A conference on "Emerging and Re-emerging Pathogens II" will be held at PFIZER GLOBAL Research and Development Facility, Ann Arbor, Michigan on Saturday, April 5. Organizer: Michael D. Huband

The Michigan ASM extends a special invitation to our colleagues in CANADA to join us for this one-day conference at PFIZER GLOBAL R & D in Ann Arbor.

ASM Foundation Speaker DR. W. IAN LIPKIN, Director of the Center for Immunopathogenesis and Infectious Diseases, Professor of Epidemiology and Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY. Dr. Lipkin will address the topic: "Borna Disease Virus Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis".

W. Ian Lipkin, MD, is a National ASM Foundation Speaker with over 33 publications and is currently Professor of Epidemiology in the Mailman School of Public Health, Professor of Neurology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Director of both the Center for Immunopathogenesis and Infectious Diseases, and the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Dr. Lipkin moved to Columbia University in July 2002 from the University of California Irvine where he was the Louise Turner Arnold Chair of Neuroscience, Director of the Emerging Diseases Laboratory and Professor in the Departments of Neurology,Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Microbiology, and Molecular Genetics. He is internationally recognized as an authority on the use of molecular biological methods for pathogen discovery and the role of immune and microbial factors in neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases.

Dr. Lipkin received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1974, where he studied cultural anthropology, philosophy, and literature; and an MD from Rush Medical College in 1978. His postgraduate training included Clerkship at the Queen Square Institute of Neurology in London, UK (1977-78); Internship in Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (1978-79); Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington (1979-81), Residency in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, 1981-84), and Fellowship in Neurovirology and Molecular Neurobiology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (TSRI, 1984-1990). His honors include National Multiple Sclerosis Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1984-1987, Clinical Investigator Development Award, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, 1987-1992, NARSAD Young Investigator, 1991, Pew Scholar, 1991, Visiting Professor, Japanese Human Science Foundation, 1999, Visiting Bruenn Professor, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, 2000, Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the Neurosciences, 2000, Foundation Lecturer, American Society of Microbiology, 2001, Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Global Infectious Diseases, 2001.

While a Resident in Neurology, Dr. Lipkin established the first clinic for investigating neurologic manifestations of HIV infection. In 1983, he identified AIDS-associated inflammatory neuropathy and demonstrated that this crippling syndrome could be treated with plasmapheresis. In 1988 as a fellow with Dr. Michael Oldstone at TSRI he demonstrated that early life viral infection can cause behavioral and neurotransmitter disturbances without obvious evidence of brain infection or injury. The observation that cryptic infection can influence brain function is increasingly recognized as important in the context of neuropsychiatric diseases such as autism and schizophrenia; and it may also play a role in neurodegenerative disorders. To address such questions, Dr. Lipkin created molecular methods for rapidly detecting unknown viruses in clinical materials. The first application of these methods resulted in identification of Borna disease virus, a new type of virus that had eluded classical methods for virus purification. Since isolating the first genes of this virus in 1990, Dr. Lipkin cloned its genome and defined its replication strategy and the molecular basis for neurotropism and behavioral syndromes associated with acute and persistent brain infection. An international multi-center program coordinated by Dr. Lipkin is assessing the role of Borna disease virus in human neuropsychiatric diseases using methods patented by Lipkin, Briese and colleagues. Dr. Lipkin is the leader of the team that established the method of domain specific differential display and subsequently identified the West Nile virus in the brains of encephalitis victims in New York State in the fall of 1999.

ASM Foundation Speaker (sponsored by Pfizer) DR. KENNETH E. ALDRIDGE, Director of Infectious Diseases, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA will speak on: "CONSIDERATIONS OF EVOLUTIONARY AND SELECTIVE PRESSURES FOR INCREASING BACTERIAL RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS"

DR. BILL BROWN, Director of Clinical Microbiology, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit MI will address the topic "Isolation and Identification of Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus".

Dr. William J. Brown received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton in 1963, and his master’s degree from Duquesne University in 1965. He received his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in 1969 and was the recipient of a pre-doctoral fellowship from NASA. While pursuing his degrees, Dr. Brown worked as a laboratory technician and microbiology lab supervisor at Geisinger Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Pennsylvania.

