WHAT'S NEW
Meet the Scientist: Connie Schmaljohn
Connie Schmaljohn is Chief Scientist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland, where she develops vaccines for a number of viral diseases of interest to the military. She is currently working on a vaccine deliverd by a gene gun for hantaviruses that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. (Read more...)
MicrobeWorld Video 17 - Return to Zambia
The American Society for Microbiology is helping African nations foster a scientific community that is better able to address the current and future problems that threaten not only the local population, but the world at large.
Like many African countries, Zambia and South Africa are deeply affected by HIV and tuberculosis, as well as a number of other infectious diseases.
In March of 2008, ASM President Cliff Houston, Ph.D., traveled to Zambia and South Africa to gauge and assess the Society’s efforts to transfer knowledge and state of the art diagnostic technology training support in laboratories, schools and universities, and to assist in meeting the goals for care and treatment of people living with TB and HIV in these resource-limited countries.
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The Science Social Media Breakfast | Boston, MA, 8-10 a.m., June 3
Join Elio Schaechter of Small Things Considered and Chris Condayan from the MicrobeWorld Radio and Video podcasts for a lively breakfast discussion about using new media for science communication. All attendees are encouraged to share their experiences in using new media, such as blogs, social networks, video and audio podcasts, and wikis, to promote the life sciences or for use in educational settings.
This event coincides with the American Society for Microbiology's 108th General Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts from Sunday, June 1 to Thursday, June 5, 2008.
Please note that The Science Social Media Breakfast is not directly associated with ASM's General Meeting and is therefore open to anyone in the Boston Metro Area to attend. Registration is free, but space is limited. Register online now.
Meet the Scientist: Liis-anne Pirofski, M.D.
Liise-anne Pirofski is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her research deals with the role of the immune system in susceptibility to pathogens like Cryptococcus neoformans and Streptococcus pneumoniae. By studying the interactions between so-called “naturally occurring” and “memory” B-cells with microbes, Pirofski's focus at the moment is predominantly on an effort to understand how the antibody repertoire is shaped and functions in innate immunity. (Read more...)
MicrobeWorld Video 16 - Canary in a Coal Mine
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Coral reefs are dying a death of a thousand cuts and their disappearance threatens not only the incredibly diverse ecosystem that depends on them, but also human health and welfare.
In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video marine scientists Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Ph.D., chair of marine studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and Kiho Kim, Ph.D., director of the environmental studies program at American University, explain the important relationship between microbes and corals, and how this delicate symbiosis that sustains life on and around reefs is facing numerous threats from human interactions to global climate change. In addition, Tundi Agardy, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Sound Seas, discusses the need for public policy and community-based conservation efforts that may help stave off the degradation of these vital ocean ecosystems.
According to a 2004 report issued by the World Wildlife Fund, 24% of the world's reefs are under imminent risk of collapse through human pressures; and a further 26% are under a longer term threat of collapse. If nothing is done to protect these resources, many scientists estimate that reefs around the West Indies in the Caribbean will be gone by 2020, while the Great Barrier Reef may only last for another three decades.
Please visit the following sites for more information about coral reefs:
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Meet the Scientist: Raul Cano, Ph.D.
Several years ago, MicrobeWorld did a profile of Raul Cano, Ph.D. who stunned the world when his lab announced they revived 30-million-year-old bacteria from spores taken from the gut of an ancient bee entombed in amber. We caught back up with Dr. Cano to talk about his recent work with sequencing the genome of Lactobacillus acidophilus, a popular ingredient in yogurt - think probiotics. Cano also talks about his love for undergraduate teaching, his favorite microbes, and his fondness for music. (Read more...)
MicrobeWorld Video 15 - Modern Transportation & Infectious Disease
Subscribe to MicrobeWorld Video through iTunes or Miro. MicrobeWorld Video is now formated for Apple TV, iPhone and the Video iPod.
From your local bus route to international air travel, infectious diseases can spread across the globe in a matter of hours. In this video podcast episode filmed at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., Stephen Eubank from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia Tech and Daniel Lucey from Georgetown University discuss the role of transportation in the spread of disease and examine the effectiveness of various measures to curb transmission.
Stephen Eubank, Ph.D., is a project director at the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia Tech. His research focuses on modeling and simulating the spread of disease and regional transportation, and the analysis of complex systems.
Daniel Lucey, M.D., M.P.H., is an adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University, where he is co-director of the master of science program in biohazardous threat agents and emerging infectious diseases. In recent years, his teaching focus has been on SARS, avian flu, and the threat of pandemic human influenza.
Online Resources
- Koshland Science Museum
- Transportation Research Board of the National Academies
- Pandemic Flu and Travel
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