Turning the Output of the Microbiology Laboratory Into Gold
Release Date: 06/28/2024
The First OTC Syphilis Test: Clinical Performance and Impact
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Artificial Intelligence in the Microbiology Laboratory (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
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: Guests: Dr. Susan Sharp Dr. Kendall Bryant Links: Proceedings of the Clinical Microbiology Open 2024: techniques versus standard microscopy in a reference laboratory in clinical bacteriology This...
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What Makes a Great Mini-review? (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Emerging Technologies for Rapid Phenotypic AST of Clinical Isolates of Bacteria (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
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...
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The Rise of Measles (AAC ed.)
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Meet the New Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Static vs Cidal Antibiotics: Concepts Revisited
Editors in Conversation
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: Topics discussed: The definitions of “cidal” vs “static” antibiotics The clinical applicability of the above terms in terms of antibiotic choice and...
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Updated FDA Recognition of CLSI Breakpoints (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
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? Guests: , Ph.D., D(ABMM), M(ASCP) , Ph.D., D(ABMM) Links: are a win for the fight against antimicrobial resistance for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Attend This...
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Management of Pneumonia: Past, Present and Future
Editors in Conversation
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. Topics discussed: 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. Guest: Daniel M Musher,...
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Show Me the Light! Uv Light for Cyclospora
Editors in Conversation
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...
info_outlineThe 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?
Guests:
- Dr. Sanjat Kanjilal (twitter/đť•Ź)
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Links:
- 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.