CARRYING US THROUGH COVID-19
Recognizing Nicole Iovine, M.D., and Kartik Cherabuddi, M.D., for contributions to our health care community
In March 2020, the entire country turned upside down in a matter of days as COVID-19 began spreading across the United States. Faced with uncertainty, our care teams bravely acted to strategically guide our health care community through the unknown.
Every single employee at UF Health plays a role in combating COVID-19, yet Nicole Iovine, M.D., Ph.D., chief hospital epidemiologist, and Kartik Cherabuddi, M.D., FACP, associate hospital epidemiologist at UF Health, have truly pioneered the way we approach the fight against COVID-19.
“If you look at the history of the spread of infectious diseases, COVID-19 wasn’t unexpected,” Cherabuddi said. “But we certainly had no idea it would be this problematic.”
Nicole Iovine, M.D., Ph.D., chief hospital epidemiologist, and Kartik Cherabuddi, M.D., FACP, have been crucial in pioneering how UF Health approaches the fight against COVID-19.
Going into year three of COVID-19, these two epidemiologists kept up with around 1,700 emails a week, established safety protocols, built health care worker algorithms, remained on an alternate 24/7 on-call schedule and worked hand-in-hand — with changing information every day.
“Using limited resources has been exceptionally tough,” Cherabuddi said. “We see these surges, so we build a whole system. By the next week, you might not need the system at all.”
Even before COVID-19, Cherabuddi and Iovine had a symbiotic relationship. Cherabuddi is the director of antimicrobial stewardship, with Iovine serving in the deputy role. And, conversely, Cherabuddi is deputy to Iovine’s role as chief epidemiologist.
“He and I talk pretty much every day, even on weekends,” Iovine said. “He is such a wonderful colleague.”
Not only were their work lives affected, but like everyone else, their home lives underwent significant changes.
UF Health has access to some world-class virologists who were talking about the importance of ventilation right from the start of the pandemic. This ventilation ideology helped Cherabuddi create safety guidelines in his own home.
Cherabuddi has an eight-year-old daughter, Svara, who completed school virtually to help decrease the in-classroom numbers. He would also receive important calls as late as 2 a.m. — a sleep cycle adjustment not only for him, but his family as well.
In Iovine’s opinion, the pandemic affected someone like her husband, Lars Beattie, M.D., M.S., FACEP, Residency Program director and clinical associate professor in the UF Health Department of Emergency Medicine, the most.
“People have said to me, ’Isn’t it scary, being an infectious disease doctor, with all of these outbreaks and pandemics that can occur?’” Iovine said. “And I always say, ’No, I’m not particularly afraid for myself because I know the correct protection with masking, gloving and hand sanitizers.’”
But for Beattie, it was a different story.
“He would come home, stand in our garage, immediately take his clothes off, put on some fresh clothes and then go inside to take a shower,” Iovine said. “Working in the E.R., it’s unclear who or what will come through those doors at any given moment, so he had to take extra precautions.”
Iovine with her husband, Lars Beattie, and sons, Stian Beattie (left) and Karsten Beattie (right).
As a husband-wife doctor family, the two never had the sense of isolation or disconnectedness that most of our world had. Fortunately, Iovine and Beattie have two boys who were old enough to stay home alone early in the pandemic while the two were working.
“At family dinner, my kids are very interested in things like what happened to us at work today and I’m always interested in who’s wearing a mask in their classes,” Iovine said. “My kids are vaccinated and they continue to wear masks. It’s not like I have to make them do it, they just get it.”
Like every other mother, Iovine finds herself worried about the safety of her kids, yet feels assured because her kids are so compliant with the COVID-19 policies.
Iovine said working closely with hospital leadership and administration as policies change has been a rewarding experience. Before the pandemic, she didn’t know a lot of these individuals personally, like she does now. She said this is a positive amid the chaos — learning new perspectives from a non-clinical side.
Another fulfilling part in all of this is the short, 20-minute conversations Cherabuddi gets to have with colleagues, family, friends and neighbors if they have questions or need reassurance about how they can best protect themselves.
Cherabuddi with his wife, Suni, and daughter, Svara.
In productive conversations, there’s always frustrations, like people who are unvaccinated and getting sick — especially when we have such a powerful tool, Cherabuddi said
“The vaccine is the only way that we’re going to get out of this,” Iovine said. “I think that COVID-19 has proven itself to be an extraordinarily successful pathogen.”
In 2022, the two want to think local, yet act global in vaccinating the world.
“This is where I start having fantasies of pointing a magic wand to say, ‘Everyone’s vaccinated!’” Iovine said. “There’s a reason we don’t die from polio anymore. There’s a reason our children aren’t sick with measles. There’s a reason why we don’t see diphtheria anymore. It’s vaccination.”
With an optimistic future in encouraging more people to get vaccinated, the two remain hopeful, yet realistic. It’s fulfilling to look back on the daily achievements at UF Health that have turned into tremendous accomplishments, like staying up to date with evidence and translating it to patient care; working with lab teams and supply chain for the availability of tests; and providing safe spaces for people to work and train for various athletics across our campuses.
“I think sometimes we forget how far we’ve come. We know how to protect people, we know what works and what doesn’t, we have treatments and we have exceptionally good vaccines,” Cherabuddi said.
Yet, according to Cherabuddi, the biggest overall achievement is keeping our health center safe and running.
When emotionally, physically or mentally exhausted, hugging her children is wonderful therapy to Iovine — whether they like it or not. She also says that her husband is “her rock” and he provides extreme validation for what she’s going through as a physician. For Cherabuddi, it’s gardening, taking long walks and spending time with his wife, Suni, and daughter, Svara.
Despite all the challenges of the last two years, Iovine and Cherabuddi remain positive and grateful.
“I love what I do. I feel really privileged that I’m able to help and try to make an impact to try to mitigate this terrible pandemic,” Iovine said.
