Mike Richman of VA Research Communications interviews Dr. Heather Reisinger, an infectious disease specialist at the Iowa City VA Health Care System. She and her colleague, Eli Perencevich, are leading VA’s efforts in a partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, to ramp up the fight against infectious diseases. The highlight of the partnership is a research network that will identify ways to better protect patients and employees from infectious diseases in medical settings. Dangerous pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites, can cause infectious diseases.