ASM News2006–2007 Election Results

National Officers, 2006–2007

Diane E. Griffin, Johns Hopkins School of Pub-lic Health, Baltimore, Md., is the new presidentof ASM for a 1-year term beginning 1 July 2006.

Clifford W. Houston, University of Texas Med-ical Branch, Galveston, Tex., is the new presi-dent-elect of ASM for a 1-year term beginning 1July 2006.

Judy A. Daly, University of Utah, Salt Lake City,has been reelected as secretary of ASM for herninth term beginning 1 July 2006.

Ronald B. Luftig, Louisiana State UniversityHealth Science Center, New Orleans, has beenreelected as treasurer of ASM for his eighth termbeginning 1 July 2006.

Divisional Group Representatives,

2006–2008

Two of the four divisional groups elected grouprepresentatives for 2-year terms beginning 1 July2006.

Divisional Group II (Pathogenesis and Host Re-sponse Mechanisms): Harry L. Mobley, Univer-sity of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor,Mich.

Divisional Group III (General and Applied Mi-crobiology): Matt Kane, National Science Foun-dation, Arlington, Va.

Divisional Officers, 2006

The members of ASM’s 27 divisions electedofficers for terms beginning 1 July 2006. Chairsand chairs-elect serve a one-year term, and alter-nate councilors serve a two-year term. The Ta-ble of Divisional Officers for 2006 is on page147.

New ASM Video Podcast Exploresthe Microbial World

On Tuesday, 31 January, ASM launched a seriesof 15- to 25-minute video podcasts of the PBStelevision series Intimate Strangers: Unseen Lifeon Earth. The weekly video podcast explores themicrobial world and how life has evolvedover Earth’s 3.8-billion-year history. IntimateStrangers: Unseen Life on Earth features manywell-known scientists, from Craig Venter, wholed the way for mapping the human genome, toCarl Woese, who redrew the tree of life as weknow it. Throughout the video podcast, viewersmeet other scientists across the globe working toinvestigate the microbial world in diverse set-tings, from a termite’s stomach to a hospitaloperating room to the radioactive soil of Cher-nobyl.

The series was underwritten in part by ASMand originally aired on PBS in 1999. It wasA

SMN

ews

134 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

produced in high-definition television format,featuring state-of-the-art microphotographyand photorealistic 3-D animation. The videopodcast version of Intimate Strangers: UnseenLife on Earth is formatted specifically for Ap-ple’s video iPod and can be exported to televi-sion sets with a level of quality equal to that of a

standard television broadcast. This can be doneusing a regular AV cable. The video podcast canalso be viewed directly on a computer usingQuicktime 7 or RealPlayer 10 media software.

The video podcast of Intimate Strangers: Un-seen Life on Earth and ASM’s MicrobeWorldRadio daily audio podcast are part of ASM’s

Subscribing to Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth Video Podcast UsingApple’s iTunes as an Example

• Under the “Advanced” menu item click on “Subscribe to. . .• A new window opens with a text field.• Enter ASM’s URL feed address, http://feeds.feedburner.com/asm, to subscribe to the video podcast.• iTunes will automatically display a listing of recent Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth episodes with a

description for each one.• Click on the desired feature. iTunes will download the file and play it automatically.• Each week a new episode of Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth will be imported automatically into

iTunes.

Weekly video podcast episodes of Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth include:

Episode 1: “The Quest.” Join Karl Stetter on a mission to find the closest living relative of the first life on Earthas he discovers a strain of bacteria he names Thermatoga.

Episode 2: “Harvesting the Puzzle.” A new understanding of life on Earth has forced us to redraw the tree of life.Carl Woese and Norman Pace describe the process and challenges of categorizing microbial life.

Episode 3: “. . . Who We Are.” Karen Nelson and Craig Venter map the genome of Thermatoga, the microbesKarl Stetter discovered in “The Quest,” and find convincing evidence that Thermatoga’s origins are very close tothe beginning of life on Earth.

Episode 4: “The View from the Forest.” Dan Janzen and Ignacio Chapela catalog both the larger and microbiallife forms inside a single ecosystem in Costa Rica, finding that neither plants, animals, nor microbes would be ableto exist without the others.

Episode 5: “Oceans of Microbes.” Steven Giovannoni finds microbes in the most unusual places in the ocean andattempts to grow a mystery microbe in the lab.

Episode 6: “Dangerous Friends & Friendly Enemies.” Stuart Levy and Fred Koster track a mystery killer from aNavajo community in New Mexico with help from C. J. Peters with the Centers for Disease Control.

Episode 7: “A ‘Friendly’ Enemy.” A look at the common food pathogen called Salmonella and how it spreads.And, the hunt for the source of English Sweating Sickness that once ravaged the English countryside in the 15thand 16th centuries.

Episode 8: “Life in a Contaminated World.” In underdeveloped countries, poor conditions increase the risk ofdisease and scarce medical resources make it harder to treat disease properly. Witness how a strain of hantavirusin Argentina evolves to pass between humans without an intermediate host.

Episode 9: “Resistance Fighters.” As antibiotics lose their ability to curtail infectious diseases, scientists are busylooking for new, more effective drugs from the soil of a park in Vancouver to the radioactive environment ofChernobyl.

Episode 10: “A New Age.” Explore the future of microbes and how they can improve the quality of life on Earththrough genetic engineering, bioremediation, and electronics.

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 135

public outreach strategy to promote the scienceof microbiology through new technology. Pod-casting offers consumers the ability to time shiftradio and television programming so they canlisten to or watch their favorite shows wheneverit is convenient for them. ASM hopes studentsand teachers will take advantage of this new

delivery method and utilize ASM’s au-dio and video materials on their own orin the classroom.

Viewers can access ASM’s video pod-cast of Intimate Strangers: Unseen Lifeon Earth by entering ASM’s URL feedaddress—http://feeds.feedburner.com/asm—into Apple’s iTunes or anotherpodcast receiver such as Juice or Dopp-ler. Detailed instructions and resourcesfor subscribing to Intimate Strangers:Unseen Life on Earth and ASM’s audiopodcast, “MicrobeWorld Radio,” areavailable on ASM’s MicrobeWorld web-site at www.microbeworld.org.

For additional information on Inti-mate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earthand MicrobeWorld Radio’s daily pod-cast, please contact Chris Condayan,manager, public outreach, at 202–942-9302 or e-mail ccondayan@asmusa.org.

MicrobeLibrary—NewFeatures, New Collection,and New Services from 2005

Take time to visit the ASM Microbe-Library (www.MicrobeLibrary.org) fea-turing 1,400 peer-reviewed resources forteaching undergraduate microbiology.In 2005, the site underwent majorchanges, introducing new productsand services and a graphically friendlyportal page. All of the changes are theresult of member recommendations tothe ASM Committee on Technology-Enhanced Education of the EducationBoard. Erica Suchman, chair of theCommittee, says “We are excited aboutthe new changes and early support fromsubscribers. We anticipate increased ac-tivity from both MicrobeLibrary usersand contributors, thus building a largercommunity of undergraduate facultycommitted to publishing excellent re-sources.”

In September, the MicrobeLibrary introduceda new collection, the Atlas-Protocol Collection.The Atlas includes a series of images that sup-port the learning and use of a standard microbi-ology protocol. The Protocol includes infor-mation pertinent to teaching undergraduatemicrobiology. Five protocols, Blood Agar Plate,

2005 Branch Logo Contest Winners Announced

In December 2005, the Branch Organization Committee proudly an-nounced two winners for the Branch Logo Contest. The Branch Orga-nization Committee sponsored the contest to solicit a new logo for theASM Branch program. Any individual was eligible to participate;however, each entry was required to be sponsored by an ASM Branchin order to be considered. Response to the contest was overwhelminglypositive, with a total of 145 entries submitted by the 1 Octoberdeadline.

