Explore every episode of the podcast Editors in Conversation

An outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus remains in a period of intense transmission, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since it's first detection in May, 6757 cases have been confirmed across 6 provinces of the DRC, along with 20 cases in Uganda and one in France (as of September 8). A crude case fatality ratio of 48% underscores the severity of the disease and the ongoing challenges towards case detection, clinical care and, ultimately, interruption of transmission. Unchecked transmission of Bundibugyo in the DRC heightens the risk of exportation across international borders. Furthermore, healthcare workers recovering from the disease have been medically evacuated to both Germany and France for enhanced care. Is your laboratory prepared to handle a potential case?

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/zIDFuwflo8Q

Guests: Daniel Rhoads, M.D., Zoe Weiss, M.D., Beverley Orr, MT(ASCP), Nicholas Heger, Ph.D.

In this episode of Editors in Conversation mBio edition, Marvin Whiteley speaks with Macy Pell and Shannon Manning about how group B Streptococcus (GBS) responds to antibiotics given during childbirth to prevent newborn infections.

GBS can cause serious neonatal disease, and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis has greatly reduced early-onset infections. But some GBS strains persist after treatment.

The conversation explores a recent mBio study comparing GBS isolates collected from the same individuals before and after antibiotic treatment and childbirth. Rather than simply acquiring new resistance genes, persistent strains accumulated mutations associated with adaptation, including the emergence of strains with unusually high mutation rates.

Pell and Manning discuss what these findings reveal about bacterial persistence, evolution under antibiotic pressure, and why understanding GBS survival may require looking beyond antibiotic resistance alone.

Relevant links:

Genomic adaptation in group B Streptococcus following intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis and childbirth https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03966-25 (Macy E. Pell, Heather M. Blankenship, Jennifer A. Gaddy, H. Dele Davies, Shannon D. Manning.)

Guests:

Macy E. Pell, PhD
Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
Michigan State University

Shannon D. Manning, PhD
Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
Michigan State University

Equitable access to healthcare, and more specifically diagnostic testing, remains elusive globally, negatively impacting the health and wellbeing of all people. A not-so-distant illustration was access to testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, when testing sites globally, including here in the United States, underserved the very populations who bore a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths. There is a tremendous opportunity for research on diagnostic access, as well as the epidemiology and diseases that impact underrepresented groups, in clinical microbiology.

In 2026, JCM launched a new section, entitled "Diagnostic Access and Equity". In today's episode of Editors in Conversation, I'm joined by the Editor overseeing this section, Dr. Ellie Theel, and one of our editorial board members, Dr. Shawn Lockhart of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to discuss diagnostic access, equity and what the clinical microbiology community is doing to move the needle on these issues.

• Elitza Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
• Shawn Lockhart, Ph.D., D(ABMM)

• Remote regions, rapid recognition: performance and timeliness of BIOFIRE FilmArray BCID2 for diagnosing bloodstream infection in remote northern Australia

This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 

Visit asm.org/jcm to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. 

If you plan to publish in JCM, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections remain one of the most urgent public health challenges worldwide, with some infections approaching the limits of available treatment options. In this special edition of Editors in Conversation, we celebrate the remarkable 10-year tenure of Dr. Laurent Poirel, whose pioneering work has profoundly shaped our understanding of antimicrobial resistance. Through his unique perspective, we will explore the evolving landscape of resistance in Gram-negative organisms, reflect on the major advances and challenges of the past decade, and discuss what the future may hold for this rapidly changing field. 

View this episode: https://youtu.be/3OuzU4HjZcY

• The most important events in Gram-negative resistance in the last 10 years
• How the antibiotic pipeline has responded to the challenge of Gram-negative resistance
• How the field would move in the next 10 years.

• Laurent Poirel, Ph.D. Senior Researcher, Medicine Section. University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland, Editor AAC 2016-2026.

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

New imaging and measurement approaches are revealing previously hidden aspects of microbial life, challenging long-held assumptions and creating opportunities to answer questions that were once out of reach. Marvin Whiteley, Heran Darwin and Jeffrey Moffitt talk about how technological innovation is transforming microbiology.

• Heran Darwin, Ph.D. - NYU Grossman School of Medicine
• Jeffrey Moffitt, Ph.D. - Boston Children's Research

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/mbio to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Receive up to 50% off fees when you publish in mBio® or any of the ASM journals by becoming an ASM member. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

It starts out with a couple of stomach twinges, maybe a little nausea, maybe some sharp pains, and then… before you know it, you are running to the closest toilet with which you become very, very familiar. Cyclospora causes frequent watery diarrhea with sometime "explosive" bowel movements, but is typically a relatively rare cause of infectious diarrhea.

However, the U.S. is in the midst of one of the largest documented cyclosporiasis outbreaks. How does one acquire this parasite? What are the risks? And – most importantly for our audience – how does the lab approach diagnosis?

• Daniel Rhoads, M.D.
• Bobbi Pritt, M.D.
• Marc Couturier, Ph.D., D(ABMM)

This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 

Visit asm.org/jcm to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in JCM, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

So, you think you want a career in clinical microbiology? This field demands more than technical skill—it's driven by curiosity, growth, and the confidence to lead. From mastering diagnostics to pushing innovation and mentoring the next generation, success comes to those who keep evolving. In this episode, we explore the many paths into the field—and spotlight the Laboratory Director role through a candid conversation between early- and mid-career leaders, sharing the real highs, lows, and advice for those ready to step up.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/p992HyDcm-M

• Amanda Roth, Ph.D.
• Janiece Glover, Ph.D., MS

This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 

Visit asm.org/jcm to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in JCM, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the world in many ways. One of the most exciting applications of artificial intelligence is in the area of drug discovery. Particularly the discovery of antimicrobial molecules that are in the environment or even hidden within our own body. Today, we discuss some of the uses of artificial intelligence in the discovery of antimicrobials with an outstanding expert in the field.

