Council on Microbial Sciences (COMS) Council Members

Biography coming soon.

Candidate for the Council on Microbial Sciences
Professor of Biology, Campus Box 52, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO 80217-3362
Education:

• PhD (1990) University of Missouri—Columbia, School of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Microbiology & Immunology (lab of Dr. Mark McIntosh)
• M.S. (1981) Missouri State University, Springfield, MO; Immunology (lab of Dr. Richard Myers)
• B.S. (1978) Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, Biology major, English minor

Professional Experience:

• Post-doc (1990-91), University of Colorado, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (lab of Dr. Larry Gold)
• Assistant Professor (1991-1996), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Associate Professor (1996-2000), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Professor (2000-present), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver

ASM Activities:

• Active in the Rocky Mtn. Branch (RMB-ASM) and currently serving as Archivist; have served in every elected office of the RMB through the years, including 3 terms as President.
• Served on the Council Policy Committee of ASM, participated some in the Futures discussions, and have served on COMS since its inception.
• Reviewer through several cycles (including currently) for ASM’s Conference Grant program.

Publications:

1. Sedlecek, C. J., Giguere, A. T., Dobie, M. D., Mellbye, B. L., Ferrell, R. V., Woebken, D., Sayavedra-Soto, L. A., Bottomley, P. J., Daims, H., Wagner, M., Pjevac, P. (submitted) Transcriptomic response of Nitrosomonas europaea transitioned from ammonia- to oxygen-limited steady-state growth. mSystems.
2. Ferrell, R. V. (2018). Chapter 33 : Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg: Pioneer in Microbial Genetics. In Rachel J. Whitaker and Hazel A. Barton (Ed.),. Washington, DC: ASM Press.
3. Perez, J., Buchanan, A., Mellbye, B., Ferrell, R. V., Chang, J., Chaplen, F., Bottomley, P., Arp, D., Sayavedra-Soto, L. (2015). Interactions of Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi grown in co-culture. Arch. Microbiol., 197(1), 19-89.
4. Sayavedra-Soto, L., Ferrell, R. V., Dobie, M., Mellbye, B., Chaplen, F., Buchanan, A., Chang, J., Bottomley, P., Arp, D. (2015). Nitrobacter winogradskyi transcriptomic response to low and high ammonia concentrations. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 362(3), 1-7.

Research Interests:
Nitrification and its regulation; environmental water quality; limitations of Escherichia coli as an indicator organism; seasonal occurrence of E. coli in Canada geese; nitrogen cycling in green roof soils.

Statement:
I was a member of the ASM Council Policy Committee (serving as an at-large representative of Branches), and participated in some of the Futures discussions during the governance transition, and was then elected to COMS at large to represent Branches.
It has been fascinating being involved in this governance transition, and I think I have a clear understanding now of the goals of the reorganization as well as the directions that the Society is heading. My scientific division within COMS, Applied & Environmental Microbiology, is planning its first retreat to develop priorities and goals, and I am one of the three COMS members helping to organize that retreat.
I believe that I have developed valuable insights into the work of ASM during my long association with the organization, going back to the 1980s when I joined as a graduate student. As a teaching professor with a program of undergraduate research, I depend more than ever on ASM to provide professional opportunities for my students and myself. I am a long-time member of the Rocky Mountain Branch, where I have served in every elected office, including 3 terms as President. I think that I understand the needs of many of our members, who are usually busy professionals who count on ASM to keep them up to date and engaged with microbiology in ways that fit into their lives.
ASM is now uniquely poised to build for the future, while responding to the microbiological challenges of the present. Some examples would include thinking about our publishing models for scientific research, balancing quick access with high quality review within the funding limitations imposed by rising costs, working on our meeting programming to continue to expand offerings across the breadth of microbiology, providing grants to support novel and innovative scientific meetings, creating additional effective methods of outreach to scientists in developing countries, and anticipating and interpreting developments in the future of microbiology.
I’m very interested in finding ways to broaden the participation of our diverse members, especially those from lower-tier schools, clinical labs, environmental engineering firms and other industries and government agencies, who often struggle with resources, time and opportunities for professional development. I would like to serve one more term on COMS so that I can help bring some of these early efforts to fruition and continue to contribute to moving our Society in positive directions that provide needed benefits to our members. We will need to think collaboratively and creatively as ASM strives to meet the needs of scientists and citizens in all aspects of understanding the microbial world.

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My work is in the area of microbial pathogenicity, including host-microbe-microbiome interactions. We study transcription regulatory mechanisms, appling genetic, and biochemical approaches, and our work includes chemical biology and therapeutic discovery. We focus primarily on the pathogens Vibrio cholerae, Campylobacter jejuni, and antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter spp. We have also studied Group A streptococci in a mouse model of necrotizing fasciitis. Our interest is in biology and pathogenicity of microbes at different scales: from questions around single molecule biology and protein-protein interactions governing key processes, to genomic-level interrogation in animal models of infection, to the role of complex microbiota in pathogen-host biology. A major, and highly rewarding, interest has been training undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the lab and towards developing their own path to the future.

Dr. Robin Patel graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Chemistry and from McGill University in Montreal, Canada with an MD. She then moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where she completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowships in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at the Mayo Clinic. Upon completion of post-graduate training, she joined the staff of the Mayo Clinic. She is currently Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology, the Elizabeth P. and Robert E. Allen Professor of Individualized Medicine, Co-Director of the Clinical Bacteriology Laboratory, Director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, and Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology, at Mayo Clinic. Doctor Patel is board certified in Infectious Diseases (American Board of Internal Medicine), Medical Microbiology/Public Health Microbiology (American Board of Medical Microbiology), Clinical Pathology/Medical Microbiology (American Board of Pathology), and Internal Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Collège des Médecins du Québec and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada). Doctor Patel’s research focuses on clinical bacteriology diagnostic testing, antimicrobial resistance, and microbial biofilms. She has published over 350 peer reviewed manuscripts and has delivered numerous national and international presentations. She is a Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology, past chair of the United States Medical Licensing Examination Microbiology and Immunology Test Material Development Committee, co-chair of the ASM Microbe 2016-2018 Program Planning Committee, member of NIAID Council, advisor for the CLSI Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, member of the American Board of Pathology Medical Microbiology and Clinical Pathology for ABPath CertLinkTM Test Development and Advisory Committees, member of the ASM Board of Directors and ASM President Elect (Presidency - July 2019-June 2020). She is an associate editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Clinical Infectious Diseases and course director for the Mayo Medical School Microbiology course.

Dr. Donohue received his B.S. in Life Sciences from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Pennsylvania State University. He became a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2000 and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2009. Dr. Donohue served as ASM’s president in 2013. His laboratory’s research analyzes pathways and networks that microbes use to grow, generate biomass, or produce alternative fuels from sunlight or other renewable sources of energy. Dr. Donohue is also Director, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. 

Dr. Yates has been a faculty member at University of California, Riverside for more than 30 years. Her research has focused on characterizing and predicting the fate and transport of human enteric pathogenic microorganisms in soils, water and wastewater; development of methods for rapid, sensitive detection of infective enteric viruses and other environmentally transmitted human pathogens in environmental and biological media, human pathogen considerations associated with wastewater reuse and biosolids application to land; and the use of indicators for predicting pathogen occurrence and behavior in the environment.

Stefano Bertuzzi, Ph.D., M.P.H., joined ASM as the Executive Director/CEO of the American Society for Microbiology on Jan. 4, 2016. Dr. Bertuzzi previously served as the Executive Director at the American Society for Cell Biology for 3 years. Before leading the American Society for Cell Biology, Dr. Bertuzzi was a senior scientific executive at the National Institutes of Health where he served as Director of the Office of Science Policy, Planning, and Communications at the National Institute of Mental Health, and as a science policy advisor to the NIH Director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni.

Bertuzzi received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biotechnology from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, Italy with a fellowship in the Microbiology Institute, and his Master’s in Public Health (M.P.H.) from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with a specialization in health policy.

Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D. is the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in the Bronx, New York.  He is Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and served as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 2000-2006.  Dr. Casadevall received both his MD and PhD (biochemistry) degrees from New York University in New York, New York.  Subsequently, he completed internship and residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York, New York.  Later he completed subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases at the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  Casadevall major research interests are in fungal pathogenesis and the mechanism of antibody action.  In the area of Biodefense Casadevall has an active research program to understand the mechanisms of antibody-mediated neutralization of Bacillus anthracis toxins.  He has authored over 490 scientific papers.  Casadevall was elected to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Academy of Physicians, and the American Academy of Microbiology.  He was elected a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and has received numerous honors including the Solomon A Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award in Basic Science from the NYU School of Medicine, the Maxwell L. Littman Award (mycology award), the Rhoda Benham Award from Medical Mycology Society of America, and the Kass Lecture of the Infectious Disease Society of America.  Casadevall is the Editor in Chief of mBio, the first open access general journal of the American Society of Microbiology.  He serves in the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and the Journal of Experimental Medicine. He has served in numerous NIH committees including those that drafted the NIAID Strategic Plan and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Biodefense Research.   Casadevall served on the NAS committee that reviewed the science behind the FBI investigation of the anthrax attacks in 2001.  He is a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and co-chaired the NIAID Board of Scientific counselors. 

Since he joined the Einstein faculty in 1992 Casadevall has mentored dozens of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty.  Many of his trainees have gone on to have highly successful careers in science and several have become AECOM faculty.  From 2000-2006 Casadevall was director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at AECOM-Montefiore and oversaw the expansion of its research program.  In 2001 Casadevall received the Samuel M. Rosen outstanding teacher award and in 2008 he was recognized the American Society of Microbiology with the William Hinton Award for mentoring scientists from underrepresented groups.

Web Biography

Candidate for ASM President-Elect
Professor of Biological Sciences and College Dean of Graduate & Professional Education
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Education:

• B.A., Molecular Biology, UC Berkeley
• Ph.D., Biological Chemistry, UCLA School of Medicine

Professional Experience:

• Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School
• Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Biological Sciences, Molecular & Computational Biology Section, University of Southern California and Professor of Gerontology, USC
• Director of Graduate Studies, USC Molecular Biology Ph.D. program
• Deputy Director, USC Center for Excellence in Genomic Science, including Undergraduate & Minority Research Programs (NHGRI)
• Senior Scientist, Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (NSF Science & Technology Center)
• Director, Genomics & Geobiology Undergraduate Research Experience program
• USC Dornsife College Dean of Graduate and Professional Education

ASM Activities:

• ASM Distinguished Lecturer
• Member, ASM Awards Nominating Committee
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
• ASM William A. Hinton Research Training Award
• Section Editor, EcoSal
• Editorial Board, Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Editorial Board, Journal of Bacteriology
• Member, Colloquium Advisory Committee for the General Meeting
• ASM Judge, Intel International Science & Engineering Fair
• Member, ASM Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Publications:

Nanocalorimetry Reveals the Growth Dynamics of Escherichia coli Cells Undergoing Adaptive Evolution during Long-Term Stationary Phase.
Robador A, Amend JP, Finkel SE. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2019 Jul 18;85(15). pii: e00968-19. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00968-19. Print 2019 Aug 1. PMID:31152016

Physiological, Genetic, and Transcriptomic Analysis of Alcohol-Induced Delay of Escherichia coli
Ferraro CM, Finkel SE. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2019 Jan 9;85(2). pii: e02113-18. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02113-18. Print 2019 Jan 15. PMID:30389772

Adaptation of Escherichia coli to long-term batch culture in various rich media.
Westphal LL, Lau J, Negro Z, Moreno IJ, Ismail Mohammed W, Lee H, Tang H, Finkel SE, Kram KE. Res Microbiol. 2018 Apr;169(3):145-156. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2018.01.003. Epub 2018 Feb 15. PMID:29454026

Adaptation of Escherichia colito Long-Term Serial Passage in Complex Medium: Evidence of Parallel Evolution.
Kram KE, Geiger C, Ismail WM, Lee H, Tang H, Foster PL, Finkel SE. mSystems. 2017 Mar 7;2(2). pii: e00192-16. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00192-16. eCollection 2017 Mar-Apr. PMID:28289732

Genomewide Dam Methylation in Escherichia coliduring Long-Term Stationary Phase.
Westphal LL, Sauvey P, Champion MM, Ehrenreich IM, Finkel SE. mSystems. 2016 Dec 13;1(6). pii: e00130-16. eCollection 2016 Nov-Dec. PMID:27981240

Fitness Cost of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosaDiffers by Type III Secretion Genotype.
Agnello M, Finkel SE, Wong-Beringer A. Front Microbiol. 2016 Oct 4;7:1591. eCollection 2016. PMID: 27757111

Culture volume and vessel affect long-term survival, mutation frequency, and oxidative stress of Escherichia coli.
Kram KE, Finkel SE. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2014 Mar;80(5):1732-8. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03150-13. Epub 2013 Dec 27. PMID: 24375138

Competitive fitness during feast and famine: how SOS DNA polymerases influence physiology and evolution in Escherichia coli.
Corzett CH, Goodman MF, Finkel SE. Genetics. 2013 Jun;194(2):409-20. doi: 10.1534/genetics.113.151837. Epub 2013 Apr 15. PMID:23589461

Long-term survival during stationary phase: evolution and the GASP phenotype.
Finkel SE. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Feb;4(2):113-20. Review. PMID:16415927

Research Interests:
Long-term survival and evolution of bacteria under both laboratory and environmental conditions; Characterization of the Growth Advantage in Stationary Phase (GASP) phenotype; Role of error-prone DNA polymerases on generation of genetic diversity and relative fitness; Effects of laboratory culture medium and conditions on long-term survival of bacteria; Role of extracellular electron transport in electricity production, bacterial respiration and survival; Mechanisms of survival of human microbiome organisms and communities; DNA organization during stationary phase in bacteria.

Statement:
As we emerge from significant reorganization, this is an exciting time for the ASM and its members. We have the opportunity to consider in what directions we should take the organization and how we can best continue ASM’s central role in elucidating the importance of microbiology in all sectors of society and spread appreciation of the fact that we are all “mainly microbe.”
As a member-focused organization, the primary function of the ASM should be to bring the membership together to further our scientific and professional interests. Clearly, the long-term health of the organization depends on maintaining our relevance with all members of the broad microbiology community, but, paramount must be a focus on our younger members. Nationwide, thousands of undergraduate and graduate students pursue studies in microbiology and allied fields and they will go on to address important societal issues, from the threat of antibiotic resistance to the effects of global warming. It is essential that the ASM engage with these students as early as possible. While ASM regional and student branches do an excellent job in this outreach, I would like to propose that the ASM take a more active approach, assuring that every undergraduate and graduate student nationwide becomes an ASM member as soon as they declare their major or path of study.
Ask what the ASM means to any member and you will probably receive as many answers as the number of people asked. While we cannot be all things to all people, we must pay attention to the needs of the membership. As I consider my role, should I enjoy the privilege of leading the ASM, I thought back to why I first joined as a student. Two factors drew me into the organization: the annual meeting and the journals. Receiving the Journal of Bacteriology, to mark-up at my leisure, not only was a great convenience, but was a tangible indication of my arrival as a full-fledged member of our scientific community. What I had not anticipated was being embraced by a broad community of scholars and the accompanying sense of belonging.
Today, with the advent of myriad new technologies, some of the old modes of interaction no longer exist, but the new platforms present exciting opportunities. However, gathering at conferences and having “face time” with colleagues in person never goes out of style. Therefore, one of the challenges for any organization as large as ours is how to enjoy the advantages of new technology while continuing to capitalize on those things we do best. To that end, while we continue to embrace new modes of publication and make the most of social media, we need to rekindle the kinds of interactions that only conferences, large and small, can provide. These personal interactions provide the “glue” that holds us together as individuals and as a nationally and internationally vital organization. All of these activities must be considered to be maximally relevant to the younger generation of microbiologists now being trained.

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Vaughn Cooper is an evolutionary biologist and microbiologist. He received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and his Ph.D. in 2000 from Michigan State University under the mentorship of Richard Lenski, where he studied the evolution of specialization in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment of E. coli populations. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Michigan Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan, studying pathogens of the cystic fibrosis airway with John LiPuma. He was Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire from 2004-2015, moving to the University of Pittsburgh in 2015. He is currently Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Computational and Systems Biology, at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He co-founded and is Director of the Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM), founded and directs the Microbial Genomics Sequencing center (MiGS). His awards include the 2010 Outstanding Assistant Professor at UNH and an NSF CAREER award. His research is supported by the NIH, NSF, NASA, and by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Dr. Cooper has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and invited chapters, and currently is supported by 12 active grants or contracts. The Cooper laboratory studies how bacterial populations (e.g. Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and multispecies communities) evolve to adapt to new hosts and environments, particularly in biofilms. Other major interests include the evolution of antimicrobial resistance and why genome regions mutate/evolve at different rates. We also develop and promote a laboratory curriculum called EvolvingSTEM that enables high school students to learn key topics in evolution and heredity by conducting a weeklong experiment with bacteria.

