ASM2022 Sydney conference review

From 11 to 14 July the Australian Microbiology community gathered for ASM2022 on Darling Harbour in Sydney. The event marked a return to our annual in-person conference after a 2-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The excitement at seeing colleagues old and new was palpable as delegates caught up over coffee, drinks, and the dance floor (at the Rubbo celebration).

ASM2022 had originally been scheduled for 2021, but with border restrictions in place for much of 2020/2021, and ASM2020 postponed, Sydney was rescheduled for 2022 and we were fortunate enough to welcome an intrepid group of international and interstate colleagues to the conference. With many colleagues still unable to travel, or concerned about the risks associated with travel, the prudent course was taken and ASM2022 was offered in hybrid format. This also allowed speakers the option of presenting online at short notice – which ultimately saw a few of our colleagues presenting from their hotel rooms. We were joined in-person by 385 delegates and online by an additional 122 attendees.

The event kicked-off with our Public Lecture, hosted at the picturesque Australian National Maritime Museum. It was a packed house as Professor Justin Seymour and Associate Professor Diane McDougald gave us some big picture cautionary tales on the influence of pollution and climate change on the occurrence and behaviour of aquatic pathogens such as cholera, coliforms and Vibrio parahaemolyticus to name just a few. This set the scene well for the importance of the research presented later at the conference.

Our plenary speakers this year represented a broad cross-section of microbiology – from clinical to molecular and environmental, bacterial to fungal and viral, and combinations thereof. Our inaugural ASM Distinguished Orator Award started proceedings and was presented to Professor Elizabeth Hartland (Hudson Institute, Vic.). Professor Hartland gave an overview of her work on the functions of bacterial effectors in host-pathogens interactions. Many pathogens inject a cocktail of proteins into host cells and teasing apart the molecular biology of these effectors has revealed a sophisticated level of manipulation of host cell processes. The day closed with drinks at the trade show and poster presentations that afforded an opportunity to chat with students, many that were attending an in-person conference and meeting their interstate peers for the first time. The quality of research from our PhD students and ECRs is always impressive and this year was no exception, with outstanding poster presentations both in person and online.

Tuesday was awards day and an opportunity for the Society to recognise the work of our students and colleagues. Our Nancy Millis prize winners are awarded by each State branch and present their PhD research at the national conference. This year they were Adrianna Turner (Vic.), Miljar Stupar (Qld), Clare Moran (WA), Joanna Rothwell (NSW-ACT), and Clare Hayward (SA-NT). Distinguished Service Awards were presented to Ulrike Kappler, Sarah Foster, Lisa Shepherd, and Renato Morona for their service to the society. Ulrike Kappler was also awarded the David White Award for Excellence in Teaching for her contributions to education. Finally, our Jim Pittard Early Career Awards went to Rachael Lappan and Daniel Enosi Tuipulotu, and our Frank Fenner Awardees were Amy Cain, Jai Tree and Karl Hassan. Congratulations to all.

Our Tuesday plenary session featured talks from Professor Ana Traven (Monash, Vic.) and Dr Craig Spencer (Columbia, USA). Professor Traven discussed her work on Candida albicans and the often underappreciated role of host and fungal metabolism during infection. Dr Spencer joined us virtually from New York where he works as an emergency medicine doctor. Craig reflected on his experiences in Guinea working with Doctors without Borders to contain Ebola, contracting Ebola himself, and lessons learnt that may be applicable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Wednesday program was always going to be a highlight with our Rubbo Oration, Rubbo Celebration, and NSW Chief Health Officer speaking. Our plenary speakers were Associate Professor Rebecca Vega-Thurber and Professor Jeff Errington and both delivered memorable and enlightening talks. Rebecca presented virtually from Oregon State University, USA and spoke about her work on coral microbiomes. Jeff had recently arrived in Sydney to take up an ARC Laureate Fellowship and spoke about his work on cell wall-less, antibiotic resistant L-form bacteria.

We were fortunate to be joined by the NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant in the Wednesday lunch session. Dr Chant advised the NSW Government through the pandemic and presented some of the major challenges that faced the state in the future. Her talk was warmly received and afforded an opportunity to discuss public health challenges at length including efficient data sharing and the role of microbiologists as trusted sources of information during the pandemic.

Thanks to the hard work and advocacy of Associate Professor Maurizio Labbate and Dr Heema Vyas, ASM2022 hosted a LGBTQIA+ Networking Session on Wednesday. A follow up to the inaugural LGBTQIA+ Network event hosted by the NSW-ACT Branch, this lunchtime session generated discussion around a support network for LGBTQIA+ microbiologists and their allies, and was a great opportunity to meet with like-minded people, learn more and appreciate some quality memes.

Our Rubbo Orator this year was Professor Jillian Banfield FRS FAA and joined us from the University of California, Berkley, USA. Professor Banfield is a Geomicrobiologist that has advanced our understanding of the function of microbial communities in the soil. Professor Banfield presented an impressive breadth of work spanning terrestrial meta-genomics, re-coding of structural genes in phage, and work on the genetics of soil microbiomes. The session adjourned to the Rubbo Celebration where The Zinc Fingers got the crowd moving, including many of our plenary and invited speakers.

Thursday was the final day of the conference with proceedings finishing at lunchtime. Despite some foggy heads following the Rubbo Celebration, Thursday morning was jam packed with outstanding symposia. This year the organising committee wanted to highlight the important contributions of microbiologists to the rapidly expanding field of Synthetic Biology. A Thursday morning symposium session on this topic was followed by our final plenary speaker, Professor Ian Paulsen FAA FRSN FASM, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology (ARC CoESB). Professor Paulsen is a long-time advocate for microbiology in Australia and spoke about the cutting-edge microbiology research projects being conducted in the ARC CoESB.

A common comment as the conference closed was how valuable informal meetings and chance discussions were after 2 years of online meetings. Our hope is that new and old collaborations were established and renewed at ASM2022. We left the conference excited about seeing colleagues again in Perth at ASM2023.

ASM2022 Local Organising Committee: (Top L-R) Karl Hassan, Jai Tree, Martina Sanderson-Smith and Megan Lenardon, and (Bottom L-R) Amy Cain, Slade Jensen and Tim Newsome (Members not pictured: Thomas Jefferies, Willa Huston and Dennise Leyton).