Peggy Cotter Awardee: Michelle Gould
HI-ASM awarded Michelle Gould, an Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii—Maui College, the Peggy Cotter Travel Award. This helped fund her travels to the ASM Microbe 2024 conference in Atlanta, GA. Her write-up on her experience at ASM Microbe is linked here.
2024 Spring Meeting
The 2024 HI-ASM Spring Meeting is at a close and was a great success! There were nearly 80 attendees, great food, presentations, and talks.
A HUGE mahalo goes to our student chapter; without them, this meeting would not have been such a big success.
Also, thank you to our generous donors: COL Donald Person and ThermoFisher!
Without further ado, here are the awardees:
Travel awards: Troy Odo, Yu-Ching Dai, Yuewen Ding
COL Person Award: Troy Odo
Undergraduate Posters
1. Eiren Phoebe Ulep Tamayo
2. Amber Caranchini
3. April Iwatani
Graduate Posters
1. Md Samiul Huq Atanu
2. Brandi Mikami
3. Nicholas Miwa
M.S. Orals
1.Renn Silve Salomon
2. Jaymie Bilog-Mina
3. Annie Deck
Phd Orals
1. Endrei Marcantonio
2. Thomas Ken Awamura
3. Jayna Wong
Here’s a great write-up and some photos of the meeting on UH’s Trop Med website:
ASM Microbe 2022
ASM Microbe happened back in June 2022 and a handful of HI-ASM representatives and members flew all the way to Washington, DC to attend. Take a look at a few photos!
2022 Peggy Cotter Awardee Alanna Tseng, PhD
Congratulations to Alanna Tseng, the awardee for the Peggy Cotter Travel Award!
Alanna is a Ph.D. at the Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology & Pharmacology department at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. She is mentoring seven graduate and undergraduate students on various SARS-CoV-2 research projects. She has been involved in HI-ASM since 2013 and even served as the student chapter President in 2016 and Secretary from 2013-2015.
As a student, Alanna’s research has been recognized by HI-ASM:
2018: 2nd place - PhD Poster Presentation
2016: 2nd place - MS Oral Presentation
2014: 1st place - MS Oral Presentation
2013: 3rd place - MS Poster Presentation
We’re very excited to hear what she will experience at the 2022 ASM Microbe this summer!
History of the HI-ASM
It’s always great to know how things started. Not necessarily “news” but Dr. Lieberman found this article from a 1974 ASM News (“Diamond Jubilee”) issue:
“The Hawaii Branch - American Society for Microbiology was formed in 1965, under the direction of Albert Benedict (Chairman of the Department of Microbiology, University of Hawaii). The late Max Levine, internationally known bacteriologist, served as the Branch’s first president.
The Branch’s main objective is to promote a close scientific relationship among persons interested in microbiology in the state of Hawaii and the non-US Pacific area, through the media of presenting papers, personal associations, and interchange of ideas concerning microbiological problems.
Two meetings are held annually. The spring meetings are scheduled with the presentations of scientific papers by graduate students, professors, professional microbiologists, and other scientists. The fall meetings are scheduled with guest lecturers, either local or from the US mainland.
The Branch participates in the annual Science Fairs of the local intermediate schools and high schools by presenting book awards to three student winners specializing in microbiology. Beginning in 1975, the Branch will be awarding monetary gifts to graduate students for excellence in their organization and presentation of scientific papers in the Branch’s annual spring meetings.”
Free Virtual Lecture
Please join us on Monday, November 15, 2021 at 11:00am ET (Washington, DC time) for the virtual lecture:
ASM Distinguished Lecturer: Shannon Manning, PhD
Topic: Why Are Some E. coli Meaner?
Description: This talk will focus on the diversity of bacterial pathogen populations and will illustrate how this diversity impacts virulence and variation in disease severity. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), a common foodborne pathogen, will be used as a model. Bacterial evolution and STEC emergence will be discussed as well as the high degree of genetic variation, which can be examined via the use of multiple molecular genotyping tools. Application of these tools to epidemiological data from patients with infections will highlight the role that genetic diversity plays in disease presentation.
This event is free for all, but it does require prior registration on the ASM website: https://rb.gy/dl7yy1.