Dr. Elizabeth Marlowe is currently the Scientific Director and Head of R&D for Quest Diagnostics Infectious Diseases. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1999 and completed a Clinical/Public Health Microbiology Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2001 at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. After her fellowship, she continued as an Adjunct Professor and Research Coordinator at the Wadsworth Anaerobe Laboratory where her research focused on the microbiome of the autistic gut and the role of toxin producing anaerobes. In 2002, Dr. Marlowe joined Gen-Probe with her primary research in the development of rapid molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases. Her team conducted some of the initial prototype and assay feasibility work on the Panther Fusion System. From 2005 – 2016 she provided laboratory leadership within the Kaiser Permanente Regional Laboratories in both Southern California, as the Assistant Director, and Northern California, as Director of Microbiology. At Kaiser she oversaw the translational research program that included participation in > 10 clinical trials. From 2016-2019, she held the position of Global Director of Medical Affairs at Roche Molecular Systems where she supported several product launches including the cobas CT/NG, TV/MG, MTB, MAI & RIF/INH assays. At Quest her team has led the diagnostic testing efforts for Coronavirus Pandemic.

She is a diplomat of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, past president for Southern California ASM, past editor for the Clinical Microbiology Newsletter and an inaugural member to the Council on Microbial Sciences for ASM. She has served as a member of CLIAC, the federal advisory committee for CLIA. Her research areas of interest are focused on the translation of new infectious disease diagnostics for use in evidence-based research for clinical microbiology practice.
 

Alison Criss, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Director of the UVA Global Infectious Diseases Institute.

Her laboratory investigates how Neisseria gonorrhoeae initiates innate immune responses at human mucosal surfaces, yet resists killing by neutrophils recruited during infection. The ultimate goal of this research is to identify host and bacterial targets for new antimicrobials and vaccines, while limiting the inflammatory damage in gonorrhea.

Dr. Criss’ honors include selection as an American Public Health Association Thought Leader and ASM/ICAAC Young Investigator Awardee. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and serves as co-principal investigator of the UVA Infectious Diseases T32 Training Grant, teaches in graduate and medical courses, and advises graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduates in her lab.

Criss serves on the NIH Host Interactions with Bacterial Pathogens study section (2018-2022) and the editorial boards of Infection and Immunity and Journal of Bacteriology. Criss earned her B.A. in biology and chemistry from Williams College, PhD in cell biology from Harvard Medical School, and performed postdoctoral research at Northwestern University in microbiology and immunology.
 

Candidate for the Council on Microbial Sciences
Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Education:

• Medical School: Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
• Infectious Disease Fellowship and Microbiology training: University of Virginia

Professional Experience:

• Clinical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship
• Associate Director of Clinical Microbiology
• Voting Member of Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute
• Liaison between the CLSI and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)

ASM Activities:

• Member since 2010

Publications:

1. Elliott ZS, Barry KE, Cox HL, Stoesser N, Carroll J, Vegesana K, Kotay S, Sheppard AE, Wailan A, Crook DW, Parikh H, Mathers AJ. The Role of fosA in Challenges with Fosfomycin Susceptibility Testing of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Clinical Isolates. J Clin Microbiol. (2019) PMID: 31340992.
2. Sheppard AE, Stoesser N, German-Mesner I, Vegesana K, Sarah Walker A, Crook DW, Mathers AJ. TETyper: a bioinformatic pipeline for classifying variation and genetic contexts of transposable elements from short-read whole-genome sequencing data. Microb Genom. (2018) PMID: 30465646.
3. Humphries RM, Hindler J, Jane Ferraro M, Mathers AJ. Twenty-first Century Cures Act and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Clinical Implications in the Era of Multidrug Resistance. Clin Infect Dis. (2018) PMID: 29796616.
4. Mathers AJ, Vegesana K, German Mesner I, Barry KE, Pannone A, Baumann J, Crook DW, Stoesser N, Kotay S, Carroll J, Sifri CD. Intensive Care Unit Wastewater Interventions to Prevent Transmission of Multi-species Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC) Producing Organisms. Clin Infect Dis. (2018) PMID: 29409044.
5. Kotay S, Chai W, Guilford W, Barry K, Mathers AJ. Spread from the Sink to the Patient: in situ Study Using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) Expressing- Escherichia coli to Model Bacterial Dispersion from Hand Washing Sink Trap Reservoirs. Appl Environ Microbiol. (2017) PMID: 28235877.
6. Sheppard AE, Stoesser N, Wilson DJ, Sebra R, Kasarskis A, Anson LW, Giess A, Pankhurst LJ, Vaughan A, Grim CJ, Cox HL, Yeh AJ; Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) Informatics Group, Sifri CD, Walker AS, Peto TE, Crook DW, Mathers AJ. Nested Russian Doll-like Genetic Mobility Drives Rapid Dissemination of the Carbapenem Resistance Gene blaKPC. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. (2016) PMID: 27067320.
7. Mathers AJ, Peirano G, Pitout JD. The Role of Epidemic Resistance Plasmids and International High-Risk Clones in the Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Clin Microbiol Rev. (2015) PMID:25926236.

Research Interests:
Focusing on the urgent problem of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae, I have been evaluating detection methods in clinical microbiology and molecular transmission of carbapenemase genes for the last twelve years with a focus on the hospital environment. Molecular characterization has included analysis of mobile resistance mechanisms with evaluation of plasmid evolution and mobility across species with next generation sequencing paired with more traditional techniques. Recently, I have investigated the role that the hospital environment can play in evolution and dissemination of carbapenemase genes.
With an interest in antimicrobial susceptibility testing and its relation to antimicrobial stewardship, I have focused on the clinical impact of emerging diagnostics with prescribing practices. In addition, I am also interested on the impact of molecular mechanisms on susceptibility testing accuracy.

Statement:
This is a critical time for microbiology. With changing technologies and evolving organisms, we need to be prepared to meet the challenges presented to our field of science. Importantly, we are witnessing the clinical impact of antimicrobial resistance in both healthcare and veterinary medicine. Microbiologists will need to work together to understand the interplay between antimicrobial resistance gene exchange among unique microbial niches.
With my love of bacterial evolution, experience with emerging technologies, involvement in clinical microbiology and first-hand knowledge seeing patients affected by untreatable organisms, I am well positioned to help bring a voice to important issues facing microbiologists. I have committed my efforts to understanding the detection and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance through horizontal gene transfer. This interest has taken me to environmental microbiology, antimicrobial stewardship, clinical diagnostics and healthcare epidemiology. It is paramount to be inclusive across the spectrum of microbiology to solve big issues such as emerging antimicrobial resistance. This will require listening to the voices of the membership and being open to new ideas.
Simultaneous to emerging microbial challenges, tools for understanding microbiology are also undergoing a revolution. Whole genome sequencing has provided unimaginable tools in the last decade for evaluating microorganisms. Training both the current and next generation of scientists in the application of these tools will be central to tackling future challenges in microbiology. Microbiologists’ involvement will be essential to ensuring thoughtful applications of our technological advances.
Lastly, ensuring that clinical microbiologists have access to novel life-saving diagnostics, while making sure that the practice of clinical microbiology remains a protected and valued profession is critical. Using the expertise of front-line microbiologists to evaluate antimicrobial susceptibility diagnostics and the rapidly evolving world of syndromic diagnostics is central to getting thoughtfully designed diagnostics to the help patients. Highlighting the importance of having an experienced and informed clinical microbiologist in an evolving healthcare system is crucial.
I will listen to the needs of the membership across the spectrum to make sure that there is representation of multiple viewpoints. During this important time, it is paramount to have advocacy for diverse microbiology voices to be heard by our leaders. I hope to provide additional voice to the membership, and I would be honored to serve as a Council on Microbial Sciences representative during this pivotal time.

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Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Natividad Ruiz studied microbiology and chemistry at the University of Kansas, where she received her B.A. in 1993. She obtained her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998 in Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis.

