About Our Clinic
Emerald Coast Infectious Diseases opened in 2005 when Dr. Patrick Anastasio, DO first established his private practice in Fort Walton Beach, FL. He became the only Infectious Diseases Specialist in the city. Since then, ECID has grown with the addition of Dr. Tablang, Dr. Lin, Dr. Chakra, Dr. Chambers, Sherri Barton APRN and an excellent staff of nurses, pharmacy, and administrative professionals.
Our Mission
At Emerald Coast Infectious Diseases we treat a variety of infectious diseases including viral and bacterial infections. Our physicians specialize in the treatment of complicated infectious diseases, MRSA, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, HepC, travel health, tropical diseases, and common infections of the skin, lung, kidney, bones and blood.
Fort Walton Beach Clinic
Crestview Clinic
Meet Our Providers
Dr. Patrick Anastasio, DO
Founding Partner
Board Certified in Infectious Diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Dr. Anastasio is the President and Founder of Emerald Coast Infectious Diseases Medical Group, PA, a clinic that is exclusively dedicated to the practice of medicine in Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Patrick Anastasio, DO is Board Certified in Infectious Diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as Board Certified in Infectious Diseases.
His distinction awards include:
Most Outstanding Fellow – UCI
Resident of the Year – USC
Best Teaching Resident – USC
The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners proclaimed and recognized “Dr. Patrick Anastasio Week” March 27 - April 2, 2022.
Dr. Anastasio graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1994. He completed a Rotating Internship at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, California from 1994 – 1995. He continued his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Southern California until 1998. In 2000, he completed his fellowship training in Infectious Diseases at the University of California Irvine. Dr. Anastasio practiced Infectious Diseases in Southern California with South Coast Infectious Diseases until 2004. The following year in 2005, Dr. Anastasio was recruited to Florida’s gulf coast, where he relocated to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He became the Chief of Infection Control for Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.
Dr. Anastasio also served in the Army Reserves and has an Honorable Discharge as a Major. He was selected as Physician of the Month by his peers at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center twice.
Dr. Patrick Anastasio has been involved in scientific studies, and has had his research published.
Dr. Michael Vincent Tablang, MD
Dr. Michael Tablang is an Infectious Diseases Physician who has earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. He then came to the states in the early 2000s and completed an Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. Dr. Tablang recently earned his Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Leadership from the University of Kansas School of Business in Lawrence, Kansas.
He is well-versed in antibiotic stewardship, infection prevention, and collaborative care to achieve the desired patient outcome and experience. From 2010 to 2016, he was an Infectious Diseases Physician at Saint Francis Health Center in Topeka, Kansas where he built a successful and highly-regarded solo practice in a community hospital. He practiced as a Wound Care physician, including supervision of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. That same year, he left Saint Francis Health Center and practiced at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kansas. He served as the Chair of a comprehensive Antibiotic Stewardship program, which includes the implementation of pharmacy policies, protocols, and guidelines.
Dr. Jeffrey Lin, DO
Dr. Jeff Lin is an infectious disease physician earning his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling, WV in 2019. During residency, he founded and led the antimicrobial stewardship program where he ultimately won the 2019 West Virginia Society of Hospital Medicine Chapter Research and Innovation award. Dr. Lin completed his Infectious Disease Fellowship at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, KY in 2021.
In addition to his work on the discharge efficiency committee, he was instrumental on the antibiotic stewardship team, where he was the first author on the Skin and Soft Tissue infection and Tick-Borne Illness protocol. Dr. Lin has been invited to multiple speaking engagements including the Southeast Regional AIDS Education Training Center (AETC), Kentucky Income Reinvestment Program (KIRP), University of Kentucky Medical Center, and the Kentucky American College of Physicians (ACP). He has won multiple poster presentations with publications in diagnostic stewardship and novel gram-negative antibiotics targeting multidrug resistance gram-negative organisms and has been involved in COVID research clinical trials.
His distinction awards include:
Quality Improvement Award – Ohio Valley Medical Center
Chief Fellow – University of Kentucky Medical Center
Gold Star Award in Teamwork – University of Kentucky Medical Center
IDweek Trainee Award – Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)
Dr. Lin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics, hailing from Philadelphia, PA. He has a wife and two young daughters. He enjoys triathlons, Olympic foil fencing, boxing, and is constantly exposed to Disney movies.
