Biographical Sketch
Dr. Jagger is an epidemiologist specializing in injury prevention and control. Early in her career, her research and advocacy focused on brain trauma and motor vehicle safety. Over the last 20 years, Dr. Jagger has devoted herself to reducing healthcare workplace transmission of bloodborne pathogens. In 1988, Dr. Jagger and colleagues published a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine which detailed the characteristics of medical devices causing needlestick injuries, and criteria for protective needle designs. That pioneering research provided the foundation for the development of a new generation of safer medical devices. In 1991, Dr. Jagger developed the EPINet surveillance system to provide healthcare facilities with a standardized system for tracking needlestick injuries and blood and body fluid exposures; it is now used by over 1,500 healthcare facilities in the U.S., and in more than 50 countries around the world. The worldwide dissemination of EPINet has resulted in worldwide access to data on the causes and prevention of healthcare workplace exposures to bloodborne pathogens. Dr. Jagger established in 1992 a voluntary data-sharing network of healthcare facilities in the U.S. using EPINet-the "EPINet network." With more than 12 years of data from a cumulative total of 87 hospitals, it is the largest continuous database of healthcare workers' at-risk exposures to blood and life-threatening bloodborne pathogens in the U.S. Dr. Jagger founded the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center at the University of Virginia in 1994 to help propagate the findings from the EPINet network and to accelerate the transition to safety technology to protect healthcare workers and patients. Data from the EPINet network are the foundation of the Center's research and advocacy, providing support for new policies in the U.S. and globally to improve healthcare safety. Dr. Jagger was also the founder and editor-in-chief of Advances in Exposure Prevention, a publication (1994-2004) dedicated to the advancement of evidence-based policy for preventing healthcare workplace transmission of bloodborne pathogens. In 2002, Dr. Jagger received one of the most prestigious awards in the U.S.: a MacArthur Foundation fellowship. The award is given to individuals who have shown "extraordinary originality" and dedication in their professional pursuits. Also, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the largest medical technology trade association, honored Dr. Jagger by naming her "MedTech Hero" in 2001, in recognition of her industry-wide impact in advancing medical device safety technology. Dr. Jagger and a team of colleagues are the inventors of six patented safety needle devices, which were honored with a Distinguished Inventor Award in 1988 by Intellectual Property Owners, Inc., and displayed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in its 1990 Bicentennial Exhibit. In addition to ongoing research and public policy efforts, Dr. Jagger collaborates with and is consulted by government agencies in the U.S. and abroad, private industry, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions in the areas of safer medical device design and the prevention of healthcare-mediated exposures to bloodborne pathogens. |
