Microbiology on the edge

At the 2011 ASM Annual Scientific Meeting, Microbiology on the Edge, world-leading scientists will be presenting their current research on diverse microbiology topics. The program encompasses the latest developments in food microbiology, medical microbiology, molecular microbiology, virology, emerging zoonoses and marine microbiology.

The calibre of speakers at the 2011 ASM Annual Scientific Meeting will be world class, with the Rubbo Oration being presented by Prof Bo Barker Jorgensen, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany. Other plenary speakers will be represented from countries such as: USA, UK, Spain, Germany and of course Australia.

The Rubbo Dinner always proves to be a most entertaining evening. The venue this year is Wrest Point Casino, which overlooks Hobart’s breathtaking waterfront.

Scientific program and symposia

The organising committee is arranging a varied program of contemporary issues and developments in microbiology. To support the theme of Microbiology on the Edge, there will be focuses on animal-environment-human disease interactions; the changing nature of important infectious agents; emergence and evolution of antibiotic resistance; means of control of infectious diseases; molecular studies of cell signalling, functioning and pathogenesis; developments in specific infectious diseases; environmental genomics (in collaboration with the International Society for Microbial Ecology) and marine microbiology.

Symposia will include:

• Division 1: Antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments; wildlife disease and threatened species; emerging fungal infections; marine pathogens and pathogenesis; malaria - challenges and progress, indigenous health.
• Division 2: New and emerging viruses; virus modulation of the host; viral trafficking; innate immune response to virus infection, epidemiology and diagnostics; virology and the environment; adaptive immunity and vaccines.
• Division 3: Stress in food bacteria; nutritional supplements and intestinal health; the future of systems biology; new vistas in marine microbiology; microbiology teaching and technology.
• Division 4: Moving on from genomics; cell signalling and host-pathogen interactions; proteomics to progress molecular studies; unique metabolism and physiology; molecular imaging; cystic fibrosis microbiology.

Workshops

Antimicrobial resistance in respiratory pathogens, medical mycology, parasitology and tropical medicine, proteomics and topics on student careers.

Speakers

Rubbo Oration

Prof Bo Barker Jorgensen, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany.

Bazeley Oration

Prof Michael Houghton, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Canada

Snowdon Lecturer

Dr Peter Roeder, Taurus Animal Health, United Kingdom

Plenary Lecturers

Prof Fernando Baquero, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. Evolution of antibiotic resistance.

Prof Arturo Casadevall, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA. Thoughts on the origins of microbial virulence.

Prof Stephen O’ Brien, National Cancer Institute, Maryland, USA. Animal diseases and human health.

Prof Karla Kirkegaard, Stanford University, California, USA. Virus replication.

Prof Eric Freed, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA. HIV assembly and maturation.

Prof Martin Weidmann, Cornell University, New York, USA. Listeria monocytogenes.

Prof Scott Hultgren, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, USA. Molecular pathogenesis of E. coli.

Prof Paul Williams, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. Cross-kingdom signalling.

About the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM)

The ASM is a not-for-profit organisation that formed in 1959 as a learned society devoted to furthering the science of microbiology. The ASM became an incorporated professional society in 1976.

The main objective of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) is to advance the science of microbiology in Australia. The society does this through the production and promotion of reading material, lectures, seminars, symposia and demonstrations on topics relevant to microbiology, as well as establishing and maintaining suitable standards for the practice of microbiology as a profession.

The ASM also promotes the awareness of microbiology and its role in everyday life, and actively liaises with governments and other professional bodies at both state and federal levels in support of its members and the profession.

For more information about the society or to join the society, please visit www.theasm.org.au.

What: 2011 ASM Annual Scientific Meeting - Microbiology on the Edge

When: 4-8 July 2011

Where: Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart

More information: www.asm2011.org or email asm2011@icms.com.au

How to register: www.asm2011.org/register.asp