George McCracken, M.D.

Pediatrics - Infectious Disease
Infectious Disease

Biography

Dr. George McCracken, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, joined the faculty at UT Southwestern in 1968 after completing a two-year fellowship with John Sever at the National Institutes of Health. He served as Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease from 1976 until 2009.

In 1982, The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal was founded by Dr. McCracken and Dr. John Nelson, and Dr. McCracken continues to serve as Chief Editor. From 1981 through 2007, Drs. McCracken and Nelson also organized and led the National Pediatric Infectious Disease Seminar, a post-graduate education course that rotated annually to several cities throughout the United States and attracted more than 500 registrants.

Dr. McCracken's publication record now exceeds 490 peer-reviewed articles and book sections, among which are the representative ones listed below.

Education & Training

Undergraduate - Williams College
Medical School - Weill Cornell Med Colls and Gr, Medicine

Professional Associations & Affiliations

American Society for Microbiology (1970)
European Pediatric Infectious Disease Society; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
American Academy of Pediatrics (1977)
Society for Pediatric Research (1972)
The National Pediatric Infectious Disease Seminar, Co-Director (1981-2008)
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Chief Editor (1982)
Research Rounds, Chairman/Director (1995-2008), An Educational Course for Infectious Disease Fellows
Infectious Diseases Society of America (1979)

Honors & Awards

Cornell University Medical College Distinguished Alumnus Award 2006, For a Distinguished Career in Pediatric Infectious Diseases
The Maxwell Finland Award 2004, for Scientific Achievements from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
Mentor Award for a Distinguished Lifetime Record of Mentorship in Infectious Diseases 2003, from the Infectious Disease Society of America
Distinguished Physician Award for LIfetime Achievements in Research and Training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases 2001, from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
Kellogg Award 2008, from Williams College for a Distinguished Career in Pediatric MEdicine
Maxwell Finland Lecture 2012, Honorary Lecture, Infectious Disease Society of America
Special Recognition Certificate for Education 2011, American Academy of Pediatrics
Honorary Membership, European Society for Paediatric Infectious Disease 2012, Awarded for Outstanding Leadership in pediatric infectious diseases worldwide
Texas Super Doctor 2015, Texas Monthly Magazine
Honorary Doctorate of Medicine, University of Athens, Athens, Greece, 2008

