Graeme Forrest, MD

Graeme Forrest, MD

Graeme Forrest, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases, VAMC

Degrees

M.B.B.S., University of Adelaide, Australia

Residency

Internal Medicine, Columbus Hospital (Northwestern Affiliated), Chicago. 1995-98 Chief Medical Resident, St Joseph’s Hospital, Chicago, 1999

Fellowship

Infectious Diseases, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 1999-2001

Research interests

Dr. Forrest has a strong interest in antimicrobial stewardship with an interest in rapid diagnostic tests of microbes to minimize antibiotic use and target therapy directly to the organism. Currently has several projects of prevention of surgical site infections and other collaborative studies for prevention of hospital acquired infections.

Clinical interests

Dr. Forrest works with immunocompromised hosts, especially solid organ transplantation, hematologic malignancy, LVAD infections and HIV-organ transplantation. His main focus within these groups are fungal infections, especially aspergillosis and cryptococcal infections and outside of this group would be bacterial endocarditis.

Biosketch

Dr. Forrest is director of the antimicrobial stewardship program at the VA and OHSU. He currently directs the VA OPAT program and provides VA outpatient services.

He is also currently Chair of the IRB at the VA Portland healthcare system. He also is an advisor for the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoint working group.

He has over 80 publications, 7 chapters and over 100 accepted abstracts and is an editor on several journals, including Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Major publications include:

  1. Fowler V, Boucher H, Corey R, Abrutyn E, Karchmer AW, Rupp M, Levine D, Chambers H, Tally F, Cabell C, Link A, DeMeyer , Filler S, Zervos M, Cook P, Parsonnet J, Bernstein J, Price C, Forrest GN, et al. Daptomycin compared to conventional therapy in the treatment of subjects with infective endocarditis and complicated bacteremia due to Staphylococcal aureus. New England Jnl Med. 2006;355:653-665. PMID: 16914701
  2. Forrest GN, Roghmann MC, Toombs LS, Weekes E, Johnson JK, Lincalis D, Venezia RA. PNA FISH for Hospital Acquired Enterococcal Bacteremia: Delivering Earlier Effective Antimicrobial Therapy. Antimicrob Agents and Chemother. 2008:52;3558-3563
  3. Forrest GN, Tamura K. Rifampin combination therapy in non mycobacterial infections. Clinical Microbiologic Reviews, 2010: 23;14-34.
  4. Forrest GN, Arnold RS, Gammie JS, Gilliam BL. Single center experience of a vancomycin resistant enterococcal endocarditis cohort. J Infection 2011;63:420-28. 
  5. Standiford HC, Chan S, Tripoli M, Weekes EP, Forrest GN. Antimicrobial stewardship at a large tertiary care academic medical center: cost analysis before, during, and after a 7-year program. Infect Control Hosp. Epidemiol 2012:33;338-345.
  6. Forrest GN, Bhalla P, DeBess EE, Winthrop KL, Lockhart SR, Mohammadi J, Cieslak PR. Cryptococcus gattii infection in solid organ transplant recipients: description of Oregon outbreak cases. Trans Infect Dis 2015;17:467-76. 

View Dr. Forrest's full list of publications here