- ASM Journals To Participate with PubMed Central Website
- ASM Identifies Agenda for Promoting Microbiology in Secondary Education
- Providing Curriculum to Promote Key Microbial Concepts
- Exposing Students to Microbiology Careers
- ASM Supports Scientists in Developing Countries
- Clinical Laboratory Postgraduate Training
- American Academy of Microbiology
- Education and Training
- ASM Report
- 2001 Board of Education and Training (BET) Fellowship Awardees
- July 2001 Microbial Discovery Workshop
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ASM Journals To Participate with PubMed Central Website
During its meeting at the 101st General Meeting, ASM's Publications Board agreed to submit all ASM journals to the PubMed Central (PMC) online journal repository, pending review and the signing of an agreement with PMC.
"We support the goals of PubMed Central—broadening the access to life science research and allowing researchers to retrieve improved search results from full-text article searches," says Sam Kaplan, Publications Board chair. "After we have reviewed the PubMed Central agreement for publishers, we can then concentrate on an implementation schedule."
PubMed Central is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is a Web-based life science journal retrieval system that includes or will include journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, EMBO Journal, Molecular Biology of the Cell, and Nucleic Acids Research. PMC differs from PubMed by allowing users to search over participating journals' full-text articles, as opposed to only journal citations and abstracts.
Users will view abstracts retrieved as a result of their searches at the PMC site and will be able to link to full-text articles at the ASM site. Access to the full text will be the same as it is currently: articles are available for free six months after publication for the primary-research journals and after one year for the two review journals.
ASM Identifies Agenda for Promoting Microbiology in Secondary Education
The Committee on Precollege Education (CPE) held a planning retreat in Washington, D.C., on 13-15 July 2001. As one of its main goals, the Committee plans to enhance the Microbial Discovery Workshop Model over the next 3-5 years, creating a standard curriculum about the microbial world that promotes the National Science Standards and offers age-appropriate, cost-effective learning activities for the classroom.
The mission of the CPE is to promote access, excellence, and professional development in precollege microbiology education; foster and encourage the continued growth of the community of microbiologists and educators; and assume a leadership role in the teaching of microbiology at the precollege level. The mission is supported by strategic goals and initiatives to enhance teachers' knowledge and appreciation of the microbial world, provide curriculum that illustrates key microbial concepts, and expose students to microbiology careers.
Since 1996, the CPE has offered the Microbial Discovery Workshop (MDW). "The Microbial Discovery Workshop is an intensive four-day workshop which has partnered ASM microbiologists and teachers from kindergarten through high school. Teachers are introduced to activities about the microbial world that promotes inquiry in the classroom. Approximately 12 to 16 new activities are introduced at each workshop. Since its inception, the program has trained over 100 educators in eight workshops across the nation," says Robin Patterson of Butler County Community College in Butler, Pa., and chair of the CPE.
In conjunction with developing a new curriculum, the CPE will sponsor four one-week institutes for 25 teachers annually. Partnering "hub sites," such as colleges, universities, teaching centers, and science centers, will be identified and responsible for recruiting teachers and providing site-related services. The CPE will develop and present the new curriculum. "It's a win-win situation for everyone," says Clifford W. Houston, associate vice president of Education and Outreach at the University of Texas Medical Branch and chair of the ASM Board of Education and Training.
Providing Curriculum to Promote Key Microbial Concepts
A complementary goal to enhancing teachers' understanding and appreciation of the microbial world is to provide access to high-quality classroom activities and resources for 7th- to 12th-grade educators. Toward this goal, the CPE plans to establish this collection, borrowing heavily from MicrobeWorld and Microbial Discovery Workshop activities.
Teachers have tremendous influence on how students learn science. In studies conducted by Patterson on participants in the MDW workshops from 1996-2000, she found teachers to be highly self-efficacious when it came to using microbiology-related activities. The most important component in a teacher's decision to use selectively the MDW activities was his or her attitude towards microbiology. Teachers who are confident about the subject (microbiology) through training and have access to quality learning activities are more likely to introduce selective (microbiology-based) curricular activities in the classroom. Thus, the Committee's first two strategic approaches (i.e., enhancing teachers' knowledge and providing resources) are sound approaches supported by educational research.
Exposing Students to Microbiology Careers
The final strategic goal of the Committee is to promote interest in students about microbiology careers. Toward this goal, the Committee plans to identify and empower ASM members at key locations to serve as leaders in community and youth-based programs. They will be provided with ASM resources for recruiting students into careers in the microbiological sciences. They may work locally with teachers to advise on science fair projects and mentoring opportunities or with school counselors to speak on careers.
