Public release date: 20-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Diana Kenney dkenney@mbl.edu 508-289-7139 Marine Biological Laboratory

WOODS HOLE, Mass.The MBL Microbial Diversity course is being honored as a "Milestones in Microbiology Site" by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

"Milestones in Microbiology" recognizes places where major developments in microbiology occurred and/or where outstanding microbiologists made seminal discoveries.

The course will receive the "Milestones in Microbiology Site" designation on Saturday, June 22, at 4:30 PM in the MBL Club, 100 Water Street, following the Microbial Diversity Course Symposium, which is from 9 AM to 4 PM in Redfield Auditorium.

"The MBL Microbial Diversity course has trained many outstanding microbiologists from around the world, providing scientific tools that they have used to make many important discoveries," says Stanley Maloy, a past president of ASM. "MBL has been a major place where scientists have gathered (mostly over the summer) to discuss and do research on marine biology, ecology, and developmentand microbiology has influenced and been influenced by each of these areas. MBL, including the Microbial Diversity course, has had an important impact on our understanding of the critical role that microbes play in the environment, from the characterization of microbes that use unusual sources of nutrients to the discovery of microbes that live in unique ecosystems in the depths of the ocean."

The Microbial Diversity course was founded at the MBL in 1971. At the time, the MBL offered several summer courses focused on biological research, all taught by leading scientists from around the world, but it had no course in microbiology. Several prominent microbiologists at the MBL and at its neighboring organization, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), participated in the establishment of the Microbial Diversity course and its subsequent flourishing. Yet one can point to four key scientists whose contributions were essential.

The first was Holger Jannasch of WHOI, a scientific grandfather for the field of microbial ecology. At the invitation of MBL leadership, Jannasch initiated the Microbial Diversity course (then called Marine Ecology) at the MBL and gathered an elite group of instructors for the first session. The course was an instant success.

The next two scientists who were vital to the course's success were Selman and Byron Waksman. Selman had been a microbiologist and trustee at WHOI, and he recognized the importance of the Microbial Diversity Course. At a key time when it might have ended due to lack of funding, he stepped forward to offer support from the Waksman Foundation for Microbiology, which he had founded a year before his 1952 receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. After Selman's death, his son, Byron, helped to realize the foundation's support of the course.

The fourth key scientist was Harlyn Halvorson, who succeeded Jannasch as the course's director in 1981. Halverson had been introduced to the MBL by his father, H. Orin Halvorson, a noted microbiologist. Harlyn continued Jannasch's course model of collecting a group of internationally recognized microbiologists to serve as course faculty. He also secured continued financial support for the course through a variety of granting agencies. (Halverson later served as MBL director from 1987 to 1991.)

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MBL Microbial Diversity course to receive 'Milestones in Microbiology Site' designation

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology

Washington, D.C. June 18, 2013 Ken Cadwell, Ph.D., New York University School of Medicine, has been given a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award for his exceptional work in the fields of infectious diseases and pathogenesis. His nominator, Heran Darwin, notes that Cadwell's findings have already had a "profound impact on the fields of infectious disease and immunity."

Cadwell received his undergraduate degree in Biology, with Honors, from Northwestern University. He then joined the laboratory of Laurent Coscoy in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley where he received his Ph.D. Coscoy describes Cadwell as an exceptional scientist and quick learner who has a "real passion for science and a genuine concern for his peers." As part of his dissertation research, he identified a novel type of protein modification catalyzed by the Kaposi's Sarcoma Herpesvirus. Following the completion of his Ph.D., he joined the laboratory of Herbert "Skip" Virgin at Washington University School of Medicine where he received an esteemed postdoctoral fellowship from the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation to investigate how aberrant host-pathogen interactions lead to inflammatory disease.

As part of his postdoctoral research, he generated and characterized mice with a mutation in Atg16L1, a gene that is linked to inflammatory bowel disease and essential for the cellular pathway of autophagy. He found that these mice developed intestinal pathologies similar to the human disorder, but only upon infection with a norovirus. Virgin calls this discovery a "new paradigm for understanding how complex inflammatory diseases can be induced in a combinatorial fashion." In recognition of this finding, he received the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists, which is awarded by the Damon Runyon Foundation for individuals with great potential.