During her graduate thesis, Natividad worked with Professor Michael Caparon on Streptococcus pyogenes. She then joined Professor Thomas J. Silhavy’s laboratory at Princeton University to study Escherichia coli as a postdoc and later a research scientist.

In 2010, Natividad joined The Ohio State University, where she is currently a Professor of Microbiology. Her laboratory investigates the biogenesis of the cell envelope in Gram-negative bacteria primarily by using genetics to understand the mechanism of function of glycolipid transporters.

Dr. Patricia (Trish) Simner is an associate professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the director of the Medical Bacteriology and Infectious Disease Sequencing Laboratories at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Her research has focused on understanding the epidemiology and molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of gram-negative bacteria, in particular those harboring β-lactamase enzymes. She is also interested in novel diagnostic tools for infectious diseases and is actively involved in developing metagenomic next-generation sequencing as a diagnostic tool.

Dr. Simner is a voting member on the Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. She is the Early Career At-Large representative for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Council on Microbial Science, a member of the College of American Pathologist Microbiology Committee and an Editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 

Professor Paul Brown is a tenured Professor of Molecular Biology at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. He has been involved in studying public health related-infectious diseases for over 30 years.

An important aspect of his research has been to enhance research capacity and foster collaboration in molecular ecological investigation of infectious diseases, in particular, leptospirosis in Jamaica. As an infectious disease investigator, his contributions to science have included primary and secondary data analyses of clinical and post-mortem leptospirosis; effect of climate on disease incidence; risk analysis and the role of socio-economic factors in transmission; and genetic and environmental influences of virulence.

Prof. Brown is involved in academic advising/mentorship of students at The UWI, and has participated in international roles as mentor of pre- and post-doctoral scientists. He has served as Council Member of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (2012-2020) and was a Fulbright Fellow in 2010.

Sean Crosson is currently Rudolph Hugh Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at MSU. 

He grew up in Grayson County, Texas, and received his B.A. in Biology from Earlham College in 1996, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from The University of Chicago in 2002, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University from 2003‐2005. Sean spent the first fourteen years of his faculty career at the University of Chicago, and moved to Michigan State University in 2019.

Students and postdocs in the Crosson Lab study the biology of bacteria that inhabit environments ranging from freshwater, to soil, to the interior of mammalian cells. His group utilizes a cross-disciplinary set of experimental tools as they work to understand how bacteria adapt their physiology to survive changing physical and chemical landscapes. Their work primarily focuses on Alphaproteobacteria including mammalian pathogens of the genus Brucella, the freshwater/soil bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, and the marine photoheterotroph Erythrobacter litoralis. In addition, his lab collaborates with clinicians and ecologists on studies of Bacteroides fragilis and other microbes that reside in the human gut.

Candidate for the Council on Microbial Sciences
Professor of Biology, Campus Box 52, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO 80217-3362
Education:

• PhD (1990) University of Missouri—Columbia, School of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Microbiology & Immunology (lab of Dr. Mark McIntosh)
• M.S. (1981) Missouri State University, Springfield, MO; Immunology (lab of Dr. Richard Myers)
• B.S. (1978) Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, Biology major, English minor

Professional Experience:

• Post-doc (1990-91), University of Colorado, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (lab of Dr. Larry Gold)
• Assistant Professor (1991-1996), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Associate Professor (1996-2000), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Professor (2000-present), Dept. of Biology, Metropolitan State University of Denver

ASM Activities:

• Active in the Rocky Mtn. Branch (RMB-ASM) and currently serving as Archivist; have served in every elected office of the RMB through the years, including 3 terms as President.
• Served on the Council Policy Committee of ASM, participated some in the Futures discussions, and have served on COMS since its inception.
• Reviewer through several cycles (including currently) for ASM’s Conference Grant program.

Publications:

1. Sedlecek, C. J., Giguere, A. T., Dobie, M. D., Mellbye, B. L., Ferrell, R. V., Woebken, D., Sayavedra-Soto, L. A., Bottomley, P. J., Daims, H., Wagner, M., Pjevac, P. (submitted) Transcriptomic response of Nitrosomonas europaea transitioned from ammonia- to oxygen-limited steady-state growth. mSystems.
2. Ferrell, R. V. (2018). Chapter 33 : Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg: Pioneer in Microbial Genetics. In Rachel J. Whitaker and Hazel A. Barton (Ed.),. Washington, DC: ASM Press.
3. Perez, J., Buchanan, A., Mellbye, B., Ferrell, R. V., Chang, J., Chaplen, F., Bottomley, P., Arp, D., Sayavedra-Soto, L. (2015). Interactions of Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi grown in co-culture. Arch. Microbiol., 197(1), 19-89.
4. Sayavedra-Soto, L., Ferrell, R. V., Dobie, M., Mellbye, B., Chaplen, F., Buchanan, A., Chang, J., Bottomley, P., Arp, D. (2015). Nitrobacter winogradskyi transcriptomic response to low and high ammonia concentrations. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 362(3), 1-7.

Research Interests:
Nitrification and its regulation; environmental water quality; limitations of Escherichia coli as an indicator organism; seasonal occurrence of E. coli in Canada geese; nitrogen cycling in green roof soils.

Statement:
I was a member of the ASM Council Policy Committee (serving as an at-large representative of Branches), and participated in some of the Futures discussions during the governance transition, and was then elected to COMS at large to represent Branches.
It has been fascinating being involved in this governance transition, and I think I have a clear understanding now of the goals of the reorganization as well as the directions that the Society is heading. My scientific division within COMS, Applied & Environmental Microbiology, is planning its first retreat to develop priorities and goals, and I am one of the three COMS members helping to organize that retreat.
I believe that I have developed valuable insights into the work of ASM during my long association with the organization, going back to the 1980s when I joined as a graduate student. As a teaching professor with a program of undergraduate research, I depend more than ever on ASM to provide professional opportunities for my students and myself. I am a long-time member of the Rocky Mountain Branch, where I have served in every elected office, including 3 terms as President. I think that I understand the needs of many of our members, who are usually busy professionals who count on ASM to keep them up to date and engaged with microbiology in ways that fit into their lives.
ASM is now uniquely poised to build for the future, while responding to the microbiological challenges of the present. Some examples would include thinking about our publishing models for scientific research, balancing quick access with high quality review within the funding limitations imposed by rising costs, working on our meeting programming to continue to expand offerings across the breadth of microbiology, providing grants to support novel and innovative scientific meetings, creating additional effective methods of outreach to scientists in developing countries, and anticipating and interpreting developments in the future of microbiology.
I’m very interested in finding ways to broaden the participation of our diverse members, especially those from lower-tier schools, clinical labs, environmental engineering firms and other industries and government agencies, who often struggle with resources, time and opportunities for professional development. I would like to serve one more term on COMS so that I can help bring some of these early efforts to fruition and continue to contribute to moving our Society in positive directions that provide needed benefits to our members. We will need to think collaboratively and creatively as ASM strives to meet the needs of scientists and citizens in all aspects of understanding the microbial world.

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Candidate for the Council on Microbial Sciences
Full Professor at St. Petersburg College, Clearwater, FL
Dr. Shannon McQuaig Ulrich is a full professor at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, FL. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida in 2003. During her time as an undergraduate she worked as a federal work study student in an Environmental Microbiology laboratory. There she learned aseptic and culturing techniques, cell culture protocols, and microbiological water testing procedures. Her passion for water microbiology grew during those years and she stayed in that same laboratory to earn her Masters of Science in Microbiology and Cell Science in 2005. The subject of her Master’s thesis was the utilization of human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) as an indicator of human fecal pollution of environmental and recreational waters. She was then accepted to the University of South Florida where she developed a real-time PCR assay to detect HPyVs to study the survival rates of HPyVs in environmental waters and the developed assay was employed in multiple epidemiological studies. In 2009, she earned her PhD in Biology with a concentration in environmental and ecological microbiology from the University of South Florida. After graduation, Dr. Ulrich joined the University of South Florida as a visiting instructor. In 2010, she accepted a position at St. Petersburg College teaching a variety of courses including Biology, Microbiology, Genetics, Immunology, Molecular Biology and Undergraduate Research. Dr. Ulrich has published 10 peer reviewed articles and a book chapter and continues her research interests working with undergraduate students.
Dr. Ulrich attended her first Florida Branch American Society for Microbiology (FLASM) meeting in 2001 at the age of 18 years old were she presented on altering ion concentrations in cell culture media to increase monolayer attachment. This experience was seminal and initiated her pursuits in the field of microbiology. Remembering the importance of this experience, she brought her undergraduate research students to present at FLASM early in her teaching career. At one of these meetings, she was recruited to rotate into the FLASM board. She served as FLASM Secretary from 2013-2015, President-Elect from 2015-2017 and President from 2017-2019. In addition, Dr. Ulrich has attended multiple ASMCUE, Southeastern Branch ASM, and General ASM meetings. Dr. Ulrich continues to work with undergraduate students on projects that center around public health microbiology.
Outside of teaching responsibilities and ASM-related duties, Dr. Ulrich has worked with Pearson to develop teaching resources for the classroom. She has also hosted a monthly TV show called WEDU Quest that explores science, technology and education on a local PBS channel and has served as a consultant for a local biotechnology company.
Education:

• 2009 Ph.D. Biology, University of South Florida
• 2005 M.S. Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida
• 2003 B.S. Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida

Professional Experience (since 2010):

• 2014-current Consultant - PureMolecular, LLC., St. Petersburg, FL
• 2014-current Host – QUEST WEDU, Tampa, FL
• 2010-current Professor - Department of Natural Sciences, Petersburg College, Clearwater, FL

ASM Activities:

• 2013-current Member, Florida Branch of American Society for Microbiology
• 2000-current Member, American Society for Microbiology
• 2017-2019 President, Florida Branch of American Society for Microbiology
• 2018 Southeastern Branch ASM, St. Petersburg, FL, November 2018 (Speaker)
• 2017 American Society for Microbiology Conference for undergraduate Educators. Denver, CO. July 27-30, 2017 (Microbrew Presenter)
• 2015-2017 President-elect, Florida Branch of American Society for Microbiology
• 2013-2015 Secretary, Florida Branch of American Society for Microbiology

Publications (since 2010):

1. 2017 Symonds, E.M., S. Young, M.E. Verbyla, M. McQuaig-Ulrich, E. Ross, J.A. Jimenez, V.J. Harwood, M. Breitbart. Microbial source tracking in shellfish harvesting waters in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. Water Research 111 (15 March 2017): 177–184.
2. 2016 Symonds, E.M., C. Singigalliano, M. Gidley, W. Ahmed, M. McQuaig-Ulrich, and M. Breitbart. Fecal pollution along the southeastern coast of Florida and insight into the use of pepper mild mottle virus as an indicator. J Appl Microbiolog. 2016, Nov; 121(5):1469-81.
3. 2015 Symonds, E.M., M.M. Cook, M. McQuaig, R.M. Ulrich, R.O. Schenck, J.O. Lukasik, E.S. Van Vleet, M. Breitbart. Reduction of nutrients, microbes, and personal care products in domestic wastewater by a benchtop electrocoagulation unit. Scientific Reports. 23 Mar 2015 5: 9380.
4. 2012 M. McQuaig, J. Griffith and V. Harwood. Association of fecal indicator bacteria with human viruses and microbial source tracking markers at coastal beaches impacted by nonpoint source pollution. Appl Environ Microbiol. 78: 6423-6432.
5. 2011 Abdelzaher, A., M. Wright, C. Ortega, A. Hasan, T. Shibata, H. Solo-Gabriele, J. Kish, K. Withum, G. He, S. Elmir, J. Bonilla, T. Bonilla, C. Palmer, T. Scott, Lukasik, V. Harwood, S. M.McQuaig, C. Sinigalliano, M. Gidley, D. Wanless, L. Plano, A. Garza, X. Zhu, J. Stewart, J. Dickerson, H. Yampara-Iquise, C. Carson, J. Fleisher, and L. Fleming. Daily measures of microbes and human health at a non-point source marine beach. J Water Health. Sept; 9(3):443-57.
6. 2011 Shah, A., Abdelzaher, H. Solo-Gabriele, M. Phillips, R. Hernandez, J. Kish, G. Scorzetti, J. Fell, T. Scott, J. Lukasik, V. J. Harwood, S. M. McQuaig, C. Sinigalliano, M. Gidley, D. Wanless, A. Agar, J. Liu, J. Stewart, L. Plano and L. Fleming. Indicator microbes correlate with pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and helminthes in sand at a subtropic recreational beach site. J Appl Microbiol. Jun; 110(6):1571-83.
7. 2010 M. McQuaig and R. Noble. Viruses as tracers of fecal contamination. In: C. Hagedon, A.R. Blanch, and V. J. Harwood. Microbial Source Tracking: Methods, Applications, and Case Studies. (pp. 113-135) New York: Springer.

Research Interests:

• Undergraduate research experience
• Water quality
• Microbiology of public health

Statement:
It is my honor to be considered for nomination of this position. I had the opportunity to attend both state-level and national-level ASM meetings as an undergraduate student and the experience was both terrifying and inspiring. As a professor and mentor to undergraduate research students, I want them to have the same opportunity to experience the inspiration of these ASM events. Over the past decade, I’ve noticed an increase in the attendance of undergraduate students at local ASM meetings. If elected, my one of my goals would include advocating for programs and opportunities that will make ASM resources and regional meetings more accessible to undergraduate students and faculty at ‘primarily teaching’ institutions. This would serve to benefit not only the students, but providing earlier access to students interested in microbiology research would give potential graduate school advisors the benefit of networking and screening students outside of a standard paper application. As an organization founded in 1899, it is imperative to retain our authenticity but with more undergraduate students seeking the research experience it is important we do our best to provide access for these young researchers.
In addition, we are in a changing landscape of education, with undergraduate institutions increasing online course offerings. After talking with many colleagues about this change, I would also like to see ASM lead discussions on the challenges of online education as it relates to students developing laboratory skills. It is important to set expectations and standards to address the tactile abilities needed in the laboratory and offer recommendations to teaching institutions to ensure students are graduating with the proper skills.
I appreciate your consideration and, if elected, look forward to working to create better access and skills training for our undergraduate students.

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Dr. Aronoff received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology (summa cum laude) from Indiana University and Medical Degree from Tufts University. Following internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University, he completed both a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases and a research fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology there. He then moved to join the faculty in Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan, where he also completed a research postdoctoral fellowship in Immunology.

Aronoff joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2002. He rose to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology and in 2013 was recruited back to Vanderbilt University as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, with secondary faculty appointments in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Meharry Medical College.

Aronoff’s research focuses on bacterial infections that complicate pregnancy. He has also been on the frontlines of his institution’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Mary Sánchez Lanier, assistant vice provost at Washington State University (WSU) and professor (scholarly track) in molecular biosciences, has been in higher education over 29 years and particularly active in the support of underrepresented minority students and women and minority faculty. She was PI or co-PI on NSF Advance and LSAMP grants and is currently a PI for an NIH ESTEEMED grant in support of STEM students from underrepresented groups.

She has received numerous awards including WSU’s highest award for leadership (Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award), the College of Veterinary Medicine Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award for her role in the Team Mentoring program and the global community for academic advising, NACADA, Outstanding Faculty Advisor award. Dr. Sánchez Lanier chaired the ASM Robert D. Watkins Predoctoral Minority Fellowship committee, the Minority Undergraduate Research Fellowship committee and the Committee for Minority Education. She is the ASM Education Board chair and represents ASM on the steering committee for the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Dr. Sánchez Lanier received her Ph.D. in medical sciences from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. She was a research associate at the Centers for Disease Control before joining WSU.

Dr. Melissa Miller is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) School of Medicine. She is also the Director of the Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratories for UNC Medical Center. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and completed the Medical and Public Health Microbiology Fellowship at UNC. She is the chair of the American Society for Microbiology Clinical and Public Health Microbiology Committee, a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and an editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Dr. Miller’s research interests include the development of accurate and cost-effective molecular tests for viral infections and the assessment of patient and healthcare outcomes associated with the implementation of new molecular technologies. 
 

Biography coming soon.

Stacey Schultz-Cherry, Ph.D. is a Full Member (Professor) in the Department of Infectious Diseases at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN where she serves as the Deputy Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Influenza Collaborating Center, Co-Director for the NIAID-funded Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) and Co-Director for the NIAID-funded Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Center (CIVIC). 