Over the next three to five years, the Committee will enhance the Science Educator Network. The purpose of the Network is to allow students access to scientist-mentors who are available to provide expertise-mentoring students in independent projects, speaking at career fairs, loaning equipment, and disposing of biologically hazardous materials. "There are currently about 600 scientists who have joined the Network and are periodically called upon to advise students. In the future, we plan to make this resource more widely available," says Patterson. "We also plan to use this database ourselves to identify those members at key locations to serve as leaders in our outreach efforts."
ASM Supports Scientists in Developing Countries
ASM, in recognition of the significant challenges faced by scientists in developing countries, has implemented a new program designed to facilitate broader participation in the global microbiological community. The new ASM Global Outreach Program offers free ASM membership and full online journal access to qualified candidates in developing countries without regard to financial need. ASM International Committee Chair Stephen A. Lerner calls the program "an expression of ASM's commitment to foster the work of microbiologists in all regions of the world, and especially in developing countries."
The ASM Global Outreach Program represents a significant contribution to the growing trend of increasing the accessibility of information to scientists in the developing world. In July 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a new initiative in conjunction with the world's six biggest medical journal publishers that will allow almost 1,000 medical and scientific journals to become available through the Internet to medical schools and research institutions in developing countries for free or at deeply reduced rates. ASM Publications Board Chair Samuel Kaplan said of the Global Outreach Program, "Although this is as yet a small, but important effort in making the scientific literature published in the ASM Journals more widely available, it fits nicely with other steps that ASM and the Journals program are taking in the more widespread dissemination of the scientific literature which it publishes. For example, our peer-reviewed primary literature is available free after six months, and we are currently working with PubMed Central on providing even greater availability."
The ASM Global Outreach Program has been launched to coincide with the 2002 membership renewal season. Current ASM members in eligible countries have already been invited to take advantage of the program, and it is expected that in addition the Global Outreach Program will bring in a considerable new group of scientists who previously found full access to ASM resources to be beyond their financial means. The Global Outreach Program is for individuals only. Institutions do not qualify for either free membership or online journals.
For the purpose of determining eligibility, ASM is relying on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), which measures basic indicators of health, education, and standard of living, and has selected a sector that currently incorporates the following countries: Lao PDR, Madagascar, Bhutan, Sudan, Nepal, Togo, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Yemen, Djibouti, Haiti, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Tanzania, Benin, Uganda, Eritrea, Angola, Gambia, Guinea, Malawi, Rwanda, Mali, Central African Republic, Chad, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Ethiopia, Niger, and Sierra Leone.
Motiur Rahman, an ASM member in Bangladesh, said of the ASM Global Outreach Program, "I think this is wonderful; simply a major step in helping the underprivileged scientific community of Asian, African, and Latin American countries. Once again, ASM has proven itself to be a global leader in microbiology. This initiative shows ASM's responsibility in distributing good science throughout the world."
Clinical Laboratory Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Training Programs
Would you like to play a major role in the diagnosis of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic diseases? Would you like to help manage the day-to-day therapy of patients without going to medical school? Have you ever wondered how a hospital responds to an outbreak of a contagious infectious disease or to a bioterrorism threat? Would you like to learn how to direct a clinical laboratory? If so, an American College of Microbiology accredited postgraduate training program may be the place for you. There are 12 programs located throughout the U.S. where you can learn all of these things and more.
The American College of Microbiology's Committee on Postgraduate Educational Programs (CPEP) has developed standards to train doctoral-level (Ph.D., M.D., Sc.D., O.D., Dr. P.H., etc.) microbiologists and immunologists in the clinical profession of laboratory medicine. CPEP training prepares microbiologists and immunologists in the clinical profession for employment in medical and public health laboratories, immunology laboratories, research programs, industry, and universities.
Craft "After spending 15 years managing both clinical and research laboratories, the CPEP-accredited training experience was a time to retool and intensely study medical microbiology as my primary focus without the responsibility of managing a work force and its resources," said David Craft, Ph.D., D(ABMM), a CPEP graduate. "This was also my first opportunity to experience clinical laboratory medicine from the physician's point of view by working closely with the infectious disease fellows and participating in rounds with the team as they consulted on patients. The CPEP training has equipped me to train our pathology residents, clinical interns, and infectious disease fellows. It also provided the opportunity to critically review work practices that directly impact patient care and outcome. Consequently, the laboratory that I now direct has experienced increased credibility, and responsibility, with the clinical housestaff." Craft is currently Chief, Infectious Disease Laboratories, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The length of the training is two years. The purpose of this training is to teach trainees how to develop and direct a microbiology or immunology diagnostic service which will support clinical diagnosis and epidemiological data, to develop and communicate reliable interpretations of microbiological or immunological data, to plan and conduct effective training programs to fill needs in microbiology and immunology, and to design and conduct microbiological or immunological research to solve medical and public health problems.
