ASM's Strategic Roadmap

Our Work

ASM embraces the responsibility to support scientists and stakeholders globally, leveraging fundamental and applied science to positively impact life on, and the sustainability of, our planet.

ASM Promotes and Supports the Future of the Microbial Sciences

The microbial sciences are rapidly expanding and we’re witnessing life-changing innovations. ASM can no longer simply react to the changes around us. It is our responsibility to empower and connect microbial scientists and stakeholders around the world to shape the future of the field. ASM embraces this responsibility, leveraging fundamental and applied science to positively impact life on, and the sustainability of, our planet.

Organized around key scientific disciplines, and guided by the principle that science must serve humanity, ASM's new Strategic Roadmap solidifies ASM's role as a global society. It calls upon leaders in science, industry and society to harness the transformative power of microbes to address the most pressing challenges of our time.

ASM's Strategic Roadmap includes establishing 3 scientific units in order to achieve the desired outcomes. Source: American Society for Microbiology

Defining ASM’s Scientific Units

To create a successful mechanism for gathering collegial input and developing scientific priorities, ASM will establish 3 scientific units with the goal of integrating diverse and dynamic perspectives. Each unit will have its own infrastructure, be led by a volunteer Scientific Chair and a full-time staff Scientific Director and be supported by expert Advisory Councils and additional support staff.

ASM Health

ASM Applied and
Environmental Microbiology

ASM Mechanism
Discovery

As part of ASM's recently adopted strategic framework, the ASM Health unit will empower microbial scientists and partners to advance the field for the benefit of society. To do this, the ASM Health unit will go beyond the traditional scientific society approach by adopting an expansive view of who is engaged in the space. This means fostering connections with and among anyone whose work touches on (or is touched by) the microbial sciences, not just “classic microbiologists.” It also involves identifying emerging science across disciplines, in institutions large and small and without regard for regional and geographic boundaries.

 The work of the ASM Health unit will inform ASM’s programs and services to meet the needs of the community, expand ASM’s reach and drive the future of the microbial sciences.

Subdisciplines

Areas included under ASM Health are as follows:

Clinical and public health microbiology.
Drug discovery and development.
Vaccine and diagnostics development.
Antimicrobial resistance and tolerance.
Microbiome.
Animal and plant health.
Food microbiology.

Dev Mittar, Ph.D.

American Society for Microbiology

ASM Health Director

Colleen Kraft, M.D.

Emory University Hospital

ASM Health Chair

David Andes, M.D.

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Elizabeth Dodds Ashley, M.H.S.

Duke University

Jessilyn Dunn, Ph.D.

Duke University

Laura Filkins, Ph.D.

University of Texas Southwestern

David Gaston, M.D., Ph.D.

Vanderbilt University

Randall Hayden, M.D.

St. Jude's Hospital

Brandi Limbago, Ph.D.

Center for Disease Control

Amy Mathers, M.D., D(ABMM)

University of Virginia

Pascale Ondoa, M.D., Ph.D.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Marcela Pasetti, Ph.D.

University of Maryland, School of Medicine

David Peaper, M.D., Ph.D.

Yale School of Medicine

Paul Plummer, D.V.M., Ph.D.

University of Tennessee

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., M.Sc.

Mayo Clinic

Tara Smith, Ph.D.

Kent State University

The ASM Applied and Environmental Microbiology unit will help connect and promote the fields of microbiology in areas relating to the environment and ecology. The unit will establish around the following subdisciplines:

Biodiversity.
Microbial ecology.
Environmental microbiology.
Bioeconomy.
Biofuels.
Bioprocess/manufacturing.
Fermentation sciences.
Synthetic biology.

The call for ASM Applied and Environmental Microbiology volunteer Scientific Chair will be announced in February/March 2025. ASM Members will receive an email message to apply for this exciting opportunity to shape the science of the field.

ASM Applied & Environmental Leaders

Veronica Garcia, Ph.D.

American Society for Microbiology

ASM Applied & Environmental Director

Jay T. Lennon, Ph.D.

Indiana University

ASM Applied & Environmental Chair

The ASM Mechanism Discovery unit will drive innovation in the study of microbes and their interactions, harnessing expertise in the fundamental processes, dynamic relationships and evolutionary mechanisms that shape microbial life. The unit will include the following subdisciplines :

Microbial physiology and metabolism.
Structural and cellular microbiology.
Host-microbe interactions.
Host response to microbes.
Microbial communities.
Microbial genetics and genomics.
Computational microbiology and modeling.
Microbial evolution.

The call for ASM Mechanism Discovery volunteer Scientific Chair will be announced in late winter/early spring 2025. ASM Members will receive an email message to apply for this exciting opportunity to shape the science of the field.

About ASM ASM's Strategic Roadmap