PLENARY SESSIONS

Friend or Foe: Interorganismal Interactions in the Microbial World

8:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
PEGGY A. COTTER; University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Invited Speakers:
JOSEPH MOUGOUS; University of Washington, Seattle, WA
PEGGY COTTER; University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
GEORGE SALMOND; University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
LUCIANO MARRAFFINI; The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
KEVIN FOSTER; University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Descriptions:
Microbes rarely live alone. Whether in or on eukaryotic hosts or in environmental niches, bacteria typically share their living spaces with other bacteria, bacteriophages and eukaryotic microbes. Interactions between bacteria and other organisms, including members of the same species, may be cooperative or competitive. Discoveries in recent years have shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions. Two speakers in this session will describe how bacteria use specialized secretion systems (Two Partner Secretion systems and Type VI secretion systems) to kill some neighboring bacteria upon contact while sparing others. The contributions these systems make to the development of a polymicrobial community will be discussed. Two other speakers will describe how bacteria defend themselves against predation by bacteriophages. One will discuss how a toxin-antitoxin system is used as a phage abortive infection system and the other will discuss how CRISPRs function as bacterial adaptive immune systems that prevent reinfection by viruses to which the bacteria have been exposed previously. Our fifth speaker will discuss interbacterial interactions from the perspective of sociobiology and social evolution. He will describe how bacteria can be used as models to understand complex social behaviors such as cooperativity, mutualism and spite.

Imagine a World without Viruses

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
CURTIS SUTTLE; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Invited Speakers:
CURTIS SUTTLE; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
LUIS VILLAREAL; University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
MARILYN ROOSSINCK; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
JEAN MICHEL CLAVERIE; Aix-Maiseille University School of Medicine and Mediterranean Institute of Microbiology, Maiseille, France
GRAHAM HATFULL; University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Description:

What would the living world be like without viruses? If one considers viruses only as pathogens, the idea might sound quite attractive. But in fact, without viruses, the living world would be very different in some surprising ways. The speakers in this session will show why it is becoming increasingly clear that viruses must be considered as integral players in many biological processes. For a start, without viruses, complex organisms like humans might never have evolved. The human genome would look entirely different without viruses – some estimates suggest that as much as 8% of the human genome may be viral in origin. Viruses are by far the most numerous entities in the biosphere - the ocean alone is thought to contain ~4X10³⁰ viruses, containing as much carbon as 75 million blue whales! Because of the role marine viruses play in controlling the populations of marine microbes, they are significant players in biogeochemical cycles. Viruses’ biological roles extend far beyond simply killing cells; viruses can also help their hosts. The realization that viruses can serve as co-evolved, beneficial symbionts offers exciting possibilities for applications in many fields including human and animal health, crop productivity and biotechnology.

Synthetic Biology

8:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
DANIELLE TULLMAN-ERCEK; University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Invited Speakers:
LINGCHONG YOU; Duke University, Durham, NC
JEFF HASTY; University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA
MICHELLE CHANG; University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
PAMELA SILVER; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Description:
The combination of advances in DNA synthesis, DNA sequencing, the quantitative measurement of biological systems, and computing power have enabled the rise of the field of Synthetic Biology: the rigorous application of engineering principles to the design of biological systems. Inherent in such an engineering design goal is 1) the creation of modular, biological parts that can be assembled to make devices that exhibit controlled dynamical or logical behavior, and 2) the ability to predict complex, systems-level behavior in cells or populations. This session will highlight recent successes of Synthetic Biology in bacterial systems, and their application to areas such as alternative energy, biochemical production, and therapeutics.

