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KPBS Midday Edition

San Diego Scientist Finds 'Perfect Predator' To Save Husband's Life

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host,  Megan Burke / News Editor
Published March 12, 2019 at 7:32 AM PDT
This story was published more than 5 years ago.
Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson, co-authors of, “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a deadly Superbug,” in an undated photo.
UC San Diego Health
Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson, co-authors of, “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a deadly Superbug,” in an undated photo.
Promotional photo of the book cover for "The Perfect Predator" by Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson.
courtesy photo
Promotional photo of the book cover for "The Perfect Predator" by Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson.

'Perfect Predator' Book Event

Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson will discuss their book at a free, public event on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Warwick's Books in La Jolla.

A scientist racing against time to save her husband who is dying from an antibiotic-resistant superbug. The answer lies in a long-forgotten therapy not used in modern-American hospitals.

It sounds like the plot to a fictional medical thriller. But it happens to be the life experience of Thomas Patterson, a distinguished professor of psychiatry and Steffanie Strathdee an epidemiologist, both at UC San Diego.

Patterson’s life was saved not by antibiotics but by the use of phage therapy, using a virus found in fecal matter that "eats" bacteria. Strathdee, Patterson's partner in world travel and life, researched and championed the use of the experimental treatment, and it worked.

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RELATED: San Diego Man Saved By Therapeutic Use Of Viruses

Strathdee and Patterson join Midday Edition Tuesday to talk about the new memoir, “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a deadly Superbug,” they wrote about the experience.

Strathdee and Patterson will discuss their book at a free, public event on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Warwick's Books in La Jolla.

San Diego Scientist Finds 'Perfect Predator' To Save Husband's Life
GUESTS: Steffanie Strathdee, co-author, “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband From a Deadly Superbug.” Thomas Patterson, co-author, “The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband From a Deadly Superbug.” Subscribe to the Midday Edition podcast on iTunes, Google Play or your favorite podcatcher.

KPBS Midday Edition
Maureen Cavanaugh
Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.
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Megan Burke
Megan Burke is an Emmy-award winning news editor overseeing the environment, health, and racial justice and social equity reporting beats. Prior to her current role as editor, Megan spent more than a decade as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition, a daily radio news magazine and podcast. Other news production credits include KPBS Evening Edition, KPBS Roundtable, and San Diego’s DNA, a two-part documentary highlighting the region’s oldest traditions and culture using personal artifacts and oral histories of San Diegans.
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