The Branch Organization Committee selected two winning entriesbased on their artistic merit and representation of Branch programs.The two logos will be used for distinct purposes with regard to Branchactivities. The two winning entries were designed by Rhoel Dinglasan(sponsored by the Maryland Branch) and Trina Vellani (sponsored bythe Florida Branch). In recognition of their efforts, each artist receiveda $1,000 prize and each sponsoring Branch received a $500 prize.

Rhoel Dinglasan’s entry (left, below) embodies the interconnectedrelationship between ASM and its Branches and has been chosen toserve as the general logo for ASM Branches. This logo will appear on allBranch-related stationery and promotional materials. Additionally,this logo will be made available for Branches to use at any time inconnection with their Branch activities. The artwork produced byTrina Vellani (right, below) encompasses the diverse interests of ASMBranches and its members and will serve as the graphic backdrop of theBranch Booth at the ASM General Meeting.

The Branch Organization Committee is excited to incorporate bothlogos into the Branch program. The Branch Organization Committeewould also like to thank all of the individuals who participated in thecontest for their creative efforts and the Branches who sponsored theentries for their support.

136 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

Gram Stain, MacConkey Agar Plate, Serial Di-lution, and Triple Sugar Iron Agar, feature 139new images linked to each protocol’s purpose,history, recipes, methods, and interpretation ofresult. “A better picture and description arealways available in the library for laboratoryuse. The Atlas-Protocol Project provides pic-tures and information on a variety of media andstains. These are especially valuable when I donot have the resources or organisms for demon-stration,” says Kristine Snow, a library sub-scriber and author from Fox Valley TechnicalCollege in Appleton, Wis.

Also in September, the MicrobeLibrary intro-duced a more graphical presentation of the por-tal page. Images representing the five collectionsand new navigational buttons were introduced.The system was streamlined to allow quickeraccess to search results and resources. The“About” feature provides information aboutthe collections, the focus and targeted audience,the respective editorial boards and processes,and instructions to authors about publishing inMicrobeLibrary.

Early in 2005, the MicrobeLibrary intro-duced subscriptions for full text articles, re-views, and curriculum activities. The articlescome from three sources—the Microbiology Ed-ucation journal, the Focus on Microbiology Ed-ucation quarterly, and Microbe (formerly ASMNews). Microbiology Education publishes evi-dence-based research in microbiology educa-tion, and the Focus on Microbiology Educationquarterly publishes practical tips and features inmicrobiology teaching, learning, advising, andoutreach. Reviews come from both Focus onMicrobiology Education and Microbe. The cur-riculum collection features activities for both theclassroom and the laboratory for both lower-and upper-division microbiology courses.About 200 new resources, introduced regularlysix times per year, are added to MicrobeLibrary.

During the 2005 ASM Council meeting,members urged the Society to add access toMicrobeLibrary on the membership join andrenewal forms. Members, when renewing theirmembership and journals for 2006, were able toadd a subscription to ML. Early estimates indi-cate that subscriptions grew 200% by this singlechange. In addition the ML became available inthe ASM eStore with online products.

In October, the BiosciedNet (BEN Collabora-tive), a clearinghouse of biology resources pro-

vided by 23 professional scientific society part-ners (of which ASM is a founding partner),received a 4-year, $4-million grant to providestewardship to the biological sciences commu-nity. In this new initiative the ML will increaseits reach into the educational and research com-munities.

If you are not yet a subscriber to the Microbe-Library, consider a subscription today. TheASM member rate for one year is $25 and isavailable at http://e-store.asm.org. Please sendcomments or suggestions about the Microbe-Library to MicrobeLibrary@asmusa.org.

Book Browsing andBuying Made Easier

Searching for and buying a book from ASMPress online continues to get easier as new op-tions from a number of online retailers becomeavailable.

“Customers can continue to purchase booksas they always have, or they may take advantageof the new features made available to themthrough the ASM eStore, Amazon, Google, orPubMed,” says Jeff Holtmeier, Director of ASMPress.

Buyers who choose to purchase ASM Pressbooks via Amazon (www.amazon.com) willsoon encounter an enhanced shopping experi-ence. Most ASM Press titles that are available onAmazon.com will be searchable, at least in alimited way. ASM Press is a participant in the“Search Inside the Book” program, which al-lows customers to search a limited amount of abook’s content prior to making a purchase deci-sion. Customers were previously provided witha brief description of an ASM Press title; nowprospective buyers can access the table of con-tents, preface, and index, and can select to viewportions of chapters.

ASM Press also recently signed an agreementwith Google to participate in a program similarto Search Inside the Book. Google’s program iscalled Google Print. Google allows similarsearching capability. Approximately 80% ofASM Press’s active titles are being made avail-able to Google Print. Clicking on an ASM Pressbook during a Google search presents the buyerwith several purchase options, including theASM eStore and Amazon.com. Purchasers areinvited to compare pricing and availability of

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 137

the title and to select their desired purchaseoutlet. However, ASM members can receivetheir special member discounted prices only byclicking on the ASM eStore.

Still another search opportunity will be avail-able for those interested in ASM Press archivaleditions. A select number of complete volumeswill be available for searching on the NationalLibrary of Medicine PubMed site. Visitors tothis site are permitted to view the completecontents of each book posted. If a visitor decidesto purchase the title, a direct link to the ASMeStore is provided. Books are currently beingadded to this site and are estimated to appear inApril of 2006.

Book buyers accustomed to purchasing di-rectly from ASM Press are no doubt alreadyfamiliar with the new eStore, http://estore.asm.org. The eStore is a customer-friendly site thatincludes a broad selection of ASM products forthe individual shopper, including conferenceregistration, subscriptions to ASM journals,book purchases, and subscriptions to Web prod-ucts. Navigation is easy, as products are orga-nized by category. Buyers of books, electronicproducts, or Web subscription products cansimply click on the appropriate links to proceeddown the purchase path of choice. Buyers shop-ping for ASM Press textbooks will find completetables of contents and at least two sample chap-ters of new textbook publications posted on theASM eStore.

ASM Tsunami Relief FundGrants Financial Aid toWHO Program in Aceh

On 26 December 2004, after learning about thetsunami catastrophe in Asia, ASM officers im-mediately approved an initial donation of$30,000 and launched the ASM Tsunami Relief/Recovery Fund. ASM then partnered with thePan American Health and Education Founda-tion (PAHEF), a close partner of the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), in establishing amechanism to collect and disburse funds for theAsian tsunami relief effort. A notification wassent to all ASM members and staff, encouragingthose who wished to contribute to visit thePAHEF’s website. A total of $7,000 has beenreceived to date. The goal of the fund is tocontribute towards strengthening microbiologi-

cal infrastructure, thus helping the long-termwell-being of the people in the devastated areas.

Officers from WHO made a presentation ontheir tsunami recovery initiatives during the In-ternational Committee meeting at the 2005ASM General Meeting in Atlanta, Ga. As afollow-up to that presentation, last NovemberMohammad Youssef, WHO Lyon Office forEpidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response,sent a proposal on “Capacity Building of Micro-biology Laboratories in Aceh Province, Indone-sia” to be reviewed by ASM and PAHEF.

