August 04, 2022

The Infectious Diseases Institute Microbial Communities thematic program (IDI MC) & Center of Microbiome Science (CoMS) Annual Meeting - “Living in a Microbial World” - was held as a hybrid event in the Biomedical Research Tower and over Zoom on April 22, 2022. This event highlighted the work of faculty and trainees, while providing an opportunity for in-person networking.

Morning keynote speaker Martin Ackermann, PhD, Professor of Microbial Systems Ecology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, presented on "A Single-Cell Perspective on Microbial Interactions.”

Trainee Flash Talks were presented by Sam Cochran, Manuja Gunasena, Fan He, Christina Howard-Verona, Molly Mills, Pranav Rana, and James Wainaina—with PhD candidate Molly Mills receiving a prize for her talk: “Comparison of Environmental Microbiome and Carbapenem Resistance Genes in a Multiuse River Highlight Periphyton and Fish Gut Communities as Reservoirs of Concern.”

PhD Candidate Molly Mills standing on stage presenting her trainee flash talk

Over lunch, Erin Gloag, Paul Stoodley, and Dan Wozniak led a session on Microbial Community Imaging. The afternoon kicked off with Faculty Short Talks by Virginia Rich, Jonathan Jacobs, Anastasia Vlasova, and Phil Popovich.

Concluding the meeting was keynote speaker Rita Colwell, PhD, who served as the 11th Director and first female Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1998 to 2004. Currently, she is a Distinquished University Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland at College Park & President and Chairman of CosmosID, Inc. She spoke on historic women in science and how to navigate womanhood in a scientific academic setting. Watch her keynote here >>

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and all those who contribute to the field of microbial science!

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