What Did Salmonella Saintpaul Teach Us?

One of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in recent history, the recent Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak in 2008 associated with produce, stymied many public health investigators, epidemiologists, and food industry experts for an extended period of time. First specific types of fresh tomatoes and then imported fresh peppers were implicated, and sources were difficult to pinpoint. Over 1300 individuals were documented with the foodborne infection across the U.S. and Canada. Portions of the fresh produce industry and international trade suffered significant financial damage. Import regulations and inspections are under comprehensive assessment and revision. Local, state and federal agencies experienced difficulties due to differing outbreak investigation methodologies and inconsistent, variably effective consumer communication. Federal and State legislators are proposing drastic changes in regulations. Furthermore, there was an ongoing suspicion throughout the investigation that the contamination may have been intentional, or at least highlighted the vulnerability in our surveillance and response systems. Obviously at this point a year after the initial presentation of the illnesses, many lessons have been learned and responses to the event are still unfolding.

Speakers Include

Shaun Kennedy, Univ. of Minnesota

Frank Busta, Univ. of Minnesota

Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, University of Minnesota

Video from the H5N1 Research Discussion at ASMBiodefense

Moderated by the Chair of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), Paul Keim, Ph.D., this newly added session at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting includes discussions of the NSABB’s recommendations for the publication of the controversial H5N1 research.

Presentations include:

NSABB Recommendations
Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., MPH
University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN
Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)

Government Response to the Recommendations
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Science’s Response to the Situation
Bruce Alberts, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief of Science

Perspective from an Investigator
Ron A.M. Fouchier, Ph.D.
Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands

The Effect of Universal Influenza Immunization on Mortality and Health Care Use

This is a postercast by Jeffrey C. Kwong, scientist at ICES.

Science & Social Media: Chris Condayan

On Jan. 6, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia, the National Science Foundation, The Ballston Science and Technology Alliance, and BioInformatics, LLC, hosted a Cafe Scientifique on Science and Social Media. In part 2 of this 4 part video, Chris Condayan, Manager of Public Outreach for the American Society of Microbiology, shares some examples of new media in action in both communications between scientists as well as with the public at large. Condayan has written extensively on the subject of new media in the sciences and is responsible for ASM's communications using podcasts, video and blogs

Plugging Microbial Activities and Genomes into the Energy Grid

The answer to the looming fuel crisis in the 21st century may be found by thinking small, microscopic in fact.  Microscopic organisms from bacteria and cyanobacteria, to fungi to microalgae, are biological factories that are proving to be efficient sources of inexpensive, environmentally friendly biofuels that can serve as alternatives to oil.  The problem is right now most alternative biofuels use corn as a feedstock, forcing a choice between food and fuel.   Participants will present the latest findings in research funded by the Department of Energy on strategies for breaking down non-food biomass and converting it into biofuels including ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen and electricity.

Speakers Include:

Martin Keller, Oakridge Natl. Lab., Oakridge Tennesee

James Liao, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Timothy Donohue, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Andreas Schirmer, LS9, Inc, South San Francisco, California

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 5)

Panelists at the American Society for Microbiology's round table on open science address questions on citation impact of open science and distribution of research, the impact of being covered by the New York Times, article half-lives, scientific society finances, open access scientific software, copyright issues, the similarity of journals to the current state of decline in the newspaper industry, the failures of open science and the future of this paradigm.

Note: Audio problems are resolved at this point, but we did experienced trouble with the stream, which is why it is broken up in parts.

Related Links

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 1)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 2)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 3)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 4)

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 4)

Panelists at the American Society for Microbiology's round table on open science address questions on whether the scientific results and outcomes of the public's tax funded scientific research should be available immediately and free online. Also in this clip are questions about peer review and openness, careers in open science, scooping and copyright, and how you evaluate real impact factors of open science.

Note: Audio problems are resolved at this point, but we did experienced trouble with the stream, which is why it is broken up in parts.

Related Links

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 1)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 2)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 3)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 5)

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 3)

Panelists at the American Society for Microbiology's round table on open science address questions on whether the scientific results and outcomes of the public's tax funded scientific research should be available immediately and free online.

Note: Audio is a bit choppy and we experienced trouble with the stream, which is why it is broken up in parts.

Related Links

Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 1)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 2)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 4)
Open Science: The Risks, Rewards and Challenges (Part 5)