The next episode of the AMR series is here! Luis and Andrea are joined by Dr. Brandon Hill to talk about the Tetracyclines. What is the mechanism of action of this antimicrobial group? What drugs are part of it? Is there any intrinsic resistance? Tune in for another great episode where we "break down" antimicrobials. 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:...

Originally released as episode 76, in this episode Luis continues going over Bacillus. Now that we know its groups and what diseases they are implicated on, it's time to talk about media and morphology. What do the colonies look like? What is MYP agar? PEMBA? Tune in to find out. 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.com/letstalkmicro

Originally released as episode 75, in this episode Luis talks about Bacillus and related genera. What are the species that are part of this genus? Which species cause food poisoning? What about endophthalmitis? What are spores? Tune in to find out. 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.com/letstalkmicro

In this episode Luis continues going over Corynebacterium. In the last episode he mentioned some media that is used to isolate Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Have you heard of cystine tellurite agar? How about Tinsdale agar? What type of testing is there for the diphtheria toxin?What test systems can identify C. diphtheriae? Tune in to learn more about this organism and how this media works. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's...

Back to the gram-positive rods! This week Luis goes back to gram-positive rods: Corynebacterium this time. The episode starts with an overview: gram stain, biochemicals, morphology, and species. What do you know about Corynebacterium diphtheriae? Does it always cause diphtheria? What is a pseudomembrane? Tune in and download this episode to learn about this genus that has some species commonly seen in the laboratory. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to...

What is antimicrobial stewardship ? What is a hospital antibiogram? In this episode Dr. Timothy Gauthier joins the podcast and talks to Luis about antimicrobial stewardship. Dr. Gauthier is a pharmacist and creator of the IDstewardship.com and Learnantibiotics.com websites. He is also the author of a book titled Learn Antibiotics. Luis asks him about what antibiotics are used to treat certain organisms. Don't miss this great episode. Timothy Gauthier's information: X:...

What is the Doctor in Public Health (DrPH) degree? What kind of work does it prepare you to do? What concentrations does this degree has? In this episode Luis talks to Dr. Jill Roberts, an associate professor at the University of South Florida (USF). Dr. Roberts is the director of the DrPH with a concentration in Public Health and Clinical Laboratory Science and Practice degree program at USF. What are the prerequisites for this degree? What are the career options? Are you able to pursue this...

Microbiology in high school ? Must people take biology in high school, but microbiology is not typically an option. Those of you that are microbiology lovers, would you have taken it had there been an option? Well, check out this episode where Meredith Townsend, a high school teacher joins the podcast to talk to Luis about teaching microbiology to her students. She talks about the curriculum, grading, how does it help the students, and more. Want to reach out to Meredith Townsend? See...

In this episode Luis continues going over Listeria: testing and media. First he goes over two test systems that can detect Listeria in blood, and then he goes over media. Have you heard of Oxford or Palcalm agar? How about chromogenic agar for Listeria? Tune in to continue learning about this critical organism. Questions? Feedback? Email those to [email protected]

Luis is talking micro in this episode. We continue our journey over gram-positive rods. This time is about Listeria. What are the virulence factors of Listeria? What is its morphology? Biochemicals? Tune in to learn about this critical organism, its resemblance to another pathogen, ways of identifying it, atypical presentations, and more. Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

You requested it and it is here! Dr. Kristen Smith joins the podcast to talk about the American Board of Medical Microbiology (ABMM) certification. What is the ABMM certification? How does it help you professionally ? What are the requirements? CPEP fellowship? Tune in to listen to Dr. Smith answer these questions and more. Link to American Society for Microbiology ABMM information: https://asm.org/certifications/american-board-of-medical-microbiology-abmm Link to ClinMicroNow:...