• How artificial intelligence can help the discovery of new antimicrobial moieties
• Antibiotic discovery and challenges to bring molecules to the clinic
• The implications for artificial intelligence and infectious diseases in particularly in the discovery of antibiotics.

• César de la Fuente, Ph.D., FRSB, Presidential Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Director, Machine Biology Group.

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at https://asm.org/aac. 

If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Visit https://asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Get the audio only podcast at https://asm.org/eic.

Accurate AST results are the backbone of diagnostic stewardship, yet routine quality control (QC) might be missing subtle shifts that skew your hospital's annual antibiogram. By examining a real-world "silent failure" in daptomycin testing, we explore how lab-driven data is essential to the AMR crisis response and why the human eye—and traditional QC bugs—aren't always enough to catch technical drifts. This session breaks down the importance of LIS rules, alert fatigue, and the future of automated susceptibility testing.

• Laurel J. Glaser, M.D., Ph.D.
• Rebekah Dumm, Ph.D. D(ABMM)

• Leveraging patient data to detect systematic shifts in daptomycin susceptibility testing associated with reduced prescribing

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Elitza (Elli) Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

In this episode, a fascinating new bacteriophage, JS1. While most contractile phages (which inject DNA like a spring-loaded syringe) are rigid and straight, JS1 sports a curved, flexible tail that may help it navigate the complex "canyons and valleys" of the bacterial cell wall.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/eDGta8xc4_0

• Sabrina Suhani, Ph.D., Graduate Student, Monash University, Australia
• Trevor Lithgow, Ph.D., Professor, Monash University's Biomedical Discovery Institute.

• Staphylococcus species infected by a bacteriophage with a tail that is both curved and contractile

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/mbio to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Receive up to 50% off fees when you publish in mBio® or any of the ASM journals by becoming an ASM member. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

Is the future of cervical cancer screening non-invasive? Sharmila Manjeshwar, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Klausner M.D. MPH, discuss a breakthrough in HPV diagnostics: urine-based testing. While vaccination and clinical screening have reduced cervical cancer rates, participation has stalled due to barriers like healthcare access and the invasive nature of traditional clinician-collected samples. This conversation explores how novel high-volume urine concentration technology is changing the landscape, making screening more accessible, private, and efficient.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/am7NvL1Y0g4

• Sharmila Manjeshwar, Ph.D.
• Jeffrey Klausner M.D. MPH

• Performance of a novel, urine-based test for the detection of cervical human papillomavirus infection

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Elitza (Elli) Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

Most microbiome research focuses on soil, oceans, or hosts. But the atmosphere itself harbors diverse communities of bacteria and fungi that move between ecosystems. This episode explores a recent mBio study comparing airborne microbial communities above a subalpine forest and a grassland in Colorado.

The conversation unpacks what the "aerobiome" is, how scientists actually sample microbes from the air, and why height, time of day, and season matter. The study reveals striking differences between fungi and bacteria, with fungi showing strong site-specific structure and environmental sensitivity, while bacteria appear more ubiquitous. They also discuss "vertical filtering," long-distance dispersal, and what these findings mean for pathogen spread, ecosystem connectivity, and climate change.

The atmosphere is not empty space, it is an active conduit connecting microbial life across landscapes.

• Carolyn R. Cornell, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University
• Jane E. Stewart, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University

• Spatiotemporal patterns of airborne microbial communities in forest and grassland ecosystems.

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

This episode is brought to you by the mBio journal available at https://asm.org/mBio. 

If you plan to publish in mBio, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Visit https://asm.org/mBio to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow mBio on twitter at https://x.com/mbiojournal.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (or MALDI) has revolutionized the clinical microbiology laboratory, enabling rapid, accurate and cheap identification of bacteria, yeast, moulds and mycobacteria. In most labs, it has become a verb (I maldi'ed it). But – can it replace our antimicrobial susceptibility tests? Let's find out!

• Dr. Frieder Schaumburg
• Niklas Wiesmann

In the inaugural episode of Editors in Conversation mBio edition, Marvin Whiteley speaks with Arturo Casadevall, infectious-disease physician-scientist, founding Editor in Chief of mBio, and a leading voice in fungal pathogenesis and scientific rigor.

They explore how climate change may be reshaping the fungal kingdom, potentially eroding the thermal barrier that has historically protected humans from most fungal pathogens. Using Candida auris (C auris) as a case study, they discuss heat adaptation, antifungal resistance, and what climate change could mean for future outbreaks.

The conversation also examines fungal pandemics in pop culture, the challenges of antifungal drug development, and the promise of vaccines and biotechnology. Fungi are both threat and ally in a changing world, and understanding them has never been more urgent.

• Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D. - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Infectious-disease physician-scientist, Founding Editor in Chief of mBio®

• On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds 
• Reflections on my 15 years as mBio editor in chief

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/mbio to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Receive up to 50% off fees when you publish in mBio® or any of the ASM journals by becoming an ASM member. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

The Interdisciplinary Meeting of Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation has launched! The first version of IMARI brought together researchers, clinicians, industry leaders and policymakers to address one of the greatest challenges in modern medicine: antimicrobial resistance" Check the highlights at IMARI.org and prepare for IMARI 2017 from January 27-29, 2027!

The inaugural amazing conference took place in Las Vegas. This is the forst time that ASM and IDSA collaborate together in a scientific meeting. One of the sessions involved an unprecedent collaboration between two journals AAC and JID published by each society. To celebrate this achievement we had a session of the best AMR papers of 2025 for AAC and JID. This session will be presented here as apart of our series. 

