He has published works on inhalation anthrax, particularly the staging of the disease which he divided into four: "asymptomatic, early-prodromal, intermediate-progressive and late-fulminant", with survival being more likely with earlier administration of antibiotics. Learning from the experiences of medical professionals who treated the victims of the 1979 anthrax outbreak in the city of Sverdlovsk, he developed an understanding of treating anthrax affecting the lungs by draining the resulting infected and toxic lung fluid, and injecting antibiotics directly into the pleural space. As a result, he has endorsed the stock-piling of items ready to perform pleural drainage should it be necessary. A later study published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine", showed the importance of detecting anthrax early and administering antibiotics within hours of a bioterrorist attack, as well as stockpiling chest drains to perform lung fluid drainage.