Who's in Charge? How Microbes Affect Animal Behavior

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
KEVIN R. THEIS; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Invited Speakers:
KEVIN R. THEIS; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
EUGENE ROSENBERG; Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
ROCHELLYS DIAZ HEIJTZ; Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
DAVID P. HUGHES; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Description:
All animals intimately associate with symbiotic microbes and it has been suggested that the genetic contributions of these microbes are orders of magnitude greater than those of their hosts. As such, the potential effects of microbes on animal biology appear near infinite and, as a seemingly paradigm-shifting consequence, animals are increasingly being viewed as holobionts or supraorganisms rather than as isolated entities. The aim of this plenary session is to enhance and expand our collective knowledge of how symbiotic microbes shape the behavior of their animal hosts in both beneficial and harmful ways. For animals, behavior is the sole means for mediating their situation and position within dynamic environments, so developing proximate and ultimate understandings of symbionts’ influences on host behavior is an important phase in the maturation of animal biology. This session features an international panel of transdisciplinary scientists who will discuss how microbes influence the locomotive, reproductive, communicative and emotive behaviors of their hosts, and furthermore how they shape the evolution and structure of animal societies. Collectively, the cutting edge research of these scientists illustrates the transcendent developments occurring at the interface of behavioral, microbial and evolutionary ecology.

SYMPOSIA

Best Practices in the Work-up of Specimens from the CNS and Other Sites: How Far Should You Go?

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Conveners:
ROBERT SAUTTER; Carolinas Pathology Group, Charlotte, NC
AUDREY N. SCHUETZ; Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York, New York, NY

Invited Speakers:
SANDRA RICHTER; Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
AUDREY N. SCHUETZ; Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York, New York, NY
LARRY GRAY; Trihealth Laboratories, Cincinnati, OH
PAUL SCHRECKENBERGER; Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL

Complications and Implications of New Technologies for Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Conveners:
JUDY ANNE DALY; Primary Children's Medical Center, Univeristy of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
KAREN C. CARROLL; The John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Invited Speakers:
JUDY ANNE DALY; Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT
KAREN C. CARROLL; The John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
ANNE J. BLASCHKE; University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
CHRISTOPHER DOERN; Children's Medical Center of Dallas, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
DAN DIEKEMA; University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, Division L Lecturer

Description:
Linking the impact of rapid available and emerging technologies with physician knowledge of timely local disease incidence and patient outcomes is key to improved diagnostic problem solutions. Delays in pathogen identification and antimicrobial resistance testing contribute to morbidity and mortality. Rapid assays that identify pathogens and antimicrobial resistance immediately from specimen or after culture could considerably improve patient outcomes. The deployment of promising new technologies and techniques in a manner that ensures optimal application is a challenge for leaders in the laboratory and at the bedside. This session will discuss available and emerging technologies, interventions designed to improve the communication between public health and the front line and improved outcomes for the patients these systems serve.

Pathogen Discovery: Linking a Novel Microbe to Human Disease

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
CHARLES CHIU; University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Invited Speakers:
DYLAN PILLAI; University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
CHARLES CHIU; University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
JOSEPH FAIR; Global Viral Forecasting, San Francisco, CA
DAVID RASKO; University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
ERIC DELWART; Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA

Description:
The rapid emergence of high-throughput diagnostics in microbiology – microarrays, mass spectrometry, and next-generation "deep" sequencing, has ushered in a new era of pathogen discovery. Yet the discovery of a novel agent in human clinical samples is merely the first step in establishing a causal relationship between the microbe and disease (Koch’s postulates). Determining whether or not a detected agent is truly a pathogen often requires a combination of phylogenetic analysis, traditional laboratory methods, such as culture, serology, and PCR, as well as extensive follow-up clinical, pathological, and epidemiological investigation. Here we will discuss the coupling of powerful pathogen discovery technologies with more conventional methods to connect a novel microbe to disease, and highlight the challenges as well as perils involved in attempting to establish such a link.

Screening and Surveillance for Antibiotic Resistance: Global, Local and Bedside Considerations

8:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Convener:
FIONA WALSH; ACW Research Centre Department of Agriculture, Waedenswil, Zürich, Switzerland

Invited Speakers:
FIONA WALSH; ACW Research Centre Department of Agriculture, Waedenswil, Zürich, Switzerland
JOSE LUIS MARTINEZ; Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Madrid, Spain
KORNELIA SMALLA; Julius-Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Braunschweig, Germany
ARI ROBICSEK; Northshore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL
STUART LEVY; Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, Abbott – ASM Lifetime Achievement Award

Description:
The antibiotic resistance cycle: from environment to clinic and back again. In order to fully understand how antibiotic resistance has developed and will proceed we need to identify and characterize antibiotic resistance in each section of the bacterial community, not just the medical community. As most antibiotics and resistance genes are thought to have come from the environment this is an important source of resistance. This topic will discuss the roles of intrinsic resistance and horizontal transfer of resistance as well as the characterization of resistance mechanisms of relevance to human pathogens within the antibiotic resistance cycle. This session will highlight the routes of transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria to humans such as food and water. Speakers will address the detection and dissemination of resistance across a range of clinical and non-clinical settings with an aim to promoting a better understanding of the antibiotic resistance cycle and to identify novel opportunities for intervention and prevention.