In 1968, he was appointed to the position of instructor in the department of microbiology at Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine and has taught microbiology, immunology and pathology, at various levels for the past 34 years. He is currently a full professor and Board Certified in Medical and Public Health Microbiology by the American Academy of Microbiology.

He began his hospital affiliations in 1969 at Detroit General Hospital as a consultant microbiologist. He went on to serve as director of the special diagnostic laboratory at WSU; consultant microbiologist at the VA hospital in Allen Park; Director of Microbiology/Immunology at Hutzel Women’s Hospital; and technical director (Microbiology/Immunology) of the Damon clinical laboratories at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). He was appointed to his current position with DMC University Laboratories in 1993. During the past 22 years, he has also served on numerous local infection control committees.

Dr. Brown is the recipient of many grants for research including the study of the effectiveness of antibiotics; various aspects of sexually transmitted diseases; HIV; and antibiotic resistant microbes. He has published over 60 articles in refereed journals along with numerous books, chapters, abstracts, and reviews.

He has served on boards and committees for such organizations as: the American Society for Microbiology, the National Registry of Microbiologists, the Michigan Branch of the ASM, the South Central Association for Clinical Microbiology, and the Bureau of Laboratory and Epidemiological Services of the Michigan Dept. of Public Health.

Dr. Brown is a diplomat of the America Board of Molecular and Medical Microbiology,a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and a specialist in Public Health and Medical Microbiology. He was named the Outstanding Clinical Microbiologist of the Year (1996) by the South Central Assoc. of Clinical Microbiology. He is a member of several professional societies including the American Society for Microbiology and the Conference of Public Health Laboratory Directors.

8:00 - 9:00 AM Registration, Continental Breakfast (sponsored by Pall Life Sciences), Corporate Exhibit & Poster set-up

9:00 AM Welcome and opening remarks (Dr. Judith Whittum-Hudson, MI-ASM President)

9:15 AM Dr. John Domagala, Executive Director – Antibacterials, Pfizer Global R & D:
Resistance: The Myths, the Truth, and Who Cares

9:30 AM Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, ASM Waksman Foundation Lecturer: Borna Disease Virus

10:30 - 11:00 AM Refreshment break/ visit Posters and Exhibits

11:00 AM Dr. Kenneth E. Aldridge, ASM Waksman Foundation Lecturer:
Bacterial Resistance

12:00 - 1 PM Lunch & Business Meeting (officer election results announced), prizes
awarded, visit Corporate Vendors and Student Posters; talk with speakers

1:00 - 2:00 PM Dr. Bill Brown: Isolation and Identification of VRSA

2:00 - 2:30 PM Two 15-minute Dry Workshops (sponsored by Pall Life Sciences)
* Pall Life Sciences Corporation Dry Workshop (Genomics, Proteomics,
Microarrays)
* Dr. Jeff Hobden, Department of Immunology & Microbiology,Wayne State
University Medical School (New Technologies for Examining Host-Pathogen
Interactions)

POSTER PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

The Michigan ASM encourages students (both undergrads and graduate students), as well as faculty and other professional microbiologists, to present posters at our fall and spring meetings. Ideally a poster presentation would relate to the general theme of the conference, but that is not a criterion for submission. If you would like to present a poster of your research at this MI-ASM CONFERENCE, follow the guidelines below.

• Submit your name, college or university you attend, department affiliation, the full title of your poster, and a brief (200 words) abstract of its content to the conference organizer. The deadline for submitting abstracts for posting on this website is April 3. You may submit abstracts after this date, but they may not be posted prior to the conference.
• Use a Times Roman 12-pt. font if possible.Type the title first then list the authors (all capital letters; use an asterisk to denote the person delivering the poster), then list institutions and short addresses. You may include e-mail addresses if you wish.
• Abbreviations that are generally understood are acceptable.
• Underline or italicize scientific names.
• Please submit the above by email to: rgorton@lcc.edu Send the information within the body of the e-mail message and not as an attached file. You will receive electronic confirmation that your poster info arrived safely from cyberspace! Your poster abstract will automatically be forwarded to the Conference Organizer, Mike Huband.
• If there is sufficient time, we will post early submitted abstracts on this meeting web site. All poster abstracts will be posted as part of the on-line post-conference summary.
• If you presented your poster at an ASM National Meeting or at another conference, please note that in your abstract submission.
• If you have any questions regarding posters, please contact Mike Huband