Books & Publications

Books
- Antibacterial Therapeutic Agents in Cherry JD, Harrison GJ, Kaplan SL, Steinbach WJ, Hotez PJ, eds. Feigin and Cherry's Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 7th ed.
  Garcia C, McCracken GH. (2013), Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 3182-3241.
- Acute Bacterial Meningitis beyond the Neonatal Period in Long, SS, Pickering LK, Prober CG, eds. Principles and Practices of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 4th ed.
  Garcia CG, McCracken GH. (2012), Elsevier Saunders; 272-278.
- Quinolones in Pediatrics in Hooper D, Rubinstein E, eds. Quinolone Antimicrobial Agents. 3rd ed.
  McCracken GH, Ghaffar F. (2003), Washington, DC: ASM Press; 343-354.
Publications
- The Effect of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine on the Serotype Distribution and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles in Children With Invasive Pneumococcal Disease.
  Gaviria-Agudelo CL, Jordan-Villegas A, Garcia C, McCracken GH Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2016 Feb
- The management of community-acquired pneumonia in infants and children older than 3 months of age: clinical practice guidelines by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
  Bradley JS, Byington CL, Shah SS, Alverson B, Carter ER, Harrison C, Kaplan SL, Mace SE, McCracken GH, Moore MR, St Peter SD, Stockwell JA, Swanson JT, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America null Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2011 Oct 53 7 e25-76
- Executive summary: the management of community-acquired pneumonia in infants and children older than 3 months of age: clinical practice guidelines by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
  Bradley JS, Byington CL, Shah SS, Alverson B, Carter ER, Harrison C, Kaplan SL, Mace SE, McCracken GH, Moore MR, St Peter SD, Stockwell JA, Swanson JT, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America null Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2011 Oct 53 7 617-30
- Pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir according to trimester of pregnancy.
  Greer LG, Leff RD, Rogers VL, Roberts SW, McCracken GH, Wendel GD, Sheffield JS American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2011 Jun 204 6 Suppl 1 S89-93
- Pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir in breast milk and maternal plasma.
  Greer LG, Leff RD, Rogers VL, Roberts SW, McCracken GH, Wendel GD, Sheffield JS American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2011 Jun 204 6 524.e1-4
- Viral coinfections in children with invasive pneumococcal disease.
  Techasaensiri B, Techasaensiri C, Mejías A, McCracken GH, Ramilo O The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2010 Jun 29 6 519-23
- Epidemiology and evolution of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by multidrug resistant serotypes of 19A in the 8 years after implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine immunization in Dallas, Texas.
  Techasaensiri C, Messina AF, Katz K, Ahmad N, Huang R, McCracken GH The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2010 Apr 29 4 294-300
- The pediatric infectious disease journal(r) newsletter: march 2009.
  Nelson JD, McCracken GH The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2009 Mar 28 3 A5-6
- Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of linezolid in children with cystic fibrosis.
  Santos RP, Prestidge CB, Brown ME, Urbancyzk B, Murphey DK, Salvatore CM, Jafri HS, McCracken GH, Ahmad N, Sanchez PJ, Siegel JD Pediatric pulmonology 2009 Feb 44 2 148-54
- The antibiotic pipeline in pediatrics.
  McCracken GH Advances in experimental medicine and biology 2009 634 147-51
- Unique considerations in the evaluation of antibacterials in clinical trials for pediatric community-acquired pneumonia.
  Bradley JS, McCracken GH Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2008 Dec 47 Suppl 3 S241-8
- Daptomycin therapy for invasive Gram-positive bacterial infections in children.
  Ardura MI, Mejías A, Katz KS, Revell P, McCracken GH, Sánchez PJ The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2007 Dec 26 12 1128-32
- Glycerol and bacterial meningitis.
  Sáez-Llorens X, McCracken GH Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2007 Nov 45 10 1287-9
- Genetic characterization of erythromycin- and methicillin-resistant community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus isolated from children in Texas.
  Bogdanovich T, Aydin N, Chavez-Bueno S, McCracken G, Bozdogan B, Appelbaum PC Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease 2007 Oct 59 2 231-3
- Systemic cytokine profile in children with community-acquired pneumonia.
  Michelow IC, Katz K, McCracken GH, Hardy RD Pediatric pulmonology 2007 Jul 42 7 640-5
- Impact of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in Dallas, TX, children from 1999 through 2005.
  Messina AF, Katz-Gaynor K, Barton T, Ahmad N, Ghaffar F, Rasko D, McCracken GH The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2007 Jun 26 6 461-7
- Respiratory tract infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae in interleukin-12 knockout mice results in improved bacterial clearance and reduced pulmonary inflammation.
  Salvatore CM, Fonseca-Aten M, Katz-Gaynor K, Gomez AM, Mejias A, Somers C, Chavez-Bueno S, McCracken GH, Hardy RD Infection and immunity 2007 Jan 75 1 236-42
- Effect of clarithromycin on cytokines and chemokines in children with an acute exacerbation of recurrent wheezing: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
  Fonseca-Aten M, Okada PJ, Bowlware KL, Chavez-Bueno S, Mejias A, Rios AM, Katz K, Olsen K, Ng S, Jafri HS, McCracken GH, Ramilo O, Hardy RD Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology 2006 Oct 97 4 457-63
- Treatment of experimental chronic pulmonary mycoplasmosis.
  Fonseca-Aten M, Rios AM, Mejias A, Chavez-Bueno S, Katz K, Gomez AM, Ramilo O, McCracken GH, Hardy RD International journal of antimicrobial agents 2006 Sep 28 3 253-8