The assessment of the laboratory system inAceh province was conducted through shortmissions of different experts dispatched to Acehjust after the tsunami, and a more extensiveassessment was carried out in May 2005. Rec-ommendations for laboratory capacity buildingincluded retraining of laboratory staff, improve-ment of managerial skills of laboratory supervi-sors, recruitment and training of laboratorytechnologists, implementation of external andinternal quality control and quality assuranceprograms for communicable diseases (tubercu-losis and malaria, in particular), and coordina-tion and collaboration between laboratories.

The ASM Fund will go to support the generalobjective of building laboratory capacity fordiagnosis and confirmation of communicablediseases and investigation of outbreaks. Specifi-cally, the aims of the proposal are to improvemanagement capacity of laboratory directors toenable them to better plan, supervise, and eval-uate laboratory activities; provide short-termtraining for laboratory technicians on good lab-oratory practices and improve laboratory ca-pacity in the detection and diagnosis of commu-nicable diseases; provide long-term training forlab technologists; carry out laboratory-basedsurveillance and operational research of com-municable diseases; and build a systematic spec-imen collection and referral system for diagnos-tic testing in order to monitor communicabledisease burden in tsunami-affected communi-ties. The project will be conducted in Aceh Besarand Aceh Barat districts. The population thatwill benefit from this project is around 126,000(24,000 families) in Banda Aceh, 122,000(27,000 families) in Aceh Besar district, and113,000 (26,000 families) in Aceh Barat district.

PAHEF has approved the proposal as recom-mended by ASM and the project will becomeeffective 15 January 2006.

138 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

The project is expected to provide laboratorytechnicians with the necessary training to delivergood-quality services. In addition, reliable diag-nostic testing will be made available in labora-tories to support patient management, surveil-lance of communicable diseases, and externaland internal quality control programs for ma-laria and TB will be established for laboratoriesin Aceh province. The project is also expected toimprove connectivity with the central govern-ment laboratory system and establish collabora-tion between laboratory staff in Aceh and ASMmembers in the region for future development ofoperational research activities.

The program will begin in the early months of2006 with two months of in-country training forlaboratory technicians at the central govern-ment laboratories in Java and one week of man-agement training for Aceh and Central labora-tory directors in Malaysia, followed by deliveryof reagents and supplies to the laboratories.Three laboratory technicians from Aceh andCentral labs will then be sent to Malaysia forone month of training. The quality control pro-grams for tuberculosis and malaria will be estab-lished in June 2006. Follow-up visits and pro-gram evaluations will take place in September.

In the long term, if sufficient funds are avail-able, three biologists will be selected (one fromMeulaboh hospital labs and two to be identifiedfrom laboratories in Banda Aceh) to enroll in a2-year graduate training program in clinical mi-crobiology in universities in Indonesia or Ma-laysia.

ASM in China:Broadening Perspectives

On 7–10 November 2005, ASM held a mini-course entitled “Genetics, Genomics, Virulence,and Diagnostics in Salmonella” in southernChina. The course was taught at the GuangxiZhuang Autonomous Region Center for DiseasePrevention and Control in the city of Nanning.China has a profound interest in infectious dis-eases, in part due to those that have made thenews, like SARS and avian influenza, but alsobecause of emerging problems that are not aswidely recognized. For example, in this region ofChina, there have been high rates of typhoidfever and, more recently, paratyphoid fever.

The 20 students who participated in the

course were staff scientists at various Chineseinstitutions. Most of the students were at thepostdoctoral stage or about to conclude theirdoctoral studies. The aim was to provide abroad conceptual perspective on the study ofbacterial pathogens; stressing the ability to at-tack scientific problems from a variety of van-tage points. Simultaneous translation to Chinesewas provided by a group of talented and enthu-siastic students, who clearly reflected the prom-ise that the minicourse will have a significantimpact on their further development. The fac-ulty included Edmundo Calva from the Institutode Biotecnologıa, UNAM, Cuernavaca, Mexico;Rob Edwards and Stanley Maloy, both from theCenter for Microbial Studies at San Diego StateUniversity, San Diego, Calif.; and Nick Thom-son, from the Sanger/Wellcome Institute, Cam-bridge, United Kingdom.

Salmonella was presented as a model organ-ism for the study of virulence gene regulationand bacterial pathogenesis. The course includedlectures on the diseases presented by Salmonellain humans and in other hosts, genetic regulation,molecular genetic tools for identifying and char-acterizing virulence genes, the organization andfunction of pathogenicity islands, and genomicsand bioinformatics (including practical lessonsin sequence comparison, database searching,annotation, and comparative genomics). Thesebasic concepts are essential for understandingbacterial pathogenesis, yet students in the coursehad limited prior exposure to these concepts.Hence, it was gratifying to be able to share withour Chinese students the many possibilities thatlay ahead for them.

A final section on diversity, detection, anddiagnosis discussed applications of genetic poly-morphisms for molecular fingerprinting, linking

Nanning workshop faculty and students.

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 139

molecular genetics to epidemiology, diagnostics,and taxonomy. The course ended by a generaldiscussion on how, by bringing together geneticsand genomics, it is possible to generate powerfulconceptual and experimental tools to better un-derstand infectious disease and improve diag-nostics. The success of the course was empha-sized by the questions, enthusiastic discussions,and animated participation in hands-on sessionsusing computers to learn bioinformatic tools.

The course was organized prior to the “WHOSixth International Conference on Typhoid Fe-ver and Other Salmonelloses: from Research toPolicy—Towards Effective Control of TyphoidFever,” held in the city of Guilin, in centralChina, on 12–14 November. The other cospon-sors were the International Vaccine Institute andthe Guangxi Centers for Disease Prevention andControl, with the scientific collaboration ofASM. This was the continuation of a seriesinitiated by Tikki Pang in 1991, then at theUniversity of Malaysia. The spirit, since its in-ception and carried on to date, is to have a broadperspective on the diseases caused by Salmo-nella, including themes ranging from molecularpathogenesis and genomics to epidemiology, to-gether with antimicrobial resistance, clinicaland therapeutic aspects, public health issues,diagnostics, vaccine development, and taxon-omy. The meeting included speakers from abroad group of countries from both the devel-oped and the developing world.

Two opening keynote lecturers were ASMPresident Stanley Maloy, on “Advances in Sal-monella Biology,” and ASM InternationalCommittee Chair Keith Klugman, on “WhereAre We with Vaccines?” Edmundo Calva, Chairof the ASM International Membership Commit-tee, was a member of the conference ScientificCommittee and also a speaker.

Prior to the conference in Guilin, Lily Schuer-mann, ASM Director of International Affairs,organized a meeting between the ASM represen-tatives and a delegation of high-level officials ofthe Chinese Society for Microbiology (CSM).They were Jianguo Xu, CSM Vice-President andLaboratory Director of Molecular Medical Bac-teriology at the Chinese CDC; Xiao Changsong,Secretary General and Director of the Office ofthe CSM, from the Institute of Microbiology,Chinese Academy of Sciences; and DongXiuzhu, Professor, Institute of Microbiology,Chinese Academy of Sciences. Many possible

venues for increased cooperation between thetwo societies were discussed. Plans to implementthese suggestions are currently in progress.

In addition to the immediate benefits, theseinitial activities in China will serve to broadenthe international outreach of the ASM. In thesame way that bacterial pathogenesis is bestcomprehended by studying it from a variety ofangles, the ASM membership has much to offerand to learn from diverse international perspec-tives.

