Undergraduate: Chemistry, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA

Medical School: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY.

Internal Medicine Residency: University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.

Infectious Disease Fellowship: University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Edward Traver is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland (UM) School of Medicine, jointly appointed in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease and the Institute of Human Virology. A board-certified infectious disease physician, Dr. Traver is an expert in the care of bacterial infections and complex skin problems associated with injection drug use. Dr. Traver has been drawn to improving outcomes for people who inject drugs since his internal medicine residency in Baltimore, which has been disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic. During infectious disease fellowship, Dr. Traver pioneered and completed a novel training track in infectious diseases and addiction medicine under the mentorship of Drs. Sarah Kattakuzhy and Elana Rosenthal and later joined the UMB SOM and IHV faculty after fellowship.

At the IHV, Dr. Traver joined the Research Initiative for Infectious Disease and Substance Use (RIIS). He led the CHOICE+ retrospective cohort study of people hospitalized with injection-related infections and was integral in the design of the NIH HEAL Initiative-funded CHOICE-STAR trial, an innovative randomized, controlled trial evaluating an integrated infectious disease and addition clinic for people hospitalized with infections from injection drug use. In 2024, he was selected by Dr. Rosenthal to serve as the UMSOM site PI for the CHOICE-STAR trial. That same year, he was competitively selected for the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation's Clinical/Translational & Public Health Research Training Track. In 2025, Dr. Traver was selected as one of 4 scholars in the second cohort of the Maryland-NIH Physician Scientist Incubator Program. Dr. Traver was competitively named a UM 2026 Burroughs-Wellcome AHEAD Program Scholar, with funding to conduct preliminary work for an NIH Career Development Award.

Dr. Traver currently directs the Substance Use Disorder Study (SUDS), a natural history study of people with recent opioid, cocaine, or methamphetamine use. This study has generated novel data on the use of point-of-care xylazine test strips to test the urine of people using drugs and compare to standard testing methods. SUDS is partially funded by a grant from the UM Center for Addiction Research, Education, and Service.

Dr. Traver is a clinical and scientific expert on injection-related skin ulcers (IRSU). Within the CHOICE+, CHOICE-STAR, and SUDS studies, he has collected novel data on skin ulcer prevalence, risk factors, health outcomes, and association with xylazine, as well as methods to detect and avoid xylazine. Dr. Traver cares for people with infectious complications of injection drug use (including IRSU) at the UM multidisciplinary clinic for people with substance use disorders and is recognized as a valuable clinical resource, lecturing to medical students, medical residents, and infectious disease fellows.

Infections in people who inject drugs, Infectious Diseases, HIV, medical education.

1. Traver EC, Iyalomhe OE, Ramadhani HO, et al. Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid Withdrawal Associated with Patient-Directed Discharge in People with Injection-Related Infections. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2026 May 18. PMID: 42151526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-026-10514-3. 
2. Key S, Mansfield ME, Traver EC, et al. Reducing Hospital Readmissions for Injection Drug Use-Related Infections: A Rapid Qualitative Analysis of Health Care Teams’ Consultations to Inform Intervention Design. Journal of Addiction Medicine. 2026 Mar 18. PMID: 41844540. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000001677. 
3. Rosenthal ES; Lavoie MC; Traver EC, et al. Continuum of Care in Hospitalized Patients with Opioid or Stimulant Use Disorder and Infectious Complications of Drug Use – Substance Use/Infectious Disease Integrated Clinic compared to Treatment as Usual to Prevent Infection Related Readmission (CHOICE-STAR): A Study Protocol for an Effectiveness-Implementation Randomized Controlled Trial. TRIALS. 2026 Mar 4. PMID: 41776656. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-026-09550-5. 
4. Traver EC, Heil EL, Schmalzle SA. A Cross-sectional Analysis of Linezolid in Combination with Methadone or Buprenorphine as a Cause of Serotonin Toxicity. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Jul;9(7):ofac331. PMID: 35899282. https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofac331. 
5. Traver EC, Ching PR, Narayanan S. Medication for opioid use disorder at hospital discharge is not associated with intravenous antibiotic completion in post-acute care facilities. Ther Adv Infect Dis. 2022 Jan-Dec;9:1-8. PMID: 35755123. https://doi.org/10.1177/20499361221103877. 

