Let's Talk Micro

How familiar are you with partnerships and collaborations between the laboratory and the diagnostics industry? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Dr. Kristen Smith to explore how partnerships between clinical labs, public health institutions, and the diagnostics industry drive innovation in in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs). What is the IVD pipeline? From discovery to product launch and beyond, these collaborations improve patient care, accelerate access to new technologies, and enhance public health outcomes. Why breaking silos and fostering inclusive partnerships is essential for the future of diagnostics? Tune in to find out.

Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinmicnews.2025.04.001

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TBT- This week Let's Talk Micro is talking about virology, specifically about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This episode features an interview with Dr. Hsu, a stem cell specialist from the Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York. She discusses an article about a patient that has been possibly cured from HIV after a stem cell transplant with cord blood cells. What is the CCR5 gene? What is its relationship to HIV? Tune in to find out about this interesting article.

This episode was originally published on April 14th , 2022.

Link to article:

https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2022/02/patient-possibly-cured-of-hiv-infection-by-special-stem-cell-transplant

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This week Luis is joined by Dr. Callan Bleick and Dr. Mohammed Al Musawa to talk about an antibiotic that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): aztreonam-avibactam. Our guests wrote a review about this drug and they joined the podcast to talk about it. What is aztreonam? What is avibactam? Why combine them? What type of activity has it demonstrated against beta-lactamase producing organisms? When will it be available? Tune in for more information.

Link to review:

https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/phar.4629

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There are many challenges when it comes to outbreak detection. It involves surveillance, time, and effort among other factors. Some of these challenges are linking multiple patients to an outbreak, or investigating a potential outbreak that turns out to be separate occurrences of an infection. In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Alex Sundermann to talk about an outbreak detection system developed by his team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. What components did they use to develop this system? What were the major outcomes? Is there a potential for laboratories to develop a system like this one?

Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaf216

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This week Luis continues going over Haemophilus. This time he goes over biochemicals, testing systems, and susceptibility testing. What is the ALA test? What commercial systems are able to identify Haemophilus? What about for Haemophilus influenzae? What is HTM agar? Are there any vaccines for H. influenzae? Tune in to find out more.

More information on H. influenzae vaccines:

https://www.cdc.gov/hi-disease/vaccines/index.html

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In this episode Luis continues going over organisms. This time he goes over the genus Haemophilus. We start with an overview of the different species of Haemophilus. Why can't Haemophilus grow on blood agar? What are the X and V factors? Satellite phenomenon? What is the gram stain? What about media? Tune in for the first part of a series about Haemophilus.

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If you are part of the clinical microbiology community, you might have heard of a CPEP Fellowship, or might have met someone pursuing one. In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Samuel Goodfellow to talk about the Subcommittee on Postgraduate Educational Programs (CPEP) Fellowship. Dr. Goodfellow is currently participating in one and he joins us to go over the different components of it. What is a CPEP Fellowship? What is the application process like? What are the daily activities of a fellow? What kind of training does it involve? Tune in to learn about this program and how it prepares you for your career in clinical microbiology.

Information on CPEP Fellowships: https://asm.org/fellowships/cpep

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What led or inspired you to choose the field of microbiology or laboratory medicine? Has your profession changed within the field? In this series where microbiologists and people from laboratory medicine talk about their careers, Luis is joined by Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Lisa Parlich. Andrea is a microbiologist that works in the industry and the co-host of the AMR series in this podcast. Lisa is a microbiologist who works now as an Infection Preventionist. What was their start in their lab like? What challenges did they encounter along the way? What led them to choose their profession? Tune in for another great episode.

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Discovery of new potential antimicrobial compounds is important as we take many measures to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Manoj Jangra and Dr. Dmitrii Travin to discuss lariocidin: a potential antibiotic. What is the mechanism of action? What are lasso peptides? Tune in to listen about the discovery of this potential antibiotic, organisms it has shown activity against, challenges, and more.

Link to article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08723-7

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[email protected]

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There are many challenges in the microbiology laboratory. As a leader, you have to deal with things like validations, verifications, and knowledge of regulations among other things. As a microbiologist in a non-leadership position you need to be familiar with some of these as well. With so much information out there, where do we go? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Rebekah Martin, author of the "101 Topics for Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Leaders" book. This book was made in order to bring all of this information to one place. In the episode Dr. Martin discussed the process of writing the book, what type of content it has, and more.

Link to purchase the book:

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/101+Topics+for+Clinical+Microbiology+Laboratory+Leaders%3A+Accreditation%2C+Verification%2C+Quality+Systems%2C+and+More-p-9781683674474

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[email protected]

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