Underrepresented MembersCommittee Retreat

On 2–3 December 2005, the UnderrepresentedMembers Committee (UMC) held a retreat atASM Headquarters. The mission of the commit-tee is to promote full and complete participationof all of ASM’s diverse membership at all levelsof the Society, with a special focus on racial andethnic minority members. Volunteers presentincluded Maureen Wright, chair; committeemembers Maria Alvarez, Arnold Demain, andLizzie Harrell; George W. Counts, past chair;and Toby K. Eisenstein, chair, MembershipBoard. The committee discussed its past initia-tives and future goals, in particular, its minorityvolunteer recruitment efforts, the MinorityMentoring Program, and future opportunitiesfor outreach to minority microbiologists.

Since its establishment in 1997, the committeehas worked diligently to establish new and inno-vative programs. These efforts include the mi-nority volunteer recruitment campaign, collec-tion of demographic data, the Faces of ASMarticle series in ASM News/Microbe, and co-sponsorship of the Minority Mixer and Minor-ity Affairs Booth at the ASM General Meeting.Support for these programs has been historicallypositive from ASM members and leaders. Toencourage the inclusion of minority microbiolo-gists in the ASM volunteer structure, the com-mittee will continue to promote the importanceof diversity to committee chairs and journaleditors.

The committee also addressed how its effortscan be increased at the General Meeting. Thecommittee feels that direct interaction with mi-nority members is important in communicatingthe sense of support these individuals associate

140 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

with ASM. Thus, the committee plans to in-crease its involvement in the Student Loungeand facilitate face-to-face interaction betweenmembers and online mentors of the MinorityMentoring Program. The committee will host“Meet the Mentor” hours at the Minority Af-fairs Booth which all online mentors will beencouraged to attend.

One of the UMC’s most important initiativesis the Minority Mentoring Program. Establishedin February 2005, support for the program hasbeen overwhelmingly positive, with almost 300ASM members signed up as online mentors.Through the Minority Mentoring Program web-site, any individual can search the mentor data-base and contact volunteers matching their men-toring needs. In November, the committeesurveyed the online mentors for feedback aboutthe frequency with which they have been con-tacted and the mentoring needs of individualswho have contacted them. Based on the re-sponses from the online mentors, the committeewill update the Minority Mentoring Programwith new features to enhance the website. Thesefeatures will include a guide for mentorees ex-plaining how to best contact mentors and pursuean online mentoring relationship, and revisionsto the website for the most useful presentationof mentor information for mentorees.

The committee discussed increasing outreachto minority microbiologists in new arenas. Thecommittee plans to promote the establishmentof ASM Student Chapters at Historically BlackColleges and Universities and Hispanic-ServingInstitutions and is currently developing a modelfor successful outreach at these institutions. Ad-ditionally, the committee discussed how it canincrease its participation at minority sciencemeetings to reach the member population it isdedicated to serving. The committee also plansto work more closely with community collegefaculty and minority science associations toshare information about the UMC and its sup-port of minority microbiologists.

The committee continues to be committed toworking collaboratively with ASM’s other mi-nority-focused committees through the Minor-ity Coalition. For the committee, the retreat wasproductive and successful in helping to examinecurrent initiatives and plans for future activities.As the UMC moves forward, it welcomes feed-back from all ASM members.

2006 General MeetingAward Laureates

The Committee on Awards is pleased to presentpart two of a three-part series on the 2006General Meeting awardees.

Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award

Proudly supported by Abbott Laboratories, theAbbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award for2006 is presented to R. John Collier, Ph.D.,Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Micro-biology and Molecular Genetics at HarvardMedical School, Boston, Mass., and Fellow ofthe American Academy of Microbiology. Col-lier is honored for his outstanding contributionsand research in the field of bacterial proteintoxins.

Collier received his B.A. in Biology from RiceUniversity in Houston, Tex., and his Ph.D. inBiology from Harvard University. He per-formed postdoctoral studies in the MolecularBiology Institute at the University of Geneva,Switzerland.

Collier was the first to show that a toxicprotein could enter human cells and inactivatean intracellular target molecule. This discovery,made with diphtheria toxin, set the stage forlater findings by other researchers that manybacterial toxins (e.g., cholera, shigella, botuli-num, tetanus, and anthrax toxins) act by enzy-matically modifying target molecules withinmammalian cells. Collier’s investigations of thestructure and enzymatic basis of diphtheriatoxin action are classic studies in medical micro-biology and infectious disease. His research onseveral bacterial toxins has yielded atomic-levelunderstanding of their structures and theirmodes of action.

Collier has received considerable attention inrecent years for his research on the toxin pro-duced by Bacillus anthracis. These studies, be-gun in the late 1980s, were undertaken with theprimary goal of understanding how the threeproteins that constitute anthrax toxin interact tocause toxic responses. His research has given usa detailed understanding of how one of theproteins forms a pore in membranes and howthe other two, which are enzymes, use this poreto cross the endosomal membrane and gain ac-cess to their substrates in the mammalian cellcytosol. He has also revealed novel ways to

Collier

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 141

inhibit the action of anthrax toxin and to usethis and other toxins in the development ofpharmaceuticals.

Collier has received prestigious awards andhonors, including election to membership in theNational Academy of Sciences and Fellowshipat the American Academy of Arts and Science.He received the Eli Lilly and Company ResearchAward in 1972 and, more recently, the SelmanA. Waksman Award in Microbiology, theBristol-Myers Squibb Award for DistinguishedAchievement in Infectious Diseases Research,and the Humboldt Research Award.

Collier was nominated by John J. Mekalanos,a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbi-ology and Chair of the Department of Microbi-ology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medi-cal School.

The bioMerieux Sonnenwirth Award for

Leadership in Clinical Microbiology

Given in memory of Alexander Sonnenwirthand supported by bioMerieux, Inc., the bio-Merieux Sonnenwirth Award for Leadership inClinical Microbiology honors Janet A. (Fick)Hindler, MCLS, Senior Specialist, Clinical Mi-crobiology Laboratory, University of Californiaat Los Angeles Medical Center and a Fellow ofthe American Academy of Microbiology. TheAward recognizes her 34 years of contributionsand commitment to the field of clinical microbi-ology.

Hindler received her B.S. in Biology fromAlbright College, Reading, Pa., her MedicalTechnology Certificate from Duke University,Durham, N.C., and her Master’s in ClinicalLaboratory Science from the University of Cali-fornia at San Francisco.

She has written and taught extensively in thearea of antimicrobial susceptibility testing.From 2000 to 2004, Hindler collaborated withthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) to prepare educational materials andconduct training programs in antimicrobial sus-ceptibility testing throughout the country. Theseprograms were offered with the Association ofPublic Health Laboratories (APHL) NationalLaboratory Training Network, which is sup-ported by CDC. In 2004, Hindler was awardedCDC’s Partners in Public Health Award. Hin-dler has continued to provide educational pro-grams as a consultant to APHL. Since 2000, she

has delivered training in antimicrobial suscepti-bility testing to over 20,000 clinical microbiolo-gists. In recognition of the urgent global impor-tance of susceptibility testing, Hindler hasconducted training programs in several nationsthroughout the developing world on behalf ofthe World Health Organization. Hindler’s pri-mary professional goal is to provide antimicro-bial susceptibility testing information to clinicallaboratory scientists and clinicians.

