In this episode of Let’s Talk Micro, we dive into the fast-paced world of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Recorded live from ASM Microbe 2025, Luis is joined by Dr. Carey-Ann Burnham, CEO of Pattern Bioscience and Editor-in-Chief of the ASM Case Reports journal. Together, they explore how innovative technologies—like single-cell microbiology—are transforming clinical microbiology and accelerating diagnostic results. What is single-cell microbiology, and how does it improve rapi...
Jun 26, 2025•49 min•Season 4Ep. 193
How familiar are you with partnerships and collaborations between the laboratory and the diagnostics industry? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Dr. Kristen Smith to explore how partnerships between clinical labs, public health institutions, and the diagnostics industry drive innovation in in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs). What is the IVD pipeline? From discovery to product launch and beyond, these collaborations improve patient care, accelerate access to new technologies, and e...
Jun 12, 2025•45 min•Season 4Ep. 192
TBT- This week Let's Talk Micro is talking about virology, specifically about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This episode features an interview with Dr. Hsu, a stem cell specialist from the Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York. She discusses an article about a patient that has been possibly cured from HIV after a stem cell transplant with cord blood cells. What is the CCR5 gene? What is its relationship to HIV? Tune in to find out about this interesting article. This ...
Jun 05, 2025•21 min•Season 4Ep. 191
This week Luis is joined by Dr. Callan Bleick and Dr. Mohammed Al Musawa to talk about an antibiotic that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): aztreonam-avibactam. Our guests wrote a review about this drug and they joined the podcast to talk about it. What is aztreonam? What is avibactam? Why combine them? What type of activity has it demonstrated against beta-lactamase producing organisms? When will it be available? Tune in for more information. Link to review: https...
May 29, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 190
There are many challenges when it comes to outbreak detection. It involves surveillance, time, and effort among other factors. Some of these challenges are linking multiple patients to an outbreak, or investigating a potential outbreak that turns out to be separate occurrences of an infection. In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Alex Sundermann to talk about an outbreak detection system developed by his team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. What components did they use to develo...
May 22, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 189
This week Luis continues going over Haemophilus . This time he goes over biochemicals, testing systems, and susceptibility testing. What is the ALA test? What commercial systems are able to identify Haemophilus ? What about for Haemophilus influenzae ? What is HTM agar? Are there any vaccines for H. influenzae? Tune in to find out more. More information on H. influenzae vaccines: https://www.cdc.gov/hi-disease/vaccines/index.html Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want ...
May 15, 2025•25 min•Season 4Ep. 188
In this episode Luis continues going over organisms. This time he goes over the genus Haemophilus . We start with an overview of the different species of Haemophilus. Why can’t Haemophilus grow on blood agar? What are the X and V factors? Satellite phenomenon? What is the gram stain? What about media? Tune in for the first part of a series about Haemophilus. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmi...
May 08, 2025•27 min•Season 4Ep. 187
If you are part of the clinical microbiology community, you might have heard of a CPEP Fellowship, or might have met someone pursuing one. In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Samuel Goodfellow to talk about the Subcommittee on Postgraduate Educational Programs (CPEP) Fellowship. Dr. Goodfellow is currently participating in one and he joins us to go over the different components of it. What is a CPEP Fellowship? What is the application process like? What are the daily activities of a fellow? Wh...
May 01, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 186
What led or inspired you to choose the field of microbiology or laboratory medicine? Has your profession changed within the field? In this series where microbiologists and people from laboratory medicine talk about their careers, Luis is joined by Dr. Andrea Prinzi and Lisa Parlich. Andrea is a microbiologist that works in the industry and the co-host of the AMR series in this podcast. Lisa is a microbiologist who works now as an Infection Preventionist. What was their start in their lab like? W...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 185
Discovery of new potential antimicrobial compounds is important as we take many measures to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Manoj Jangra and Dr. Dmitrii Travin to discuss lariocidin: a potential antibiotic. What is the mechanism of action? What are lasso peptides? Tune in to listen about the discovery of this potential antibiotic, organisms it has shown activity against, challenges, and more. Link to article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025...
