David Holtzman Email and Phone Number

Conducting early stage clinical trials to identify new drugs and regimens for tuberculosis

Was responsible for clinical management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) patients enrolled in the national MDR TB program run by Partners in Health-Lesotho (PIH-L) as well as clinical mentorship of MDR TB medical officers and visiting medical residents. Was the site principal investigator for a pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics study of new MDR TB regimens (PandrTB) and a co-investigator on two clinical trials as part of PIH’s Unitaid-funded expanding new drug markets for TB (endTB) project. Had 6 conference abstracts accepted in two years. Served on national ART advisory committee and national HIV/TB technical working group.

I was the project manager, and a key project personnel, for a five-year, $63 million USAID-funded PEPFAR HIV care and treatment program. I also provided significant technical support to another five-year, $25 million HIV care and treatment project funded by PEPFAR/CDC. My primary responsibilities included:- managing physicians working as the leads of multi-disciplinary district teams overseeing the implementation of both PEPFAR care and treatment projects;- providing technical oversight for the projects to ensure they were up-to-date and evidence-based;- served as Co-Principal Investigator for startup of a cluster randomized trial investigating multi-month dispensing of ART within community ART groups;- reviewing programmatic performance to ensure the projects were adequately progressing towards their targets and identify areas for improvement;- prepare regular written reports and presentations for CDC, USAID, and PEPFAR on project progress;- regularly interact with CDC, USAID, and PEPFAR technical staff from Lesotho mission and with representatives from U.S. headquarters and U.S. Government;- provide technical support to Lesotho Ministry of Health regarding HIV and TB, including serving as member of TB/HIV Technical Working Group;- served as a consultant to other physicians for complicated HIV and TB patients. Also served as member of national ART advisory committee;- actively participated in design of several implementation science evaluations of EGPAF programs

Provided clinical care to HIV-positive children and adolescents and their families at Baylor College of Medicine's Children Foundation-Lesotho's Center of Excellence (COE) in Maseru, Lesotho, the largest pediatric HIV clinic in the country. Served as a consultant for Baylor COE medical officers on complicated cases, especially patients with antiretroviral treatment failure and TB. Supervised and mentored pediatric residents from Texas Children’s Hospital. Lead clinic quality improvement and research projects evaluating TB sputum induction program and prevalence of treatment failure among ART patients and their management.

Clinical fellowship in adult infectious diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Clinical experiences include inpatient infectious diseases consultation at a tertiary health care system and longitudinal outpatient experiences in HIV, chronic viral hepatitis, and general infectious diseases. My research focused on the improvement of management of HIV in resource-limited settings. Received the Robert Austrian Outstanding Fellow Award from the Infectious Diseases Division at conclusion of my fellowship.

Completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. As part of my residency program, I was selected for the Global Health Equities Track. I worked in Kenya intermittently over a 3-year period during residency working on the medical wards at Mbagathi District Hospital in Nairobi, conducting a study quantifying the contributions of community health workers to the Kenyan health system, assisting with another study piloting an intervention to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and interning with the MSF Access Campaign.

Completed a combined internal medicine-pediatrics residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Helped complete desk review of 23 countries for 25 indicators relating to best practices for scaling up HIV services in resource-limited countries. Data published in MSF’s “Speed up, Scale up” report that was presented at the International AIDS Society 2012 meeting in Washington DC. Planned and carried out a HIV treatment advocacy demonstration with Kenyan HIV civil society organizations regarding HIV treatment scale up in Kenya.

Conducted a baseline assessment of a district in rural Rwanda slated for scale up of a model for improved health care services and prepared an implementation plan for the scale up. Responsibilities included visiting all health facilities in the district and assessing their current situation along multiple dimensions (services provided, staffing, infrastructure), meeting with relevant stakeholders to strategically plan for the scale up, and costing out the scale up process.

Worked on a retrospective study examining the effects of the time to administration of appropriate antibiotics, details and adequacy of fluid resuscitation, and other variables on clinical outcomes in septic shock. Results used to improve the quality of resuscitation of patients with sepsis in the hospital’s emergency department and intensive care units via quality improvement initiatives.

Coordinated two grants for bicycle safety programs run in West Philadelphia and one program within the hospital. Responsibilities included management of grant funds and inventory, advertising the programs in the community, planning and coordinating bicycle safety workshops in the community, and preparing summary reports of program activities and accomplishments.