In 1987, Hindler served on the Dowdle Com-mission Report task force to gain increasingrecognition for clinical microbiologists withinASM. She served as chair of Division C and onthe Waksman Foundation for MicrobiologyLecturer Committee, which she has chairedsince 1997. She is Past President of the SouthernCalifornia Branch of ASM. Some of her mostsignificant contributions have been with theClinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI, formerly NCCLS) Subcommittee on An-timicrobial Susceptibility Testing, on which shehas served since 1991.

Hindler was nominated by Fred Tenover, aFellow of the American Academy of Microbiol-ogy, of the CDC.

Eli Lilly and Company Research Award

The 2006 Eli Lilly and Company ResearchAward is presented to Bonnie Lynn Bassler,Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute and

the Department of Mo-lecular Biology at Prince-ton University. Bassler, aFellow of the AmericanAcademy of Microbiol-ogy, is honored for herresearch in bacterial cell-cell communication andfor leading contributionsto the understanding ofthe molecular mecha-nisms underlying this

communication process, called quorum sensing.Bassler received her B.S. in Biochemistry from

the University of California at Davis and herPh.D., also in Biochemistry, at The Johns Hop-kins University, Baltimore, Md. She performedpostdoctoral research at The Agouron Institutein La Jolla, Calif.

Bassler’s research touches on many of themost actively investigated topics in current mi-

Hindler

Bassler

142 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

crobiology, due in part to her groundbreakinginterdisciplinary experiments. She discoveredthat the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi usestwo distinct chemical signals to control behaviorvia quorum sensing. The first system involves atypical gram-negative acyl-homoserine lactone-type signal molecule, but the second system in-volves a novel signal molecule. Bassler showedthat the non-acyl-homoserine lactone signalingmolecule is produced and detected by a widevariety of bacterial species, leading to the notionthat this molecule mediates interspecies cell-cellcommunication.

Bassler’s work has led to the development ofnew therapeutic approaches for control of infec-tions. Her idea that quorum sensing allows bac-teria to communicate across species boundariesis causing new ground to be broken in the areasof evolution of multicellularity and collectivebehaviors. Bassler has published work that hasspanned the disciplines of microbial genetics,biochemistry, structural biology, chemistry, andbioinformatics.

Bassler has received many awards and hon-ors, including the Theobald Smith SocietyWaksman Award and the W.R. Grace & Com-pany Fellowship, and she became a MacArthurFoundation Fellow in 2002.

Bassler was nominated by E. Peter Greenberg,a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbi-ology, formerly of the Department of Microbi-ology at the University of Iowa, now at theUniversity of Washington.

GlaxoSmithKline International

Member of the Year Award

The 2006 GlaxoSmithKline International Mem-ber of the Year Award is presented for the firsttime to Niels Hoiby, M.D., Chairman of theDepartment of Clinical Microbiology and Pro-fessor of Medical Microbiology at the Univer-sity of Copenhagen. Hoiby, a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Microbiology, is beinghonored as a distinguished international mem-ber of ASM for his remarkable career in the fieldof clinical microbiology, immunology, and in-fectious diseases.

Hoiby received his M.D. at the University ofCopenhagen in Denmark and was appointedresident at the Department of Gynecology, Ob-stetrics, and Medicine and in the Department ofClinical Microbiology. He completed his doc-

toral thesis towards his D.M.Sc. degree at theUniversity of Copenhagen. Hoiby held differentpositions in the Department of Clinical Micro-biology at the University of Copenhagen until hebecame chair of the Department of Clinical Mi-crobiology in 1981, a position he has held eversince.

Hoiby is a specialist in pulmonary infection inthe cystic fibrosis patient and is a member of themedical advisory board of the Danish CysticFibrosis Association and past president of theEuropean Cystic Fibrosis Society. As an infec-tious disease specialists, Hoiby has been a mem-ber of the Executive Committee of the EuropeanSociety for Clinical Microbiology and InfectiousDiseases for 10 years, and founder and chair-man of the ESCMID Biofilm Study Group.

Throughout his career, Hoiby has given over500 lectures and presentations at national andinternational scientific meetings and has pub-lished almost 700 articles, including 350 fullpapers in scientific peer-reviewed journals. Hehas also served as President of the Danish Soci-ety for Clinical Microbiology and became amember of ASM in 1980.

Hoiby has received numerous awards andhonors for his research, including the Familyhede Nielsen Foundation Research Award, theEssex Award for Danish Clinical Microbiolo-gists, and the Richard B. Talamo Award forDistinguished Clinical Achievement from theCystic Fibrosis Foundation (USA), and he isProfessor Honoris Causa of the Guangxi Medi-cal University, Nanning, China.

Hoiby was nominated by Daniel O. Sordelli,Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiol-ogy, University of Buenos Aires School of Med-icine, Argentina.

Procter & Gamble Award in Applied and

Environmental Microbiology

Supported by the Procter & Gamble Company,the Procter & Gamble Award in Applied andEnvironmental Microbiology is presented toDavid Stahl, Ph.D., Professor, Department ofCivil and Environmental Engineering, and Ad-junct Professor, Department of Microbiology,at the University of Washington. Stahl is hon-ored for his contributions to developing a con-ceptual framework, based on comparative nu-cleic acid sequencing, now commonly used to

Hoiby

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 143

study the abundance, distribution, and activitiesof microbes in the environment.

Stahl received his B.S. in Microbiology fromthe University of Washington in Seattle, and hisM.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology fromthe University of Illinois in Urbana. Stahl wenton to complete a National Institutes of HealthPostdoctoral Fellowship at the National JewishHospital and Research Center in Denver, Colo.

Stahl is recognized for pioneering studies doc-umenting the application of DNA probes de-signed within a phylogenetic framework forcharacterizing natural microbial populations,estimating their activity, and directing isolationin pure culture. His laboratory continues towork in several areas of applied and basic envi-ronmental microbiology, including studies ofthe ecology of human- and animal-associatedmicrobes, the ecology and evolution of sulfate-reducing and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, andwaste treatment.

Stahl, a Fellow of the American Academy ofMicrobiology, received the 1999 Bergey Awardand is one of the co-founding editors for the newjournal Environmental Microbiology. In addi-tion to serving a 5-year term appointment to theBoard of Governors of the American Academyof Microbiology, he is a board member of theInternational Society for Microbial Ecology.

Stahl was nominated by David C. White, aFellow of the American Academy of Microbiol-ogy, from the University of Tennessee.

Promega Biotechnology Research Award

The Promega Biotechnology Research Award,supported by the Promega Corporation, honorsMarvin H. Caruthers, Ph.D., Professor ofChemistry and Biochemistry at the University ofColorado in Boulder. Caruthers is being recog-nized for his pioneering research in nucleic acidchemistry that resulted in new methods nowuniversally used for the chemical synthesis ofDNA.

Caruthers received his B.S from Iowa StateUniversity and completed his Ph.D. at North-western University. Upon receiving his Ph.D.,Caruthers completed his postdoctoral fellow-ship at the University of Wisconsin.

Over the past decade, Caruthers’s research hasbecome absolutely essential for the biotechnol-ogy industry, enabling genetic engineering of

new drugs, such as human insulin, humangrowth hormone, and recombinant hemoglobinas a safe blood substitute. His work at the Uni-versity of Colorado dramatically changed theway in which research in molecular biology andmedicine is done. His innovations include theutilization of solid supports of silica to anchorthe growing chains of DNA during synthesis,the introduction of improved phosphoramiditebuilding blocks for DNA synthesis, and the au-tomation of the entire process. As a result, syn-thesis of a small gene that required dozens ofpersons and years in the 1970s can now beaccomplished by a single technician in a singleday.