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/XRYl7863z34

Objectives:

- Review the best papers and topics of AMR in 2025 form AAC and JID.
- Discuss the context of each finding and contributions to the AMR community
- Elaborate on the implications for AMR, novelties and how the field is advancing.

Guests: 
- Ayesha Khan, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Associate Director, Division of Clinical Microbiology Biomedical & Translational Research Track. Principal Investigator, UC3P UCI Prime Pre-Health Pathways Program.

- Madison Stellfox, M.D. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 

Links: 

AAC

• A microbiological and structural analysis of the interplay between sulbactam/durlobactam and imipenem against penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of Acinetobacter spp. https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01627-24

JID

• Ampicillin/Sulbactam in Combination with Ceftazidime/Avibactam Against Metallo-β-Lactamase-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: A Genomics-Informed Mechanism-based model https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf567

AAC

• Advancements in the fight against globally distributed OXA-48 carbapenemase: evaluating the new generation of carbapenemase inhibitors https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01614-24

JID

• Daptomycin-Loaded Nanocarriers Facilitate Synergistic Killing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus via Lipid-Mediated Interactions and Targeting https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf492

AAC

• Amoxicillin-non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae causing invasive pneumonia: serotypes, clones, and clinical impact https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00237-25

JID

• Blood Cultures Contain Populations of Genetically Diverse Candida albicans Strains that May Differ in Echinocandin Tolerance and Fitness https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf495

AAC

• Antibiofilm activity of manogepix, ibrexafungerp, amphotericin B, rezafungin, and caspofungin against Candida spp. biofilms of reference and clinical strains https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00137-25

JID

• Engineered Mycobacteriophage TM4::GeNL Rapidly Determines Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, Rifampicin, and Clofazimine Sensitivity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae438

AAC

• Emergence of antibiotic-specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis phenotypes during prolonged treatment of mice https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01310-24

JID

• The Changing Paradigm in Infectious Diseases—Host-Directed Medicine: Implications for the Next Generation of ID Physicians https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf497

JID

• Triggering Toll-Like Receptor 5 Signaling During Pneumococcal Superinfection Prevents the Selection of Antibiotic Resistance https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae239

• IMARI Conference

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at https://asm.org/aac. 

If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Visit https://asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity – and is not a future problem. Changes to the Earth's climate driven by emission of greenhouse gases have led to glaciers shrinking, plant and animal geographic ranges shifting and historical droughts, wildfires and rainfall. What does all of this have to do with the clinical laboratory? 

Subscribe to Editors in Conversation on Apple Podcasts, Android, Spotify, or Email and never miss an episode.

• Dr. Joesph Wiencek, Director of Clinical Chemistry and Associate Professor at VUMC
• Andrea Prinzi, Ph.D., MPH, SM(ASCP), bioMérieux

Links: 

• The foundation for the microbiology laboratory's essential role in diagnostic stewardship: an ASM Laboratory Practices Subcommittee report 
• Approaches to developing and implementing a molecular diagnostics stewardship program for infectious diseases: an ASM Laboratory Practices Subcommittee report 
• Guiding antimicrobial stewardship through thoughtful antimicrobial susceptibility testing and reporting strategies: an updated approach in 2023 

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

This is a special live recording of Editors in Conversation at the 2025 ASM Global Research Symposium in Bengaluru, India. We explore the evolving landscape of drug-resistant pathogens—from the intracellular survival strategies of Salmonella to the global rise of multidrug-resistant fungi like Candida auris. This conversation highlights the urgent need for integrated, One Health solutions to combat AMR across human, animal, and environmental domains.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/G1KtS6MSjHs 

• The implications of the OneHealth approach for microbiology and public health.
• The connection between planetary science, human activity and the rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens.
• Illustrate with specific examples the major challenges to combat multidrug-resistant pathogens in a country like India. 

• Anuradha Chowdhary, M.D., Ph.D. Professor, University of Delhi India, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute. Head of National Reference Laboratory for Antimicrobial Resistance in Fungal Pathogens. New Delhi, India.
• Dipshikha Chakravortty, Ph.D. Astra Chair Professor, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology India Institute of Science, Head of Molecular Pathogenesis Laboratory, Bengaluru, India.

• ASM Global Research Symposium on the One Health Approach to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

I almost can't believe that we are wrapping up yet another year on the podcast this month, which has been going strong for 6 years now! And it has been another exciting year in the world of Clin Micro as well with improvements and new assays available for some of our bread and butter tests, but the year also brought about significant developments in the application of AI and digital imaging, use of NGS methods, and probably some cool AST stuff in there too among other things, with many of these advancements published in JCM. And so, as has become customary for the last 6 years, for this episode, we will be sharing some of our favorite papers or more intriguing manuscripts published in the Journal this year. And I have to say, this is probably one of the hardest episodes to prep for because picking just on paper to talk about is an incredible difficult task! But, we are up to the challenge and we'll share those with you over the next half hour or so, all the while wearing ridiculous holiday sweaters and/or holiday headgear, as is now tradition. So, if you are not watching, you may want to switch and find a video option for your viewing pleasure. 

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/taqcjqeQQBE

Paper Links:
Interlaboratory assays from the fungal PCR Initiative and the Modimucor Study Group to improve qPCR detection of Mucorales DNA in serum: one more step toward standardization | Journal of Clinical Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01525-24

Detection of protozoan and helminth parasites in concentrated wet mounts of stool using a deep convolutional neural network | Journal of Clinical Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01062-25

Prediction of antimicrobial susceptibility of pneumococci based on whole-genome sequencing data: a direct comparison of two genomic tools to conventional antimicrobial susceptibility testing | Journal of Clinical Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01079-24
     a. Bonus: Rapid detection of gram-negative antimicrobial resistance determinants directly from positive blood culture broths using a multiplex PCR system | Journal of Clinical Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00384-25

A novel single-tier serologic test to diagnose all stages of Lyme disease | Journal of Clinical Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00483-25

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Elitza (Elli) Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Editors in conversation is supported by the American Society for Microbiology, which publishes JCM. Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. 

