Tony Mazzulli

Dr Mazzulli graduated from University of Toronto Medical School in 1985 and completed his training in Internal Medicine, Medical Microbiology, and Infectious Diseases.  

From 1991 to 1993 he did a MRC research fellowship in HIV and Herpes viruses at Massachusets General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, USA.

Dr Mazzulli served as President of the Canadian Association of Clinical Microbiologists and Infectious diseases (CACMID) and of the Association of Medical Microbiologists of Ontario (AMMO).  

Currently he is the president of the Canadian Association of HIV Clinical Laboratory Specialists (CAHCLS) and council member (Medical Microbiology) of the Association of Medical Microbiologists and Infectious Diseases (AMMI) Canada.

From 2001 to 2010 he served as Program Director of Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Training Program and from 2003 to 2014 as Program Director of the Medical Microbiology Training Program at the University of Toronto.

Since 2014, Dr Mazzulli is the Microbiologist-in-Chief of the Mount Sinai Hospital / University Health Network Department of Microbiology.                         

Research Synopsis

The field of clinical and diagnostic microbiology is rapidly changing.  

The emergence of new diseases (e.g. SARS CoV, Pandemic H1N1, etc.) and the re-emergence of old diseases requires laboratories to respond quickly in providing diagnostic support to clinicians, public health and others so that proper treatment, containment and management can be established.  

The availability of new drugs/agents to treat patients with an infectious disease is also placing pressure on laboratories to be able to make rapid and accurate diagnoses and to assist in the monitoring of patients while on treatment.  

The rise in antimicrobial resistance, particularly amongst common bacterial pathogens and certain viruses requires the clinical laboratory to identify these strains so that appropriate therapy as well as in infection control measures, antimicrobial stewardship policies, and public health management can be established.  The laboratory also provides support for understanding the epidemiology of these strains.

Our research is focused on developing, evaluating and implementing new diagnostic tests, assays and automation so that more accurate and rapid laboratory detection of infectious agents can be established.  

We have worked in the areas of multiplex diagnosis of respiratory viruses and gastrointestinal pathogens as well as in the determination of viral resistance genotypes (e.g. Hepatitis B and C).  

We have also contributed to an understanding of the epidemiology and implications of antimicrobial resistance amongst common respiratory pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and urinary tract pathogens such as E. coli and other gram negative organisms.  

Most recently we have worked on trying to screen patients with chronic diseases for pathogens that may trigger flares or deterioration in their condition.  

Finally, we have used genome sequencing to look for resistance mutations in hepatitis C viruses to newer antiviral agents.

The Department provides diagnostic services to

• Mount Sinai Hospital
• Toronto General Hospital (University Health Network)
• Toronto Western Hospital (University Health Network)
• Princess Margaret Hospital (University Health Network)
• Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
• Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care
• Bridgepoint Hospital
• the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Toronto Grace Health Centre
• Trillium Gift of Life Network.                         

Selected Publications

Hatchette, T., Drews, S., Grudeski, E., Booth, T., Martineau, C., Dust, K., Garceau, R., Gubbay, J., Karnauchow, T., Krajden, M., Levett, P., Mazzulli, T., McDonald, R., McNabb, A., Mubareka, S., Needle, R., Petrich, A., Richardson, S., Rutherford, C., Smieja, M., Tellier, R., Tipples, G., Leblanc, J. Detection of Enterovirus D68 in Canadian laboratories. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2015 May 1;53(5):1748-51.

Burchell, A., Allen, V., Gardner, S., Moravan, V., Tan, D., Grewal, R., Raboud, J. Bayoumi, A., Kaul, R., Mazzulli, T., McGee, F., Rourke, S. and on behalf of the OHTN Cohort Study Team. High incidence of diagnosis with syphilis co-infection among men who have sex with men in an HIV cohort in Ontario, Canada. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2015 Aug 20;15:356.

Seki, J.T., Sakurai, N., Moldenhauer, S., Dam, J., Atenafu, E.G., Yip, P.M., Mazzulli, T., Henderson, T., Pendergrast, J., Cserti, C., Velazquez, J.P., Simpson, R., Felluga, G., Messner, H.A. and Lipton, J. H. Human albumin eye drops as a therapeutic option for the management of keratoconjunctivitis sicca secondary to chronic graft-versus-host disease after stem-cell allografting. Current Oncology. 2015 Oct 1;22(5):e357-63.

Hosseini, S., Chaparro, C., Luong, M., Azad, S., Singer, L., Mazzulli, T., Rotstein, C., Keshavjee, S., Husain, S. The effectiveness of culture-directed preemptive anti-Aspergillus treatment in lung transplant recipients at one year after transplant. Transplantation. 2015 Nov 1;99(11):2387-93.

Yang, K., Samplaski, M, Mazzulli, T., Lo, K., Grober, E. and Jarvi, K.A. Case Report and Review of the Literature: Urinary Mycobacterium Avium Presenting as Sterile Pyuria. Canadian Urological Association Journal. 2016 Jan 1. In Press.

Lowe, C.F., Merrick, L., Harrigan, P.R., Mazzulli, T., Sherlock, C.H. and Ritchie, G. Implementation of next generation sequencing for Hepatitis B virus resistance testing and genotyping in a clinical microbiology laboratory. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2016 Jan 1;54(1):127-33.

Thoms-Rodriguez, C.A., Mazzulli, T., Christian, N., Willey, B.M., Boyd, D.A., Mataseje, L.F., Mulvey, M.R., Christie, C.D. and Nicholson, A.M. New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase in Jamaica. Journal of Infections in Developing Countries. 2016 Feb 28;10(2):183-7.

Deng, X., Peirano, G., Schillberg, E., Mazzulli, T., Gray-Owen, S.D., Wylie, J.L., Robinson, D.A., Mahmud, S.M. and Pillai, D.R. Whole-genome sequencing reveals the origin and rapid evolution of an emerging outbreak strain of Streptococcus pneumonia 12F. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2016 May 1;62(9):1126-32.

Appointments

President of the Canadian Association of HIV Clinical Laboratory Specialists (CAHCLS)

Council member (Medical Microbiology) of the Association of Medical Microbiologists and Infectious Diseases (AMMI) Canada