Steed "I loved my CPEP program at the University of Utah!" says Lisa Steed, D(ABMM), a CPEP graduate. "It was everything I had wanted in a postgraduate fellowship. First, the rotations were held in a variety of laboratory facilities serving different segments of the population. Pediatric patients may have different pathogens than adults; veterans may have unusual pathogens (particularly parasites) acquired overseas; reference laboratories often see organisms not identified in hospital laboratories; and state health department emphasizes microbiology of importance to the public at large, not just an individual patient. Second, mentors were either Ph.D.'s or M.D.'s, contributing their special viewpoints to patient care issues and research projects. Third, a fantastic month-long administrative training program covered such topics as interviewing/hiring/hiring skills, laws, and other personnel management issues; basic accounting, marketing, and short- and long-term planning; and time management and motivational skills. People who refuse to acknowledge that medicine is a business are kidding themselves. Fourth, using the CPEP training guidelines, I was able to arrange my own schedule and do the required rotations in the order I wanted. I was able to perform all the patient care work I wanted, complete two research projects (and work on a third), and have extended infectious diseases patient bedside rotation time! All the people I worked with in all facilities were friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to work with me. I was never considered a burden, no matter how naive my questions.
William Michael Dunne, Jr., D(ABMM), a former CPEP graduate and the newest CPEP Program Director, has just received CPEP accreditation for the joint training program at Washington University's School of Medicine, Barnes Jewish Hospital, and St. Louis Childrens Hospital. "CPEP's training standards are high which makes this training so valuable," says Dunne. I am pleased to have the support of the Department of Pathology and Immunology and the Division of Laboratory Medicine here at Washington University School of Medicine to train future clinical microbiologists at a level that is considered the benchmark for our profession. The CPEP accreditation process is arduous, but it is a testament to the superior training that fellows receive and our commitment to excellence."
"Eight years later, if I were to start my fellowship afresh I wouldn't change a thing. Not a day goes by that I don't use what I learned as a fellow, either to help a physician manage a patient, help a colleague with a research project, counsel a staff member, or evaluate a new laboratory test. A large part of my job as Microbiology Laboratory Director is to teach pathology residents how to run a community hospital micro laboratory. Because my training was so effective, the Pathology Residents now do a two- month rotation of an abbreviated version of my CPEP fellowship program." Steed is currently Director of Diagnostic Microbiology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
The value of CPEP training is recognized by the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM) and the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology (ABMLI). The ABMM and ABMLI, managed by the American College of Microbiology, are doctoral-level certification boards that are recognized in the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988 (CLIA '88). CLIA '88 is federal legislation that will go into effect on 31 December 2002, and it requires that laboratory directors and clinical consultants be board certified. CPEP training provides an accelerated pathway to ABMM and ABMLI certification eligibility.
To learn more about CPEP training and its accredited programs or to find out how to accredit your training program, visit the CPEP website. Individuals can apply online to programs of interest.
American Academy of Microbiology
New Fellows
The American Academy of Microbiology is proud to announce that the following scientists have recently been elected to Fellowship for the Second Quarter of 2001:
Wolfgang Baumeister, Ph.D., Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Munchen, Germany
John A. Breznak, Ph.D., Michigan State University, East Lansing
Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Mont.
Daniel E. Dykhuizen, Ph.D., SUNY at Stonybrook, N.Y.
David J. Ellar, Ph.D., Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
E. Imre Friedmann, Ph.D., Florida State University, Tallahassee
Benjamin D. Hall, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle
Allen Kerr, Ph.D., University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, Australia
Daniel F. Klessig, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Bruce R. Levin, Ph.D., Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Howard Ochman, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson
Robin M. Overstreet, Ph.D., The University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs
Patricia Ann Rosa, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Mont.
Tom G. Schwan, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Mont.
Michael F. Thomashow, Ph.D., Michigan State University, East Lansing
Shinji Tsuyumu, Ph.D., Shizuoka University, Shizuoka City, Japan
Thomas S. Whittam, Ph.D., Michigan State University, East LansingBoard of Education and Training Participates in Leadership Alliance Symposium
The Board of Education and Training (BET) participated in the Leadership Alliance Symposium held in Stone Mountain, Georgia on 27-29 July. The Leadership Alliance is an academic consortium of 32 institutions of higher learning, including leading research and teaching universities. The mission of the Alliance is to develop outstanding underrepresented leaders and role models for the next century in education, business, and the public sector.
