Muhammad Salman Ashraf, MBBS, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also serves as the medical director for Nebraska Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program (ICAP) and co-medical director for Nebraska Antimicrobial Stewardship Assessment and Promotion Program (ASAP). His research interests include infection prevention and control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Stewardship in post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) settings. He is a member of SHEA Long-Term Care Special Interest Group, IDSA Antimicrobial Resistance Committee and Infection Advisory Committee of AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Over the last 10 years, he has contributed in development of various national and local guidance focused on improving IPC and AS activities in PALTC settings. More recently he chaired a UTI consensus guidance workgroup of Infection Advisory Committee of AMDA and published a national guidance document on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of UTI in PALTC settings. Dr. Ashraf is also one of the key leaders for Nebraska DHHS long-term care facilities COVID-19 pandemic response.
Dr. Muhammad Salman Ashraf received his medical degree from Dow Medical College, University of Karachi, Pakistan. He did his internal medicine training at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Harlem Hospital Center, New York. He then completed fellowship trainings in both Geriatrics (from North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York) and Infectious Diseases (from East Carolina University, Pitt County Memorial Hospital in North Carolina). After staying as a faculty for 5 years at East Carolina University he moved to Nebraska in September 2016 to join UNMC as the Medical Director for Nebraska ICAP.
Under his leadership, Nebraska ICAP initiative has expanded significantly and is now considered an essential IPC resource for the state of Nebraska. The program has performed over 150 on-site IPC assessments for various healthcare facilities across Nebraska. It has developed new certificate training courses for infection preventionists in PALTC settings and dialysis facilities. A mentorship program for new and inexperienced infection preventionists is now also in place. Furthermore, ICAP assists various healthcare facilities in controlling outbreaks of healthcare-associated infections and multi-drug resistant organisms. More recently, ICAP is guiding containment efforts of all long-term care facilities in Nebraska with COVID-19 outbreaks. Dr. Ashraf contributed towards development of many different tools, templates and guidance to mitigate IPC gaps identified by the ICAP team which are made available to everyone through Nebraska ICAP website.
Dr. Ashraf believes that IPC and AS programs need to be developed and tailored for the specific challenges of different healthcare settings. As a team leader for Nebraska ICAP and Nebraska ASAP, Dr. Ashraf is working to strengthen Nebraska’s IPC infrastructure and promote optimal antibiotic use in the state. In addition, he is working with Global Center for Health Security team on a project that is conducting an IPC program needs assessment for small and critical access hospitals in Region VII (Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska). The ultimate goal for this project is to pilot an IPC consultation service for small and critical access hospitals focused on improving their IPC programs and patient outcomes.