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International Affairs Director Receives Professor Honorari at UNICA

On 7 July 2009, Lily Schuermann, ASM Director of International Affairs, was made a Professor Honorari on behalf of ASM at the San Luis Gonzaga National University of Ica Peru (UNICA). This is one of UNICA's highest honors and has only been awarded once previously. The award recognizes the significant contributions that ASM, through Schuermann and the International Board have made to the microbiology community in Ica, Peru. Principally, theses contributions include the support of the Latin America Student Congress of Microbiology that revitalized the microbiology community in Ica following the August 2007 earthquake and the creation of the ASM Resource Center which provided educational materials and access to ASM resources to faculty and students.

unicaDuring Schuermann's visit a plaque was placed in the Resource Center recognizing ASM's support. In addition, Ica recognized ASM's successful efforts to facilitate collaborations among Peruvian institutions such as the University Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) and UNICA. Through these initiatives, microbiologists in Ica and throughout Peru have come to recognize ASM as an essential partner in the development of microbiology in the region. A ceremony was held in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Sciences at the UNICA and included leadership from the Peruvian scientific community such as UNICA Faculty of Science Dean Mario Gustavo Reyes Mejía; Secretary General Luis Alberto Pecho Tataj; University Rector Juan Alva Fajardo; and Presidente Del Circular Víctor Lopez Montoya. Formal guests of the ceremony also included Humberto Guerra, Vice Rector of Research, UPCH, Professor of Medicine, Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Tropical Medicine, UPCH; and Marcel Gutierrez-Correa, Director, Laboratorio de Micología y Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina. ASM thanks Marcel Gutierrez-Correa for his tireless efforts as ASM Ambassador to the Andean Region to both develop and implement the activities and programs in Peru that led to this significant honor and recognition.

Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists Annual Meeting

The Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists (PRSM) held its 52nd Annual Meeting on 18-19 June 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. PRSM is also the Puerto Rican Branch of ASM. The theme of the Annual Meeting was "The Always Evolving Science of Microbiology; in Celebration of Darwin's Bicentennial." Lily Schuermann, ASM Director of International Affairs, participated as a speaker in a panel entitled "Promoting Scientific Communication and Collaboration at the Local, National, and International Level." Maria Dominguez Bello, ASM Ambassador to Central America and the Caribbean, made a presentation on ASM activities in the region. In addition, through the sponsorship of the ASM Branch Lectureship Program, Arturo Casadevall made two presentations, the first on "Origin of Virulence in Pathogenic Microbes" and the second on "Cryptococcus neoformans Ecology, Pathogenesis, and Virulence." There were approximately 200 participants at the meeting.

2009 Pre-Meeting Workshop Scholarship Awardees

The ASM PreMeeting Workshop Scholarship Program provides successful applicants with registration to the pre-meeting workshop of their choice at the ASM Interscience Conference on correaAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) Meeting and the General Meeting (GM). The 2009 Pre-Meeting Workshop Scholarship recipients for the 49th ICAAC wereelhani Adriana Correa, an Investigator at the International Center for Medical Research & Training (CIDEIM) in Cali, Colombia, and Dalèle Elhani, a doctorate student at the Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Monastir in Tunisia. Both grant recipients attended the workshop "Antibiotic Resistance among Bacterial Pathogens: Mechanisms, Detection, and Molecular Epidemiology" during the 49th ICAAC in San Francisco, Calif., courtesy of this scholarship.