Mark T. Steele, M.D.

Professor, Associate Dean - Truman Medical Center, Chief Medical and Operating Officer
Department(s) of Emergency Medicine
University Health - UMKC Health Sciences District
Education and Background

M.D. - University of Missouri - Kansas City
Residency - Emergency Medicine - Truman Medical Center/University of Missouri - Kansas City
ABEM Diplomate - 1984/1994/2004

Meet Mark Steele
How did you get started in research?

As a junior faculty member, I was encouraged by Bill Robinson, M.D., the school’s chair of emergency medicine at the time. He introduced me to a group studying wound care and wound infections, which ultimately led to the formation of the EMERGEncy ID NET. This network, now more than 20 years old, was out front in identifying MRSA as a significant cause of some skin infections and helping physicians treat them. Personally, the network enabled me to participate in an NIH-sponsored project consisting of three separate research trials, and to publish the findings in three leading medical journals.

What do you enjoy doing away from work?

My wife and I enjoy travel, especially to warmer places during the winter, and we have a dog, Rosie, just 7 months old, who is really sweet and energetic. We also enjoy spending time with family. We have four kids, all in their mid-20s, including triplets.

Triplets? Did that present any particular challenges?

It was challenging at times. Shortly after adopting our first child in 1991, we learned that we were expecting triplets. So seven months later we had four little kids. I remember one family trip when they were 4 and 5, and I had to fly with them to meet my wife in Florida, who was returning from a cruise. Our first flight was delayed, so we missed our connection in St. Louis. I managed to get four tired and hungry kids to bed at 10 o’clock at an airport hotel, and then up again at 5 a.m. to catch our next flight. But all in all, it’s been great. Today, our two daughters are nurses, one of our sons is a police officer, and our other son works in finance and accounting.

Biography

Dr. Steele attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine’s combined 6-year medical program receiving his BA/MD degrees in 1980.  Dr. Steele has served on the faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UMKC School of Medicine/Truman Medical Center since his graduation from residency in 1983. He was named Vice Chairman for the Department of Emergency Medicine in 1987, Program Director in 1990, and in 1997 he was selected as Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine. In 2000, he was selected to be the first Chief Medical Officer for Truman Medical Center and became Associate Dean for Truman Medical Center Program at the UMKC School of Medicine and was promoted to full professor at the UMKC School of Medicine.  Dr. Steele is also board certified in Emergency Medicine.

Academically, Dr. Steele has over 60 publications. His interests have been in the areas of infectious disease, wound care, circadian rhythms and shift work, and emergency medicine practice and work force issues.In 2002, Dr. Steele was named as one of Ingram’s Top Doctors of Kansas City. Other honors and awards include becoming a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians in 1988, receiving the UMKC Alumni Achievement Award in 1990, induction as a faculty member into Alpha Omega Alpha society at the UMKC School of Medicine in 1992, receiving the UMKC Excellence in Medical Education Award in 1992 and in 2000, being the recipient of the UMKC School of Medicine E. Grey Dimond Take Wing Award.Dr. Steele’s professional memberships include the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM), Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA), and the American Medical Association (AMA).  Dr. Steele serves as secretary-treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors, for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), as well as chair of the Test Administration Committee, chief examiner for the oral examination, and as an item writer.

Research Focus

Infectious diseases relevant to the practice of emergency medicine

Steele is heavily involved in a nationwide network of top emergency departments that are researching infectious disease threats and testing innovative ways to deal with them. The School of Medicine/Truman Medical Centers is one of 11 founding research sites in the network.

Research Summary

Dr. Steele’s research interests are in the areas of infectious disease, wound care, circadian rhythms, shift work, emergency medicine practice and workforce issues. He has published works in these areas and has presented nationally as well.

Dr. Steele currently serves as a site investigator for the EMERGEncy ID NET. The EMERGEncy ID NET is an interdisciplinary, multicenter, emergency department-based network for research on emerging infectious diseases. It was established in cooperation with the National Center for Infectious Diseases, as part of the CDC’s strategy to expand and complement existing disease detection and control activities. The network is based at 11 university-affiliated, urban hospital emergency departments with more than 900,000 combined annual patient visits.  It also was developed to be a mechanism for rapidly responding to new infectious diseases or epidemics

Current research

Strategies using Off Patient Antibiotics for Methicillin Ressistant S. aureus (“STOP MRSA”) – a multi-center, phase III, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site investigator.

Ultrasound FIRST (STOP MRSA sub-study). Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site investigator.
Prevalence and risk factors for community-associated Clostridium difficile-associated disease among patients in the emergency department, Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site-investigator.

Bacteriology of Acute Cuteaneous Cellulitis without Drainage using Conventional Culture and Molecular Identification of Skin Biopsy Specimens. Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site investigator.

Utilization of emergency departments for possible exposures to biological weapons. Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site investigator.

Prevalence and risk factors for community-associated methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus skin and soft tissue infections, Mark T. Steele, M.D., Principle site-investigator.

Grant Support

Strategies using Off Patient Antibiotics for Methicillin Ressistant S. aureus (“STOP MRSA”) – a multi-center, phase III, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) / Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID). $1,363,370 funded 2007-2011. Principle site investigator.

Continuation of an “Emergency Department Emerging Infections Sentinel Network” Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Olive View – UCLA Medical Center. $9,000 funded 2010/2011. Principal site investigator.

