Dr. Harrison is a Professor in the Infectious Disease Division and Director of the Center for Genomic Epidemiology (https://dom.pitt.edu/id/centers-institutes/genomic-epidemiology/). His research has focused on the epidemiology and genomic epidemiology of important pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Neisseria meningitidis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. A major focus of his research is methods for enhanced detection of hospital-acquired transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens using whole genomic sequencing surveillance and data mining of the electronic health record. Dr. Harrison is also the Program Director of three NIH training grants: 1) A T32 program on antimicrobial resistance 2) a D43 international training grant on HIV infection in Mozambique, and 3) a D43 international training grant on public health genomics in South Africa.
Dr. Harrison attends on the inpatient general infectious diseases consultation service at UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital. The service is commonly consulted for advice on diagnosis and treatment of infections including skin and soft-tissue infection; bacteremia and sepsis; central nervous system infections, such as bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, and brain abscess; osteomyelitis; necrotizing fasciitis; endocarditis and other cardiovascular infections; device-related and prosthetic infections; C. difficile infection; multidrug-resistant infections, and healthcare-associated infections.
Dr. Harrison teaches a course entitled "Methods in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology" (EPIDEM/IDM 2161) in the School of Public Health. Topics that are covered include outbreak investigation, genomic/molecular epidemiology, new vaccines and vaccine prevention, study designs in infectious diseases epidemiology, drug-resistant bacteria, public health surveillance, and emerging infectious diseases. He also lectures on these and other topics in variety of other fora at the University of Pittsburgh, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Harrison has mentored numerous infectious diseases fellows, as well as MPH, DrPH, and PhD students.
- BA, University of Pennsylvania, 1978
- MD, Emory University School of Medicine, 1982
- Residency, University of Virginia Hospital, 1985
- Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch, 1987
- Fellowship, Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, 1989
Education & Training
Harrison L. H., Stephens D.S. Good News and Bad News: 4CMenB Vaccine for Group B Neisseria meningitidis. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2020
Srinivasa V. R., Griffith M. P., Waggle K. D., Johnson M., Zhu L., Williams J. V., Marsh J. W., Van Tyne D., Harrison L. H., Martin E. Genomic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among University Students in Western Pennsylvania. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2023
Sundermann A. J., Chen J., Miller J. K., Martin E. M., Snyder G. M., Van Tyne D., Marsh J. W., Dubrawski A., Harrison L. H. Whole-genome sequencing surveillance and machine learning for healthcare outbreak detection and investigation: A systematic review and summary. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. 2022; 2(1)
Sundermann A. J., Chen J., Kumar P., Ayres A. M., Cho S. T., Ezeonwuka C., Griffith M. P., Miller J. K., Mustapha M. M., Pasculle A. W., Saul M. I., Shutt K. A., Srinivasa V., Waggle K., Snyder D.J., Cooper V. S., Van Tyne D., Snyder G. M., Marsh J. W., Harrison L. H. Genome Sequencing and Machine Learning of the Electronic Health Record for Enhanced Healthcare Outbreak Detection. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2022
Retchless A. C., Chen A., Chang H. Y., Blain A. E., McNamara L. A., Mustapha M. M., Harrison L. H., Wang X. Using Neisseria meningitidis genomic diversity to inform outbreak strain identification. Public Library of Science Pathogens. 2021; 17(5)
Sundermann A. J., Chen J., Miller J. K., Saul M. I., Shutt K. A., Griffith M. P., Mustapha M. M., Ezeonwuka C., Waggle K., Srinivasa V., Kumar P., Pasculle A. W., Ayres A. M., Snyder G. M., Cooper V. S., Van Tyne D., Marsh J. W., Dubrawski A. W., Harrison L. H. Outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections from a contaminated gastroscope detected by whole genome sequencing surveillance. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021; 73(3)
Mustapha M. M., Marsh J. W., Shutt K. A., Schlackman J., Ezeonwuka C., Farley M. M., Stephens D. S., Wang X., Van Tyne D., Harrison L. H. Transmission dynamics and microevolution of Neisseria meningitidis during carriage and invasive disease in high school students, Maryland and Georgia, USA, 2006-2007. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2021; 223(12)
Sundermann A. J., Babiker A., Marsh J. W., Shutt K. A., Mustapha M. M., Pasculle A. W., Ezeonwuka C., Saul M. I., Pacey M. P., Van Tyne D., Ayres A. M., Cooper V. S., Snyder G. M., Harrison L. H. Outbreak of Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in Interventional Radiology: Detection Through Whole Genome Sequencing-Based Surveillance. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2020
Sundermann A. J., Miller J. K., Marsh J. W., Saul M. I., Shutt K. A., Pacey M., Mustapha M. M., Ayres A., Pasculle A. W., Chen J., Snyder G. M., Dubrawski A. W., Harrison L. H. Automated data mining of the electronic health record for investigation of healthcare-associated outbreaks. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. 2019; 40(3)
- Voting Member, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, CDC, 2012-2016
- Elected member, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
- Elected member, American Society for Clinical Investigation
- Elected member, American Epidemiological Society
- Associate Editor, Vaccine, 2023