Of the 300 individuals who attended the symposium, 256 were students. The focus of the symposium was to provide the students an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with their peers and interface with various researchers. Six of the 2001 ASM Minority Undergarduate Research Fellowship (MURF) awardees and one 2001 ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) awardee attended and presented their summer research projects at the Symposium. The names of the students and the titles of their presentations are:
Melissa Carter, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston (host institution, New York University, New York, N.Y.; mentor, Bruce Hanna), The Addition of 10% Bovine Fetal Calf Serum Improves the Time to Detection for Susceptibility Testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Aaron Small, University of Hawaii, Manoa (host institution, New York University, New York, N.Y.; mentor, Martin Blaser) Conjunction as a Mechanism of R-M System Transfer in Helicobacter pylori.
Sabriya Linton, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee (host institution, New York University, New York, N.Y.; mentor, Barry Kreiswirth), The Molecular Epidemiology of Prevalent New York City Multidrug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains.
Priscilla Maldonando, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. (host institution, New York University, New York, N.Y.; mentor, Photini Sinnis), Quantitation of Plasmodium yoelli Sporozoites Injected by a Feeding Mosquito Using Real Time Quantitative Reverse Transcriptase PCR.
Edgardo Sanabria-Valentin, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (host institution, New York University, New York, N.Y.; mentor, Andre Darwin), Analysis of Variant Toxin Genes in Yersinia Species.
Diana Anukwuem, University of Houston, Houston, Tex. (host institution, New York University, New York; mentor, Guillermo Perez-Perez), Assessment of Antibody Response to H. pylori Vaca and its Association with Disease Outcome.
Mickey Pentecost, New York University (host institution, New York University; mentor, Issar Smith) A Structure-Activity Relationship Study of IdeR, the Major Regulator of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Iron Metabolism.
Awards
Fung Daniel Y. C. Fung, Professor of Food Science at Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan, was awarded the 2001 Waksman Outstanding Educator Award. The award, given by the Society for Industrial Microbiology, acknowledges Fung's contributions as an educator for over 30 years. Fung began his career in 1969 at Pennsylvania State University, State College, and in 1978 moved to KSU where he continues to teach today. Over the course of his career, he has instructed over 10,000 students, of whom about 80 have gone on to receive their M.A. and Ph.D. Fung's areas of research include food microbiology, food fermentation, applied microbiology, and, most notably, his work on rapid methods and automation in microbiology. In 1980, he began an international workshop on the subject at KSU that began with 16 students. Since then, participation has increased steadily, culminating in a 20th Gala Anniversary Celebration that was attended by over 185 scientists, educators, and researchers from around the world. In addition to being an ASM member, Fung has also been active in a variety of organizations such as the Institute of Food Technologists, Chinese American Food Society, and Chinese American Microbiology Society.
Todd R. Klaenhammer has been named the 11th annual W. C. Frazier Memorial lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The lecture will be given on 29 May 2002 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Food Research Institute. Klaenhammer is the William Neal Reynolds Professor of Food Science and Microbiology at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and also is director of the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center. Klaenhammer, who is recognized nationally and internationally for the excellence of his research, recently was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research, reported in approximately 150 publications, deals with physiology, metabolism, and genetics of lactococci and lactobacilli important in food fermentations and probiotics.
Deceased Members
On 5 July, Koji O'Hara suffered an untimely heart attack while attending a Ketolide Conference in Russia. Anyone who knew him delighted in his love of science, especially antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and in his equal passion for fishing. He was born in 1945 and received his undergraduate degree at Tokyo University of Science, School of Pharmaceutical Science in 1967, followed by postgraduate courses at Chiba University, and receipt of his Ph.D. from Tokyo University of Science in 1974. He was made Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences in 1984 and spent a year (1989-1990) on sabbatical at Calgary University with Larry Bryan. In 1996, he moved to the Division of Microbial Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University (1996-2001), working closely with Professor Tetsuo Sawai. He moved from Chiba University to Tokyo University of Science as a full professor in April of this year with an ambition to expand his research on macrolide resistance. He has over 125 publications and 15 books, mostly centered on the theme of antimicrobial resistance. He characterized resistance determinants for ß-lactams (ß-lactamases), fosfomycin (inactivating enzymes), aminoglycosides (impermeability and inactivating enzymes), chloramphenicol (impermeability and modifying enzymes), and macrolides (phosphotransferases, esterases). He and his colleagues combined the techniques of mass and NMR spectroscopy with bacterial genetics to elucidate new mechanisms of resistance.