Selected Publications

Moran GJ, Barrett TW, Mower WR, Krishnadasan A, Abrahamian F, Ong S, Nakase JY, Pinner RW, Kuehnert MJ, Jarvis WR, Talan DA for the EMERGEncy ID NET Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Decision Instrument for the Isolation of Pneumonia Patients with Suspected Pulmonary Tuberculosis Admitted through U.S. Emergency Departments.  Ann Emerg Med 2009:53(5):625-632

Talan DA, Krishnadasan A, Abrahamian FM, Stamm WE, Moran GJ for the EMERGEncy ID NET Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Prevalence and risk factor analysis of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli infection among emergency department patients with pyelonephritis. Clin Infect Dis 2008. 47(9):1150-8

Moran GJ, Barrett TW, Mower WR, Krishnadasan A, Abrahamian F, Ong S, Nakase JY, Pinner RW, Kuehnert MJ, Jarvis WR, Talan DA for the EMERGEncy ID NET Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Decision Instrument for the Isolation of Pneumonia Patients with Suspected Pulmonary Tuberculosis Admitted through U.S. Emergency Departments.  Ann Emerg Med 2008 (epublished)

Ong S, Nakasae J, Moran GJ, Karras DJ, Kuehnert MJ, Talan DA, for the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator) Antibiotic Use for Emergency Department Patients with Upper Respiratory Infections: Prescribing Practices, Patient Expectations, and Patient Satisfaction. Ann of Em Med 2007:50:213-220

Steele MT, Ma OJ, Nakase J, Moran GJ, Mower, WR, Ong S, Krishnadasan A, for the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group. Epidemiology of Animal Exposures Presenting to Emergency Departments. Acad Em Med 2007;14:398-403

Moran GJ, Krishnadasan A, Gorwitz RJ, Fosheim GE, McDougal LK, Carey RB, Talan DA, the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator) Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Infections among Patients in the Emergency Department. N Engl J Med 2006;355:666-674

Gonzales R, Camargo CA, MacKenzie T, Kersey AS, Maselli J, Levin SK, McCulloch CE, Metlay JP, and the IMPAACT Trial Investigators (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Antibiotic Treatment of Acute Respiratory Infections in Acute Care Settings. Acad Em Med 2006;13(3):288-294

Talan D, Abrahamian F, Moran GH, Mower WR, Alagappan K, Tiffany BR, Pollack CV, Steele MT, Dunbar LM, Bajani MD, Weyant RS, and Ostroff SM. Tetanus immunity and physician compliance with Tetanus prophylaxis practices among emergency department patients presenting with wounds. Ann Emerg Med 2004;43(3):305-314

Karras DJ, Ong S, Moran GH, Nakase J, Kuehnert MJ, Jarvix WR, Talan DA for the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Antibiotic use for emergency department patients with acute diarrhea: Prescribing practices, patient expectations, and patient satisfaction. Ann Emerg Med 2003;42(6):835-842

Kwon N, Raven MC, Chiang WK, Moran GJ, Jui J, Carter RA, Goldfrank L, and the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Emergency Physicians’ Perspectives on Smallpox Vaccination. Acad Emerg Med 2003;10:599-605

EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Bacteriologic Analysis of Infected Human Bites. JAMA 2002 (submitted)

Mower WR, Biros MH, Talan DA, Moran GJ, Ong S, for the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Selective Tomographic Imaging of Patients with New-onset Seizure Disorders. Acad Emerg Med 2002;9:43-47

Ong S, Moran GJ, Talan DA, Mower WR, Tsang VCW, Pinner RW and the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Neurocysticercusis in Radiographically Imaged Seizure Patients in U.S. Emergency Departments. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2002;8:608-613

Talan DA, Moran GJ, Newdow M, Ong S, Mower WR, Nakase SY, Pinner, RW, Slytsker L, EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Etiology of Bloody Diarrhea among Patients Presenting to United States Emergency Departments; Prevalence of Escherichiacoli 0157: H7 and other Enteropathogens. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:573-580

Moran GJ, Talan DA, Mower W, Newdow M, Ong S, Nakase JY, Pinner RW, Childs JE for the EMERGEncy ID Net Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator). Appropriateness of Emergency Department Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for Animal Exposures. JAMA 2000; 284(8):1001-1007

Steele MT, Ma OJ, Watson WA. Emergency Medicine Residents’ Shift Work Tolerance and Preference. Acad Emerg Med 2000;V 7, No 6

Steele MT, Watson WA, Ma OJ. Percentages of emergency medicine residency graduates who get their first choice of job did not change between 1995 and 1997. Am J of Emer Med 2000;V 18:No 2, pp 152-155

Steele MT, Ma OJ, Watson WA, et al. The occupational risk of motor vehicle collisions and near crashes for emergency medicine residents after night shifts. Acad Emerg Med 1999;Vol 6:pp 1050-1053

Steele MT. Arboviral infections of the central nervous system – United States 1996-1997. (Update on Emergency Infections: News from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Ann Emerg Med 1999;33:365-367

Talan DA, Moran GJ, Mower WR, Newdow M, Ong S, Slutsker L, Jarvis WR, Conn LA, Pinner RW, The EMERGEncy ID NET Study Group (Mark T. Steele, M.D., site investigator): EMERGEncy ID Net: An Emergency Department-Based Emerging Infections Sentinel Network. Ann Emerg Med 1998;32:703-711