ASM-UNESCO Leadership Grant  for International Educators 

Recognizing that microbiology is an international  endeavor, the ASM International  Board partnered with the Education  Board and the United Nations Educational,  Scientific and Cultural Organization  (UNESCO) to provide a select group  of eight international educators from  Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Central  and Eastern Europe with the opportunity  to participate in the 2009 ASM Conference  for Undergraduate Educators  (ASMCUE) in Fort Collins, Colo., held on  28-31 May, and in a corresponding preconference  workshop and subsequent one year  Learning Community.    

Jointly funded by ASM and UNESCO,  the objective of the program is to support  educational leaders from resource-limited  countries through training in the latest developments  in microbiology education.  Thus, the highly acclaimed ASMCUE is  able to have a significant impact on microbiology  education worldwide. The Fellows  participated in a three-pronged program.  Participants attended a half-day  interactive leadership training workshop  which demonstrated how to use ASM resources  to build innovative teaching modules  that engage students and lead to enduring  understanding in microbiology.  They also joined a community of approximately  300 microbiology and biology educators  at the ASMCUE through plenary  sessions, discussion and working groups,  posters, and exhibits.    

Finally, participants joined a one-year  virtual Learning Community where they  were paired with a U.S. counterpart or  "mentor" who will continue to provide  training and assistance as they apply their  training and transfer knowledge to colleagues.    

The inaugural fellows of this program  were Juana Ortellado-Canese, Universidad  Nacional de Asuncio´n, Paraguay; Vero´ nica  Beatriz Rajal, Universidad Nacional de  Salta, Argentina; Vivien Amonkar, St. Xavier's  College, Mumbai, India; Erum Khan,  Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan;  Uchechi Ekwenye, Michael Okpara University  of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria; Sylvia  Uzochukwu, University of Agriculture,  Abeokuta, Nigeria; Juta Kroica Riga Stradins  University, Riga, Latvia; and Armen  Trchounian, Yerevan State University and  Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) State University,  Yerevan, Armenia. As educators with  advanced pedagogical training and several  years of experience at ASMCUE, the mentors  played a critical role in the preconference  exercises and onsite training during the  ASMCUE. They will continue to offer invaluable  support during the Learning Community.  The 2009 ASMCUE mentors were:  Becky Buxton, University of Utah; Ruth  Gyure, Western CT State University; Sue  Katz, Rogers State University; Anne Hanson,  University of Maine; Betsy Martinez-Vaz, Hamline University; and Ann C. Smith,  University of Maryland, College Park. Special  acknowledgement is given to Jean Cardinale  of Alfred College and Erica Suchman  of Colorado State University for developing  and facilitating the preconference workshop. 

ASM staff members, including Education  Board Director Amy Chang, were instrumental  in developing and implementing  the program. Finally, International  Membership Committee Chair Edmundo  Calva, Universidad Nacional Auto´noma  de Me´xico, participated in the event on  behalf of the International Board and contributed  greatly to the program.    

The inaugural event was a resounding  success. "I believe I speak for all of the  ASMCUE fellows in stating that the exposure  to these new concepts in teaching  microbiology is like breathing fresh air  after spending many years indoors," said  Veronica Rajal. Six of the ASM-UNESCO  fellows also presented posters during the  ASMCUE that described their own efforts  to effectively convey knowledge and passion  to the next generation of microbiologists.  Anne Smith commented, "it is safe to  say that we, as mentors, learned at least  as much from our visiting colleagues  as they may have learned from us. They  added a much needed perspective to the  ASMCUE." Calva added "it is evident that  we are gathered at this conference because  we believe in the power of education for  promoting change towards a better society;  so we must now envision the impact of  our efforts as we endeavor to reach all  corners of the globe."    

The ASMCUE Fellows have already  submitted their work plans outlining how  their new skills will be applied in their  classrooms and how they plan to share this  knowledge with others from their country  and region. It is anticipated that the program  will become an important part of the  International Board's efforts to foster microbiology  education worldwide through  the International Education Committee  (IEC). For more information on the ASMUNESCO  Leadership Grant for International  Educators, please visit http://www.asm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61306&Itemid=393.    

LabCap Introductory Visit  to Rwanda    

The Rwandan Ministry of Health and the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC)-Rwanda selected ASM's International  Laboratory Capacity Building  Program (LabCap), which is governed by  the International Laboratory Capacity  Building Committee and housed within  the International Board, to provide technical  assistance to Rwanda's national laboratory  network for microbiology. ASM  will assist with the expansion of the Rwandan  laboratory network; the introduction  of new diagnostic tests and algorithms for  bacterial, parasitic, and fungal HIV/AIDS related  opportunistic infections; and the  training of laboratory personnel in quality  control practices.    

ASM consultants Louise Teel and John  TarBush joined LabCap Program Manager  Juliano Timm in Rwanda from 27 April to 2  May 2009 to introduce the program to key  Rwandan stakeholders involved in the delivery  of clinical microbiology services. The  ASMLabCap team conducted a preliminary  survey of the National Reference Laboratory  (NRL) and other representative laboratories  in the country, including Centre Hospitalier  Universitaire de Butare (CHUB),  Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali  (CHUK), and the Rwamagana District Hospital,  in order to understand the breadth of  diagnostic services performed and identify  gaps in infrastructure, human resources, and  quality systems.    

In addition to these laboratory visits, the  ASM LabCap team held meetings with faculty  of the Kigali Health Institute (KHI) to  discuss ways that the ASM LabCap program  can strengthen their pre-service training, and  with officers from the Center for Treatment  and Research on AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis  and Other Epidemics (TRAC), to understand  how the recently revised national diagnostic  guidelines and standard operating  procedures could impact the microbiology  laboratory network.    

In the coming months, an ASM consultant  will return to Rwanda to spend more  time at the NRL and University laboratories  (CHUB and CHUK) to assist in the implementation  of new tests, algorithms, SOPs  and quality assurance/quality control practices.  The consultant will also assess the remaining  microbiology public health laboratories  in the country.    

Development of this publication was supported  by Cooperative Agreement Number  U62/CCU325119-04 from the Department of  Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention (CDC), National  Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB  Prevention (NCHSTP), Global AIDS Program  (GAP). Its contents are solely the responsibility  of the authors and do not necessarily  represent the official views of CDC.