- Cefdinir pharmacokinetics and tolerability in children receiving 25 mg/kg once daily.
  Bowlware KL, McCracken GH, Lozano-Hernandez J, Ghaffar F The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2006 Mar 25 3 208-10
- Evidence behind the WHO guidelines: hospital care for children.
  Ryan M, McCracken GH Journal of tropical pediatrics 2006 Feb 52 1 46-8
- A historical perspective on pharmacological studies of gentamicin for therapy of neonatal meningitis.
  McCracken GH The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG 2006 Jan 11 1 4-9
- Evaluation of LBM415 (NVP PDF-713), a novel peptide deformylase inhibitor, for treatment of experimental Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.
  Fonseca-Aten M, Salvatore CM, Mejías A, Ríos AM, Chávez-Bueno S, Katz K, Gómez AM, McCracken GH, Hardy RD Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2005 Oct 49 10 4128-36
- Microbiologic and immunologic evaluation of a single high dose of azithromycin for treatment of experimental Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.
  Ríos AM, Fonseca-Aten M, Mejías A, Chávez-Bueno S, Katz K, Gómez AM, McCracken GH, Ramilo O, Hardy RD Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2005 Sep 49 9 3970-3
- Bacterial meningitis in children.
  Chávez-Bueno S, McCracken GH Pediatric clinics of North America 2005 Jun 52 3 795-810, vii
- Inducible clindamycin resistance and molecular epidemiologic trends of pediatric community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Dallas, Texas.
  Chavez-Bueno S, Bozdogan B, Katz K, Bowlware KL, Cushion N, Cavuoti D, Ahmad N, McCracken GH, Appelbaum PC Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2005 Jun 49 6 2283-8
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae induces host-dependent pulmonary inflammation and airway obstruction in mice.
  Fonseca-Aten M, Ríos AM, Mejías A, Chávez-Bueno S, Katz K, Gómez AM, McCracken GH, Hardy RD American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2005 Mar 32 3 201-10
- Effect of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on nasopharyngeal colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae in the first 2 years of life.
  Ghaffar F, Barton T, Lozano J, Muniz LS, Hicks P, Gan V, Ahmad N, McCracken GH Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2004 Oct 39 7 930-8
- Impact of cethromycin (ABT-773) therapy on microbiological, histologic, immunologic, and respiratory indices in a murine model of Mycoplasma pneumoniae lower respiratory infection.
  Ríos AM, Mejías A, Chávez-Bueno S, Fonseca-Aten M, Katz K, Hatfield J, Gómez AM, Jafri HS, McCracken GH, Ramilo O, Hardy RD Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2004 Aug 48 8 2897-904
- Diagnostic utility and clinical significance of naso- and oropharyngeal samples used in a PCR assay to diagnose Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia.
  Michelow IC, Olsen K, Lozano J, Duffy LB, McCracken GH, Hardy RD Journal of clinical microbiology 2004 Jul 42 7 3339-41
- Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized children.
  Michelow IC, Olsen K, Lozano J, Rollins NK, Duffy LB, Ziegler T, Kauppila J, Leinonen M, McCracken GH Pediatrics 2004 Apr 113 4 701-7
- Management and outcome of children with skin and soft tissue abscesses caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
  Lee MC, Rios AM, Aten MF, Mejias A, Cavuoti D, McCracken GH, Hardy RD The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2004 Feb 23 2 123-7
- Current management of bacterial meningitis.
  McCracken GH Advances in experimental medicine and biology 2004 549 31-3
- Antimicrobial and immunologic activities of clarithromycin in a murine model of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-induced pneumonia.
  Hardy RD, Rios AM, Chavez-Bueno S, Jafri HS, Hatfield J, Rogers BB, McCracken GH, Ramilo O Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2003 May 47 5 1614-20
- Garenoxacin (BMS-284756) and moxifloxacin in experimental meningitis caused by vancomycin-tolerant pneumococci.
  Rodriguez-Cerrato V, McCoig CC, Saavedra J, Barton T, Michelow IC, Hardy RD, Bowlware K, Iglehart J, Katz K, McCracken GH Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 2003 Jan 47 1 211-5
- Flaws in design and conduct of clinical trials in acute otitis media.
  Dagan R, McCracken GH The Pediatric infectious disease journal 2002 Oct 21 10 894-902
- Rich nations, poor nations, and bacterial meningitis.
  McCracken GH Lancet 2002 Jul 360 9328 183
- Effects of large dosages of amoxicillin/clavulanate or azithromycin on nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, nonpneumococcal alpha-hemolytic streptococci, and Staphylococcus aureus in children with acute otitis media.
  Ghaffar F, Muniz LS, Katz K, Smith JL, Shouse T, Davis P, McCracken GH Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2002 May 34 10 1301-9
- Diagnosis and management of acute otitis media in the urgent care setting.
  McCracken GH Annals of emergency medicine 2002 Apr 39 4 413-21
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae induces chronic respiratory infection, airway hyperreactivity, and pulmonary inflammation: a murine model of infection-associated chronic reactive airway disease.
  Hardy RD, Jafri HS, Olsen K, Hatfield J, Iglehart J, Rogers BB, Patel P, Cassell G, McCracken GH, Ramilo O Infection and immunity 2002 Feb 70 2 649-54
- Diagnosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae lower respiratory infection in hospitalized children by culture, polymerase chain reaction, serological testing, and urinary antigen detection.
  Michelow IC, Lozano J, Olsen K, Goto C, Rollins NK, Ghaffar F, Rodriguez-Cerrato V, Leinonen M, McCracken GH Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2002 Jan 34 1 E1-11

Research

Meningitis (pathogenesis, treatment)
Clinical Pharmacology of Antimicrobials
Vaccine Development
Respiratory Infections (pathogenesis, link to asthma)

Clinical Focus

Infectious Disease