Announcing the 2024 Infection Control Today Educator of the Year: Shahbaz Salehi, MD, MPH, MSHIA

Infection Control Today^®(ICT^®) proudly announces Shahbaz Salehi, MD, MPH, MSHIA, as the 2024 Infection Control Today Educator of the Year^TM. This prestigious honor celebrates and recognizes his extraordinary contributions to infection prevention, education, and mentorship. With over 20 years of experience, Salehi’s journey from a sterile processing (instrument) technician to a visionary leader in infection control demonstrates his passion for advancing health care education and fostering the next generation of infection preventionists.

Salehi has significantly contributed to infection education by teaching Infection Control in a Hospital Setting at UCLA Extension, one of the US's few infection control certificate programs. He also serves as a university subject matter expert, reviewing public health courses and evaluating their sepsis training. Additionally, he reviews and analyzes certification and exam questions for the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA), the leading medical and surgical sterile processing association.

Salehi’s impact began in 2016 when Prime Healthcare Systems, Ontario, California, recruited him to develop and expand its infection control program. Under his leadership, the infection prevention infrastructure grew to include over 60 professionals across 44 hospitals. His mentorship programs brought individuals from diverse health care backgrounds—nursing, laboratory sciences, and physical therapy—into the specialized field of infection prevention. He created a sustainable pipeline of infection preventionists capable of driving change by providing targeted training and guidance.

In 2017, Salehi further demonstrated his dedication to underserved communities when he moved to South Texas to establish the infection control department at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System in Edinburg. There, he mentored health care professionals like Leticia Peña, a laboratory technician who transitioned into infection control and ultimately became the director of the infection control program. This legacy of mentorship reflects his ability to empower others and create lasting change.

Salehi’s leadership consistently delivers quantifiable results. Under his direction, his current hospital achieved zero central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) for 4 consecutive years while maintaining one of the nation’s lowest Clostridioides difficile infection rates. His success in increasing influenza vaccination rates led to recognition from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in 2019 and 2021.

Shahbaz Salehi, MD, MPH, MSHIA, winner of the 2024 Infection Control Today Educator of the Year Award

(Image courtesy of Foothill Medical Center, Tustin, California)

As a dedicated educator, Salehi codeveloped the Infection Control Certificate Program at UCLA Extension, which addresses the growing demand for qualified infection preventionists. “Since 2020, I've been mentoring many students at different universities, and I love teaching and working with them,” Salehi said. “I had the privilege of being part of the team at UCLA Extension, that started our inaugural infection control certificate program last year. We had our first cohort of 11 students who graduated with a certificate in infection control, and I am happy to say that most of them were able to find job placement in the field.”

In recognition of his contributions, Salehi was awarded the 2024 Distinguished Outstanding Alumni Award from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. His dedication to mentoring, measurable results in infection control, and innovative educational programs have left a profound and lasting impact on health care systems and future professionals.

“As an infection preventionist, I know that it's really hard to break into the field because there's no clear path into it,” Salehi said. “That’s one of the things I've been trying to work on with UCLA Extension faculty and by mentoring students, aiming to get the word out. I even started my Udemy course to introduce infection control and how people can enter the field at an introductory level. I have just been very active over the last few years, and one of the other things I've accomplished, with the help of a professor at Columbia University, is writing a chapter on infection control in a book published 2 years ago called 101 Jobs in Public Health. One of the chapters is dedicated to infection control, where I talk about my day-to-day activities and everything I do on-site.”

He finds so much satisfaction in teaching. “I've been very privileged to do this job and work with students. Like I said, growing up, I didn't have a mentor, so I made many mistakes in my career. But now that I'm giving back to the students, I love it. When I see that they're successful—they are updating their LinkedIn or got a job or an internship—it fills me with joy. Oh my God, I had a small piece in their success. I don't want to take all the credit, but I contributed to it. In fact, this morning, a student I've been mentoring reached out to me with her resume. I help with resume writing, interview preparation, and recommendations. I love that I take time out of my work for this; it's not something I get paid for, and I'm not doing it during work hours. I enjoy mentoring students and helping them reach their goals, whatever they may be. It's wonderful and makes me happy.”

The ICT community celebrates Shahbaz Salehi’s extraordinary contributions to education on infection prevention and control (IPC). His impact serves as a model for health care professionals, ensuring safer environments and healthier patient outcomes worldwide.

Congratulations to Shahbaz Salehi, MD, MPH, MSHIA, Infection Control Today 2024 Educator of the Year^TM! He is a visionary leader committed to advancing infection prevention education and patient safety.

About Foothill Regional Medical Center: Foothill Regional Medical Center is an acute care hospital with 177 beds, including 42 pediatric subacute beds. The hospital offers an expanded range of quality medical services and programs including general and specialized surgery, orthopedics and spine program, robotics surgery, nationally accredited weight-loss surgery program, paramedic-receiving emergency department, as well as other programs and services. Foothill Regional is part of Prospect Medical, which operates medical groups and 16 hospitals in six states. To learn more, visit FoothillRegionalMedicalCenter.com or call (714) 619-7700.

About Infection Control Today: Infection Control Today is an industry-leading multimedia platform for infection control and infection prevention professionals featuring breaking news, expert-driven editorial content, conference coverage, video interviews, and much more. For those seeking to reduce infection in an institution, only Infection Control Today continually sets the standard by delivering practical information to more diverse stakeholders backed by a legacy of credibility.