Sign up at https://asm.org/joinasm.

Visit https://journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Get the audio only podcast at https://asm.org/eic.

Prosthetic joint infections (PJI) remain among the most devastating complications in orthopedic surgery, with increasing incidence paralleling the growth in arthroplasty procedures worldwide. While treatment protocols are well-established, evidence supporting current approaches is lacking, and outcomes remain suboptimal, highlighting the need for improved therapeutic strategies. AAC recently published a minireview of randomized controlled trials and emerging evidence for the management for these difficult to treat infection. Today, we discuss with one of the authors of the manuscript and an ID doctor specialized in PJI infections the findings of such paper.

• Challenges of treating prosthetic joint infections.
• Major clinical trial data supporting different approaches for treatment and prevention of PJI
• Guidance for the approach to these complicated infections.

• David Paterson MBBS, Ph.D., Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (Joint)
  Yong Loo Lin School of Public Health (Joint), Director, ADVANCE-ID, National University of Singapore, Singapore. 
• Ana Victoria Salas-Vargas, M.D. Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Houston Methodist Academic Institute and Weill Cornell Medical College. 

Links: 

Advancing the management of prosthetic joint infections: a review of randomized controlled trials and emerging evidence https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00338-25

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

It's that time of year, folks! No, not leaf-peeping season, or pumpkin spice season or even apple picking season – I'm talking respiratory virus season! The symphony of sniffles and coughs is just around the corner! It's the time of year that clinical laboratories are stocking up on supplies, developing testing algorithms and putting out communications to try to convince people that every kid with the sniffles does not, in fact, warrant a highly-multiplexed respiratory virus panel test.

The diagnostic landscape for respiratory viruses has evolved dramatically in the last five years, with widespread institution of molecular tests both in laboratories of all sizes, but also at the point of care – and even consumer direct testing. What's next for respiratory virus testing? 

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/_tXqLyV3-QE

Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis, has been around for what seems like forever, causing major outbreaks throughout the millennia and continuing to spread at high rates, globally, into today. When it comes to diagnostic testing, some tests like RPR and VDRL have stood the test of time, having been implemented in the late 1930s and 1940s, and are now used in combination with contemporary methods like EIAs and chemiluminescent assays as the reference standard method to diagnosis syphilis cases. New approaches to screening and diagnosis are needed, however, to increase test access and ultimately case identification and treatment. 

• Dr. Kevin Clark
• Dr. Jody Berry

• Clinical development and performance of the First to Know Syphilis Self-Test for over-the-counter usage: a de novo rapid test for treponemal antibody

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

The launch of ChatGPT three years ago brought the concept of artificial intelligence into the daily conversation. Today, it seems all industries, including lab medicine, are integrating AI with the promise of making our lives easier. How do we best navigate implementing this technology into clinical microbiology? How will it be regulated? … and, what is AI anyway?

Watch this epsiode: https://youtu.be/2B_JJEFJv7I

• Dr. Susan Sharp
• Dr. Kendall Bryant

• Proceedings of the Clinical Microbiology Open 2024: artificial intelligence applications in clinical microbiology
• Diagnosis of Plasmodium infections using artificial intelligence techniques versus standard microscopy in a reference laboratory
• Development and evaluation of an artificial intelligence for bacterial growth monitoring in clinical bacteriology

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

The Journal of Clinical Microbiology has a great tradition of publishing mini-reviews on topics that are important to the clinical microbiology community. Minireviews provide "up to the minute" updates on topics pertinent to clinical microbiologists and serve as fabulous training tools for medical professionals, trainees, and researchers across all disciplines. Dr. Humphries and Dr. Ledeboer discuss what makes a great mini-review, and their favorite mini-reviews published in JCM.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/sXOrfTkoDGM

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM).

Editors in conversation is supported by the American Society for Microbiology, which publishes JCM. Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at https://asm.org/joinasm.

Visit https://journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Subscribe to the podcast at https://asm.org/eic

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the largest threats to global public health, compromising all other advances in modern medicine. At the forefront of detecting AMR is the clinical laboratory. 

However, walk into any clinical microbiology laboratory today and you will find this important task being accomplished using techniques that barely evolved from the methods proposed by Alexander Fleming, nearly 100 years ago. 

Bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials, in an in vitro culture system, and growth inhibition is measured after overnight incubation. In the time of laboratory automation, molecular testing and artificial intelligence – are we ready for an antimicrobial susceptibility testing revolution? What are the technologies that might get us there?

• Dr. Daniel Rhodes
• Dr. Jacob Rattin

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00674-25

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Elitza (Elli) Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM). JCM is available at jcm.asm.org.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

Measles is becoming an important public health problem and it is important to recognize and understand the origins of this problem and how it can affect the population of our country. At the same time, it is critical to have updated and scientifically accurate information on the clinical presentations, risk factors and countermeasures. Today, we will discuss this topic with experts in field. 

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/oQDaa8J9v5w

Topics:

 • Define measles as an important public health threat
 • Explain the origin of the epidemic
 • Accurate information on countermeasures and strategies to tackle this outbreak.

Guests: 

- Hana Mohammed El Sahly, M.D.  Professor, Kyle and Josephine Morrow Chair, Department of Medicine, Molecular Virology and Microbiology; Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU)
Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX US.

- Natasha B. Halasa M.D., M.P.H. Craig Weaver Professor of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennessee

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at https://asm.org/aac. 

