Attend the General ASM Meeting in May 2007!

This is a message from Kasturi Haldar, 2007 Chair, Division AA (Free living and Parasitic Protists) American Society of Microbiology.

Please consider joining ASM and attending the annual ASM General Meeting in Toronto May 21-25, 2007.

The more presence we have in national organizations that are a little broader than our own areas, the more potential we will have for influencing others to support our field. This year’s meeting has a significant increase in the number of sessions devoted to eukaryotic pathogens such that every day will have symposia of broad interest to parasitologists and mycologists..

Four symposia sessions are organized jointly by Section AA (free living and parasitic protists) and section F (medical mycology) from Tues May 22-Fri-May 25th. They are as follows:

May 22, 2007 8:00am - 10:30am Symposium F-AA. Eukaryotic Microbial Interactions with Non-Mammalian Hosts 105
May 22, 2007 2:30pm - 5:00pm Symposium F-AA. Mechanisms of Drug Resistance and Tolerance in Eukaryotic Pathogens 716B
May 24, 2007 8:00am - 10:30am Symposium AA-F. Global Infection Strategies in Pathogenic Protozoa and Fungi 716B
May 25, 2007 8:00am - 10:30am Symposium AA-F. Epigenetics and Gene Expression in Pathogenic Protozoa and Fungi 714 A

There at least another 4-5 symposia of interest to parasitologists in the realm of pathogen-host interactions. ASM sessions run from Tue-Thursday and Friday morning and I expect that T-Thu will have at least two sessions a day and Friday will have one session (since the meeting closes at noon that day) of broad interest to parasitologists.

General Summary. Division AA has grown considerably in 2006. As of today we have grown to 199 primary and 288 primary and secondary members. We are well on our way to a goal of 300+, primary and secondary by May 2007. This is important because membership numbers are critical in developing the program at ASM and are one important criterion used to allow us to organize increased numbers of symposia. Continuation and further increases depend on sustaining primary +secondary membership at 300+ and increasing attendance at the General meeting in Toronto. This meeting provides an excellent opportunity for trainees with broad interest in microbiology. ASM is an outstanding general microbiology meeting and particularly good for trainees who have broad interests to submit abstracts (see categories below). It is also relatively inexpensive meeting for student and post doctoral trainees. Funds are available to provide partial support (minimum of $300 per person) for as many as 30 trainees who submit abstracts and present posters at the meeting (BWF has expressed interest in supporting this). NOTE: TO OBTAIN SUPPORT YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THAT YOUR ABSTRACT IS SUBMITTED TO DIVISION AA. We will organize an informal dinner on Monday primarily as a venue to interact and to socialize as a group. This dinner will be especially useful for a trainee who might attend ASM without their PI because it will include pointers on navigating the meeting.

If you have a trainee or are a trainee and interested in attending this event, please let me know.

Abstracts are due Jan 8, 2007 (AGAIN, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SUBMIT TO DIVISION AA) Instructions are posted at http://gm.asm.org/abstracts.shtm

Abstract categories
AA01 Drugs – Detection of Susceptibility/Resistance and drug testing
AA02 Epidemiology
AA03 Genetics and Biochemistry
AA04 Cell biology of host-pathogen interactions
AA05 Cellular Immunity of infection
AA06 Antigens and Vaccines
AA07 Virulence and Pathogenesis
AA08 Bioinformatic and Systems Analyses

Abstracts will be reviewed by a committee comprising of:
Steve Beverely (Division AA Chair 2005)
Lou Weiss (Division AA Chair 2006)
Kasturi Haldar (Division AA Chair 2007)
Bill Petri (Division AA Chair elect 2007; co-Chair ASM Division AA Abstract Committee 2007)
Marilyn Parsons (Division AA Chair-elect nominee for 2008; co-Chair ASM Division AA Abstract Committee)
Bill Sullivan (Chair, ASM Division AA Abstract Committee 2007)