Are you familiar with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Antimicrobial Laboratory Network( AR Lab Network)? How about the ThermoFisher Sensititre? In this episode, Amelia Bhatnagar from the CDC joins the podcast to talk about a study that was performed to evaluate the Sensititre GN7F panel. She discusses the study and explains to the listeners what the AR Lab Network is. Tune in to learn more about this study, the AR Lab network, and the importance of evaluating the...

The next episode of the AMR series is here! In this episode Luis and Andrea are joined by Dr. Patrick McDaneld to discuss aminoglycosides. We go over mechanism of action, what drugs are part of this class, what organisms does it have activity against, and more. We invite you to check the CLSI M100 and get familiarized with it. Questions? Suggestions? Email those at [email protected]

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 to 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...

Have you heard about Variovorax durovernensis? The field of Microbiology is one that continues to change, sometimes at a fast pace. With MALDI-TOF and whole genome sequencing making rapid advances, we now learn more of existing organisms and discover novel ones. Tune in to learn about how this novel species was discovered, including the testing performed and the reason behind its name. Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590170223001152 Questions or...

Are you familiar with the Manual of Clinical Microbiology (MCM)? If you work in a clinical microbiology laboratory you might be familiar with it. Last year the 13th edition was released. What content is in the MCM? Where is the information obtained from? What is new in this edition? Is it available online? Dr. Karen Carroll, one of the editors-in chief joins the podcast to discuss this important resource. Link to ClinMicroNow : https://www.clinmicronow.org Feedback? Suggestions? Please...

It is 2024. Is your laboratory using current breakpoints? Are you familiar with the requirements? This episode features a collaboration with Breakpoints: The SIDP Podcast. In it I join the podcast along with two other guests to talk about those requirements among other things. Check out the Breakpoints podcast: https://sidp.pinecast.co More information on breakpoints toolkit: https://clsi.org/meetings/ast/breakpoints-in-use-toolkit/

Originally published as episodes 36 and 37, in this episode I go over Streptococcus agalactiae. I discuss morphology, biochemicals, and testing among other things. What is the Lancefield group of this organism? What is the significance of this organism in neonates? Any organisms that morphologically resemble it? Tune in to find out.

Originally released as episode 53, in this episode I go over Enterococcus species. What are the most clinically significant species of Enterococcus? Morphology? Biochemicals? Tune in to find out more about these organisms, and why are they so significant in healthcare settings.

Originally released as episode 58, in this episode I continue going over S. pneumoniae. This time I go over a popular antigen test. I also discuss molecular testing, including limitations and the importance of correlating the gram stain with the result. Also, have you heard of Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae?

The AMR sub-series is back! Dr. Minkey Wungwattana joins Luis and Andrea in the podcast to talk about fluoroquinolones. What is the mechanism of action of this class of antimicrobials? What organisms do they have activity against? What about breakpoints for Salmonella? Tune in to find out. Link to breakpoints episode that Andrea mentioned: https://rss.com/podcasts/letstalkmicro/475955/

This episode was originally published as episode 57. In it I go over Streptococcus pneumoniae: gram stain, morphology, diseases, and more. What is optochin? What is the bile solubility test? Tune in to find out.

This episode features a conversation with Lisa Parlich, an Infection Preventionist, with a background in Medical Laboratory Sciences. Lisa joins the podcast to talk about an order for urinalysis that was implemented in her hospital. This order is the Urinalysis with Hold order panel. Those of you that work in the laboratory might be familiar with the Urinalysis with reflex to culture order, where if an urinalysis meets the positive criteria for a culture, an order for an urine culture is...

In this episode, Dr. Pei Zhou from the Duke University School of Medicine joins the podcast to talk about LPC-233. This is a compound that shows bactericidal activity against some gram-negative rods. LPC-233 is an LpxC inhibitor. What is LpxC? How does LPC-233 works? What are some challenges of developing LpxC inhibitors? Tune in to find out. Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adf5668

Originally released in 2021, in this episode I go over anaerobes. What are some examples of anaerobes? Why can't they grow aerobically ? What is a facultative anaerobe? Tune in to learn more.