Dr. Mehreen Kisat Receives Clowes Award

Mehreen T. Kisat, MBBS, MS, has been selected to receive the 2024 ACS George H. A. Clowes, MD, FACS, Memorial Research Career Development Award for her project, “Molecular and Computational Enrichment of Microbial DNA in Plasma to Improve Diagnosis of Sepsis.” Dr. Kisat is an assistant professor in the Division of Acute Care and Regional General Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.

Dr. Kisat’s research will tackle the complicated issue of recognizing when antibiotics are required to treat sepsis in trauma patients.

“Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s extreme response to an infection, and it can lead to organ failure, tissue damage, and death,” she said. “The challenge is that it can be hard to recognize sepsis in trauma patients because the natural way in which the body responds to the traumatic injury itself can mimic symptoms of sepsis.”

Dr. Kisat is designing and evaluating ways to more rapidly identify patients with sepsis and quickly pinpoint the type of infection-causing pathogens that are present so clinicians can make more informed decisions about when and which antibiotics to administer. In addition, she will focus on improving molecular and computational approaches to detect the DNA fragments of infection-causing bacteria in a patient’s blood.

The Clowes Award is offered through the generosity of The Clowes Fund, Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana. Its purpose is to provide support for the research of a promising young surgical investigator. The award consists of a stipend of $45,000 for each of 5 years and is not renewable thereafter.

More information is available at facs.org/clowes. Applications for the 2025 Clowes Award are due by August 30, 2024.