WHAT'S NEW
MicrobeWorld Video Ep. 24 - An Iconography of Contagion
In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video we visit the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., for the opening of "An Iconography of Contagion," an art exhibition featuring more than 20 public health posters from the 1920s to the 1990s. Covering infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the posters come from North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
This video features interviews with J.D. Talasek, Director of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, and Michael Sappol, Ph.D., Curator-Historian for the National Library of Medicine, along with several of the opening's attendees, on their impressions and thoughts of how public health promotion and education have changed over the decades.
The presentation of the posters along with comments provided by Talasek and Sappol provide insight into the interplay between the public's understanding of disease and society's values. The exhibit reflects the fears and concerns of the time and also the medical knowledge that was available. Considered an art form, many of the posters are beautiful and entertaining, but during their heyday, they sought to educate people on matters of life and death.
The exhibition is free and open to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until December 19, 2008. The National Academy of Sciences is located at 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, in Washington, D.C. Visitors enter at 2100 C St., N.W. The gallery is located upstairs.
For those who can't make it to the Nation's Capitol, but would like more information, please feel free to download the exhibit's brochure.
Meet the Scientist: Anthony Maurelli, Ph.D.
Tony Maurelli is a professor of microbiology and immunology in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Maurelli's major research interest lies in the genetics of bacterial pathogenesis - the genetic nuts and bolts of how bacteria infect humans and make us sick.
Dr. Maurelli's work has uncovered "antivirulence genes" in Shigella flexneri, a major cause of dysentery and food borne illness. This is an interesting concept: antivirulence genes undermine pathogenicity, so they must be broken or dropped from the genome for a bacterium to take good advantage of a host and cause disease. These genes are a hindrance, so to become an effective pathogen, Shigella must stop using them.
In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talks with Dr. Maurelli about antivirulence genes, about whether the naming system for bacteria should be fixed, and about his favorite bacteria.
To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.
Small Things Considered - Teachers' Corner
The American Society for Microbiology's blog Small Things Considered by Elio Schaechter and Merry Youle has inaugurated a Teachers’ Corner. Here, they have grouped selected articles from their archives into categories that approximate those found in a microbiology course. Since the blog's inception in Nov. 2006, many educators have assigned blog articles for “intellectual enrichment,” for student discussions and presentations, or as suggested topics for term papers. Following these categorical listings are “Talmudic Questions” — questions whose answers cannot be readily Googled. These topics are suitable for graduate student qualifying exams and the likes.
The authors would like to see material from Small Things Considered used extensively for teaching purposes and also encourage students to write for the blog. Over time they have published the writings (both solo and group efforts) of very gifted students.
Please take a look at this great resource and feel free to give Elio and Merry your feedback.
MicrobeWorld Radio is Off the Air
As of Monday, November 17, 2008, the MicrobeWorld Radio daily 90 second audio podcast has ended. There will be no more episodes for the foreseeable future, although all past episodes are still available.
The reason is that MicrobeWorld Radio has become too expensive to produce and distribute on a daily basis for public radio stations. In case you didn't know, MicrobeWorld Radio was heard on 90 plus stations in the United States. But not to worry, we have been busy creating new podcast content with more in-depth interviews with scientists and researchers who work with microbes.
One of our new audio podcasts is called Meet the Scientist with Dr. Merry Buckley. For this show we want to reveal more about scientists, the work they do, and what makes them tick. We ask them what they're up to now and what's on the horizon. How is the science moving forward to solve problems? What keeps them going in a tough, competitive field? What do they see for the future of research, education, and training? We hope to show you a glimpse of what scientists are really like and what's going on in cutting-edge microbiology today. Meet the scientist is published every two weeks - sometimes more frequently.
The other podcast we have been producing for sometime now is MicrobeWorld Video, a monthly series that includes issues in microbiology and infectious disease research, events and meetings, profiles of individual researchers, and more. Currently, MicrobeWorld Video is one of the top science and medicine video podcasts in iTunes.