She received her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and did postdoctoral training in influenza virology at the University of Wisconsin. Before joining the faculty at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2009, she was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Dr. Schultz-Cherry is recognized internationally for her studies on the pathogenesis influenza and enteric viruses in high risk populations and influenza at the animal-human interface. She is the author and co-author of over 190 research articles, reviews and book chapters, is the past President of the American Society for Virology, and the current chair of the Public and Scientific Affairs Committee for ASM. 

Steven Specter is professor emeritus, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine. He has a B.A. in Biology and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He was a post-doctoral fellow in Experimental Immunology, then Director of Clinical Virology at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia. He was appointed Associate Dean for Pre-Clinical Education in 1997, Student Affairs in May, 2001-2014, Admissions in 2002-2008,  and Alumni Affairs 2014-201. He served as annual Clinical Virology Symposium Chair 1985-2020, Chair, Clinical Immunology Division of ASM, Editor-in-Chief, ASM Cumitech series, President, Pan American Society for Clinical Virology and President of Florida Branch ASM. 

He served on numerous journal editorial boards and professional councils. Research included retrovirus induced immune deficiency and effects of abused drugs on immunity. He authored over 175 scientific publications and edited 12 books. He received two outstanding teaching awards (1991, 1996) and the Theodore and Vanette Askonas-Ashford Distinguished Scholar Award, University of South Florida (1997). Dr. Specter received a CDC Grant as Principal Investigator for a project on Capacity Building Assistance for Global HIV/AIDS Microbiology Laboratory Program Development on behalf of ASM September 2005-2014. He is currently ASM Membership Chair.

Vanessa Sperandio is a Professor in the departments of Microbiology and Biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She got BS, MS and Ph.D. in in the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. She did her post-doctoral training at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. 

She was a Latin American Pew Fellow in Biomedical Sciences, an Ellison Foundation New Scholar, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases, and a National Academy Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow. She is the recipient of the ASM Eli Lilly and Company-Elanco Research award, and a winner of the GSK Discovery Fast-track challenge. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. 

Her research investigates chemical, stress, and nutritional signaling among the mammalian host, beneficial microbiota, and bacterial pathogens. The main tenet of her research is the study of how bacterial cells sense several mammalian hormones, leading to rewiring and reprogramming of bacterial transcription toward host and niche adaptation. She has also identified several bacterial receptors to mammalian hormones and reported that pathogens hijack these interkingdom signaling systems to promote virulence expression. She also translated these basic science concepts into strategies to develop novel approaches to antimicrobial therapy.

Tara C. Smith is a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University in Ohio. Her work has focused on the transmission of infectious disease and science communication.

Amanda Harrington, Ph.D., ABMM, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Pathology in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Loyola University Chicago and Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

She earned her doctoral degree in microbiology from the University of Kansas, did her post-doctoral fellowship training in clinical microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle and is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology. She is currently serving as the President of the Illinois Society for Microbiology and the Community Leader for Clinical and Public Health Microbiology on the Council on Microbial Sciences for the American Society for Clinical Microbiology. She is also serving as the ASM Liaison to the American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Governors. Her research interests include clinical diagnostic testing and utilization as well as quality metrics for clinical microbiology.

Andrea Furuya earned her doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Albany Medical College. She then joined the Diagnostic Immunology Laboratory as a research scientist at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health.

Her work focuses on clinical diagnostic testing and the development of serological assays to aid in the diagnosis of infectious agents particularly vector-borne and vaccine preventable diseases such as dengue, Zika, West Nile, Powassan and measles.

As part of her role in the clinical laboratory, she also evaluates serologic assays for the diagnosis of infections caused by viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. In addition to her role in the public health setting, she also teaches immunology and public health microbiology to graduate and undergraduate students.  

Biography coming soon.

RJC (Bob) McLean received his undergraduate degree from the University of Guelph, and his Ph.D. from the University of Calgary, where he was first introduced to biofilms. He returned to Guelph for a postdoc, where he studied bacterial cell surface metal interactions. His first academic position was at Queen’s University, where he continued his studies of bacteria-metal interactions, notably in the context of struvite urinary calculus formation due to Proteus mirabilis and other urinary infections. At Texas State University, his research has focused on the biology of biofilms and more recently polymicrobial interactions.

In microbial physiology and ecology courses, he incorporates undergraduate research. Dr. McLean has been very active in the promotion of microbiology. At Queen’s he was involved with the Canadian Society of Microbiologists. He has been very active with the Texas Branch of ASM, serving as Branch President from 2003-5. More recently he has become involved with the national ASM where he has served on several committees, including the Branch Organization Committee, the Postdoctoral Women Committee, and currently the Council of Microbial Sciences (COMS) where he focuses on Applied and Environmental Science. He is also on the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Boo Shan Tseng, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). She completed her
S.B. in Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003 and received her Ph.D. with Dr. Hironori Funabiki at Rockefeller University in 2010, studying the regulation of eukaryotic chromosome segregation.

 Dr. Tseng transitioned to studying Pseudomonas aeruginosa for her postdoctoral studies with Dr. Matthew R. Parsek at the University of
 Washington. Her postdoctoral work mainly focused on biofilm formation of this microbe. Dr. Tseng started her faculty position at UNLV in 2016, where her group continues to study the functions of the extracellular matrix in biofilm formation and has recently branched into studying the envelope stress response.

Biography coming soon.

Dr. Denise M. Akob is a microbial ecologist and biogeochemist whose research aims to understand interactions between microbes and their environment in order to solve anthropogenic issues. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biogeochemical Oceanography from the Florida State University in 2008 then was a Marie-Curie postdoctoral research fellow at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena from 2008-2012. Akob joined the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2012 as the head of the Reston Microbiology Laboratory.

She has published over 40 papers on uranium bioremediation, microbe-metal interactions, subsurface biodiversity, acetylenotrophy, and environmental effects of oil and gas development. Akob is an Associate Editor for Biogeosciences and serves on the Editorial Board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology and FEMS Microbiology Ecology. In addition, she is the Councilor of the Washington, D.C. Branch of ASM, and Vice-Chair of the 2021 Applied and Environmental Microbiology Gordon Research Conference. She received a USGS Early Career Leadership Award in 2017 for her outstanding service and scientific achievements in representing the agency.

Akob co-leads the USGS Environmental Health Energy Integrated Science Team Project, which aims to understand the environmental health impacts associated with the lifecycle of energy resource development. 

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Irving Nachamkin, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. is professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is past director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine (2009-20) and associate director of clinical microbiology (1982-2020) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he will assume the position of emeritus professor in January 2021.

His research interests are in diagnostic microbiology with a specific interest in gastrointestinal infections. He has been very active in his local Eastern Penn. ASM Branch as well as ASM. Currently, he is a member of the ASM Evidence Based Laboratory Medicine Guidelines Committee and the AAM Subcommittee on Awards. Dr. Nachamkin is board certified in Medical Microbiology (D-ABMM) as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Infectious Disease Society of America and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Dr. Jennifer Gaddy is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Her research interests include bacterial pathogenesis, innate immunity, antimicrobial resistance and environmental factors that influence bacterial virulence and disease outcome (such as micronutrient status). Dr. Gaddy specifically focuses on the impact micronutrient deficiency has on alteration of expression of virulence factors in bacterial pathogens, biofilm formation and engagement with innate immune system cells such as macrophages and neutrophils. She studies how dietary micronutrient intake can alter disease outcomes which occur as a consequence of infection with bacterial pathogens.  

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Dr. Knodler obtained her Ph.D, from the University of New South Wales in Australia in 1995. Her thesis focused on novel metabolic pathways in the protozoan parasite, Giardia intestinalis.

From 1996 to 1999 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at San Diego studying gene regulation during the developmental cycle of G. intestinalis. In 1998, she saw Dr Stanley Falkow give a seminar at a regional ASM meeting and it changed the course of her research career—Dr Falkow’s seminar had introduced her to what was then the burgeoning field of cellular microbiology.

In 2000 she moved to Vancouver, Canada for a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Dr. B. Brett Finlay where she studied the pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica. She continued her studies on Salmonella-host cell interactions at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID in Montana from 2002-2012, first as a Research Fellow and then as a Staff Scientist. Knodler was recruited to the WSU Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health as an Assistant Professor in October 2012 and received tenure and promotion in July 2019.

