The AAMI Foundation has awarded more than $45,000 in Kilmer Fund Committee grants to researchers at Michigan State University, Emory University and Emory University Hospital, BD Global Sterility Assurance, and PAXXUS, Inc., for various projects on improving sterilization practices and patient safety.

The AAMI Foundation’s Kilmer Fund Committee awarded grants to projects that seek to advance the science of microbiological quality and sterility assurance. They include:

  • $11,542 to Emory University and Emory University Hospital researchers to investigate autoclave steam effluent as a route to pathogen escape.
  • $10,000 to Michigan State University researchers to assess how healthcare workers respond to packing design features in sterility barrier packaging.
  • $13,767 to researchers at BD Medical’s Global Sterility Assurance to evaluate the effect of culture media selection and incubation conditions to recover radiation resistant microorganisms.
  • $10,000 to researchers at PAXXUS, Inc. to conduct proof of concept studies to evaluate a methodology for objectively assessing successful occurrence of aseptic presentation.

Contacted for comment, researchers from Emory University and Emory Hospital wrote, “We know this is quite a niche issue, yet it has real significance for staff and facility safety and for public health… We want to make sure that not only is the packaged waste safe, but also that the condensed steam that cools and leaves through the autoclave drain is free from any pathogens.”

Each one of these research projects has the potential to further understanding of sterilization practices and patient safety.

“We’re pleased to support these projects and anxious to see and share the results with the healthcare community,” said Steve Campbell, executive director of the AAMI Foundation. “With patient safety as AAMI and the AAMI Foundation’s north star, we could not be happier to support this research.”

The Kilmer Fund, which is now in its third year, is a central part of the AAMI Foundation’s mission to support deserving healthcare technology professionals through scholarships, grants, and professional development recognition programs.

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