Special Interest Session

How ASM Learned to Write Evidence-based Practice Guidelines: Applying the CPC LMBP Process to Bloodstream Infections

11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Developed by the Committee on Professional Practice

Convener:
ALICE WEISSFELD; Microbiology Specialists, Inc., Houston, TX

Invited Speakers:
ALICE WEISSFELD; Microbiology Specialists, Inc., Houston, TX
PAUL EPNER; Paul Epner LLC, Evanston, IL
DONNA WOLK; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
MICHAEL SAUBOLLE; Arizona/Banner Health, Phoenix, AZ
MEL WEINSTEIN; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ

Description:
One of the key initiatives of the new Committee on Professional Practice is to establish an ASM process for examining evidence surrounding key issues in clinical microbiology. This symposium will describe how the first guideline was written.

Special Interest Session

The Practice of Clinical Microbiology in Pediatrics

11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Developed by the Public and Scientific Affairs Board

Conveners:
CAREY-ANN BURNHAM; Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
CHRIS DOERN; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

Invited Speakers:
CHRIS DOERN; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
CAREY-ANN BURNHAM; Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, MO
PAULA REVELL; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
PHIL TARR; Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, MO
STEPHANIE FRITZ; Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Description:
This symposium will focus on five contemporary, challenging issues faced by those who practice pediatric specifically clinical microbiology. The epidemiology of pediatric diseases, such as the agents of bacteremia in the post vaccine era as well as C. difficile which has implications in the practice of clinical microbiology. In addition, the introduction of new diagnostic methodologies and laboratory best practices in pediatrics will be reviewed.

All's Well that Ends and Mends Well: Maintenance of Genomic Integrity

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI; University of California at Davis, Davis, CA

Invited Speakers:
VICKI LUNDBLAD; Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA, Division H Lecturer
WOLF-DIETRICH HEYER; University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
STEPHEN KOWALCZYKOWSKI; University of California at Davis, Davis, CA

Description:
Maintaining genomic integrity is an essential aspect of life. The DNA in all organisms can become broken during the course of normal cellular replication, and the ends of linear chromosomes in particular, without the function of telomerase, would be a source of persistent DNA breaks. This session will cover molecular and cellular aspects of genome maintenance. One topic will be the essential function of telomerase, an enzyme charged with the responsibility of replicating DNA at the ends of chromosome; telomeredysfunction in humans leads to many pathologies. Other topics will include the mechanism and regulation of DNA-break repair, a multi-component biological pathway designed to restore, with high fidelity, integrity to broken DNA. As with telomerase, the orthologues of many microbial genes involved in recombinational DNA repair are associated with tumor suppression. The connections between DNA replication, recombinational repair and telomere function will be featured.

Best Practices in Clinical Microbiology: Beyond the Routine Culture, What Micro Labs Could be Doing to Further Patient Care

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
JULIE A. RIBES; University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Invited Speakers:
SUSAN RICHARDSON; The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
BOBBI PRITT; The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
GERALDINE HALL; Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH
ROBERT JERRIS; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

Description:
It is exciting to be in the field of Clinical Microbiology with all the changes in methodologies that are occuring. Culture techniques are being replaced by non-culture techniques and those tried and true culture procedures are being changed to meet the demands of specific patient populations that we serve. In this session, our speakers will address the current and future best practices for the diagnosis of urinary tract infections in children, as well as the best practices for the detection of microsporidial and campylobacter infections. The final speaker of the session will discuss the use of MALDI-TOF to identify respiratory isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis. Sufficient time will be available at the end of the session to answer questions from the attendees.