If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Visit https://asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Subscribe to the podcast at https://asm.org/eic 

With Alex's departure to new pastures, which include things like being the incoming President of ASM, we now have a new JCM Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Romney Humphries!

Dr. Humphries is currently Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Director of the Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University, as well as a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. She is an absolute powerhouse in the AST world as we all know, and as of this month, is the new Editor in Chief of JCM.

In this episode, we find out Dr. Humphries's vision and new ideas for the Journal and where she'd like to see JCM go over the next few years.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/xkyUb6zE9X4

• Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM), M(ASCP)

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

A common description of antibiotic action aims to classify them between "bactericidal" or "bacteriostatic". Although these phenomena have robust in vitro foundations, the clinical translation of these concepts is sometimes difficult to ascertain. This controversial topic has important conceptual ramifications to treat severe infections. Today, we will discuss this topic with an expert in field. 

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/3z4BItBrzbk

• The definitions of "cidal" vs "static" antibiotics
• The clinical applicability of the above terms in terms of antibiotic choice and syndromatic approaches
• antibiotic choices and the controversy between bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibiotics. 

• Brad Spellberg, MD.  Chief Medical Officer at the Los Angeles General Medical Center 

• ASM and IDSA launch the Interdisciplinary Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation (IMARI) in 2026
• Watch this session on YouTube

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Oversight and guidance for performing antibiotic susceptibility testing can be bewildering. There is an alphabet soup of agencies and bodies involved: FDA, CLSI, and USCAST, to name a few here in the US. How does the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulatory authority over AST, work with a nimble group like the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute?

• Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM), M(ASCP)
• Patricia Simner, Ph.D., D(ABMM)

• Major updates to FDA-recognized Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute breakpoints are a win for the fight against antimicrobial resistance
• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.
• Attend ASM Microbe

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

In the last decade, there have been major changes in the approach of the treatment of pneumonia, in particular, with the availability of new diagnostic tools. Additionally, new drugs have been approved for the treatment of pneumonia. We discuss the approach to the management of pneumonia with a person who has spent most of his professional career working on this topic.

• Definitions and nomenclature of pneumonia and evolution of these terms
• Changes in the diagnosis of pneumonia
• Ttherapeutic changes and future approaches for the treatment of pneumonia.

• Daniel M Musher, M.D.

• ASM and IDSA launch the Interdisciplinary Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation (IMARI) in 2026

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Picture this, you wake up one morning with nausea, body aches, abdominal pain, and despite sleeping all night, you are exhausted. You then find yourself running to the restroom with watery and somewhat explosive diarrhea. You think to yourself – what could this be? Well, if the year was 2023, in the summer and you happen to live in Texas, chances were somewhat high that you had probably had cyclosporiasis.  And today, we are going to talk about this particular parasite and focus in on what our options are for detecting it given that it is not routinely picked up on O&P exams. And while there are molecular panels out there that include Cyclospora as a target, as our speakers will share, there is an easier and cheaper approach we can consider to quickly ID this pathogen.

• Dr. Angela Ma. Public Health Ontario and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto
• Dr. Marc Couturier. Drector of the clinical microbiology lab at NorDx lab at MaineHealth in Scarborough, Maine

• Shedding new light on Cyclospora: how the use of ultraviolet fluorescence microscopy can improve diagnosis of cyclosporiasis
• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.
• Attend ASM Microbe

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

The past year in Clinical Microbiology, as seen through the lens of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Four JCM editors have each selected a paper they consider to be among the "best" we published in 2024. Of course there are no objective criteria for what makes a paper the "best." So, by "best," we mean "a paper that I find exciting."

View this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9ZqZUrDiY

• Patricia Simner, Ph.D., D(ABMM), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM), M(ASCP), Vanderbilt University Medical Center

• Wood RC, Luabeya AK, Dragovich RB, Olson AM, Lochner KA, Weigel KM, Codsi R, Mulenga H, de Vos M, Kohli M, Penn-Nicholson A, Hatherill M, Cangelosi GA. 2024. Diagnostic accuracy of tongue swab testing on two automated tuberculosis diagnostic platforms, Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra and Molbio Truenat MTB Ultima. J Clin Microbiol 62:e00019-24.
• Rodino KG, Luethy PM, Abbott AN, Bender JM, Eberly AR, Gitman M, Leber A, Dien Bard J, . 2024. Defining the value of medical microbiology consultation. J Clin Microbiol 62:e00359-24.
• Giske CG, Bressan M, Fiechter F, Hinic V, Mancini S, Nolte O, Egli A. 2024. GPT-4-based AI agents—the new expert system for detection of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms?. J Clin Microbiol 62:e00689-24.
• Bloomfield M, van der Werff K, Todd S, Bocacao M, Reed H, Balm M, Blackmore T. 2024. An exception-reporting approach for wound swab culture: effect on post-report antibiotic initiation. J Clin Microbiol 62:e00342-24.
• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.
• Attend ASM Microbe

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

2024 was a very active year on research in antimicrobial resistance, highlighted by an impactful and high level political declaration to combat antimicrobial resistance by the United Nations. In this episode, trainees from NIH-funded training program (T32) on antimicrobial resistance will help me discuss the most relevant research on the field in the year 2024. Welcome to editors in conversation!

• The best papers of 2024 in gram-positive, gram-negative, mycobacterial and parasite resistance

• Nathalie Chen: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Alex Kang: Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX
• Nathan Rabbe: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Taylor Blackburn: Emory University, Atlanta, GA
• Jacon McPherson: University of Houston, Houston, TX.
• Harrison Lee, MD: Associate Chief of Epidemiology and Microbial Genomics, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Director, Center for Genomic Epidemiology, Director, T32 AMR, U of Pittsburgh
• William Shafer, PhD: Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Co-Director, Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center. Director T32 AMR, Emory University

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Looking for a dynamic and rewarding career? Learn what it means to be a Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Director and the necessary steps to get there. It's a diverse job encompassing infectious diseases diagnostic testing, patient care, teaching, and research. This episode is geared for those who are interested in pursuing (or already have) a Ph.D. or M.D.