Caruthers has received many awards andhonors, including Guggenheim Fellowship in1981 and the Elliott Cresson Medal of theFranklin Institute. He has also been elected tothe Academy of Sciences and the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2005received the National Academy’s Award forChemistry in Service to Society for his develop-ments in DNA synthetic technology.

Caruthers was nominated by Norman Pace, aFellow of the American Academy of Microbiol-ogy from the University of Colorado.

USFCC/J. Roger Porter Award

Martin Dworkin, Ph.D, Professor, Depart-ment of Microbiology, Medical School at theUniversity of Minnesota, and Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Microbiology, is hon-ored with the 2006 USFCC/J. Roger PorterAward. This award is supported by the UnitedStates Federation for Culture Collections (US-FCC) and ASM and recognizes Dworkin for hiscontributions to microbial diversity.

Dworkin received hisB.A. in Bacteriologyfrom Indiana University,Bloomington, and com-pleted his Ph.D. in Mi-crobiology at the Univer-sity of Texas at Austinunder the supervisionof Jackson Foster. Dr.Dworkin then went on toan NIH Postdoctoral Fel-lowship at the University

of California at Berkeley in the laboratory ofRoger Stanier.

Stahl

Caruthers

Dworkin

144 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

Dworkin has devoted his research career tostudying the developmental biology of themyxobacteria, with particular emphasis on thephysiology, biochemistry, and cell-cell interac-tions of Myxococcus xanthus. Dworkin wascodirector of the Marine Biological Laborato-ries Summer Course in Microbial Diversity atWoods Hole from 1989 to 1994. He has servedsince 1992 on the editorial board of The Pro-karyotes, the major reference work in prokary-otic microbiology, and is currently editor-in-chief.

Dworkin has received many awards and hon-ors, including two National Institutes of HealthCareer Development Awards; he was a JohnSimon Guggenheim Fellow from 1978–1979,and was elected a Fellow of the American Acad-emy of Arts and Sciences in 1997.

Dworkin was nominated by Lawrence J.Shimkets, Fellow of the American Academy ofMicrobiology, from the Department of Micro-biology at the University of Georgia, Athens.

2006 Morrison Rogosa Awardees

The Morrison Rogosa Award recognizes theoutstanding research accomplishment and po-tential of women scientists in former Easternbloc countries. The Award is given in honor ofDr. Morrison Rogosa for contributions to bac-teriology and to ASM. For more informationabout the Morrison Rogosa Award, visit thewebsite at http://www.asm.org/International/index.asp?bid�18870. Dilfuza Egamberdiyevaof the University of Uzbekistan and NataliaNaumova of the Institute of Cytology and Ge-netics of the Siberian Branch of the RussianAcademy of Sciences have been chosen to re-ceive this year’s awards.

Dilfuza Egamberdiyeva studied first at theTashkent State National University ofUzbekistan. She contin-ued her education in thefield of agricultural mi-crobiology at HumboldtUniversity in Berlin, Ger-many, from which she re-ceived her Ph.D. degree.Her thesis was entitled“The effect of ecologicalconditions on the rhizo-sphere, phyllosphere,

and soil bacterial phytoeffectivity on selectedagricultural crops.”

Egamberdiyeva was trained as a postdoctoralresearch fellow at the University of Florence inItaly and at Leiden University in the Nether-lands. In 2001, the Center for International Mo-bility (CIMO) awarded her a postdoctoral fel-lowship to work at the University of Helsinki,Finland. Because of her work performed whileabroad, she was able to publish articles in col-laboration with scientists from all of the institu-tions that she visited. In addition, she estab-lished collaborations with colleagues at Ohioand Auburn Universities in the United States.

In addition to the fellowships mentionedabove, Egamberdiyeva has received numerousawards and grants. As early as 1999, she re-ceived a travel award from the Federation ofEuropean Microbiological Societies. She alsoreceived a research grant from The HumboldtUniversity in Berlin, Germany.

Egamberdiyeva is a highly qualified individ-ual in the fields of microbial ecology, plant-microbe interactions, and biological control offungal pathogens, as evidenced by the severalinvitations she received to present her work atinternational meetings, as well as the fellow-ships she was awarded to conduct research indifferent countries. She has shown great motiva-tion in carrying out her research, and in 2004she created a new laboratory to study plant-microbe interactions at the University of Uzbeki-stan. Furthermore, she organized The NationalCollection of Agricultural Microorganisms atthe University of Uzbekistan to protect and pre-serve microorganisms.

Egamberdiyeva has the qualities to become aleading scientist in her country, and she certainlydeserves to be honored with the ASM MorrisonRogosa Award.

Natalia Naumova studied at the NovosibirskState University specializing in biology and bio-chemistry to obtain her bachelor’s degree. Shecontinued her training as a Ph.D. candidate stu-dent at the Institute of Soil Sciences and Agro-chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the RussianAcademy of Sciences. After graduating with aPh.D. in biology, she continued to work at thesame institution, first as a junior researcher, thenas a researcher, and finally as senior researcher.At present, she is a senior researcher at theInstitute of Cytology and Genetics of the Sibe-rian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Egamberdiyeva

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 145

She also teaches the subject “Molecular Designand Ecological Safe Technologies” at the Re-search and Education Center of the NovosibirskState University.

Early in her career, Naumova studied the utili-zation of organic substrates in soil at the Inter-national Agricultural Center and at the Instituteof Agrobiology and Soil Fertility in Wagenin-gen, the Netherlands. She also studied soil mi-crobial ecology at the Science and TechnologyAgency of Japan and at the Hokkaido NationalAgricultural Research Experimental Station inSapporo, Japan. In 1999, she focused on thestudy of microbial biodiversity in soils at theInternational Agricultural Center in Wageningen.

Since 1997, she has, in addition to her scien-tific interests, become involved in other activitiesin her community. For example, since 1999 shehas chaired the Foreign Language Chapter of the

Siberian Institute of International Relations andRegionology in Novosibirsk.

Naumova is known as a dedicated and effi-cient researcher who, due to her inquiring andincisive mind and her enthusiasm and hardwork, has managed to stay current with recentadvances in the fields of her professional exper-tise. She is recognized as a scientist who is eagerfor the opportunity to present her work at na-tional and international meetings.

Naumova’s work and efforts throughout herprofessional academic life, as well as her inter-ests in other activities that enrich the mind andpreserve the environment together qualify her toreceive the ASM Morrison Rogosa Award.

Everly Conway de Macario

Everly Conway de Macario is Chair of the ASMMorrison Rogosa Awards Committee.

Naumova

Need to hire a microbiologist? Looking for a job in the microbiological sciences?

Use ASM Career Connections at the ASM General Meeting!May 27-30, 2006 – Orlando, FL

At the ASM General Meeting, find a job or make a hire with ASM Career Connections, ASM’s online job board.ASM Career Connections gives you the tools you need to target your search – at the meeting!

ASM Career Connections is easy to access, simple to use and constantly updated.

Visit www.asmcareerconnections.org and get a head start today! Please contact ASM Placement at (202) 942-9285 or placement@asmusa.org with any questions.

Employers:• Post job listings for a nominal fee

• Search the resume database

• Contact candidates directly

• Receive email alerts as new resumes are posted

• Track responses to your job listings

• Flag your job listing letting candidates know you are at the meeting

• Schedule interviews before arriving at the meeting

• Interview candidates onsite in Orlando!

Candidates:• Free to candidates

• Search job postings by keyword and location

• Respond to job listings and include a cover letter

• Post your resume confidentially for employers to review and reply to active job listings

• Receive email alerts when new jobs are posted

• Flag your profile letting employers know you are at the meeting

• Interview with prospective employers onsite in Orlando!