So with that said, we would like to introduce you to Meet the Scientist by inserting a few of our recent episodes into the MicrobeWorld Radio feed over the next few days. Over time, we will combine the RSS feeds for both shows.
If you ever want to listen to an old episode of MicrobeWorld Radio they all have been archived and correlated with the National Science Education Standards in a searchable database.
For the regular subscriber to MicrobeWorld Radio, you don't have to do anything but give Meet the Scientist a chance and continue to listen. We also encourage you to check out MicrobeWorld Video in the iTunes store.
Thank you for your loyalty and understanding. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to us at microbe (at) asmusa (dot) org. We're happy to respond.
Meet the Scientist: Stanley Falkow, Ph.D.
Stanley Falkow is a professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the Stanford School of Medicine. His research interests lie in bacterial pathogenesis – how bacteria cause infection and disease – and over the course of his career he has contributed fundamental discoveries to the field. Falkow received the Lasker prize this year for special achievement in medical science, and the Lasker Foundation calls him “one of the great microbe hunters of all time”.
Molecular techniques (methods of analysis that rely on bacterial DNA) are now widely used for infectious disease diagnosis, thanks in large part to Falkow, who was among the first to apply an understanding of genes and virulence determinants to analyzing patient samples. He has published extensively in areas ranging from antibiotic resistance to food borne illness to microarrays.
In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talked with Dr. Falkow about his prescient concerns about the dangers of using antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock, why Salmonella is so good at making you sick, and why students who are interested in science should follow their passion.
To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.
MicrobeWorld Video 23 - Antibiotics: Is a Strong Offense the Best Defense? (Part 3 of 3)
In the final episode of this 3 part video series on how to optimize antibiotic use and minimize the emergence of drug resistant pathogens, Dr. Linda Tollefson, Assistant Commissioner for Science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, goes in depth on the use of antimicrobial drugs in agriculture, their efficacy, and adverse human health consequences. Dr. Stuart Levy, professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine, discusses policy, regulatory and funding issues around antibiotic resistance. Both Dr. Tollefson and Dr. Levy take a handful of questions from the audience.
The series, "Antibiotics: Is a Strong Offense the Best Defense?" was filmed on September 18, 2008 at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C. Parts 1 and 2 can be found at MicrobeWorld's video archives.
Meet the Scientist: Rachel Whitaker, Ph.D.
Rachel Whitaker is an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she has developed a research program focused on the evolutionary ecology of microorganisms. Much of Dr. Whitaker’s work centers around a hyperthermophile found in geothermal springs: the archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus.
Evolution is not just history – it’s still in action today, molding humans, plants, animals and, of course, microbes, in ways we still don’t completely understand. One of Whitaker’s focus areas is archaea, a group of single-celled microbes that are found in some of the harshest environments on earth. By looking at how one variety of archaea, Sulfolobus, varies from place to place, Whitaker hopes to find whether Sulfolobus is adapting new characteristics to suit its habitats, and whether this kind of adaptation can help us explain why there are so many different kinds of microbes in the world.
In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley asks Dr. Whitaker about the hot springs where she studies Sulfolobus, whether it’s hard to communicate with ecologists who work with bigger organisms, and about new discoveries she’s made related to an immune system in archaea.
To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.
MicrobeWorld Video 22 - Antibiotics: Is a Strong Offense the Best Defense? (Part 2 of 3)
On September 18, 2008 at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., Dr. Stuart Levy, professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dr. Linda Tollefson, Assistant Commissioner for Science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discussed how to optimize antibiotic use and how to minimize the emergence of drug resistant pathogens.
In part 2 of this 3 part video series, Dr. Levy discusses how antibiotic resistance develops, the development practices drug companies employ when producing antimicrobials, and how this process may change in the future. Dr. Tollefson outlines how the FDA is encouraging the development of antibiotics in an industry that is mostly focussed on manufacturing drugs for chronic illnesses.
Dr. Levy is Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine where he is the Director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance. He directs research on mechanisms of bacterial antibiotic resistance. Stuart Levy is also Staff Physician at the Tufts Medical Center and he also serves as the president of The International Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics.
