Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The purpose of the Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting held on Feb. 12-14, 2017 wasto foster communication and collaboration between scientists engaged in pathogenesis research in the Mid-Atlantic region (NC, VA, WV, MD, DC, DE, PA, and NJ). An important goal of this meeting was to provide an opportunity for undergraduate/graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty to present their work to a knowledgeable audience, focused in their discipline, in a relaxed and collegial environment. A considerable number of USDA and NIH-funded investigators studying the virulence mechanisms of microbial pathogens are located in this geographic region, and many of these individuals and their research groups actively participated in this meeting. As a regional meeting, the MAMPM serves a unique but cooperative role with national & international meetings. Its size and focus offers a supportive place to gain experience and forge new collaborations, while its affordability and timing still allows participants to attend other meetings in the same calendar year to enhance scientific interactions. In addition, the keynote speakers were recruited from outside this geographical region to increase their seminal and focal role in the conference. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A primary objective of this meeting was to provide students and young investigators with a forum to meet and discuss their work. The participation of principal investigators (including the keynote speakers, who are recognized leaders in the microbial pathogenesis field) in the meeting ensured the presence of an expert audience for the presentations given by the students and postdoctoral fellows. Presenting and discussing their work with such a knowledgeable and focused audience in a small meeting format will be a valuable experience for these young scientists, and should enhance their career development. Small intimate setting with communal meals allowed for direct interaction between students and established scientists to provide advice and feedback. Each dinner included a table where students could eat and talk with that day's Keynote speaker. This year 3/4 speakers were women and the reponse was excellent. Representation from researchers at multiple governtment research entitites (USDA, FDA, NIH) provided insights into alternative research careers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For this Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting (MAMPM) our goal was to reach out to smaller and more diverse research institutions to try and expand participation and help with recruiting normally underrepresented groups into Microbial Pathogenesis research (STEM) careers. For the 2017 meeting, we enlisted Dr. Carleitta Paige-Anderson from Virginia Union, a historically black college/university (HBCU)as our first Diversity Ambassador and covered her costs to attend the meeting. In addition, we were able to get Dr. Ashley Haines from Norfolk State University, also a HBCU, to attend and bring several of her diversity undergraduate students to the meeting to present. This was first time we've had HBCU representatives at the meeting and gave a short presentation on how to recruit diversity students into STEM. Luckily, both Dr. Paige-Anderson and Dr. Haines have agreed to be on the organizing board for the 2019 meeting. Our goal will be to now directly engage HBCU schools where students are interested in microbial pathogenesis research and further expand both attendance and career development opportunities at the next meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
As stated in the last section, the USDA-NIFA-AFRI funding was directly used to coverthe cost of 32 $400.00travel awards (out of 66 total) awarded to undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows to defray their costs toattend and present at the meeting. This USDA-funded group included 18 women (56%) and represented12 different institutions from 5 states in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Publications
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