• Alexandra Bryson, Ph.D.
• Andrea Prinzi, Ph.D

• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

Lack of access to antibiotics including those with enhanced activity against multidrug-resistant organisms is a major barrier to combat antimicrobial resistance, particularly in the developing world. Furthermore, discovering and making available new antimicrobial agents against the most pressing antibiotic-resitant organisms is a challenge due to multiple barriers.

The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) accelerates the development and access of treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections. Together with public, private and non-profit partners, GARDP works to preserve the power of antibiotics for generations to come. We discuss the important role that GARDP is playing in the worldwide fight against antimicrobial resistance.

• GARDP function and role in the AMR field
• The strategies that GARDP is implementing to make new antibiotics available to all
• The future of antimicrobial research and development and the role of GARDP in this process.

• Jennifer Cohn MD MPH, Director, Global Access Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP)
• Susana Ribeiro, MPH, Regional Head Latin America Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP)

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

So you want validated, at-home, self-collected swabs for STI testing… Here's what you need to know! 

Sexually transmitted infection rates continue to climb across the US and while testing for these diseases is widely available, for the most part it requires the patient to go to a local clinic to collect and submit their sample for testing. But, is that really necessary, especially from a test accuracy perspective?

Today's guests answer that exact question. And I'm sure that many, if not all of us would agree that the ability for patients to collect samples outside of a clinical setting has numerous benefits, including what the authors refer to as pseudo-anonymity, increased comfort and ultimately increased access to testing, which would be of particular value for patients that may avoid clinical settings due to various different socioeconomic barriers. 

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/40XCHpAFvqw

• Dr. Breland Hockman, who is a board certified clinical chemist and the Director of Clinical Affairs at LetsGetChecked.com
  
  
• Dr. Dina Greene, Clinical Professor at University of Washington, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and former Associate Lab Director at LetsGetChecked.com

• Overcoming analytical and preanalytical challenges associated with extragenital home collected STI specimens
  
  
• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

The second High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) took place in New York on 26 September 2024 as the principal official, health-focused event during the UN General Assembly high-level week. The intergovernmental negotiations for the declaration were co-facilitated by Malta and Barbados. A political declaration for the meeting was produced highlighting the fact that AMR will cause even more global suffering, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In this episode we will debrief and analyze the possible impact of these meetings and consequences for the future of AMR research and antimicrobial development. 

• The political implications of the UN declaration on AMR.
• Comment of the scientific and public health impact of the declaration
• Elaborate on future antimicrobial research and development

• John Rex, MD. Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd; Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences
• Prabha Fernandes, PhD. Board Member of GARDP (Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership).

• HLM on AMR at UNGA: The end of the beginning
• 29 April 2024: "R&D Implications: Global Burden of Disease is 28% Infectious!"
• 27 Sep 2024: "Without action, AMR costs go from $66b to $159b/yr by 2050"

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

The American Society for Microbiology is launching a new journal, ASM Case Reports. The journal is already accepting submissions and will begin publishing in January of 2025. We discuss ASM Case Reports and what you can expect from this new journal.

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/zHdZL0PYTuE

Some of the questions we will discuss include:

• What is the scope of ASM Case Reports?
• What makes a case report or case series interesting and important?
• Why should people publish in ASM Case Reports?

• Dr. Carey-Ann Burnham (twitter/𝕏)

journals.asm.org/journal/asmcr

• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

Heteroresistance is a phenomenon that has been well characterized for many years. However, we are only now starting to understand its mechanistic basis. Indeed, the manner how bacteria respond to antibiotics is complex and phenomena such as persistance, tolerance may be overlapping with heteroresistance. Furthermore, heteroresistance seems to be common in real clinical scenarios and understanding its basis is likely to open new avenues on how we deploy antibacterials in clinical practice., Today, we have experts in the field to discuss this important topic.

Watch this episode at https://youtu.be/qcIcyn1bIHU.

• The differences between heteroresistance, persistence and tolerance
• The mechanistic basis both in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
• The clinical implication and diagnosis of heteroresistance

• David Weiss, Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Director Center for Antimicrobial Resistance, Emory University School Of Medicine, Atlanta. GA.
• William Miller, MD. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Houston Methodist, Houston, TX and Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.

• Cefiderocol heteroresistance associated with mutations in TonB-dependent receptor genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa of clinical origin

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal. 

Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Subscribe to the podcast at https://asm.org/eic.

Join Dr. Ben Pinsky and Dr. Greg Berry as they dissect recent news stories, including the USDA's testing for H5N1 in ground beef and a surprising bubonic plague case in Oregon. They also tackle the resurgence of measles in the U.S., the local reappearance of malaria, and a curious study on Neosporin's potential to prevent viral infections.

• H5N1 Influenza Virus: Dr. Ben Pinsky provides an update on recent cases of H5N1 in humans and animals, including concerns about dairy cattle infections and the potential for human transmission.
• Bubonic Plague: Dr. Greg Berry discusses a recent case in Oregon, its transmission through cats, and the historical context of the plague.
• Measles: The resurgence of measles in the U.S. is addressed, with Dr. Pinsky noting an increase in cases compared to previous years and emphasizing the importance of vaccination.
• Malaria: The episode covers recent cases of locally acquired malaria in the U.S. and discusses the history of malaria in America.
• Neosporin and Viral Infections: The hosts examine a study suggesting Neosporin might prevent viral infections and discuss the implications and practicality of this claim.