Dr. Tollefson is Assistant Commissioner for Science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She previously served as Deputy Director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), where she led CVM's efforts to implement a risk-based approach to address antimicrobial resistance, fulfilling a 2001 Congressional mandate, and was instrumental in the founding of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria. Tollefson also served as Chief of Epidemiology in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition where she successfully investigated numerous outbreaks of food borne disease and served as liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Part 3 will be published next week. To view Part 1 scroll down this page or visit MicrobeWorld's video archives.
Live from ICAAC/IDSA 2008
Earlier this week MicrobeWorld Video live-streamed 11 press conferences from ICAAC/IDSA 2008 - one of the largest infectious disease meetings in the United States. All of the videos were recorded and are available online here. Topics include:
- The Success of the Rotavirus Vaccine
- ICAAC/IDSA 2008 Conference Overview
- New MRSA Drugs in the Pipeline
- Vaccine Update (Malaria and Mumps)
- HIV Update
- C.difficile: Have We Hit Bottom Yet?
- Emerging and Reemerging Infections
- Update on MRSA
- New Drugs Latebreakers
- Environmental Molds and Human Health
- Seasonal Influenza: Controversies on How to Protect the Population
Meet the Scientist: Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of NIAID – the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Disease – where he is also Chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation. Dr. Fauci’s research interests lie primarily in the molecular mechanisms of HIV and AIDS, and he has published extensively on the interactions of HIV with the immune system.
He’ll be speaking at the opening session of The Joint ICAAC/IDSA 2008 Meeting on October 25 in Washington DC, where he’ll describe some of the remaining challenges in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and antibiotic resistant microbes.
Dr. Fauci is not only a researcher, he is also an important player in science policy in the U.S. He was a primary architect of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a program that received reauthorization and has a budget of $48 billion for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria around the world. In honor of his efforts to improve our understanding and treatment of HIV and AIDS, Dr. Fauci was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil award.
In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talks with Dr. Fauci about progress in managing infectious disease on a global scale, why it’s the “devil you don’t know” that is still the scariest infectious disease of all, and about the roles of abstinence education and condom awareness in PEPFAR.
To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.
MicrobeWorld Video 21 - Antibiotics: Is a Strong Offense the Best Defense? (Part 1 of 3)
Will we become defenseless against bacteria? Will bacteria always find a way to infect and even kill us? The emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria poses an enormous problem around the world. Scientists believe that the overuse of antibiotics is increasing the appearance of these pathogens. In the US, increasing casualties resulting from drug resistant staphylococcus infections received wide media attention.
While antibiotics only work on bacterial infections, many patients and doctors regard antibiotics as a front-line form of treating any type of infection. Antibiotics are often prescribed because the specific pathogen that is causing an illness is often difficult to determine. In some cases they are used as a preventative measure. But is this the best defense? Are there ways to beat bacteria at their own game?
On September 18, 2008 at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., Dr. Stuart Levy, professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dr. Linda Tollefson, Assistant Commissioner for Science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discussed how to optimize antibiotic use and how to minimize the emergence of drug resistant pathogens.
In part 1 of this 3 part video series, Dr. Levy discusses the basics of microbial pathogens, bacteria, and antibiotic resistance. And, Dr. Tollefson outlines the various types and classes of antibiotic drugs, approved uses, and current levels of effectiveness.
Dr. Levy is Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine where he is the Director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance. He directs research on mechanisms of bacterial antibiotic resistance. Stuart Levy is also Staff Physician at the Tufts Medical Center and he also serves as the president of The International Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics.
Dr. Tollefson is Assistant Commissioner for Science at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She previously served as Deputy Director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), where she led CVM's efforts to implement a risk-based approach to address antimicrobial resistance, fulfilling a 2001 Congressional mandate, and was instrumental in the founding of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria. Tollefson also served as Chief of Epidemiology in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition where she successfully investigated numerous outbreaks of food borne disease and served as liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Parts 2 and 3 will be published over the coming weeks. Please feel free to embed or distribute this video.
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