Drawing directly from CMPH, each session focuses on core laboratory workflows for different specimen types, including media selection, incubation conditions, colony work-up and reporting practices. With laboratory professionals and microbiology technicians in mind, this series provides participants an opportunity to revisit best practices, strengthen technical understanding and discuss real-world challenges encountered in the clinical lab.
Each session concludes with a question-and-answer period offering the opportunity to engage directly with the presenters.
Moderators
Amy L. Leber, Ph.D., D(ABMM), SM(ASCP)MB, is ASM’s Personnel Standards and Workforce Subcommittee Chair and Co-Editor in Chief of CMPH. She is also the Senior Director of Clinical Laboratories and Director of Microbiology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and a clinical professor of pathology and pediatrics at The Ohio State University.
Carey-Ann Burnham, Ph.D., D(ABMM), is the founding Editor in Chief of ASM Case Reports and Co-Editor in Chief of CMPH. She is also the CEO at Pattern Bioscience and a professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.
Wound Cultures—July 21, 2026, 12 p.m. ET
Registration opening soon.In this CMPH—Back to Basics webinar, Alexandra Bryson, Ph.D., D(ABMM), and Christopher Doern, Ph.D., D(ABMM), authors of the CMPH wound cultures procedures and the new Pocket Guide to Clinical Microbiology, 5th Edition, review the evidence and current best laboratory practices for workup and reporting of wound cultures, including differences and exceptions for unique patient populations and specimen types.
Questions Discussed Will Include the Following:
- What are current best practices for the workup and reporting of wound cultures?
- What common diagnostic challenges arise when interpreting wound cultures?
- How should wound culture processing and reporting differ for unique specimen types or patient populations?
Speakers:
Alexandra Bryson, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
Professor of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine & Director of Clinical Microbiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
Christopher Doern, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine & Associate Director of Clinical Microbiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
Upcoming Webinars
During this session, Nicholas M. Moore, Ph.D., will review foundational, culture-based approaches to body fluid specimens as outlined in the Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook.
Topics Discussed Will Include the Following:
- The role of blood culture bottle inoculation for sterile body fluids, including its impact on organism recovery, enrichment of low-level pathogens and time to detection compared to conventional plating methods.
- Implementation of appropriate reporting and work-up strategies when low-virulence organisms are isolated from sterile body fluid specimens.
Speaker:
Nicholas M. Moore, Ph.D., D(ABMM), MLS(ASCP)CM
Associate Director of Clinical Microbiology & Associate Professor, Rush University Medical Center
Past Webinars
The Feb. 24 event has concluded.
This session covered the sticking points of sputum and other respiratory cultures—providing guidance on some of the work-up and reporting strategies described in the Clinical Microbiology Procedures Handbook.
Questions Discussed Included the Following:
- What are the best ways to evaluate specimens for culture?
- Are quantitative cultures worth the effort?
- How should challenging identifications from MALDI-TOF be approached?
Speaker:
Kevin Alby, Ph.D., D(ABMM)Director of Microbiology, Brown University Health
The May 7 event has concluded.
During this webinar, Blake Buchan, Ph.D., D(ABMM), reviewed the evidence and current best laboratory practices for workup and reporting of urine cultures, including differences and exceptions for unique patient populations and specimen types.
Questions Discussed Included the Following:
- What are current best practices for the workup and reporting of urine cultures?
- What common diagnostic challenges arise when interpreting urine cultures?
- How should urine culture processing and reporting differ for unique specimen types or patient populations?
Speaker:
Blake W. Buchan, Ph.D., D(ABMM)Professor, Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin
Director, Clinical Microbiology, Children’s Wisconsin
The recording for this event is coming soon.
Continuing education (CE) credits are not available for this series.
Watch past ASM Press–Wiley webinars and recordings on the ASM Press YouTube playlist.
For additional resources and updates related to clinical and public health microbiology, visit our Clinical and Public Health Microbiology (CPHM) webpage.