Dr Alexander J. Sundermann is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. His research focuses on detecting, investigating and preventing infectious-disease outbreaks within healthcare settings.

A major focus of his work is the application of whole-genome sequencing to routine infection prevention. By prospectively sequencing bacterial isolates from hospital patients, his research has demonstrated how genomic surveillance can reveal transmission and outbreaks that may remain undetected using conventional surveillance methods.

Dr Sundermann has also investigated how genomic findings can be combined with electronic health record data and machine-learning methods to identify likely transmission routes. This work is helping to make outbreak investigations faster, more targeted and increasingly scalable across hospitals.

His research encompasses a range of healthcare-associated pathogens and transmission risks, including vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and outbreaks associated with contaminated hospital linen. He has contributed to studies examining both the clinical and economic impact of real-time genomic surveillance, as well as the practical barriers that must be addressed for pathogen genomics to become part of routine infection prevention practice.

Dr Sundermann brings NGD specialist expertise in genomic epidemiology, healthcare outbreak detection and the translation of sequencing data into actionable evidence for Infection Prevention teams. His work closely aligns with NGD’s mission to make prospective genomic surveillance practical for everyday hospital use.

Areas of expertise

• Whole-genome sequencing surveillance

• Healthcare-associated infections

• Outbreak investigation

• Infection prevention epidemiology