146 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

Division Officers 2006 (terms begin 1 July 2006). Elections for Alternate Councilors are held on alternating years;asterisks indicate elections to be held in 2006.

DIVISION CHAIR CHAIR-ELECT ALTERNATE COUNCILOR

AAntimicrobialChemotherapy

Karen BushJ&J PharmaceuticalsRaritan, NJ

Donald E. LowMt. Sinai HospitalToronto, OntarioCanada

Patrick M. SchlievertUniversity of Minnesota

Medical SchoolMinneapolis, MN

BMicrobialPathogenesis

Michael S. DonnenbergUniversity of Maryland/School

of MedicineBaltimore, MD

Andrew CamilliTufts University School

of MedicineBoston, MA

Victor J. DiRitaUniversity of Michigan

Medical SchoolAnn Arbor, MI

CClinical Microbiology

Diane HalsteadBaptist Medical CenterJacksonville, FL

James W. SnyderUniversity of Louisville

School of MedicineLouisville, KY

Judith C. LovchikNew York City Department

of HealthNew York, NY

DBacteria of MedicalImportance

Timothy YahrUniversity of IowaIowa City, IA

Patrik M. BavoilUniversity of Maryland Dental

SchoolBaltimore, MD

*

EImmunology

Stefan H. E. KaufmannMax-Planck-Institute for

Infection BiologyBerlin, Germany

Joseph IgietsemeCenters for Disease Control

and PreventionAtlanta, GA

Thomas KleinUniversity of South FloridaTampa, FL

FMedical Mycology

Arturo CasadevallAlbert Einstein University/

College of MedicineBronx, NY

Paul Fidel, Jr.Louisiana State University

Health Science CenterNew Orleans, LA

*

GMycoplasmology

Michael J. CalcuttUniversity of Missouri-

ColumbiaColumbia, MO

Mitchell BalishMiami UniversityOxford, OH *

HGenetics &Molecular Biology

Paul BabitzkePenn State UniversityUniversity Park, PA

Anna KarlsUniversity of GeorgiaAthens, GA

*

IGeneralMicrobiology

Louis S. TisaUniversity of New HampshireDurham, NH

Bianca BrahamshaUniversity of CaliforniaSan Diego, CA

Mark McBrideUniversity of WisconsinMilwaukee, WI

JUltrastructure &Function

John KirbyGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, GA

Brian R. CraneCornell UniversityIthaca, NY

*

KMicrobial Physiology& Metabolism

John W. FosterUniversity of South AlabamaMobile, AL

Jorge C. Escalante-Semerena

University of WisconsinMadison, WI

James P. ShapleighCornell UniversityIthaca, NY

LHealthcareEpidemiology

David HendersonNIH Clinical CenterBethesda, MD

Anthony D. HarrisUniversity of MarylandBaltimore, MD

*

MBacteriophage

Sankar AdhyaNCI/NIHBethesda, MD

Margaret “Maggie” SmithInstitute of Medical SciencesAberdeen, UK

Anca Mara SegallSan Diego State UniversitySan Diego, CA

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 147

Division Officers, 2006 continued

DIVISION CHAIR CHAIR-ELECT ALTERNATE COUNCILOR

NMicrobial Ecology

Marc E. FrischerSkidaway Institute of

OceanographySavannah, GA

Patricia A. SobeckyGeorgia Institute of

TechnologyAtlanta, GA

*

OFermentation &Biotechnology

Hans BlaschekUniversity of IllinoisUrbana, IL

Thomas W. JeffriesUSDA—Institute for

Microbiology andBiochemical Technology

Madison, WI

Jeffrey W. CaryUSDA/ARS/SRRCNew Orleans, LA

PFood Microbiology

Martin WiedmannCornell UniversityIthaca, NY

Mark CarterKraft FoodsGlenview, IL

*

QEnvironmental &General AppliedMicrobiology

James MakiMarquette UniversityMilwaukee, WI

Max HaggblomRutgers UniversityNew Brunswick, NJ

Joan F. BraddockUniversity of AlaskaFairbanks, AL

RSystematic &EvolutionaryMicrobiology

Anthony Michael DeanUniversity of MinnesotaSt. Paul, MN

Jennifer WernegreenBPC - Marine Biological

LaboratoryWoods Hole, MA

*

SDNA Viruses

James AlwineUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA

Robert L. GarceaUniversity of Colorado Health

Sciences CenterAurora, CO

Gary CohenUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA

TRNA Viruses

Cornelia BergmannUSC Keck School of MedicineLos Angeles, CA

Ralph S. BaricUniversity of North CarolinaChapel Hill, NC

Ruben DonisCenters for Disease

Control and PreventionAtlanta, GA

UMycobacteriology

Issar SmithInternational Center for Public

HealthNewark, NJ

Pam SmallUniversity of TennesseeKnoxville, TN

Luiz E. BermudezOregon State UniversityCorvallis, OR

VClinical & DiagnosticImmunology

Brian K. DuChateauThe Blood Center of Southeast

WisconsinMilwaukee, WI

Susan OrtonUniversity of North CarolinaChapel Hill, NC *

WMicrobiologyEducation

Jeffrey PomervilleGlendale Community CollegeGlendale, AZ

Marjorie Kelly CowanMiami UniversityMiddleton, OH

Spencer A. BensonUniversity of MarylandCollege Park, MD

XMolecular, Cellular& General Biologyof Eukaryotes

John M. Logsdon, Jr.University of IowaIowa City, IA

Jeffrey SilbermanUniversity of ArkansasFayetteville, AR *

YPublic Health

Ralph J. TimperiMA State Laboratory InstituteBoston, MA

Paul D. SwensonPublic Health DepartmentSeattle, WA

*

ZAnimal Health

Thomas BesserWashington State UniversityPullman, WA

Nancy CornickIowa State UniversityAmes, IA

Shawn BearsonUSDA, ARSAmes, IA

AAFree-Living,Symbiotic, andParasitic Protists

Kasturi HaldarNorthwestern UniversityChicago, IL

William A. Petri, Jr.University of VirginiaCharlottesville, VA

Kami KimAlbert Einstein College of

MedicineBronx, NY

148 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006

ASM Report

International Affairs

2006 ASM International

Professorship Program Awardees

The International Microbiology Educa-tion Committee (IMEC) is pleased to an-nounce the results of the first round ofASM International Professorship Awardsfor 2006.

The purpose of the International Profes-sorship Program is to provide microbio-logical expertise and resources to facultyand students throughout the world. Theprogram is designed to furnish an institu-tion of higher learning in a developingcountry with the resources to enable anASM member who is scientifically recog-nized for his/her area to travel to thatinstitution to teach an interactive shortcourse on a topic in any of the microbio-logical disciplines.

The International Professorship forLatin America facilitates international col-laborations between institutions in LatinAmerica and ASM members who reside inNorth America. Two Latin American Pro-fessorships were awarded to applicants inthe second of two annual calls for applica-tions.

The Indo-U.S. Professorship encouragespartnerships between the United Statesand India. Sponsored by the Indo-U.S. Sci-ence & Technology Forum, the programenables microbiologists in India and theUnited States to visit institutions in theother country to teach an interactive shortcourse on a topic in any of the microbio-logical disciplines. Three Indo-U.S. Profes-sorships were awarded to applicants in thesecond of two annual calls for applications.