Beyond the Central Dogma: Diversity in Regulation of Gene Expression

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
JÖRG VOGEL; Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

Invited Speakers:
JÖRG VOGEL; Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
MARLENE BELFORT; Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY
TANIA BAKER; Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Description:
The tenets of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology were first put forth in the late 1950's, and held that the transfer of genetic information from DNA to protein (via RNA) was unidirectional. Since this time, we have come to understand that the replication and the expression of genetic information can be regulated in myriad ways that fall outside this dogma. This session will focus on recent advances in our understanding of such molecular mechanisms, including the role of small non-coding RNA, proteolysis, DNA mobility, and RNA splicing.

Biodegradation: Application of Basics to Real-world Problems

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
ELIZABETH EDWARDS; University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Invited Speakers:
ELIZABETH EDWARDS; University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MICHAEL HYMAN; North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
LORENZ ADRIAN; Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany

Description:
One approach to remediating persistent organic chemical pollutants in the environment is their degradation to harmless products by aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms. While much progress has been made studying biodegradation in a laboratory setting, it is not always clear whether these studies are relevant to processes occurring in polluted habitats. This session will address understanding and manipulating microbial processes important to "real world" problems, such as the reductive dechlorination of chloroorganic pollutants, anaerobic biodegradation of aromatics, and aerobic breakdown of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether. In each of these cases fundamental information about microorganisms has influenced strategies to remediate toxic chemicals.

Frontiers in Experimental Evolution

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Conveners:
DAVID A. STAHL; University of Washington, Seattle, WA
MATTHEW D. KANE; National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA

Invited Speakers:
KRISTINA HILLESLAND; University of Washington, Bothell, WA
PAUL TURNER; Yale University, New Haven, CT
DAN I. ANDERSSON; University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

Description:
Microorganisms are the oldest, most abundant, and most diverse forms of life on Earth. This session will describe research at the frontier in understanding the origins, maintenance and consequences of this microbial diversity. Speakers will present a variety of talks in which microbes are the stars in experimental studies of evolutionary patterns and processes. Attendees will learn about how specific traits of microorganisms, such as short generation times, small genome sizes, and the ability to store and revive ancestral populations, study population mixture interactions, and directly quantify fitness and adaptation, all make microbes ideal model systems for experiments in manipulative evolution. Results of such studies not only help explain the history of life on Earth, but also contribute knowledge of great value to science and society.

Immunological Tools and Biomarkers for Infectious Diseases

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Conveners:
DESHRATN ASTHANA; University of Miami, Miami, FL
ERIK MUNSON; Wheaton Franciscan Laboratory, Wauwatosa, WI

Invited Speakers:
PATRICK DUFFY; National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD Division AA Lecturer
AZLIYATI AZIZAN; University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
DESHRATN ASTHANA; University of Miami, Miami, FL
CHRISTINE BIRON; Brown University, Providence, RI
BRUCE RABIN; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, Division V Lecturer and Abbott Award in Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology

Description:
Innate immunity has been identified to play an important role in host response in infectious diseases. The past decade has seen a significant expansion and understanding of the field. In addition, the session will provide current knowledge on malaria immunology and vaccines in clinical trials. Overview of immunopathogenesis of dengue and influenza viruses along with current and future directions of immunotherapyand vaccine design. The proposed session will address innate immunity, immune and surrogate markers in HIV-infection and their value in patient care and management. In addition, session will cover immunological markers of viral infections in general and how these markers can provide insights for therapeutic approaches to infections. The audience will also be able to get an overview on immune system as a window in one's psychosocial history. Since humeral and cellular immune parameters being measured in the laboratory had their quantitative and qualitative function influenced at a time much earlier than when the blood specimen was collected for analysis and how all of this impacts on patient's well-being.

Interactive Controversies in Antimicrobial Resistance Detection: Can You and Experts Agree?

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
REBECCA HORVAT; University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS

Invited Speakers:
FRED TENOVER; Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA
DAN AMSTERDAM; University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
JOHN STELLING; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
JOHN PAPP; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
MICHAEL LOEFFELHOLZ; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
REBECCA HORVAT; University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS

Description:
Different practices have developed in clinical microbiology laboratories to test analysis or evaluate trends. This session presents various practices that use different methods, analysis or reporting strategies. The issues in this session will focus on: 1) the use of phenotypic vs genotypic methods for detection of resistance; 2) use of molecular testing to detect Neisseria gonorrhea versus culture which allows for evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility; and 3) use of the first clinical isolate to report in the antibiogram versus using all isolates collected within a time period. Each participant will be able to evaluate their own practices based on the ideas presented.