1. Nolan NS, Sherbuk J, Maximos M, Egbert S, Cappiello M, Cooper JD, Garg R , Bradford W, Lahey T, Liebman S, Wuerz T, Dominguez F, Thakarar K, Eckhardt B, Dong MQ, Patel P, Kurz S, Hopgood J, Rosenthal E, Traver E, King M, Henderson H, Fujita AW, Hojman M, Lee TC, Lee RA, Tong M SYC, Tirupathi R, Bourassa-Blanchette S, Eaton E, Sanctuaire A, Trotzky-Sirr R, Kimmel SD, McDonald EG, Spellberg B, Baden R. Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Complications of Injection Drug Use– A WikiGuidelines Group Consensus Statement. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2026 Aug 27. PMID: 42660402.
2. McGonigle K, Catalanotti JS, Kattakuzhy SM, Rosenthal ES, Traver EC, et al. Missed opportunities for Hepatitis C Virus screening and care among persons hospitalized for injection-related infections. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2026 August 1. PMID: 42330593.
3. Traver EC, Saharia K, Luethy P, Amoroso A. Severe Infective Endocarditis Caused by Bartonella rochalimae. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Feb;30(2):394–6. PMID: 38270167.
4. Walker J, McCarty T, McGwin G, et al. for the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium (MSGERC) Cryptococcal Registry Cohort. Description of Cryptococcosis following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A disease survey through the Mycosis Study Group Education and Research Consortium (MSG-19). Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Sep 15;ciad551. PMID: 37713207.
5. Narayanan S, Traver EC, Greenblatt AD. A Red Swollen Leg; Noninfectious Causes. Infect Dis Clin Pract. 2023;32: e1325.
6. Mupeta F, Sivile S, Toeque MG, Fwoloshi S, Zulu PM, Chanda D, Mbewe N, Mwitumwa M, Chanda C, Kandiwo N, Ziko L, Mwansa T, Matibula P, Mugala A, Traver EC, et al. The UTH-UMB Global Health Education Collaboration: Building a Bidirectional Exchange Based on Equity and Reciprocity. Ann Glob Health. 2023;89(1):52. doi: 10.5334/aogh.3718. PMID: 37575336.
7. Narayanan S, Ching P, Traver EC, et al. Predictors of non-adherence among patients with infectious complications of substance use who are discharged on parenteral antimicrobial therapy. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Dec 13;10(1):ofac633. PMID: 36686627.
8. Miller MJ, Cash-Goldwasser S, Marx GE, … and CDC Severe Monkeypox Investigations Team. Severe Monkeypox in Hospitalized Patients - United States, August 10-October 10, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022 Nov 4;71(44):1412–7. PMID: 36327164.
9. Narayanan S, Traver EC, Markidan J. A severe rash with pancytopenia. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2022 Oct;22(10):1512. PMID: 36152667.
10. Traver EC, Gao NJ. Emphysematous Aortitis. N Engl J Med. 2022 May 12;386(19):1833. PMID: 35544389.
11. Traver EC, Malavé Sánchez M. Pulmonary aspergillosis and cryptococcosis as a complication of COVID-19. Med Mycol Case Rep. 2022 Mar;35:22-25. PMID: 35018279.
12. Maldarelli ME, Traver EC, Norcross G, Gann D, Kattakuzhy S, Welsh C, Schmalzle SA. Acute Limb Ischemia Caused by Inadvertent Arterial Drug Self-Injection: A Case Report. Am J Case Rep. 2021;22:e932903. PMID:
13. Orkoulas-Razis D, Traver EC, Merechi F, Saleeb P, Law J. Clinical Communication to the Editor: Pancytopenia in a Cameroonian Patient with AIDS. Am J Medicine. 2021;134(10):e526-7. PMID:
14. Traver EC, Husain S, Grossman ME. Touch preparation of skin biopsy for rapid diagnosis of cutaneous Nocardia nova in the immunocompromised host. JAAD Case Rep. 2019;5(4):389-91. PMID: 31008177.

Dr. Traver studies infections related to injection drug use. He is particularly intereted in bacterial infections and injection-related skin ulcers. He is an investigator in the Research Initiative in Infectious Disease and Substance Use at the IHV. He is a Co-I leading a multi-site implementation-effectiveness study focused on reducing rehospitalization in people with infectious complications of injection drug use.

In his clinical practice, Dr. Traver serves on the Medicine-ID admitting service and the general ID consultation service. He provides ID care at a co-located medical and addiction clinic in west Baltimore, including HIV, hepatitis C, and post-hospital care for serious injection related infections. 

2026 Scholar, Burroughs-Wellcome - AHEAD Program

2026 Awardee, IHV Early Career Scientist Award

2025 Scholar, Maryland-NIH Physician Scientist Incubator Program

2023 Scholar, Clinical Research Training Track, UMB Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation (CARTI)

2024  Interviewed about the Maryland Emergency Department Drug Survey; WBAL TV; Baltimore.

2023  Interviewed on skin effects of xylazine; Dermatology Advisor

2026 Advisory Board Member, Maryland State Department of Health Standing Committee on Opioid-Associated Disease Prevention and Outreach Programs (OADPOP)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7127-3872

Scopus: Scopus