Apr 17, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 184
There are many challenges in the microbiology laboratory. As a leader, you have to deal with things like validations, verifications, and knowledge of regulations among other things. As a microbiologist in a non-leadership position you need to be familiar with some of these as well. With so much information out there, where do we go? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Rebekah Martin, author of the “101 Topics for Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Leaders” book. This book was made in order to br...
Apr 10, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 183
The field of Microbiology continues to change. Organisms were primarily identified in the clinical laboratory by biochemical testing. Then MALDI-TOF came to the lab and was incorporated into the workflow. Now labs are bringing next-generation sequencing (NGS). What is NGS? How does it work? Have you heard of Nanopore technologies? In this episode Dr. Jose Alexander and Daniel Navas from Advent Health Orlando, join the podcast to talk about NGS. They brought it to their laboratory and discuss the...
Apr 03, 2025•47 min•Ep. 182
Is your laboratory accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) ? Are you familiar with their checklists? What are the latest updates to the microbiology checklist? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Christi Wojewoda to discuss the latest updates to the microbiology checklist: media quality control and nomenclature. Why are some media exempt and some non-exempt? Regarding nomenclature, do we need to report the new name or the old name? Tune in to find out. ASM IQCP template link: ...
Mar 27, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 181
The latest edition of the CLSI M100 has been published. What are the latest updates? One of them is the deletion of breakpoints for Burkholderia cepacia complex. What are the recommendations for susceptibility testing? Dr. April Bobenchik returns to the podcast to talk to Luis about the latest updates. She also talks about the M45. Will there be an update to the M45? Tune in to find out. Link to CLSI free resources: https://clsi.org/all-free-resources/ Link to webinar: https://clsi.org/standards...
Mar 20, 2025•42 min•Season 4Ep. 180
This week Luis continues going over organisms. This time he goes over Eikenella. Are there any other Eikenella species other than Eikenella corroden s? What is the morphology of E. corrodens ? How about biochemicals? What are the members of the HACEK group? What is the HACEK group known for? Tune in to learn about this organism, which is seen in infections such as bite wounds, periodontitis, endocarditis, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the ...
Mar 13, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 179
Talk about a great career! In this episode Luis is joined by Janet Hindler. Janet is a microbiologist with a career that has spanned over many decades. Just like most Medical Laboratory Scientists, she started working in the lab and early on she had a passion for microbiology. Then she got involved in work that took her beyond the bench such as the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this episode Janet talks about her career ...
Mar 06, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 178
In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Kristen Pesavento from Loyola University in Chicago. She was a guest in 2023 when she came to talk about the MS in MLS degree that her institution was offering. This time she joins the podcast to talk about clinical certificates. They are offered on three subjects of the clinical laboratory. These certificates allow you to sit for the categorical certification from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) on the areas of Hematology, Blood Banking, ...
Feb 28, 2025•29 min•Season 4Ep. 177
Does your institution teach distance microbiology courses? What do you use to teach students those critical skills required in microbiology? In this episode Luis is joined by Brittany Jackson, a specialist from the Carolina Distance Learning section of the Carolina Biological Supply company. Brittany talks about the kits for microbiology students. Which materials are in those kits? Gram stains? Media? Tune in to learn more. Link to website: https://carolinadistancelearning.com/ready-to-ship/ Que...
Feb 21, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 176
A great conversation between three microbiologists! In this episode Luis is joined by Kelli Maddock and Jessica D'Angelo to talk about their careers. Kelli is a previous guest and is currently a section head in microbiology. Jessica is a microbiology supervisor. What inspired them to pursue a career in the laboratory and microbiology? What challenges have they encountered? What is their favorite bug? Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 175
If you work in laboratory medicine or microbiology, what led or inspired you to choose that career? What have you learned? Do you have a different occupation within the field than the one you started with? This episode is part of a series that features members of the laboratory and microbiology community, who come in and share their journey. They talk about their positions, what they have enjoyed, what challenges they have encountered, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to letstalkmicro@o...