He had an equal number of publications in newspapers and magazines where his expertise on fish culturing (Advisor of Japan International Food and Aquaculture Society and of the Fisheries Experimental Station on Kanagawa District) and love of fishing was notable. He was famous for making a triploid version of the Ayu fish that, although sterile, grew to a much larger size than the popular diploid version. Ayu, a fish that grows to maturity and only mates once, was Koji's favorite, described by him as a sweet fish, tasting like watermelon. His popularity grew when he was interviewed on television in 1997 about his creation.
Koji was Councilor of the Japanese Society of Bacteriology in 1997 and President of the Drug Resistance Research Association of Japan in 1999. During his tenure, he arranged the 28th Symposium Conference that I attended as the special guest lecturer. The meeting was the size and had the flavor of a Gordon Conference. It was located in Minakami in the Gunma district, about three hours north of Tokyo, at a hotel replete with a famous hot spring. Although my talk was the only one in English, I was surprised to find that I could follow the majority of talks (graphs translate in nearly every language) and was only sorry that my language barrier kept me from participating in the lively discussions that took place after nearly every talk. However, in the evening, we discussed science (in my native language) while sitting around Koji's room stuffed with the meeting's attendees, drinking wine and eating fish chips.
Koji is survived by his gracious wife, Sachiko, a pharmacist in Meijirodai, Hachioji, Tokyo, a son, Sumito (age 23, graduate of Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences), and a daughter, Akari (age 25, graduate of Tukuba University). He was perhaps happiest when he had his enormous cane pole in hand, fishing anywhere he could find water. His short, stocky stature and infectious smile will surely be missed this year and in the years to come at ICAAC.
Joyce Sutcliffe
Pfizer Global Research and Development
Groton, Conn.Stephen L. Josephson died suddenly on 24 July 2001 of an occluded coronary artery; he was 50. Steve recently joined Milkhaus Corporation in Providence, R.I., as Vice President of Research. Previously, he was the Director of Clinical Microbiology and Virology at Rhode Island Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown University School of Medicine in Providence, positions he held for the past 12 years.
He received his Bachelor's degree in biology from Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio in 1973, his Master's degree in microbiology from the Medical College of Virginia in 1976 and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Buffalo in 1983). He was a Fellow in the Postdoctoral Training Program in Clinical and Public Health Microbiology at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center (University of Wisconsin Medical School, Milwaukee Campus) from 1983 to 1985. Following his Fellowship and prior to his move to Rhode Island, he served as head of the Virology and Retrovirology Laboratory at the State Hygienic Laboratory (Iowa) in Iowa City. He became an ASM member in 1980.
Steve was a consummate clinical microbiologist. Although he had an acute interest in virology, his publications and teaching activities encompassed basic infectious disease pathology, mechanisms of infection, clinical bacteriology, and viral immunology. He was actively involved in the teaching of medical students, residents and Fellows.
Steve was noted for his intense interest in the out-of-doors. He enjoyed scouting, bicycling, kayaking, hiking, and camping. Steve is survived by his wife of 25 years, Jean-Marie (Jungman) and his two children, Chris and Kelley.
I remember Steve for his serious and quiet demeanor, yet with a unique and wry sense of humor. He was always willing to share and listen, and above all, willing to contribute his knowledge to his colleagues and students. In humility he might deny it, but he contributed greatly to the science and profession of clinical microbiology through his teaching and research. Family, friends, colleagues, and associates will miss him.
R. J. Zabransky
Shaker Heights, OhioASM Branches on the Web
The following ASM Branches have established sites on the World Wide Web:
New Jersey (Theobald Smith Society)
ASM Divisions on the Web
The following ASM Divisions have established sites on the World Wide Web:
Division A, Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Division B, Microbial Pathogenesis
Division C, Clinical Microbiology
Division D, General Medical Microbiology
Division I, General Microbiology
Division K, Microbial Physiology and Metabolism
Division O, Fermentation and Biotechnology
Division Q, Environmental and General Applied Microbiology
Division R, Systematic & Evolutionary Microbiology
Division W, Microbiology Education
Division X, Molecular, Cellular and General Microbiology of Eukaryotes
Division Z, Animal Health Microbiology
Members are encouraged to visit these Web pages, which are also accessible through the Membership section of the ASM Web site.
Email: webmaster@asmusa.org