Peter C. Iwen, MS, PhD, D(ABMM), F(AAM)

Department Affiliations
Professor
Senior Biosafety Officer, UNMC / UNO
Director, Nebraska Public Health Laboratory 
Member, Infection Control Committee / UNMC Institutional Biosafety Committee / UNMC Safety Leadership Committee
Chairperson, Biocontainment Unit Safety Advisory Committee

As the Senior Biosafety Officer for the campus, I advise research groups that utilize biohazardous agents in their research and oversee the operation of the BSL-3 containment laboratories on campus.  I also advise the Responsible Official on the utilization of select agents (biothreat agents) on campus.

Interests
Diagnostic Microbiology, Medical Mycology
Dr. Iwen's research lab

Education and Training
BS, Bacteriology, North Dakota State University, 1976
MS, Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 1982
PhD, Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 2001
D (ABMM), Diplomat of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, current to  December 2022

Teaching Activities
Medical Students: Small group facilitator and lectures on medical mycology 
Pharm D Students: Lectures on medical mycology
Pathology Residents: Lectures on medical mycology and parasitology
Clinical Microbiology Fellows: Deputy Director, ASM - Committee on Postgraduate Education Programs (CPEP)-post-doctoral training

National Activities
Member, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Infectious Diseases
Reviewer, Clinical Infectious Diseases
Reviewer, Medical Mycology

Notable Publications

Larson MA, Nalbantoglu U, Sayood K, Zentz EB, Cer RZ, Iwen PC, Francesconi SC, Bishop-Lilly KA, Mokashi VP, Sjöstedt A, Hinrichs SH. Reclassification of Wolbachia persica as Francisella persica comb. nov. and emended description of the family Francisellaceae. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2016 Mar;66(3):1200-5.  doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.000855. PubMed PMID: 26747442.

Jelden KC, Iwen PC, Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Kraft CS, Saiman L, Smith PW, Hewlett AL, Gibbs SG, Lowe JJ. U.S. Ebola Treatment Center Clinical Laboratory Support. J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Apr;54(4):1031-5. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02905-15. PubMed PMID: 26842705; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4809931.

Roberts AL, Alelew A, Iwen PC. Evaluation of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry to differentiate between Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2016 May;85(1):73-6. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2016.01.017. PubMed PMID: 26971641.

McElroy AK, Harmon JR, Flietstra TD, Campbell S, Mehta AK, Kraft CS, Lyon MG, Varkey JB, Ribner BS, Kratochvil CJ, Iwen PC, Smith PW, Ahmed R, Nichol ST, Spiropoulou CF. Kinetic Analysis of Biomarkers in a Cohort of US Patients With Ebola Virus Disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2016 Aug 15;63(4):460-7. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciw334. PubMed PMID: 27353663; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4967605.

Southern TR, Alelew A, Iwen PC. Discrimination of Candida albicans from Candida dubliniensis by Use of the BioFire FilmArray Blood Culture Identification Panel. J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Jun;53(6):1999-2000. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00299-15. PubMed PMID: 25878337; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4432046.

Medcalf S, Bilek L, Hartman T, Iwen PC, Leuschen P, Miller H, O'Keefe A, Sayles H, Smith PW. Smallpox Vaccination of Laboratory Workers at US Variola Testing Sites. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 Aug;21(8):1437-9. doi: 10.3201/eid2108.140956. PubMed PMID: 26196153; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4517736.

Southern TR, Racsa LD, Albariño CG, Fey PD, Hinrichs SH, Murphy CN, Herrera VL, Sambol AR, Hill CE, Ryan EL, Kraft CS, Campbell S, Sealy TK, Schuh A, Ritchie JC, Lyon GM 3rd, Mehta AK, Varkey JB, Ribner BS, Brantly KP, Ströher U, Iwen PC,  Burd EM. Comparison of FilmArray and Quantitative Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR for Detection of Zaire Ebolavirus from Contrived and Clinical Specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Sep;53(9):2956-60. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01317-15. PubMed PMID: 26157148; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4540924.

Iwen, PC, PW Smith, AL Hewlet, CJ Kratochvil, SJ Lisco, JN Sullivan, SG Gibbs, JJ Lowe, PD Fey, VL Herrera, AR Sambol, JL Wisecarver, and SH Hinrichs.  2015.  Safety considerations in the laboratory testing of specimens suspected or known to contain Ebola virus.  Amer. J. Clin. Pathol.  143: 4-5. Cited in PubMed:  PMID25511134.

Southern, TR, TC VanSchooneveld, DL Bannister, TL Brown, AS Crismon, SN Buss, PC Iwen, and PD Fey.  2015. Implementation and performance of the Biofire FilmArray® Blood Culture Identification panel with antimicrobial treatment recommendations for blood stream infections at a Midwestern academic tertiary hospital.  Diag. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 81: 96-101. Cited in PubMed:  PMID25488272.

Larson, MA, PD Fey, SH Hinrichs, and PC Iwen.  2014.  Francisella tularensis bacteria associated with feline tularemia in the United States.  Emerg. Infect. Dis. 20: 2068-71.  Cited in PubMed:  PMID-25424732. 

Iwen, PC, JL Garrett, SG Gibbs, JJ Lowe, VL Herrera, AR Sambol, K Stiles, JL Wisecarver, KJ Salerno, SJ Pirruccello, and SH Hinrichs.  2014.  An integrated approach to laboratory testing for patients with Ebola virus disease.  Lab. Med.  45: e146-51.  Cited in PubMed:  PMID-25348431.

Buss, SN, R. Starlin, and PC Iwen.  2014.  Bacteremia caused by Microbacterium binotii in a patient with sickle cell anemia.  J. Clin. Microbiol.  52: 379-81.  Cited in PubMed:  PMID-24197889.

Roberts, AL, AL Hewlett, J Yu, MH Nahm, PD Fey, and PC Iwen.  2013.  Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 6C presenting as recurrent prosthetic knee joint infection in a patient with a history of congenital asplenia and underlying autoimmune disease:  a case report and literature review.  Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis.  77: 376-9.  Cited in PubMed:  PMID-24139971.