In 2010, he joined the Department of Microbiology at New York University School of Medicine as a faculty member of the prestigious Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine. Using the tools that he previously established, he is continuing to examine the role of Atg16L1 and autophagy in immune responses to pathogens. In addition to examining the mechanism by which a virus triggers intestinal disease, he is also investigating how autophagy deficiency alters resistance to bacterial infections. He is especially interested in revealing new roles for autophagy during inflammation that can be exploited for improving treatment of infectious and immunological disease.

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The ICAAC Young Investigator Award will be presented during ASM's 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), September 10-13, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 40,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health, economic, and environmental well-being.

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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The American Society for Microbiology honors Ken Cadwell

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology

The winner of the esteemed Cubist-ICAAC Award is George L. Drusano, M.D., Institute for Therapeutic Innovation of the University of Florida, for his application of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling to antiviral and antimicrobial drug development. According to his nominator, Michael Dudley, Rempex Pharmaceuticals, "Drusano and his colleagues have published groundbreaking work using pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics to simulate and then validate dosing regimens to maximize the safety and efficacy of antibiotics. The breadth and importance of his work is remarkable."

After graduating magna cum laude, from the Honors Program at Boston College, Drusano received his M.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he graduated cum laude, . He completed his medical internship and residency at the University of Maryland Hospital, where he was Chief Resident and also a Fellow in Medicine in Infectious Diseases.

Drusano, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), is an active reviewer and has served as editor of the section of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy for 10 years. Currently he is an Editor for mBio. He has authored over 290 articles.

Also an active volunteer, Drusano was a member of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapeutics (ICAAC) Program Committee and the IDSA Program Committee. He has served on multiple National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Review Groups and as an ad hoc member of NIAID Council on two occasions to support issues regarding emergence of bacterial resistance. He also serves as a consultant to NIAID and CDC on Biodefense issues. Drusano has been a member of the Subcommittee on Guidelines for Bacteremia and Endocarditis of the Antimicrobial Agents Use Committee, a joint effort of the IDSA and the Food and Drug Administration. In 2010, he was Chair of the Gordon Conference on New Antimicrobial Discovery and Development. He has won a number of awards, including being named Distinguished Investigator of the Year (2003) by the American College of Clinical Pharmacology. Most recently, he was named recipient of the Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement for 2012 from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

An active researcher, Drusano has focused on mathematical modeling and the pharmacodynamics of anti-infective chemotherapy, especially the pharmacodynamics of fluoroquinolone antimicrobials, anti-tuberculosis agents, multiple anti-viral agents and the therapy of biodefense pathogens. Paul G. Ambrose, Institute for Clinical Pharmacodynamics, says, "Drusano is a distinguished scholar and scientist who pioneered work in anti-infective pharmacology and antimicrobial resistance, and helped redefine infectious disease chemotherapy as we know it today."

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The Cubist-ICAAC Award will be presented during ASM's 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), September 10-13, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 40,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health, economic, and environmental well-being.

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The American Society for Microbiology honors George L. Drusano

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology

Baligh Yehia, M.D., M.P.P., M.S.H.P., Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP), has received a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award for his innovative work and leadership in the field of HIV health services and quality research. His teaching and scholarship focus on health outcomes of individuals living with chronic viral diseases and policies that affect those outcomes.

Yehia received his undergraduate and medical degrees with honors from the University of Florida, where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society, and the Gold Humanism Honor Society, for his excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service. After medical school, he completed an internal medicine residency on the Osler Medical Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During his fellowship, he was award the Robert Austrian Award for his scholastic excellence and leadership. Yehia also holds a Master of Science in Health Policy Research from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Nominator, Ebbing Lautenbach, University of Pennsylvania, says, "Yehia has an exceptional academic background and possesses a unique skill set which blends clinical medicine, health behavior research, and public policy. These tools have allowed him to cross disciplines and pursue innovative ideas."

Through his active research on how health care delivery is organized, he has contributed to the development of policy on healthcare reform, access to medical care, performance measurement, and public health. Kelly Gebo, Johns Hopkins University, goes on to explain, Yehia "described the organization of care in HIV clinics to determine areas for improvement; evaluated inpatient utilization to identify modifiable factors for reducing hospitalization rates; and examined antiretroviral medication errors in an effort to prevent adverse drug events and improve patient safety." Yehia's scholastic achievements were recognized by a career development award from the NIH/NIMH to study the relationship between retention in care and clinical HIV outcomes and to identify health system and patient factors influencing retention in care, a special citation for fellows-in-training from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame.