Feb 07, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 174
It's time to talk about AFB! What is acid fastness? What are some stains used for acid-fast bacilli? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Filipe Cerqueira to talk about AFB. He goes over stains, media, processing of AFB cultures, Runyon groups, and more. He also talks about Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and provides examples of organisms. Tune in for another great episode . Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://v...
Jan 31, 2025•39 min•Season 4Ep. 173
The next episode of the AMR series is here! This time Luis and Andrea are joined by Sonali Kalathiya, a pharmacist and Medical Science Liaison. Sonali joins the podcast to talk about two classes of antibiotics: macrolides and lincosamides. Have you performed a D-test in the lab? What is the purpose of the test? If you have performed it and perform susceptibilities for erythromycin and clindamycin, then you are familiar with these classes of drugs. Tune in to learn more. Also, in the episode Sona...
Jan 24, 2025•53 min•Season 4Ep. 172
A simulation laboratory? In this episode Luis is joined by Emily Matthys, an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University. Emily teaches at a Medical Laboratory Sciences program and she joins the podcast to talk about a simulation laboratory that was implemented for blood bank and microbiology for medical laboratory technician students. As some labs become more centralized, and end result might be diminished exposure to some areas for medical laboratory science students undergoing their c...
Jan 17, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 171
Let's Talk Micro kicks off 2025 with a great new episode. This time Luis is Joined by Dr. Sam Aitken to talk about sulopenem. Have you heard about this oral antibiotic? It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs). This is an oral penem, and the news of its release has caused different reactions in social media by members of the Microbiology/Infectious Diseases community. What is sulopenem? Why is it combined with probene...
Jan 10, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 170
Working in the microbiology field you might be familiar with outbreaks and health care associated infections (HAI). What about linens in health care? What outbreaks have been associated with health care linens (HCLs)? Are there any regulations regarding their use? What about the MOULD study? Luis is joined by Dr. Alex Sundermann to talk about HCLs, regulations, mold-associated outbreaks, and more. Link to Dr. Sundermann's article: https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/health-care-linens-und...
Dec 20, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 169
Following the episode with Dr. Kelli Maddock, Luis decided to talk about his favorite organism: Pasteurella ! This time Luis goes into more detail. What are some species of Pasteurella ? Which animals are they found on? Which species are isolated from humans? This episode also covers media, biochemicals, diseases, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.c...
Dec 13, 2024•30 min•Season 4Ep. 168
Luis and Andrea are back to talk antibiotics! This time they are joined by David Allen, an infectious diseases (ID) pharmacist to talk about another class : oxazolidinones. How familiar are you with this class? Have you performed testing on linezolid in the lab? Then you might be somewhat familiar. What is the mechanism of action? Intrinsic resistance? What organisms does this class have activity against? Tune in to find out. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to s...
Dec 06, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 167
A Pasteurella multocida episode! In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Kelli Maddock to talk about P. multocida. Kelli was a previous guest and this time returns to talk about the capsular types of P. multocida . What are these types? What diseases are associated with them? What about hemorrhagic septicemia? Kelli also talks about a model developed to look for hemorrhagic septicemia types of P. multocida using MALDI-TOF MS. Don't miss out on a great episode! Link to Dr. Maddock's article: https:...
Nov 29, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 166
As a new microbiologist sometimes terms like beta-lactams, beta-lactamases, or penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) can be confusing. Are you familiar with the New-Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) and its variants? How many are there? How does this enzyme affect beta-lactam drugs?How about NDM-5? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Raneem Pallotta, an infectious diseases pharmacist. In the episode we go over these terms. Dr. Pallotta also talks about an NDM-producing E. coli that harbors PBP3 ...
Nov 22, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 165
En este episodio en español, Luis conversa con la Dra. Verónica Seija. La Dra. Seija es especialista en microbiología y tiene un blog, redes sociales y un podcast donde habla sobre microbiología bajo el nombre MicroClinUY. ¿ Qué motivó a la Dra. a comenzar a hablar sobre microbiología? ¿Qué tipo de contenido encontramos en sus redes sociales y el podcast? ¿Dónde encuentran el podcast? Sintonizen y no se pierdan de una gran conversación. Enlace al podcast: https://www.microclin.uy/podcast Enlace ...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 164
