Somerville Resident Named Chief Of Infectious Diseases At BMC

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville resident Tamar Barlam has been named the section chief of infectious diseases in the department of medicine at Boston Medical Center. Barlam, director of Antimicrobial Stewardship, at the hospital, is also an associate professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Barlam has been a member of the infectious disease section at BMC and BUSM since 2005. She is known for developing national guidelines for antibiotic stewardship program implementation, as well as for her research in the field.

"I believe that Dr. Barlam is very well-positioned to lead the faculty, trainees, and staff of the infectious disease section to new levels of achievement and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue working with her," David Coleman, MD, Wade Professor and Chair of the department of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and chief of the division of medicine at Boston Medical Center, said in a statement.

Barlam has nearly 30 years of experience directing antimicrobial stewardship programs at hospitals. She has also led national public policy initiatives to reduce inappropriate use of antimicrobials in food animals and was a member of a national task force to improve antimicrobial use in companion animals. She is the chair of a national committee on antimicrobial stewardship education and implementation.

Barlam received her undergraduate degree from the City College of New York and her MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. She completed her residency at the Presbyterian-University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and a fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.