Meet the Microbiologist

AI and the Future of Science, Discovery and Trust

Stanley Malloy and Jack Gilbert unpack how AI tools are reshaping the microbial sciences—from genomics and microbial communities to manuscripts, peer review and publishin

The Value of Curiosity-Driven Research: Mechanism Discovery With Glen McGugan

Glen McGugan, Ph.D., Director of ASM's Mechanism Discovery Unit, discusses how curiosity‑driven research—from parasite virulence to CRISPR and complex microbial systems—d

Diagnostics in Action: Telling Microbial Stories

Andrea Prinzi, Ph.D., MPH, SM(ASCP), and Rodney Rohde, Ph.D.,SM(ASCP)CM, SVCM, trace how passion‑driven, nonlinear paths in clinical microbiology led them from hospital b

Decoding the Pneumococcal Capsule With Moon Nahm

Moon Nahm, M.D., professor emeritus at UAB Department of Medicine and Director of the World Health Organization's Pneumococcal Serology Reference Laboratory at UAB, discu

From Earth to Orbit: Applied and Environmental Microbiology With Veronica Garcia

From leading R&D at a biotech startup company to conducting environmental monitoring for NASA, Veronica Garcia, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the ASM Applied and Environm

Unraveling Introns and Expectations With Marlene Belfort, Ph.D.

Marlene Belfort, Ph.D., a distinguished professor at the University at Albany and author of Mommy, Can Boys Also Be Doctors?, discusses her journey in science, balancing

The Gut Healing Power of Microbes and Cruciferous Vegetables

Episode Summary Sue Ishaq, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiomes at the University of Maine, discusses how gut microbes transform seemingly inert plant compounds—like

Preventing Foodborne Pathogens With Plant-Derived Compounds with Karl Matthews

Karl Matthews, Ph.D., Professor of Microbial Food Safety at Rutgers University, discusses ways to eliminate pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria from f

Early Microbial Life with Michael Lynch and Vaughn Cooper

Michael Lynch, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Mechanisms of Evolution at Arizona State University and Vaughn Cooper, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology and Molecular Gen

How FMTs, Coprophagia and the Milk Microbiome Inform Wildlife Conservation With Sally Bornbusch

Sally Bornbusch, Ph.D., is an NSF postdoctoral fellow in biology conducting microbial ecology research in animal care and conservation at the Smithsonian National Zoo & C

Agnostic Diagnostics and the Future of ASM Health With Dev Mittar

Dev Mittar, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the ASM Health Scientific Unit discusses the use of metagenomic next generation sequencing to develop agnostic diagnostic techno

Implementing a National Action Plan to Combat AMR in Pakistan With Afreenish Amir

Episode Summary Afreenish Amir, Ph.D., Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Project Director at the National Institute of Health in Pakistan, highlights significant increases i

Discovering Fossilized Microbes in Antarctic Ice Cores With Manuel Martinez Garcia

Manuel Martinez Garcia, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology in the Physiology, Genetics and Microbiology Department at the University of Alicante in Spain, paints a pictur

Revenge of the Microbes With Brenda Wilson and Brian Ho

Episode Summary Mother-Son duo, Brenda Wilson, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and the Associate Director of Undergraduate Education in the School of Molecular and Cellu

Binning Singletons With Joseph James

Joseph James, biologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, discusses his career trajectory and the creation of Binning Singletons, a unique mentorship program b

Biorisk Assessment and Management With Saeed Khan

Saeed Khan, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Molecular Pathology at Dow diagnostic research and reference laboratory and President of the Pakistan Biological Safety Assoc

From Hydrothermal Vents to Cold Seeps: How Bacteria Sustain Ocean Life With Nicole Dubilier

Nicole Dubilier, Ph.D., Director and head of the Symbiosis Department at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, has led numerous reserach cruises and expeditio

When Proteins Become Infectious: Understanding Prion Disease With Neil Mabbott

From Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Neil Mabbott, Ph.D., has worked for nearly 2 decades on understanding the mechanisms by wh

Trillion Dollar Microbes Make the Bioeconomy Go Round With Tim Donohue

Episode Summary Timothy Donohue, Ph.D.—ASM Past President, University of Wisconsin Foundation Fetzer Professor of Bacteriologyand Director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Re

Rabies: The Diabolical Virus With Many Symptoms and Hosts With Rodney Rohde

Rodney Rohde, Ph.D., Regents' Professor and Chair of the Medical Laboratory Science Program at Texas State University discusses the many variants, mammalian hosts and div