Lab Information
Makeda Semret (MD/MSc)
InvestigatorClinical Research Unit
Department of Medicine (McGill)
Research Profile
Keywords
Hospital infections • infection control • molecular diagnostics • antimicrobial resistanceResearch Interests
My research focuses on hospital-associated infections (HAI) in Africa and in Canada, with an emphasis on specific infection control measures that will improve quality of care and patient safety. HAI and antimicrobial resistance are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients in industrialized countries. The burden of HAI and of antimicrobial resistance is largely unknown in Africa, where systematic surveillance is limited by weak laboratory infrastructure. We are systematically analyzing the characteristics of HAI in a large referral hospital in Ethiopia, in conjunction with training in infectious diseases and support of the microbiology laboratory. Additionally we are assessing the impact of laboratory diagnostics and of antimicrobial stewardship interventions on patient outcomes, antimicrobial prescriptions and antimicrobial resistance patterns in Ethiopia and in Canada.Team Members
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Latest Publications
- Hammond, K., Bourdeau, F., Klein, M., Vinh, D. C. & Semret, M. (2024). Clinical Practice Guideline-Supported Administration of Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for High-Risk Patients with COVID-19: Experience of a Quaternary Care Centre. Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada, vol. 9, p. 140-150.
- Beck, M., Koll, C., Dumpis, U., Giske, C. G., Göpel, S., Jørgensen, S. B., Kessel, J., Kleppe, L. K., Oma, D. H., Raz, N. E., Semret, M., Simonsen, G. S., Vehreschild, M. J. G. T., Albus, K., Biehl, L. M., Vehreschild, J. J., Classen, A. Y. & PILGRIM study group (2025). Identifying patients at high risk for antibiotic treatment following hospital admission: a predictive score to improve antimicrobial stewardship measures. Infection.
- Sohani, Z. N., Lieu, A., Semret, M., Cheng, M. P., Simic, N., Bamba, R., Patel, M., Lawandi, A. & Lee, T. C. (2025). Comparison of ciprofloxacin and aminoglycoside susceptibility testing for ceftriaxone non-susceptible Enterobacterales by disk diffusion and VITEK 2 vs. broth microdilution using updated Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute breakpoints. BMC microbiology, vol. 25, p. 175.
- Pott, H., Andrew, M. K., Shaffelburg, Z., Nichols, M. K., Ye, L., ElSherif, M., Hatchette, T. F., LeBlanc, J. J., Ambrose, A., Boivin, G., Bowie, W., Johnstone, J., Katz, K., Lagacé-Wiens, P., Loeb, M., McCarthy, A., McGeer, A., Poirier, A., Powis, J., Richardson, D., Semret, M., Smith, S., Smyth, D., Stiver, G., Trottier, S., Valiquette, L., Webster, D. & McNeil, S. A. (2025). Oseltamivir Reduces 30-Day Mortality in Older Adults With Influenza: A Pooled Analysis From the 2012-2019 Serious Outcomes Surveillance Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network. Open forum infectious diseases, vol. 12, p. ofaf058.
- O'Brien, B., Yushchenko, A., Suh, J., Jung, D., Cai, Z., Nguyen, N. S., Semret, M., Dufour, S., Fanning, S. & Ronholm, J. (2025). Subtle genomic differences in Klebsiella pneumoniae sensu stricto isolates indicate host adaptation. One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands), vol. 20, p. 100970.
- O'Brien, B., Yushchenko, A., Suh, J., Jung, D., Cai, Z., Nguyen, N. S., Semret, M., Dufour, S. & Ronholm, J. (2024). Draft genome sequences of 148 Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex members from bovine and human hosts. Microbiology resource announcements, p. e0013224.
- Linde-Ozola, Z., Classen, A. Y., Giske, C. G., Göpel, S., Eliakim-Raz, N., Semret, M., Simonsen, G. S., Vehreschild, J. J., Jørgensen, S. B., Kessel, J., Kleppe, L. K. S., Oma, D. H., Vehreschild, M. J. G. T., Vilde, A., Dumpis, U. & PILGRIM study group (2024). Quality, availability and suitability of antimicrobial stewardship guidance: a multinational qualitative study. JAC-antimicrobial resistance, vol. 6, p. dlae039.
- Pott, H., Andrew, M. K., Shaffelburg, Z., Nichols, M. K., Ye, L., ElSherif, M., Hatchette, T. F., LeBlanc, J., Ambrose, A., Boivin, G., Bowie, W., Johnstone, J., Katz, K., Lagacé-Wiens, P., Loeb, M., McCarthy, A., McGeer, A., Poirier, A., Powis, J., Richardson, D., Semret, M., Smith, S., Smyth, D., Stiver, G., Trottier, S., Valiquette, L., Webster, D., McNeil, S. A., Serious Outcomes Surveillance SOS Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network CIRN & Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network TIBDN (2023). Vaccine Effectiveness of non-adjuvanted and adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines in the prevention of influenza-related hospitalization in older adults: A pooled analysis from the Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN). Vaccine, vol. 41, p. 6359-6365.
- ElSherif, M., Andrew, M. K., Ye, L., Ambrose, A., Boivin, G., Bowie, W., David, M.-P., Gruselle, O., Halperin, S. A., Hatchette, T. F., Johnstone, J., Katz, K., Langley, J. M., Loeb, M., MacKinnon-Cameron, D., McCarthy, A., McElhaney, J. E., McGeer, A., Poirier, A., Pirçon, J.-Y., Powis, J., Richardson, D., Semret, M., Smith, S., Smyth, D., Trottier, S., Valiquette, L., Webster, D., McNeil, S. A., LeBlanc, J. J. & Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) and the Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network (TIBDN) (2023). Leveraging Influenza Virus Surveillance From 2012 to 2015 to Characterize the Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease in Canadian Adults ≥50 Years of Age Hospitalized With Acute Respiratory Illness. Open forum infectious diseases, vol. 10, p. ofad315.
- Semret, M. & Behr, M. A. (2023). Selfie-diagnosed tuberculosis. IDCases, vol. 31, p. e01718.
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