Antimicrobial resistance and the good, the bad and the useful — ASM 2016 has something for everyone

The Australian Society for Microbiology’s 44th Annual Scientific Meeting and Trade Exhibition is being held in Perth from 3–6 July.

• What: ASM 2016
• When: 3–6 July 2016
• Where: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
• More information: http://asmmeeting.theasm.org.au/registration/

This year, the ASM’s annual conference is themed ‘New Frontiers’ and is focusing on two main areas:

• Antimicrobial resistance: impact, mechanisms and solutions to a growing healthcare crisis
• The good, the bad and the useful: microbes in healthy ecologies, disease and industry

The antimicrobial resistance theme is being led by Professor Peter Hawkey (University of Birmingham), Professor Dan Andersson (Uppsala University) and Dr Brian Conlon (Northeastern University, Boston). Together they will tackle the issues of increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the community and hospitals, the burden to our healthcare systems and what research is currently being undertaken to reverse antimicrobial resistance or to discover new therapeutic treatment options.

The good, the bad and the useful theme is being explored by Associate Professor Susan Lynch (University of California San Francisco), who will explain the importance of a healthy microbiome to establish a healthy life, while Professor Victor Nizet (University of California San Diego) and Associate Professor Anna Durbin (Johns Hopkins) will examine models of infection immunity and vaccines.

Starting with a Sunday workshop

The conference meeting starts with a full Sunday workshop program, held at the School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (University of Western Australia) at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the Perth Convention Centre. The two sites are easily accessible by a bus route from the Perth Convention Centre, which takes about 10 minutes and runs frequently between them.

The workshop program includes sessions titled ‘Disease detective: an interactive hypothetical’, ‘Identification of bacteria from fish and other aquatic animals’, ‘QC and QA of media used in food and water microbiology’ and ‘Calibrated Dichotomous sensitivity users’, as well as a bioinformatics workshop.

Industry-sponsored workshops

Thermo Fisher Scientific is offering a day-long workshop on flow cytometry.

Illumina will hold ‘Next Generation Sequencing: Microbial Fundamentals: An Illumina Ignite Educational Programme’ at the Perth Convention Centre. For more information, please visit the meeting website.

Clinical day

A full clinical day scientific session on Monday has been designed to attract members of our delegation who are interested in diagnostic clinical microbiology and the challenges facing this sector, in particular the introduction of new technologies into pathology diagnostic laboratories. An exciting and affordable package for attending the workshop program and clinical day is being offered, so please have a look at this!

Open to the public

Two events are open to the general public: the opening public lecture on Sunday afternoon and the Rubbo Oration on Wednesday night.

This year, the public lecture series is titled ‘WHO global alerts and the traveller!’ and has three eminent speakers. They are Dr Chris Baggoley AO (Chief Medical Officer, Australia), Dr Paul Effler (Communicable Disease Control Directorate, WA Dept of Health) and Professor Tania Sorrell (Marie Bashir Institute and Westmead Millennium Institute).

Emerging and re-emerging epidemic diseases pose an ongoing threat to global health security. The World Health Organization (WHO) works to provide expert guidance and lead global networks and systems to anticipate, prevent and control epidemic and pandemic diseases. When a significant public health event takes place, WHO’s comprehensive global alert and response system ensures that information is available and response operations are coordinated effectively. To do this, the organisation works closely with national governments. Invited speakers will discuss the threat of introduced infectious disease to Australia and how WHO contributes to disease prevention and control. And yes, the Zika virus will be discussed, along with many other emerging infections.

Rubbo Oration

This year, the Rubbo Oration is also open to the public and is a ticketed event. The oration recognises and celebrates outstanding career achievements in microbiology. The award honours Professor Sydney Rubbo’s contribution to Australian microbiology and is made possible with the continued support of the Rubbo Trust at the University of Melbourne. Our awardee this year is Dr Anne Kelso, the CEO of the NHMRC, presenting an essential and exciting topical talk given the federal election is on the same weekend. Her presentation will be ‘Balancing national research needs — is there a bug in the system?’ and will be essential listening for everyone in the university and healthcare sector. Tickets for non-conference delegates are $75 and can be ordered through the meeting website.

Bazeley Oration

The official scientific program opens with the Bazeley Oration, which is an award supported by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. The ASM is very grateful for the continuation of this award by CSL over many years and is excited to have it placed in the opening session.

This year, Professor Ulrike Holzgrabe (University of Würzburg, Germany) will present her work in ‘New drugs against old bugs — old approaches and new concepts’. She is currently the chairperson of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy & Food Chemistry, a member of the German Pharmacopoeia Commission and a member of the scientific board of the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices. We look forward to an exciting seminar on the continued interaction of various disciplines involved in undertaking drug design in the current decade.

Career advancement events

Students and early-career researchers are invited to a host of career advancement events, including the Nancy Millis Student Mentoring Breakfast and Lunch. This activity is held to honour the contribution of Professor Nancy Millis to Australian microbiology. In addition, this year we have organised a three-minute thesis session for students presenting posters. This will enable these students to direct interested viewers to their posters on Tuesday and Wednesday and will enhance their conference experience significantly. Poster prizes are also on offer.

Now more than ever, scientists must be able to deliver clear and scientifically accurate communication that can be understood by the general public. A three-minute thesis competition gives students an opportunity to present their research in a concise way and is a great opportunity to refine early science communication skills.

EduCon 2016

Perth ASM 2016 will be run in conjunction with EduCon 2016, a day-long conference on Saturday 2 July, which will discuss new and innovative methods of teaching microbiology. EduCon is open to educators at all levels and is a great way to meet others and to discuss and formulate strategies to meet the challenges of teaching microbiology in the 21st century.

In summary, the Perth LOC is very proud to present an absolutely fantastic scientific and workshop program for conference delegates and to welcome the public to attend our open events.

While in Perth, spend a little extra time to enjoy the beautiful city with its riverfront views, beaches and islands — all within easy reach of the city centre using public transport. A wide array of day trips, including the Margaret River and Swan Valley wine regions and Rottnest and Penguin islands, can also be enjoyed.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Taras Vyshnya