Susan Richardson

Dr Susan Richardson is a medical microbiologist and infectious diseases physician.

She obtained her MD from McGill University and fellowships in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology.

She is a Senior Associate Scientist in the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children and a Professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Toronto.  

Dr Richardson is Head of the Division of Microbiology at The Hospital for Sick Children and Adjunct Scientist in Mycology at the Public Health Ontario Laboratory, Toronto.  

Her research interests are in the areas of mycology, where she is actively engaged in studies on blastomycosis, molecular mycology and fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.

Dr Richardson's research also encompasses the rapid diagnosis of viral respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV and influenza, and molecular diagnostics as applied to pediatric infectious diseases.

Research Synopsis

I have developed a research program around the important public health fungal pathogen, Blastomyces dermatitidis, the causative agent of North American blastomycosis.

My research group produced the evidence for the identification of a new species of Blastomyces, B. gilchristii, geographically clustered in the hyperendemic regions of Ontario and Wisconsin, using phylogenetic analysis based on MLST.

Ongoing research is focused on research questions around what the climatic, ecologic and virulence or other factors may be that relate to the emergence of this new species and its spread outside of traditional endemic areas.

In pediatric mycoses, I have led a team of investigators in a multi-center study of invasive neonatal candidiasis, investigating risk factors, neurodevelopmental outcome and the role of perinatal infection in the early onset variant of this severe and often fatal disease.

My research platform in the diagnosis of respiratory viral infections is based largely on  the application of molecular techniques to new and emerging pathogens.

I led a multi-center team, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and CJHR, on rapid diagnostics for SARS coronavirus during the pandemic in 2003. This led to studies on influenza, diagnostics in pandemic influenza, severe influenza in children and the effectiveness of influenza vaccine.

Other areas include the significance of multiple vs. single viral infections and the role of rhinovirus in severe infections in children.

Other areas of research activity include studies on the acquisition, diagnosis and clinical outcome of children with Clostridium difficile infection.

In addition, I am actively involved in studies to establish standards of practice in pediatric microbiology, in areas such as the optimal diagnosis of blood stream infections, urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infections in children.

Recent Publications

Brown EM, McTaggart LR, Zhang SX, Low DE, Stevens DA, Richardson SE. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a cryptic species Blastomyces gilchristii, sp. nov. within the human pathogenic fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis. PLoS ONE 2013. 8(3): e59237.

Barton M, O'Brien K, Robinson J, Davies D, Simpson K, Asztalos E, Langley J, LeSaux N, Sauve R, Synnes A, Tan B, de Repentigny L, Rubin E, Hui C, Kovacs L, Richardson SE. Invasive candidiasis in low birth weight preterm infants: risk factors, clinical course and outcome in a prospective multicenter study of cases and their matched controls. BMC Infectious Diseases 2014 Jun. 12(14): 327. Doi: I 0.1186/1471-2334-14-327.

Gharabaghi F, Hawan A, Drews SJ, Richardson SE. Evaluation of multiple commercial molecular and conventional diagnostic assays for detection of respiratory viruses in children. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2011.  17(12): 1900-19064.

L.R.McTaggart, S.E. Richardson, M. Witkowska, S. X. Zhang. Phylogeny and Identification of Nocardia Species Based on Multilocus Sequence Analysis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2010. 48( 12): 4523-33.

Schwartz K, Richardson S, Ward K, Donaldson C, MacGregor D, Banwell B, Mahant S, Bitnun A. Delayed Primary HHV-7 Infection and Neurologic Disease. Pediatrics 2014 Jun. 133(6): e1541-7. Doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-3344. Epub 2014 May 12.

Schwartz KL, Darwish I, Richardson SE, Mulvey MR, Thampi N. Severe clinical outcome is uncommon in Clostridium difficile infection in children: A retropsective cohort study. BMC Pediatrics 2014.  14(28). Doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-14-28.