In addition to being an outstanding researcher, he is also an active volunteer. He currently serves on the Clinical Affairs Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and is a member of the American Medical Association GLBT Advisory Committee. He is past National Chair of the American College of Physicians Council of Associates and past National Chair of the American Medical Association Resident and Fellow Section. He has served on the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education, American College of Physicians Board of Regents, and on the Maryland State Medical Society Board of Trustees. His leadership has been recognized by national, state, and local organizations.

He resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he maintains an active research program and cares for patients at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases; and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

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The ICAAC Young Investigator Award will be presented during ASM's 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), September 10-13, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 40,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health, economic, and environmental well-being.

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The American Society for Microbiology honors Baligh Yehia

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology

Washington, D.C. June 18, 2013 Frank Leo van de Veerdonk, M.D., Ph.D., Nijmegen Medical Centre Radboud University (RUNMC) and Nijmegen Institute for Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (N4i), has received a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award for his work in the field of fungal immunology. Charles Dinarello, University of Colorado, says, "I see Frank as one of the new generation of innovative thinkers in the field of cytokine biology, particularly as it applies to infection."

Van de Veerdonk earned his medical degree in 2001 from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He started as a resident in Internal Medicine at Jeroen Bosch Hospital in s' Hertogenbosch under the supervision of Paetrick Netten. In 2006, he continued his training in Internal Medicine at Radboud University in Nijmegen where he was supervised by Jos van der Meer. He began his Ph.D. in 2007, and under the supervision of Mihai Netea, he studied pattern recognition receptors and pathogen associated molecular patterns of Candida albicans and Candida-specific innate and adaptive immune responses. During this time new insights in Th17 biology were discovered and van de Veerdonk found that mutations in STAT1 that lead to gain of function are responsible for autosomal dominant chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. Mihai Netea, Radboud University Nijmegen, considers this discovery, "a major breakthrough in the diagnosis of immunodeficiencies with fungal infections."

While completing his Ph.D., he worked at St. Jude's Children Research Hospital in the laboratory of Thirumala Kanneganti, where he studied the role of the inflammasome in invasive candidiasis. After receiving a Niels Stensen Stipend in 2010, he went to the University of Colorado to study the role of the new interleukin-1 (IL 1) family members IL-36, IL-37 and IL-38 under the supervision of Charles Dinarello. Dinarello considers van de Veerdonk "a gifted physician/scientist who always has his eye focused on what we can learn from patients." While van de Veerdonk was at the University of Colorado, he discovered that IL-38 binds to the IL-36R and acts similar to IL-36Ra on immune cells. After returning to Nijmegen he finished his Ph.D. and graduated cum laude from Radboud University.

In 2011 van de Veerdonk completed his fellowship in infectious diseases. Then in 2012 he became a faculty member at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre where he works as an internist-infectious diseases specialist. He received a grant from the Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences (NCMLS) and a Veni grant from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) to build his own research group in the laboratory of Mihai Netea and Leo Joosten. Van de Veerdonk is focusing his research on the host defense against Aspergillus and the functional biology of the new IL 1 family members IL-36, IL-37 and IL-38.

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The ICAAC Young Investigator Award will be presented during ASM's 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), September 10-13, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 40,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health, economic, and environmental well-being.

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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The American Society for Microbiology honors Frank Leo van de Veerdonk

Invite Microbiology Group
An invitation to join the Microbiology Group on http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/group/microbiology.

By: Bob Campbell

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Invite Microbiology Group - Video

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Vice Dean of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) College of Medicine, Dr. Jiunn-Jong Wu, who is also distinguished professor at the NCKU Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology and Institute of Molecular Medicine, has been awarded the Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology to commend his excellent achievements and influence in medical microbiology.

Most people at the NCKU College of Medicine notice that Dr. Wu is always the first person to arrive at the office, at around 3 or 4 oclock in the morning, and the last person to leave.

Despite working for long hours, he always shows great spirits and joy during work. Im dedicated to work and I never feel tired of what Im doing, said Dr. Wu.

