Favorite Clinical Microbiology Papers of 2025
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Clinical Trials With the Potential To Change the Management of Prosthetic Joint Infections
Editors in Conversation
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...
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Metabolomics
Editors in Conversation
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,...
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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...
info_outlineMeasles 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.
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