In this episode, Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Dr. Rodney Rohde join the podcast to discuss the article 'The Role of Bacterial Biofilms in Antimicrobial Resistance.' What exactly are biofilms? Which organisms are commonly associated with them? And how do they contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? Tune in for an insightful conversation on this important topic.

Link to article:  https://asm.org/Articles/2023/March/The-Role-of-Bacterial-Biofilms-in-Antimicrobial-Re

Link to quorum sensing article: https://asm.org/Articles/2020/June/How-Quorum-Sensing-Works

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a press release on March 20, 2023 about Candida auris. There is an increase in cases, so it is a good time to talk about it. Dr. Shawn Lockhart, from the Mycotic Diseases Branch of the CDC joins the podcast to talk about C. auris. What is C. auris? How is it transmitted? What kind of antimicrobial resistance does it exhibit? Tune in to this episode to find out.

Link to EPA's P list: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-p-antimicrobial-products-registered-epa-claims-against-candida-auris

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

This is part 2 of a two part series. Dr. Rachael Liesman goes over scenarios where genotypic and phenotypic testing do not match and what to do. What do you do when your molecular instrument detects mec-A and Staphylococcus aureus but your susceptibility report shows oxacillin susceptible? What about VanA and Enterococcus? As Medical Laboratory Scientists in Microbiology, we encounter this type of situations. Tune in to find out how to troubleshoot these discrepancies.

Link to Dr. Patricia Simner's article: https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JCM.00138-20

Those of you that work in Clinical Microbiology have seen at one point that a molecular test detects a gene for antimicrobial resistance and the susceptibility profile does not match. What do we do then? In this episode Dr. Rachael Liesman joins to the podcast to talk about this. What is genotypic testing? What is phenotypic testing? How do we perform these in the lab? How do we troubleshoot these discrepancies? Tune in to this episode which is the first of a two part series to find out.

Link to Dr. Liesman's presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dphVN79alVfQERTL_rTihUA-zlqBOJfY/view?usp=share_link

This episode features an interview with the first graduate from the Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (DCLS) program from Rutgers University: Dr. Brandy Gunsolus. What is the DCLS program? What are the requirements for this degree? What does a Doctor in Clinical laboratory Sciences does? Can they be directors? Tune in to find out about this career path for laboratorians and its contribution in Laboratory Medicine.

Link to DCLS programs:

https://shp.utmb.edu/clls/dcls/home

https://shp.rutgers.edu/clinical-lab-and-imaging-sciences/doctorate-of-clinical-lab-science/

https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/academics/departments/clinical-laboratory-sciences/academics/doctorate-in-cls-program.html

In this episode we talk about a relationship between bacteria and the Hawaiian bobtail squid. Dr. Sarah McAnulty and Dr. Spencer Nyholm join the podcast to talk about a study about this squid and bacteria. What is symbiosis? What is the accessory nidamental gland? How does a bacterial community contribute to the development of this gland? What bacteria make up this community? Tune in to find out.

Link to article: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.02131-22

Link to Skype a Scientist: https://www.skypeascientist.com/meet-us.html

The show "The last of us" has brought the topic of fungal infections to the spotlight. What is Cordyceps? Why is the the term zombie used? What is the relationship between fungi and body temperature? Dr. Andrej Spec, an Infectious Diseases physician, joins the podcast to talk about Cordyceps and fungi.

This week's episode is about one species of Bacillus that causes disease and has the potential of being used as a bioterror agent : Bacillus anthracis. What is anthrax? How is this organism identified in the lab? What about Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis? Tune in to this episode to find out the answers.