Latin American Professors

Deborah A. Dean is Professor of Medicineand Senior Scientist in the Department ofMedicine and Center for Immunobiologyand Vaccine Development at the Univer-sity of California at San Francisco andChildren’s Hospital Oakland Research In-stitute in Oakland. In cooperation withVictor H. Espin Villacres in the Centro deBiomedicina at the Universidad Centraldel Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador, she willpresent a short course entitled “Chla-mydia trachomatis and Other SexuallyTransmitted Diseases and Technology

Transfer of a Sensitive In-House PCR Testfor Chlamydial Screening.”

Janice E. Thies is an Associate Professor inthe Department of Crop and Soil Sciencesat Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Shewill collaborate with Jose Odair Pereira atthe Universidad Federal do Amazonas,and with Mayra K. Martins at the Centrode Biotecnologıa da Amazonia, both inManaus, Brazil, to present a one-weekcourse entitled “Soil Microbial EcologyTechniques for Use in the Tropics: aHands-on Workshop.”

Indo-U.S. Professors

Paul T. Magee, a Professor, and BeatriceB. Magee, a Senior Scientist, both in theDepartment of Genetics, Cell Biology, andDevelopment at the University of Minne-sota in Minneapolis, will collaborate withRajendra Prasad, a Professor in theSchoool of Life Sciences at JawaharlalNehru University in New Delhi, India, toteach a short course entitled “The Ge-nomes and Mating Behavior of Candidaalbicans and other Candida Species.”

Lee W. Riley is Professor of Epidemiologyand Infectious Disease at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, School of PublicHealth. In cooperation with ShriprakashKalantri at the Mahatma Gandhi Instituteof Medical Sciences in Sevagram, India, hewill present a 2-week workshop entitled“National Workshop on Applied Infec-tious Disease Epidemiology.”

For more information on the InternationalProfessorship Program, please contactASM’s Department of International Af-fairs by e-mail at international@asmusa.org or by fax at 202–942-9328, or visitour web site at http://www.asm.org/International/index.asp?bid�2781.

2006 ASM International

Fellowship Awardees

The International Microbiology Educa-tion Committee (IMEC) is pleased to an-nounce the first recipients of the ASM In-ternational Fellowship Awards for 2006.Three grants were awarded in the firstreview of applications to investigatorsfrom Latin American countries proposingto work with microbiologists in the UnitedStates and Canada. Each awardee will visit

North America for a minimum of sixweeks and collaborate with an ASM mem-ber who is permanently employed at anaccredited US institution. The programprovides a stipend of $4,000. The ASMInternational Fellows for 2006 are listedbelow.

Elisa Korenblum,M.S., is a doctoralstudent at the Insti-tuto de Microbiolo-gıa Prof. Paulo deGoes in Rio de Ja-neiro, Brazil. Shewill travel to Mon-tana State Univer-sity in Bozeman,Mont., to study theinhibition of sulfate-reducing bacteria bio-film by antimicrobial substances producedby Bacillus strains with Brent M. Peyton inthe Center for Biofilm Engineering.

Maria Julia Massi-melli, M.S., is a doc-toral student at theUniversidad Nacio-nal de Rıo Cuarto,in Rıo Cuarto, Ar-gentina. She will beworking with Her-bert Paul Schweizerin the Departmentof Microbiology,Immunology & Pa-thology at Colorado State University inFort Collins. Her research project will fo-cus genetic studies of pchP regulation inPseudomonas aeruginosa.

Marcelo B. Mendez,Ph.D., is a researchfellow at the Univer-sidad Nacional deRosario, in Rosario,Argentina. He willbe studying withMahfuzur R. Sarkerin the Departmentof Biomedical Sci-ences & Microbiol-ogy at Oregon StateUniversity in Cor-vallis. His research will focus on the iden-tification and characterization of the sen-sor-sporulation kinases of enterotoxigenicClostridium perfringens.

Korenblum

Massimelli

Mendez

Volume 1, Number 3, 2006 / Microbe Y 149

For more information on the InternationalFellowship Program, please contact theASM Department of International Affairsby e-mail at international@asmusa.org or byfax at 202–942-9328, or visit our website athttp://www.asm.org/International/index.asp?bid�2778.

ASM-PAHO Antimicrobial

Susceptibility Testing Manual

Production was completed in December ofa self-instructional CD-ROM course onantimicrobial susceptibility testing. Themanual, developed in conjunction withthe Pan American Health Organization(PAHO), is intended to serve both as arefresher tool for existing laboratory per-sonnel and as a key resource for universitystudents. A major goal of this manual is tohelp laboratories from different hospitalsin developing countries of the Americasfollow exactly the same procedures andquality control practices. In this way sus-ceptibility patterns from countriesthroughout the region can be reliably com-pared. With more reliable results on anti-microbial resistance, infectious diseasespecialists will be able to quickly recognizeemerging resistance patterns, a key factorin minimizing the spread of resistant or-ganisms within institutions and acrosscommunities. A team of volunteers underthe leadership of International Microbiol-ogy Education Committee member MarieCoyle (University of Washington) au-thored the manual, which leans heavily ona similar course produced for the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)by ASM members Janet Hindler and FredTenover. The manual was translated intoSpanish by PAHO and reviewed by theirantimicrobial susceptibility network inSouth America. Printed in both Spanishand English versions for use in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, 2,000 Span-ish CD-ROMs and 500 English CD-ROMs were provided to PAHO, whichwill distribute them through its countryoffices to universities and institutionsthroughout the region. Many thanks tocourse authors Stephen Cavalieri (Creigh-ton University Medical Center), RonaldHarbeck (National Jewish Medical andResearch Center), Yvette McCarter (Uni-versity of Florida), Jose Ortez (Kaiser Per-manente Regional Reference Laborato-ries), Ivonne Rankin (Mount SinaiMedical Center), Robert Sautter (PinnacleHealth System), Susan Sharp (Kaiser Per-manente), Carol Spiegel (University ofWisconsin), and especially to Marie Coylefor her tireless work as coordinating edi-tor.

Daniel O. Sordelli

Chair, International MicrobiologyEducation Committee

University of Buenos AiresBuenos Aires, Argentina

ASM Representation in the

Association of Microbiologists of

India 46th Annual Conference

Ambassador Sunil Lal represented ASM atthe Association of Microbiologists of In-

dia annual meeting 8–10 December at Os-mania University, Hyderabad, India. Lalstaffed a display stall with information onASM membership and programs. He alsoorganized a Best Student Poster award.Two winning posters were selected: (i) Sh-weta Malhotra, Poonam Sharma, CharuDogra, Ajaib Singh, and Rup Lal, Depart-ment of Zoology, University of Delhi,Delhi, India; and (ii) Neelam Singh andSantosh Kumar Dubey, Department ofMicrobiology, Goa University, TalegaoPlateau, Goa, India. The first authors ofeach poster received the ASM Press bookof their choice, and all authors receivedcertificates.

International Web Pages Now

Available in Multiple Languages

Thanks to teams of volunteer translators,the International Affairs pages of the ASMwebsite are now available in Spanish, Por-tuguese, and French. The Spanish team isled by Luis Actis (University of Miami,Ohio), the Portuguese team is led by LedaMendonca-Hagler (Universidade Federaldo Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and the Frenchteam is led by Bruno Hoen (Hopital Saint-Jacques, Besancon, France). To change thelanguage in which you view a page, lookfor the “View this page in” header in theleft page margin. The International Affairshome page can be found at www.asm.org/international.

150 Y Microbe / Volume 1, Number 3, 2006