Lisa Cuchara, Ph.D., is a professor at Quinnipiac University, Conn. She has several research interests in the field of infectious diseases: vaccine hesitancy, vaccine preventable diseases, the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in water, soil & food, the existence of antibiotic resistant bacteria on fomites in both the public & healthcare venues, MRSA, the colonization of bacterial species in healthy individuals, nosocomial infections, emerging diseases caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria, and commensals & opportunistic bacteria. She has had over 160 QU undergraduate & grad students involved in research projects, and they have presented many research posters at scientific conferences.

She believes that the love of learning and "the big picture" are more important than just filling a student’s head with facts that are only retained until the exam takes place. Hence her teaching philosophy: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." She believes that while everyone talks about IQ and now EQ, that CQ (curiosity quotient) and PQ (passion quotient) are equally important. Her philosophy is that learning is an active process involving an intellectual presence. She is passionate about creating "citizen scientists," incorporating it into all of her classes.

Biography coming soon.

Michael Lieberman has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Chicago, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology (ABLMI) and a licensed Clinical Laboratory Director (state of Hawaii). He has done both research and clinical laboratory work for over 50 years and served as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer for 20 years, where he was assigned to several military hospitals before retiring in 1996.  

After retirement from the Army, Dr. Lieberman was employed as a research scientist at Hawaii Biotech, Inc. in Aiea, Hawaii, working on the development of vaccines against West Nile and dengue viruses. In 2007, he consulted for another local biotech company, as well as served as laboratory director for Aloha Toxicology Lab in Honolulu until retiring yet again at the end of 2015.  

Currently, he is employed as an immunologist in the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology and as laboratory director of the Tropical Medicine Clinical Laboratory in the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. He has been a member of ASM for 49 years and has attended many national annual meetings and was a participant in Round Tables and a Convener of a symposium. He has also been a member of ASM’s Hawaii Branch for many years, where he is active in local branch meetings and has served as Secretary, Treasurer and Councilor.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Siobain Duffy is an Associate Professor of viral evolution in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.  

She has a B.A. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Rutgers, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University.  Her lab uses bioinformatic, molecular and experimental evolution approaches to understand patterns in viral evolution, with an emphasis on understanding how fast-evolving single-stranded DNA and RNA viruses emerge in novel hosts. She first joined ASM as an undergraduate researcher in food microbiology, received the Raymond Sarber award and a Women’s Career Development Grant and is a past president of the Theobald Smith Society.

Biography coming soon.

Terri Ellis is a medical microbiologist and Associate Professor of Biology at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fl.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her Ph.D. in 2004 from UC Davis under the mentorship of Blaine Beaman, investigating innate immune responses to Nocardia asteroides. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH/NIEHS, and Duke University where she studied outer membrane vesicles with Dr. Meta Kuehn.

The Ellis lab investigates how modifications to the outer surface components of Klebsiella pneumoniae, such as outer membrane vesicles, porins, and polysaccharide capsule, contribute to virulence and antibiotic resistance. The Ellis lab utilizes a range of proteomic, biochemical, cell biology, genetic, and immunology based techniques to investigate how small changes to the outer surface of these bacteria trigger larger downstream alterations in virulence. Incorporated into all investigations is student training.

Dr. Ellis has a particular interest in science pedagogy, student mentorship, and undergraduate research opportunities. She has been a participant in both the the NSF CREATE and FIRST IV initiatives, to improve science teaching and incorporate primary literature into undergraduate coursework. She is an active member of the leadership for the Florida Branch of ASM.

Biography coming soon.

After obtaining her BS in chemistry and biology from Mississippi College and doing some post-graduate work, Dr. Temple took a hiatus from the academic science world at a time when “plasmid” was a little known term.  When she returned a decade later to get an MS in biochemistry from Louisiana Tech University and a PhD from Medical College of Virginia, the genetic revolution was in full swing.  Post-doctoral work provided opportunities to work with Bordetella  and bacteriophages; these research interests continue to the present.  She taught for 10 years at Drew University, a small liberal arts college in New Jersey (1400 undergraduates) and now for 15 years at James Madison University, a comprehensive regional institution reporting 22,000 students this year.  Teaching microbiology, molecular biology, and genomics, and partnering with students and peers in research has been a driving passion for her. She has also been involved in faculty mentoring and active in ASM for many years, and has a network of colleagues around the globe. 

Michael G. Schmidt earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, and rose through the ranks of MUSC where he is presently professor of microbiology and immunology.  He was elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology and the American College of Dentists. In 2017 he was selected as the South Carolina Governor’s Awardee for Excellence in Science and Scientific Awareness and in 2019 he was elected as chair of the Council for Microbial Sciences.

Currently, he is leading an inter-institutional-interdisciplinary team of professionals investigating the role that microbes in the built clinical environment serve in the acquisition of healthcare associated infections (HAI). Building on the results of a successful multi-center clinical trial, where they established that by controlling the microbial burden in the built clinical environment, through the introduction of limited and targeted placement of copper alloys, a significant reduction (58%, p<0.0013) of HAI was achieved. The results from this study were the basis of a talk he provided to TEDxCharleston, and featured in articles in the Smithsonian Magazine and Vice. Finally, he is a regular contributor to the internationally recognized podcast This Week In Microbiology (TWiM) and is the Councilor to the South Carolina Branch of ASM.

Biography coming soon.

Vaughn Cooper is an evolutionary biologist and microbiologist. He received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and his Ph.D. in 2000 from Michigan State University under the mentorship of Richard Lenski, where he studied the evolution of specialization in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment of E. coli populations. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Michigan Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan, studying pathogens of the cystic fibrosis airway with John LiPuma. He was Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire from 2004-2015, moving to the University of Pittsburgh in 2015. He is currently Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Computational and Systems Biology, at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He co-founded and is Director of the Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM), founded and directs the Microbial Genomics Sequencing center (MiGS). His awards include the 2010 Outstanding Assistant Professor at UNH and an NSF CAREER award. His research is supported by the NIH, NSF, NASA, and by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Dr. Cooper has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and invited chapters, and currently is supported by 12 active grants or contracts. The Cooper laboratory studies how bacterial populations (e.g. Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and multispecies communities) evolve to adapt to new hosts and environments, particularly in biofilms. Other major interests include the evolution of antimicrobial resistance and why genome regions mutate/evolve at different rates. We also develop and promote a laboratory curriculum called EvolvingSTEM that enables high school students to learn key topics in evolution and heredity by conducting a weeklong experiment with bacteria.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Dr. Ostrowsky is currently a Field Medical Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Quality Healthcare Promotion (CDC, DHQP) in New York, She works closely with NYSDOH, other public health, facility and professional groups on Healthcare Associated infections (HAI), Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) and Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) topics, including C. auris, multi drug resistant gram negatives and most recently COVID-19. She formerly was the Director of Epidemiology, Stewardship, and Infection Prevention at Montefiore/ Einstein, Bronx NY and remains an Associate Professional at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Ostrowsky has worked locally in the N.Y. area and nationally on a series of ASP and HAI collaboratives. This included being the co-lead context expert for the United Hospital Fund (UHF) Outpatient Stewardship Initiatives for Acute Respiratory Infections and a series of collaboratives on C. difficile and ASP (with Greater NY Hospital Association (GNYHA)]. She is a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of American (IDSA) and the Society for Health Care Epidemiologist of America (SHEA).  She was the chair of the SHEA Annual Spring Meeting in 2017 and is the current chair SHEA Education Committee.  She’s a current member of the IDweek Program Committee.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Daniel R. Brown (B.S. Agriculture [Purdue] 1978; M.S. Animal Science [LSU] 1980; Ph.D. Genetics [Arizona] 1987) is an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Florida. Expertise includes pathogen discovery, cellular microbiology, and applied bacterial systematics with focus on Mycoplasma spp. and related organisms. Brown is a former International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Executive Board member; International Organization for Mycoplasmology chairman; and ASM Division G (Mycoplasmology) chairman, advisor, and councilor.

Dr. Elitza (Elli) Theel is Director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory and Co-Director of the Vector-Borne Diseases Service Line at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She is an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, and is the program director for the Clinical Microbiology CPEP progam.

Theel received her Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and subsequently completed a Clinical Microbiology fellowship at Mayo Clinic. She is certified by the American Board of Medical Microbiology. She is a member of the editorial board for multiple journals, including the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Clinical Infectious Diseases, and  serves on a number of national committees and working groups, including the CAP Microbiology Resource Committee and the APHL/CDC working group for standardization of reporting language for Lyme disease serologic testing. 