The Limits to Microbial Life

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Conveners:
MARY A. VOYTEK; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC
MARK YOUNG; Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

Invited Speakers:
KATHY BENISON; Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
JOHN HALLSWORTH; Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland
MARK YOUNG; Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

Description:
The complexity and robustness of the modern biosphere is a result of the dynamic interplay between genetic flexibility, metabolic capability and environmental challenges. Life survives and sometimes thrives under what seem to be harsh conditions on Earth. The study of the so called “extremophiles” challenges our concept of the limits of life, informs our quest for the comprehensive tree of life, and helps us to understand how evolution has taken place. This symposium will provideperspectives on the molecular, genetic, and biochemical mechanisms that control and limit evolution, metabolic diversity, and acclimatization of life here on Earth and will provide insights for the search for life beyond Earth.

Microbial Glycobiology and Glycobiotechnology

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
RAJENDAR DEORA; Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

Invited Speakers:
DOUGLAS CLARK; University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Division O Lecturer
CHRISTINE SZYMANSKI; University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
RAJENDAR DEORA; Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

Description:
Glycans serve varied and important roles in the biology of microbes. As polysaccharide capsules and exopolysaccharides, they contribute to the pathogenicity and biofilm development in some species. They can be substrates for protein glycosylation –an activity once thought not to occur in bacteria – the prevalence and consequences of which are only just becoming understood. And, as cellulose and lignocellulose, glycans may serve as substrates for microbial conversion of plant biomass to fuel. This session will introduce attendees to the broad field of microbial glycobiology and its many biological and biotechnological implications.

New Paradigms in Bacterial Second Messenger Signaling

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
CHRIS WATERS; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Invited Speakers:
URS JENAL; Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
CARL BAUER; Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
EMMANUELLE BOUVERET; LISM-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France

Description:
The last decade has seen the importance of second messenger signaling in bacteria grow tremendously, from the meteoric rise of cyclic di-GMP to the recently discovered cyclic di-AMP and even cyclic GMP. In addition to these newly appreciated signals, new insights regarding the mechanism and function of traditional second messengers have also been uncovered. It is now clear that second messenger signaling is integral to the control of many fundamental behaviors of bacteria including biofilm formation, stress adaptation, virulence, quorum sensing, and cell division. This symposium will highlight recent research regarding second messenger signaling in bacteria. Attendees will obtain a greater understanding of the family of bacterial second messengers, their integral role in the lives of bacteria, and the molecular mechanisms by which they modulate phenotypic responses.

Novel Cell Surface and Cell-Cell Interaction Targets for Antimicrobial Therapeutics

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
JENNY LODGE; Washington University School Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Invited Speakers:
BONNIE BASSLER; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Division A Lecturer
CHRIS SASSETTI; HHMI, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
JENNY LODGE; Washington University School Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Description:
The microbial surface is a key component in pathogenesis and intercellular communication. As such it is an attractive target for anti-microbial compounds. This session will focus on biosynthesis and regulation of microbial cell surface structures and intercellular communication mechanisms that are potential targets for anti-virulence strategies. The goal of the session is to highlight novel approaches and concepts for development of much needed anti-microbial therapeutics.

On Top of Outbreaks: New Rapid Next Generation Sequencing Deployed for Public Health and Clinical Microbiology

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Conveners:
PETER GERNER-SMIDT; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
DAG HARMSEN; University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

Invited Speakers:
PETER GERNER-SMIDT; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
DAG HARMSEN; University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
MICHAEL L. METZKER; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
THOMAS BRIESE; Columbia University, New York, NY
ERIC SCHADT; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

Description:
During the Haiti Cholera 2010 and the German EHEC 2011 epidemics, NGS technologies were used for the first time nearly in real-time to elucidate bacterial outbreaks. For detection of new or unknown viral infections NGS is already in use since 1-2 years. It is therefore expected that rapid NGS platforms- especially the affordable desktop NGS machines - will soon find widespread use first in public health for prospective genomic surveillance. Furthermore, the technology will find most probably rapidly its way into clinical microbiology for individual patient diagnostics. The session will start with giving an overview of the Haiti Cholera and German EHEC NGS experiences. Then the presence and future of NGS platforms with a focus on rapid NGS machines will be presented. Next an overview of NGS usage for unbiased viral detection in human tissue will be delivered. Finally, innovative approaches to monitor infectious disease activity will be discussed.