His clinical interest includes:
Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Wound Care
Respiratory infections
Hepatitis
Fungal Infections
HIV/AIDS
Urinary Tract Infections
Blood Stream Infections
Endocarditis
Travel Medicine
Dr. Kelley Gear, PharmD
Dr. Kelley Gear, PharmD earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in 1995. Following graduation, she completed a post-doctoral residency, specializing in home infusion pharmacy and sterile compounding.
While in pharmacy school, she was a member of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity and Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society. She has completed pharmacy certificate programs from the National Home Infusion Association, immunizations and diabetes. She has also served as an assistant clinical instructor for the University of Tennessee, College of Pharmacy.
Dr. Gear practiced as a home infusion pharmacist for 15 years for the Baptist Memorial Healthcare System in Memphis, Tennessee. She then practiced as a sterile and non-sterile compounding pharmacist for a local compounding pharmacy in Memphis before moving to the Emerald Coast with her family. After moving, she continued to work for the compounding pharmacy for four years as a consultant pharmacist; tasked with obtaining and maintaining Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation for the pharmacy.
Dr. Gear has been the Pharmacy Manager at Synergy Specialty Pharmacy located at our clinic since its inception in September 2016.
Dr. Michael Chambers, MD
Dr. Michael Chambers is an infectious diseases physician who earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in 2017. He completed a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2021 and remained at Vanderbilt for his infectious diseases fellowship, which he finished in 2023. During fellowship, he trained broadly in all fields of infectious diseases, including sepsis and bloodstream infections, orthopedic and prosthetic joint infections, tick-borne diseases, viral and fungal infections, HIV, and infections in transplant recipients and immunocompromised hosts.
He has conducted infectious disease research focused on improving the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients hospitalized in the ICU, and he presented this research at the 2023 meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). During his training he has received multiple honors, including induction into the ΑΩΑ medical honor society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society during medical school, earning a distinction in medical education during residency, receiving the fellow teaching award in his first year of fellowship, and being selected to be chief fellow from 2022 - 2023 for the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt.
Dr. Chambers is a native Floridian originally from Cocoa Beach and grew up watching space shuttle launches from his front yard. He received his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and microbiology with a minor in piano from the University of Central Florida. He and his wife enjoy quality time with their son, exploring new restaurants, and spending time at the beach.
Dr. Rayen Chakra, MD
Dr. Rayen Chakra is an infectious disease physician who earned his Doctor of Medicine from St.Matthew’s University School of Medicine in 2017. He subsequently completed his internal medicine training at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York in 2021. During his internal medicine residency, he was a front-line physician combating the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the worst-impacted cities in the nation. He subsequently moved to Augusta, Georgia where he completed his Infectious Disease Fellowship at Augusta University Medical Center in 2023.
During his fellowship, he was recognized for his leadership skills, clinical acumen, friendly demeanor and dedication to patient care. He actively participated in antimicrobial stewardship and infection control committees where he contributed in developing multiple protocols at AU Health. He has won multiple poster presentations and presented at the American Federation for Medical Research where he received the AFMR Trainee Research Travel Award. Additionally, he has presented numerous medical cases and educational topics at various local Infectious Disease conferences in Augusta, Georgia.
Dr. Chakra is a native of Charlotte, NC, and a graduate of East Carolina University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. He is married with two young children. In his off time, he enjoys spending time with his family on the beach, fishing, traveling, learning new languages, playing soccer, and practicing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
Clinical Interests:
Blood Stream Infections
HIV/AIDS
Viral Hepatitis
Osteomyelitis
Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
Wound Care
Tropical Medicine
Fungal Infections
Travel Medicine
Sherri Barton, APRN, FNP-C
Sherri is nurse practitioner certified by The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She received her first nursing degree as an LPN in 2010 from Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Opp, Alabama. Since then, Sherri has received her Associates of Science in Nursing from Coastal Alabama, a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Western Governor’s University, and a Masters of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner from Auburn University. While at Auburn Sherri was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society - Theta Delta Chapter.
Sherri’s certifications include:
Family Nurse Practitioner
Genetics, Genomics, Genethics for Nursing
The Institute of Healthcare Improvement: Quality and Safety for healthcare providers
ELNEC End of Life Care
Sherri is a lifelong resident of Okaloosa County where she resides with her husband and son.
Sherri has over 10 years of experience working in an Infectious Disease setting. She works in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Anastasio D.O. Sherri’s special interests include the diagnosis, treatment and management of HIV, Hepatitis C, osteomyelitis, and cellulitis.