Her research interests revolve around the evaluation and development of serologic assays for vector-borne diseases and fungal pathogens. Finally, she also spearheads a philanthropic, international laboratory outreach initiative in Belize, focused on increasing the in-country testing capacity for vector-borne diseases, establishing seroprevalence rates for these pathogens, and enhancing the quality assurance/quality control practices in clinical laboratories throughout the country.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Manuela Raffatellu is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. She received her M.D. at the University of Sassari, Italy, in 2000, followed by postdoctoral training at Texas A&M University and at the University of California, Davis.  She started her own lab at the University of California, Irvine in 2008, where she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2014. She then relocated to the University of California, San Diego in 2017. Her research focuses on many aspects of Salmonella interaction with the mucosal immune response and with the intestinal microbiota in the inflamed gut. Her recent efforts aim to design strategies to reduce intestinal colonization of enteric pathogens without affecting the gut microbiota composition. She is the recipient of several awards, including the IDSA ERF/NFID Astellas Young Investigator Award, the ICAAC Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Microbiology and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award. In 2019, she was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and she became a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. She serves as editor for Infection and Immunity. 

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

If you will excuse the strained metaphor, my route in microbiology has been more “tumbles” than “runs.” After earning my B.A. in Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Stanford and completing postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego, I eventually worked in biotech for nearly 10 years. Then I returned to academia against steep odds.  

To return to my microbiological metaphor, I chemotactically arrived as a tenured biology professor in the Pacific Northwest, teaching courses on microbiology, symbioses and introductory cell and molecular biology. My classroom focus is both conceptual and “ownership based” (I encourage creative “science art” in myriad forms to encourage engagement, ownership and accomplishment). In my undergraduate research lab, we study bacterial predators, bioluminescence and symbiosis. My laboratory has been a proven incubator of student success; I have sent 24 of my research students to Ph.D. programs, and 5 are currently in faculty positions. To me, individual students and their successes are everything.

Dr. Paul Fidel, Jr. received a B.S. in Biology from Allegheny College, Meadville, PA in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Oklahoma in 1988. Following a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases in 1990. 

In 1995, Fidel went to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans as Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology. After promotion to Professor in 1999, he was named holder of the Carl Baldridge Endowed Chair in Oral and Craniofacial Biology and appointed the Director of the Center of Excellence in Oral and Craniofacial Biology in 2001. He has authored ~200 publications and has been continuously funded by extramural sources, primarily NIH, since 1994. He was inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology in 2018. 

Fidel’s research has impacted the fields of medical mycology and infectious disease. Pioneering studies using novel mouse models and clinical studies have defined unique paradigm-changing aspects of host-pathogen interactions in mucosal candidiasis. Most recently, he is conducting clinical trials evaluating live attenuated vaccines (MMR) to mitigate COVID-related sepsis.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Biography coming soon.

Thaddeus Ezeji received his Ph.D. (Magna cum laude) in microbiology from University of Rostock, Germany. His 6 years post-doctoral and research assistant professor efforts at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, focused on fermentation technologies and metabolic engineering of solventogenic (butanologenic) Clostridium species.

In 2007, Dr. Ezeji joined the Animal Science Department at The Ohio State University (OSU) and Ohio State Agricultural and Development Center, where he holds a professor position. Dr. Ezeji’s current research focuses on development of non-food substrates to produce fuels and chemicals, and design of advanced fermentation systems. Additionally, Dr. Ezeji’s laboratory conducts research activities on probiotics, metabolomics, genetic and metabolic engineering of bacteria of biotechnological significance. In collaboration with several OSU faculty staff, Dr. Ezeji is involved in outreach programs that address emerging issues from Ohio’s expanding bioenergy sector. He has published more than 74 scientific papers, 16 book chapters, co-edited three books, and serves as associate editor for two international journals.

Zhicheng Dou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. He received his Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences with an emphasis on Biochemistry at Fudan University located in Shanghai, China, in 2002. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2009.

His graduate work focuses on understanding the CO2 fixation by a primitive organelle termed carboxysome in a sulfur-oxidizing bacterium, Halothiobacillus neapolitanus. He switched his research emphasis from environmental microbiology to parasite pathogenesis during his postdoctoral training at the Carruthers' lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan (2009 – 2015). He studied the proteolytic mechanism of Toxoplasma gondii infection in mammalian cells. He moved to Clemson University in August 2015 and accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biological Sciences.

His current research studies nutrient acquisition and utilization in Toxoplasma parasites. Please refer to his lab website www.thedoulab.com for more information and connect with him via his Twitter account at @bigbean777.

Erin Lipp is Professor of Environmental Health Science at the University of Georgia, where she has served on the faculty since 2002. She received her Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of South Florida and her bachelor’s degree from New College of Florida. 

Dr. Lipp has maintained an active research program on the intersecting roles of water, climate and environmental change on the microbial ecology of pathogens. She has worked with both national and international agencies on the effects of climate change on human health, with an emphasis on water and foodborne diseases.

Between 2007 and 2012 she co-directed a doctoral training program on Oceans and Human Health.  She was a contributing author on the Health Chapter for the IPCC Working Group II Fifth Assessment Report and the 2016 USGCRP Climate & Health Assessment. She was elected as fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology in 2016. 

 

Biography coming soon.

Mary Ann Bruns is Professor of Soil Microbiology in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at The Pennsylvania State University. Bruns teaches and conducts research in environmental microbiology and is on the Executive Committee of Penn State’s Microbiome Center. She received a BA in Microbiology and MS in Food Science & Technology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and PhD in Crop and Soil Sciences from Michigan State University with graduate training in the Center for Microbial Ecology. Her research investigates how land use and management affect soil and root microbiomes and soil functionality for ecosystem service delivery. Bruns served twice as President of the Allegheny Branch of ASM. As an ASM International Fellow in 2009 she conducted a molecular microbiology teaching workshop at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, and received an ASM Outstanding Service Award from the International Board. Bruns has interest in innovative microbiology training for undergraduates across disciplines to promote broader technical employment opportunities.

Peter Girguis is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on understanding the physiological and biochemical adaptation of microbes and animals to "extreme environments." He is also renowned for building novel instruments and sensors such as underwater mass spectrometers and microscale microbial samplers.

Dr. Girguis received his B.Sc. from U.C.L.A., his Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara, and did postdoctoral research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute before going to Harvard University. He has been a Distinguished Lecturer for the National Science Foundation, was a Merck Co. Innovative Research Awardee, and a Department of Energy E.C.-U.S. Biotechnology Fellow. He has authored or co-authored over 95 publications, served as chair of the National Deep Submergence Science Committee (DeSSC; 2010-2016), serves as a Board member of the Ocean Exploration Trust, as is on several notable ocean advisory boards.

Girguis’ honors include the 2007 and 2011 Lindbergh Foundation Award for Science & Sustainability, the 2018 Lowell Thomas Award for groundbreaking advances in Marine Science and Technology, and the 2020 Petra Shattuck Award for Distinguished Teaching. He was recently named a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator for his research on marine symbioses.

Biography coming soon.

Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello received her undergraduate degree in 1983 and her Masters in 1987 (Animal Nutrition) from Simon Bolivar University, Venezuela. She received her Ph.D. in 1990 (Microbiology) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and completed postdoctoral work at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomic in France. She worked as a full professor for 14 years at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research, Venezuela, and 11 years at the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan.

In 2012, she joined the New York University School of Medicine as an Associate Professor of Medicine. She is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology and an Infectious Diseases Society of America fellow; she serves on the editorial boards of several journals. She has published over 100 scientific papers. Her laboratory uses metagenomics, ecology, and anthropology to address broad questions about microbe-host interaction, microbiome development, and impacts and restoration of the microbiome.

Dr. Joanna B. Goldberg is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. She was awarded the 2012 ASM Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award. Prior to joining Emory, she was a Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Virginia, and at the Channing Laboratory, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her B.A. in Biology from Boston University and Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of California at Berkeley.

Goldberg has had continuous NIH funding for research on bacterial pathogens associated with life-threatening lung infections in individuals living with cystic fibrosis, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She studies the synthesis and regulation of surface antigens, including polysaccharides and protein adhesins, their role in infection and as potential antimicrobial and vaccine targets.

She was awarded the ASM Raymond W. Sarber Fellowship Award as a graduate student. As examples of her ASM involvement, she was Chair of Division D, Councilor for Division B, Chair of the ASM Career Development Committee, Chair of the ASM Conferences Committee and President of the Virginia Branch.