Patterns and Maintenance of Microbial Diversity

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
MARTIN POLZ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Invited Speakers:
JED FUHRMAN; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
MARTIN POLZ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, Division N Lecturer
WILLIAM HANAGE; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Description:
Microbes are extraordinarily diverse, not only in terms of their genetics and metabolism, but even in the fundamental evolutionary processes that give rise to their diversity. Understanding how these processes interact with ecology to produce the patterns we see in nature is one of the grand challenges of microbiology. We will explore recent advances in microbial community analysis and population genomics that move toward an integrated picture of the mechanisms that create and maintain diversity from complex communities of many species, to individual genomic lineages. Questions to be explored are: how finely tuned are microbial populations to their environment, and what is the role of abiotic and biotic interactions in creating community structure? What is the extent of genomic diversity within populations and how do mutation, recombination and horizontal gene transfer combine with selection to create it? Finally, what types of environmental and organismal interactions are responsible for selection of the high level of genomic diversity among closely related isolates within microbial populations? The session will also pay particular attention to novel technological advances both in sequencing and data analysis that have catapulted microbial community and population analysis to a new level.

Real-time Analysis of Host-Pathogen Interactions

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
IAN GLOMSKI; University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA

Invited Speakers:
JOANNE FLYNN; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, Division U Lecturer
IAN GLOMSKI; University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA
R. MARK WOOTEN; University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, OH


Description:
Classical methodologies for studying the interactions of bacterial pathogens with their hosts typically lack the ability to capture data at the cellular level in real time. Instead, they provide snap shots of events in asynchronously infected hosts or simplified tissue culture models of infection. This session will focus on the application of emergent technologies to study the interaction of bacterial pathogens with their respective hosts in real-time. The goal of the session is to highlight for attendees the unprecedented, and often unexpected, insights into the infectious process that these technologies provide.

The Role of Lipids in Bacterial Pathogenesis: Offensive and Defensive Strategies

3:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Conveners:
BETH MCCORMICK; University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
JASON HUNTLEY; University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, OH

Invited Speakers:
SAM BEHAR; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
JOHN LEONG; Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
META KUEHN; Duke University, Durham, NC

Description:
This session integrates an emerging area of investigation exploring the role of lipids during bacterial infections. Speakers will highlight the diversity and broad applicability of host and pathogen lipids during bacterial infections. Topic areas will range from the role of host lipids that control and/or promote disease, to bacterial lipids (membrane vesicles) that deliver virulence factors or toxins to host cells, to innovative vaccine development strategies using bacterial membrane vesicles. By including lipids in typically protein-dominated virulence factor paradigms, this session will provide attendees with new information to better understand host-pathogen interactions. The session is designed to appeal to microbiologists, cell biologists, and immunologists.

Your Topics, Your Voice, Your Choice: An Experiment in Collaborative Filtering

3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Convener:
HAZEL BARTON; University of Akron, Akron, OH

Invited Speakers:
To be determined by voting via online consensus at http://asmgm.uservoice.com. The submission deadline closes Feb. 1, 2012 at 2:00 p.m, ET. The top 5 voted topics will then be approved by March 1, 2012.

Description:
Collaborative filtering is a process where a community of individuals work together to identify useful or interesting content based on its impact, validity and/or relevance to the community. This year, the ASM Communications Committee is carrying out an experiment to see what effect collaborative filtering has on the content of our session at asm2012 in San Francisco, June 16-19, 2012.

This approach has been used at a number of conferences as a new way to choose topics of interest to attendees. To date, such approaches have primarily been used in the computer programming, internet development and information technology community.

Any presenter with a topic of interest to the greater microbiology community can submit a title, along with a short description of their presentation. The authors of the top five topics chosen by the online registered community will then be invited to present their topic in San Francisco on June 19 and will receive a travel subsidy of $800 (or $1200 for international submitters). To submit, vote and comment on topics, go to the website at http://asmgm.uservoice.com and register.