• Dr. Ben Pinsky
• Dr. Greg Berry

• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter/𝕏 via @JClinMicro

The pipeline of antibiotic discovery is a major necessity due to the continuous evolution of resistance to currently used antimicrobials. This pipeline faces important challenges due to the lack of investment on antimicrobial research in the private sector and an economic model that discourages investment. In the last few years, however, encouraging signs are occurring but major gaps still remain. The World Health Organization has regularly assessed the preclinical and clinical antibacterial development pipeline and the latest report is now available in the journal, lets discuss it!

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/IgqWmHDIx-0

• The process for review of the antibacterial pipeline.
• The progress and gaps in antibiotic discovery
• The opportunities to overcome the numerous hurdles in the early stages of the antibacterial research and development space

• Valeria Gigante Ph.D., Team Lead at the World Health Organization's (WHO) in the AMR Division, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Multi-year analysis of the global preclinical antibacterial pipeline: trends and gaps.

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

The European alchemists of the 12th century sought to find the philosopher's stone, a substance that would transmute base metals, such as lead, into precious metals, such as silver and gold. Today, we discuss whether data analysis, including machine learning, can transmute base laboratory data into precious clinical tools. We will use antimicrobial susceptibility testing as a case-study for new applications of data analysis. Some of the questions we will address include:

• How can relatively simple data analyses be used to build upon current methods of verification of antimicrobial susceptibility testing?
• How do commercial systems analyze individual susceptibility results and can we improve on this analysis using new methods?
• Finally, what is the long-term potential for leveraging laboratory data and other clinical data to improve and support clinical decision making? And what needs to happen to realize this goal?

• Dr. Sanjat Kanjilal (twitter/𝕏)

The modern alchemy of clinical pathology: turning the output of microbiology laboratory operations into gold

• Join ASM for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals.
• Watch this episode: youtu.be/rWuQ0nSWL1Y

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Antimicrobial resistance is a priority public health problem with complex roots and connotations. However, due to a lack of focus on this topic, research training programs, specifically those focused on AMR are limited. Additionally, scientific meetings that particularly highlight the science of antimicrobial resistance are scarce. We recently published a commentary that evaluates the state-of-the-art of the training programs in AMR in the US. We discuss this topic with the leading author and discussed the issue with leaders in the field.

• The challenges that training in AMR poses and how to approach them.
• The current status of training programs in the USA
• Specific strategies that could improve the access and dissemination of AMR research 

• William M Shafer, PhD,  Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Director
  Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program.
• Lee H. Harrison, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Associate chief of epidemiology and education Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Director University of Pittsburgh Antimicrobial Resistance T32 Program

• Ensuring a sustained workforce to combat antibiotic resistance in the 21st century: the critical need for training the next-gen of scientists at the pre-doctoral level

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Rhodococcus infections are uncommon, however they can cause serious disease in certain patients. There are a number of challenges though when dealing with Rhodococcus infections, including the fact that much of what we know around their susceptibility profiles and the clinical management of infected individuals actually comes from a number case series and in some situations, from the veterinary literature.  So today, our two guests are going to tell us about their experiences with Rhodococcus over a 10-year period and bring us up-to-speed on things like:

• Which species of Rhodococcus are most commonly isolated and associated with clinical disease
• What is the recommended approach to susceptibility testing for Rhodococcus and what sorts of susceptibility trends do we see at both the genus and species levels
• And also, of course, we're going to talk about the clinical manifestations and outcomes of clinically significant Rhodococcus infections

• Adi S. Shah, M.B.B.S., Mayo Clinic
• Nancy L. Wengenack, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic

Rhodococcus infection: a 10-year retrospective analysis of clinical experience and antimicrobial susceptibility profile | Journal of Clinical Microbiology

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter via @JClinMicro

Phage therapy has gained a lot of traction but the challenges created by this approach have not been properly assessed at a big scale. We often read about therapy successes on isolated cases but, rarely, we read or hear about failures. AAC recently published a case series of patients who failed phage therapy. Today, we will discuss this topic with the principal investigator on the research.

• Phage therapy as an approach for MDR bacteria.
• The challenges of phage therapies.
• Issues that can influence the success of phage therapy

• Saima Aslam, MBBS. Director, Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases Service, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ventricular assist device infections: findings from ineffective phage therapies in five cases https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aac.01728-23

• How are we doing with phage therapy at this point?
• What are the challenges to deploy phage therapy in clinical settings?
• The 5 cases of failure of phage therapy in patients with LVADs summarized
• What factors did Dr. Aslam identify that were related with the failure?
• How do you develop neutralization against phages and how can you prevent it?  
• Bacterial isolates with varying phage susceptibility, how can this be detected?
• What did Dr. Aslam learn?
• Future research

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

The protozoan Lophomonas has been reported to be a pathogen of humans in a large number of case reports and case series. Most of these case reports describe infections of the respiratory tract. Editors in Conversation is joined by two experts to discuss this possible parasite.

Some of the questions addressed include:

• What are the characteristics of the species in the genus Lophomonas?
• What are the laboratory and morphological data that suggest that Lophomonas species cause human infections?
• What are the purported clinical manifestations of Lophomonas?
• Finally, is Lophomonas truly a pathogen of humans?

• Dr. Abhishek Mewara - Additional Professor in the Department of Medical Parasitology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India.
• Dr. Bobbi Pritt - Chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.

"Lophomonas as a respiratory pathogen—jumping the gun," by Abhishek Mewara, Gillian H. Gile, Blaine Mathison, Huan Zhao, Bobbi Pritt, and Richard S. Bradbury (https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00845-23).

