I currently serve as medical director of the antimicrobial stewardship program at Banner University Medical Center-Tucson and South with significant interest in antifungal stewardship. I have also developed a strong interest in diagnostic stewardship. Now in my 5th year as both ID physician and antimicrobial steward, I have seen the real need for increased efforts to establish best practice in an endemic region for coccidioidomycosis related to diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship. I have served as a principal investigator for the University of Arizona site for a Mycoses Study Group sponsored clinical trial for endemic fungal infections, including coccidioidomycosis, and recently presented data at the 2022 Mycoses Study Group meeting related to fluconazole utilization at major academic hospitals in Arizona. I hope to become a leader in these areas for the VFCE.
Dr. Hayes's research and projects primarily focus on optimizing antimicrobial usage and limiting unnecessary diagnostic testing. His research interests related to Valley fever involve studying antifungal usage and stewardship in an endemic region for Valley fever. He is currently studying the utilization of antifungal agents, such as fluconazole, across multiple hospitals to define targets for antifungal stewardship. He is an active member of the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium and participates in MSG-sponsored clinical trials (previously an investigator for MSG-15: Suba-itraconazole versus conventional itraconazole in the treatment of endemic mycoses: a multi-center, open-label, randomized comparative trial).