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Laura Certain
( out of 48 reviews )

Laura Certain, MD, PhD

Languages spoken: English
  • Dr. Certain joined the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Utah in the fall of 2017. She sees patients in the infectious disease outpatient clinic and on the inpatient infectious diseases consult services at the University of Utah Hospital. Her particular area of interest is orthopedic infections, and she works closely with the Orthopedic Surgery department to improve care for patients with these infections. That said, she enjoys the variety offered by a general ID practice and is happy to see patients with any infectious complaint.

    Board Certification

    American Board of Internal Medicine
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Infectious Disease)

    Patient Rating

    4.9 /5
    ( out of 48 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety.
    Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    August 11, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    I have called her when I have had other infections and I am concerned that it could cause problems with my prothesis in my leg. She shows concern and interacts with my other specialists to ensure that the infection is treated properly.

    July 01, 2023
    UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

    Collaboration was excellent on keeping up with my own care.

    May 06, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Has a great bedside maner.

    April 13, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Kind and understanding. Listens well and knew my needs

    April 13, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Very helpful to me regarding my decisions regarding my meds to control / eradicate my infection.

    March 07, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Very professional and knowledgeable. A straight shooter whom explains things so that the patient can understand. Always responds to anything in My Chart in a timely manner. As I said before, I trust her with my health care!

    February 15, 2023
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    She has given care for nine months and she knows what she doing.

    December 23, 2022
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Dr. Certain is thorough and friendly. I could not ask for a better infectious disease doctor.

    December 08, 2022
    ORTHOPAEDICS CENTER

    Very good and interesting on what was done for my illness.

  • Dr. Certain joined the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Utah in the fall of 2017. She sees patients in the infectious disease outpatient clinic and on the inpatient infectious diseases consult services at the University of Utah Hospital. Her particular area of interest is orthopedic infections, and she works closely with the Orthopedic Surgery department to improve care for patients with these infections. That said, she enjoys the variety offered by a general ID practice and is happy to see patients with any infectious complaint.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Internal Medicine -Primary
    Orthopaedics -Adjunct
    Academic Divisions Infectious Diseases
    Board Certification
    American Board of Internal Medicine
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Infectious Disease)

    Education history

    Research Fellow Infectious Diseases - Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Infectious Diseases - Massachusetts General Hospital / Brigham and Women's Hospital Fellow
    Residency Internal Medicine - Massachusetts General Hospital Resident
    Genome Sciences - University of Washington School of Medicine Ph.D.
    Professional Medical Medicine - University of Washington School of Medicine M.D.
    Chemistry - Princeton University B.A.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Savas MJ, Gray KF, Blackburn BE, Pelt CE, Gililland JM, Certain LK (2023). Association of Acute Kidney Injury With Antibiotic Loaded Cement Used for Treatment of Periprosthetic Joint Infection. J Arthroplasty, 38(12), 2704-2709.e1. (Read full article)
    2. Brown DG, Wahlig TA, Ma A, Certain LK, Chalmers PN, Fisher MA, Leung DT (2023). Genomic Characterization of 2 Cutibacterium acnes Isolates from a Surgical Site Infection Reveals Large Genomic Inversion. Pathog Immun, 8(1), 64-76. (Read full article)
    3. Gallagher CK, Cummins H, Benefield RJ, Certain LK (2023). Switching from intravenous vancomycin to oral antibiotics reduces adverse events in a retrospective cohort of outpatients with orthopedic infections. Pharmacotherapy. (Read full article)
    4. Cortes-Penfield N, Krsak M, Damioli L, Henry M, Seidelman J, Hewlett A, Certain L (2023). How we approach suppressive antibiotic therapy (SAT) following debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention for prosthetic joint infection. Clin Infect Dis. (Read full article)
    5. Certain LK, Benefield RJ, Newman M, Zhang M, Thomas FO (2022). A Quality Initiative to Improve Postdischarge Care for Patients on Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy. Open Forum Infect Dis, 9(7), ofac199. (Read full article)
    6. Kelly MP, Gililland JM, Blackburn BE, Anderson LA, Pelt CE, Certain LK (2022). Extended Oral Antibiotics Increase Bacterial Resistance in Patients Who Fail 2-Stage Exchange for Periprosthetic Joint Infection. J Arthroplasty, 37, S989-S996. (Read full article)
    7. Carlson VR, Dekeyser GJ, Certain L, Pupaibool J, Gililland JM, Anderson LA (2020). Clinical Experience With a Coordinated Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Prosthetic Joint Infection. Arthroplast Today, 6(3), 360-362. (Read full article)
    8. Anderson MB, Arciola CR, Sarvanan SA, Campoccia D, Certain L, Diaz-Ledezma C, Montanaro L, Aguilera SP, Pelt CE, Puhto AP, Sergei O, Tikhilov R, Voloshin V, Yan CH (2018). General Assembly, Treatment, Multidisciplinary Issues: Proceedings of International Consensus on Orthopedic Infections. J Arthroplasty, 34(2S), S239-S243. (Read full article)
    9. Zainul-Abidin S, Amanatullah DF, Anderson MB, Austin M, Barretto JM, Battenberg A, Bedard NA, Bell K, Blevins K, Callaghan JJ, Cao L, Certain L, Chang Y, Chen JP, Cizmic Z, Coward J, DeMik DE, Diaz-Borjon E, Enayatollahi MA, Feng JE, Fernando N, Gililland JM, Goodman S, Goodman S, Greenky M, Hwang K, Iorio R, Karas V, Khan R, Kheir M, Klement MR, Kunutsor SK, Limas R, Morales Maldonado RA, Manrique J, Matar WY, Mokete L, Nung N, Pelt CE, Pietrzak JRT, Premkumar A, Rondon A, Sanchez M, Novaes de Santana C, Sheth N, Singh J, Springer BD, Tay KS, Varin D, Wellman S, Wu L, Xu C, Yates AJ (2018). General Assembly, Prevention, Host Related General: Proceedings of International Consensus on Orthopedic Infections. J Arthroplasty, 34(2S), S13-S35. (Read full article)
    10. Certain LK, Way JC, Pezone MJ, Collins JJ (2017). Using Engineered Bacteria to Characterize Infection Dynamics and Antibiotic Effects In Vivo. Cell Host Microbe, 22(3), 263-268.e4. (Read full article)

    Review

    1. Hellwinkel JE, Working ZM, Certain L, Garca AJ, Wenke JC, Bahney CS (2022). The intersection of fracture healing and infection: Orthopaedics research society workshop 2021. [Review]. J Orthop Res, 40(3), 541-552. (Read full article)

    Case Report

    1. Compton T, Ferguson NA, Certain L, Nixon D (2024). Extrapulmonary, Chronic Septic Arthritis From Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Ankle and Subtalar Joints. J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev, 8(3). (Read full article)

    Letter

    1. Zukauckas K, Benefield RJ, Newman M, Certain L (2022). Why Bother? Lab Monitoring in Beta-Lactam Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy. [Letter to the editor]. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 66(6), e0057922. (Read full article)
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