 41 individuals selected by a panel of judges for "The Pathologist" (https://thepathologist.com/), specifically for teaching excellence and adoption and validation of emerging diagnostic platforms.
  • 2015, Clinical Pathology Golden Apple Award. Resident-Selected Award for Clinical Pathology Faculty Member for Excellence in Training, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
  • 2011, Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Award, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists
  • 1999-2002, United Kingdom Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council Graduate Fellowship

Professional/Academic Affiliations

  • American Society for Microbiology
  • Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists
  • Infectious Diseases Society of America