Release Date: Friday, February 20, 2015    Expiration Date: Saturday, February 20, 2016

  Program Overview

Over the past decade, the increasing numbers of patients with hematologic malignancies, the development of promising diagnostic techniques, and an expansion in the number of antifungals have been associated with the diversification of strategies for the prevention and treatment of invasive fungal infections (IFIs). Despite these advances, IFIs continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with hematologic malignancies.

Techniques for Early Diagnosis of IFIs
Early detection and diagnosis of IFIs have been shown to significantly impact survival. The fact that clinical symptoms for IFIs are not specific and are usually not apparent until the late stages of infection constitutes a major challenge.

New Antifungal Agents
Not only do clinicians have access to improved diagnostic techniques, but the antifungal armamentarium has been expanded, providing more potent and better tolerated options when selecting treatment. With the availability of newer agents comes the responsibility of using these agents appropriately, taking into account patient and pathogen factors. Historically, antifungal agents have been associated with tolerability issues and drug-drug interactions. This is of great concern when treating patients with hematologic malignancies or HSCT recipients due to the number of concomitant medications typically used in this patient population.

Prophylaxis
The development of better tolerated antifungal agents has led to the expanded use of antifungal prophylaxis in high-risk patients. Prophylaxis has been shown to offer significant benefits for different patient populations. However, the consequences of the increased use of antifungals are now becoming apparent.

Future Directions in the Management of IFIs
Patient-centered approaches that take into consideration host-, pathogen-, and drug-related factors are critical in attaining optimal clinical outcomes. In the absence of consensus management guidelines, the choice of antifungal therapy to prevent and manage IFIs in patients with hematologic malignancies and HSCT recipients varies widely from center to center. Effective management of IFIs will rest ultimately in best evidence practices and research focused on understanding, preventing, and controlling fungal infections.


Target Audience

This activity meets the educational needs of hematologists, medical oncologists, clinical pharmacists, advanced practice oncology nurses and oncology physician assistants involved in the care of patients with hematologic malignancies at risk for or with invasive fungal infections.

Learning Objectives

Healthcare professionals participating in this educational activity will be able at its conclusion to:

  • Discuss the evolving etiology of invasive fungal infections in hematologic patients
  • Evaluate the utility of the latest diagnostic techniques and antifungal prophylaxis strategies as part of the management plan for hematologic patients with IFIs
  • Select appropriate antifungal therapy based on patient and pathogen factors


   Educational Format

Through a case-based approach, this online activity is designed to enhance attendees’ awareness and knowledge of the latest advancements and clinical findings in managing IFIs in patients with hematologic malignancies so that they may improve individual performance and patient care.

Please Note: If you have received credit for attending the live symposium by the same name, you are not eligible to apply for credit for this online version.

EPISODE 1
IFI Challenges in the Hematologic Patient
Kieren A. Marr, MD
EPISODE 2
The Evolving Etiology of Invasive Fungal Infections
Peter G. Pappas, MD, FACP
EPISODE 3
Prevention and Early Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Infections
Kieren A. Marr, MD
EPISODE 4
Advanced Approaches to Antifungal Therapy
Thomas F. Patterson, MD
EPISODE 5
Q and A from the Live Session


Faculty

Kieren A. Marr, MD
Professor of Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Professor of Oncology
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, Transplant and Oncology ID
Baltimore, MD

Peter G. Pappas, MD, FACP
William E. Dismukes Professor of Medicine
Principal Investigator, Mycoses Study Group
Division of Infectious Diseases
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Thomas F. Patterson, MD, FACP, FIDSA
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
Professor of Medicine
Director, San Antonio Center for Medical Mycology
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX

Updates

IDSA Guidelines: http://www.idsociety.org/idsa_practice_guidelines/

 
 

 

 

ACCREDITATION
Physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd, LLC. Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants
AAPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for the PRA from organizations accredited by ACCME.

Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioners will receive certificate of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ as this is an ACCME accredited program and its accreditation is recognized by Nurse Practitioner boards

Pharmacists
Center for Independent Healthcare Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider for continuing pharmacy education. Center has assigned 2.0 contact hours (0.2 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credits for participating in this activity.
 ACPE UAN: 0473-9999-15-001-H01-P   Activity type: Application-based

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact us at info@jointsponsor.com

 

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit

  1. Review the entire CME/CPE information including target audience, learning objectives, and disclosures.
  2. Review each episode.
  3. Complete the Online Post Test, Evaluation, and Credit Application form
  4. Please note that to receive credit you must achieve a score of at least 70%.
  5. Physicians: Certificate of Credit will be emailed within 4 weeks of successful completion of the activity.
  6. Pharmacists: The information that you participated will be uploaded to CPE Monitor and you will be able to access your credits from the profile you set up with NABP. For more information, please visit http://www.nabp.net/.

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
In accordance with policies set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Center for Independent Healthcare Education requires all faculty members and spouses/significant others with an opportunity to affect the content of a continuing education activity to disclose any relevant financial relationships during the past 12 months with commercial interests. A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, reselling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients. Relationships with commercial interests and conflicts of interest resulting from those relationships must be revealed to the audience and resolved prior to the activity

Relevant relationships include roles such as speaker, author, consultant, independent contractor (including research), employee, investor, advisory committee member, board member, review panelist, and investigator. If a potential speaker or author indicates a possible conflict of interest, the conflict will be resolved by choosing another speaker or author for that topical area, or the slides, handouts, and/or monograph will be reviewed and approved by a qualified commercially-disinterested peer.

 


  

 

 

Planning Committee Members
Kieren A. Marr, MD
Peter G. Pappas, MD
Thomas F. Patterson, MD
Paul DeLisle
Marco Cicero, PhD
Maja Drenovac, PharmD, CCMEP

DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL INTEREST SUMMARY
Kieren A. Marr, MD (Faculty/Planner) has relevant financial relationships with commercial interest as follows:
    Consultant: Astellas Pharma, Merck & Co., Pfizer
    Officer/Board Member: MycoMed Technologies 
Dr. Marr does not discuss the off-label use of a product.
Peter G. Pappas, MD (Faculty/Planner) has relevant financial relationships with commercial interest as follows:
    Advisory Board: Merck & Co., Gilead Sciences, T-2 Biosystems, Scynexis
    Grant Recipient/Research Support: Merck & Co., Gilead Sciences,
     T-2 Biosystems, Scynexis
Dr. Pappas does not discuss the off-label use of a product.

Thomas F. Patterson, MD (Faculty/Planner) has relevant financial relationships with commercial interests as follows:
    Advisory Board: Viamet
    Consultant: Astellas Pharma, Viamet, Toyama Chemical, Scynexis
    Grant Recipient/Research Support: Astellas Pharma to UTHSCSA

Dr. Patterson does not discuss the off-label use of a product.

No (other) speakers, authors, planners or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose. No (other) speakers or authors will discuss off-label use of a product.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

 

Fee
There is no fee to participate in this activity.

Hardware/Software Requirements
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Google Chrome with the QuickTime Plug-in
Note: Please disable any “pop-up blocker” features.

Software/Hardware
Adobe® Reader version 7 or above to view PDF files (If you do not have Adobe® Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe.com)
Adobe Flash Player version 10 or above to view multimedia content (If you do
not have Adobe Flash Player, you can download it for free from Adobe.com)

Connection Speed
Cable, DSL, or better of at least 300 kbps

System Check
Please e-mail any questions or concerns to info@vemcomeded.com.

Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2015 Vemco MedEd, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Permission for accreditation use granted to Center for Independent Healthcare Education.

Privacy Policy

http://www.vemcomeded.com/privacy.asp



Joint Providership
This activity is jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support
This activity is supported by an educational grant from
Astellas Scientific and Medical Affairs, Inc.


  

START ACTIVITY
By clicking on an Episode below, I acknowledge that I have read the entire CME/CPE information.