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter via @JClinMicro

Tuberculosis is one of the most deadly infectious diseases that still causes significant burden of disease, particularly in the developing world.  The emergence of resistance to first line agents severely limits the therapeutic options and threaten the ability to control dissemination of this disease. Fortunately, new drugs and regimens are now emerging as important alternatives against these organisms.  Today, we will discuss this topic with outstanding experts in the field. Welcome to the editors in conversation.

• The burden of multidrug-resistant TB.
• New drugs and regimens for MDR TB.
• The current and future pipeline for TB

• Kelly Dooley, MD Ph.D.  Professor and Addison B. Scoville, Jr., Chair in Medicine, Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Past Editor of AAC
• Sean Wasserman, MD Ph.D, Reader in Infectious Diseases at St Georges University of London and Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at University of Cape Town, SA. Editor of AAC.

This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Subscribe to Editors in Conversation (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, Spotify, Email.

A new generation of B-lactamase inhibitors is likely to reach the market in the upcoming year. These broad-spectrum inhibitors exhibit activity against the most feared class B metallo-B-lactamases maintaining the inhibition of other enzymes. Recently AAC has published three papers that describe the mechanistic bases of taniborbactam resistance among metallo-enzymes. This knowledge is crucial to understand the limitation of these compounds in clinical practice. Today, we will discuss this topic with some of the authors of the mentioned papers. Welcome to the editors in conversation.

• The activity and chemical basis of new generation B-lactamase inhibitors with activity against metallo-B-lactamases.
• Taniborbactam as an example of novel B-lactam, B-lactam inhibitors
• Mechanisms of resistance to taniborbactam and other inhibitors

• Robert Bonomo, MD.  Director of the VA CARES Center and Distinguished Professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine. Past Editor of AAC
• Pranita Tamma, MD MPH. Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Editor of AAC
• Alejandro Vila, PhD Professor of Biophysics, Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular de Rosario, CONICET - Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal and hosted by AAC Editor in Chief, Cesar Arias. 

AAC is available at https://asm.org/aac. 

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Subscribe to the podcast at https://asm.org/eic

We managed to make it through 2023 without a major epidemic or pandemic, and as we get into the holiday spirit and look forward to the new year, some of us took a look back and picked out one of our favorite JCM paper published in 2023, which I will tell you, was no easy task as there were many of good ones to choose from! And personally, after looking through all the issues over the last year, it never ceases to amaze me the variety of topics that we publish on in JCM – including unique things like the evaluation of a molecular assay for diagnosis of Buruli ulcers, to development of an EIA for detection of Taenia coproantigen, and then of course we have the more bread and butter things like evaluation of new assays for detection of TB resistance, to multiple studies this year on women's health diagnostics, and evaluation of new molecular assays for congenital CMV detection, and then I'm also told that there were some awesome AST-focused papers too, which is all just great.

The four of us JCM editors have selected the following favorite papers of ours from the past year:

• Whole-Genome Subtyping Reveals Population Structure and Host Adaptation of Salmonella Typhimurium from Wild Birds | Journal of Clinical Microbiology (asm.org)
• Detailed β-(1→3)-D-glucan and mannan antigen kinetics in patients with candidemia | Journal of Clinical Microbiology (asm.org)
• Interlaboratory comparison of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage susceptibility testing | Journal of Clinical Microbiology (asm.org)
• Emergence of Inducible Macrolide Resistance in Mycobacterium chelonae Due to Broad-Host-Range Plasmid and Chromosomal Variants of the Novel 23S rRNA Methylase Gene, erm(55) | Journal of Clinical Microbiology
• Commentary: Plasmid-mediated drug resistance in mycobacteria: the tip of the iceberg? | Journal of Clinical Microbiology

• Melissa Miller, Ph.D., D(ABMM), FAAM, University of North Carolina Medical Center
• Patricia Simner, Ph.D., D(ABMM), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Gonorrhea remains one of the more common sexually transmitted infections. In North America, the number of reported cases has generally risen for over ten years, with interruptions in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by returns to rising rates of infection. Under the selective pressure of antimicrobial treatment, antimicrobial resistance has risen, which has led to limited options for treatment

Today, we will be discussing antimicrobial resistance in N. gonorrhoeae, including these questions:
    •    How accurate is gradient diffusion susceptibility testing when compared to agar-dilution results?
    •    Should we use analysis of whole genome sequencing results or agar dilution phenotypic results as the gold-standard for antibiotic susceptibility testing of N. gonorrhoeae?
    •    What is the utility of beta-lactamase testing for predicting penicillin susceptibility results in N. gonorrhoeae?

• Dr. Tanis Dingle, Clinical Microbiologist at Alberta Precision Laboratories and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Calgary.
• Dr. Angela Ma., Clinical Microbiologist at Public Health Ontario.

• Use of genome sequencing to resolve differences in gradient diffusion and agar dilution antimicrobial susceptibility testing performance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in Alberta, Canada

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro.

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Follow JCM on Twitter via @JClinMicro

In the last few years we have witnessed the rise of very resistant fungal species some of them likely influenced by environmental conditions and climate change. Fortunately, there has been a bit of an explosion in the development of new antifungals and the pipeline has been strengthened in the last decade. We will have the ability to have new molecules with distinct and novel mechanisms of action in the near future that may contribute to combat recalcitrant fungal infections.

• The overall threat of fungal resistance.
• The antifungal pipeline in the last few years.
• New promising antifungals

• Andreas Groll, MD PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Head of the Infectious Disease Research Programme and Deputy Director of the Department of Haematology/Oncology at the University Children's Hospital in Münster, Germany. Editor AAC

This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal and hosted by AAC Editor in Chief, Cesar Arias. 

AAC is available at https://asm.org/aac. 

Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates. 

Subscribe to the podcast at https://asm.org/eic