Dr. Wu received his PhD degree at the Pennsylvania Temple Universitys Department of Immunology and Microbiology, focusing on clinical microbiology, bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial resistance, epidemiology, nosocomial infection and others. Till now, Dr. Wu has published more than 250 Science Citation Index (SCI) papers.

Awarding Dr. Wu the Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology was an effort initiated by the Dean of School of Medicine at Temple University, in order to show recognition for Dr. Wus outstanding performance and lifelong contributions to the field of microbiology for 30 years.

In Taiwans medical field, former NCKU President Dr. Michael Lai has also been given this award while carrying research at the University of Southern California in 2002.

The American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) is a worldwide organization. Every year, three AAM fellows will nominate researchers from all over the world to receive this honor.

After going through detailed review of nominees, 87 researchers were awarded the Fellow of AAM in 2013. Dr. Wu accepted the award at the end of May.

Being awarded this honor is the recognition for my lifelong contribution to academics, said Dr. Wu, who would like to share this honor with NCKU as well as show his gratitude to his teachers and advisors for giving him education and guidance.

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NCKU Professor Awarded Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology

Public release date: 19-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org 202-942-9389 American Society for Microbiology

Washington, DC The Microbial Diversity Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, has been named a Milestones in Microbiology site by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM Milestones in Microbiology program recognizes institutions and the scientists who worked there that have made significant contributions toward advancing the science of microbiology. A ceremony unveiling the plaque that will mark the site is scheduled for Saturday, June 22, 2013, at 4:30 pm in the MBL Club during the Microbial Diversity Course. Jeffery Miller, President of the ASM, will present the plaque on behalf of the Society.

The Course is an intensive six-and-a-half-week research and training experience for graduate and postdoctoral students, as well as established investigators, who want to become competent in microbiological techniques for working with a broad range of microbes, and in approaches for recognizing the metabolic, phylogenetic, and genomic diversity of cultivated and as yet uncultivated bacteria. Admission is limited to 20 students.

"Since its creation in 1971 by Holger Jannasch, the MBL Microbial Diversity Course has trained many outstanding microbiologists from around the world, providing scientific tools that they have used to make many important discoveries," said Stanley Maloy, a past-President of ASM. "MBL has been a major place where scientists have gathered (mostly over the summer) to discuss and do research on marine biology, ecology, and development and microbiology has influenced and been influenced by each of these areas. MBL, including the Microbial Diversity Course, has had an important impact on our understanding of the critical role that microbes play in the environment, from the characterization of microbes that use unusual sources of nutrients to the discovery of microbes that live in unique ecosystems in the depths of the ocean. For example, work by Jannasch led to the discovery of bacteria that live adjacent to deep-sea hydrothermal vents and use sulfur as an energy source. Research on microbial ecology and physiology has led to many practical applications, from novel enzymes in laundry detergents to enzymes used for genetic engineering, from bioremediation to energy production, from novel antibiotics to phage therapy, and from environmental health to animal and human health."

One feature of the MBL summer courses, including Microbial Diversity, is that every four or five years, a new set of directors brings a fresh approach and a new set of tools to the course. "Each year, the Course has a different 'menu,' because during the winter months, directors become 'chefs', developing elaborate plans for each microbial 'feast of the week', deciding which areas to feature and whom to invite for the 20 or more guest lectures," writes Ralph S. Wolfe in a brief history of the course.

Many leading microbiologists have served as directors of the Microbial Diversity Course over the years, including course founder Holger Jannasch, Harlyn Halvorson, Ralph Wolfe, E. Peter Greenberg, Martin Dworkin, John Breznak, Edward Leadbetter, Abigail Salyers, Caroline Harwood, Alfred Spormann, William Metcalf, Thomas Schmidt, and current co-directors Daniel Buckley and Stephen Zinder.

The Microbial Diversity Course has shaped the careers of generations of outstanding microbiologists, and continues to be a premier site for advanced training at the leading edge of microbiological investigation.

In recognition of these contributions, the American Society for Microbiology is pleased to designate the Marine Biological Laboratory Microbial Diversity Course as a Milestones in Microbiology site. By placing plaques at Milestones sites, ASM hopes to increase professional and public recognition and appreciation of the significance of the science of microbiology.

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Microbial diversity course designated as a 'Milestones in Microbiology' site