2019 Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting

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ABSTRACT The 10th Mid-Atlantic Microbial Pathogenesis Meeting (MAMPM) will be held February 10-12, 2019 at Wintergreen Resort and Conference Center near Charlottesville, Virginia. The purpose of the biannual MAMPM is to foster communication and collaboration among scientists engaged in microbial pathogenesis research in the Mid-Atlantic Region (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, The District of Columbia, West Virginia, and Delaware). Many NIH/NIAID-funded investigators studying the virulence mechanisms of pathogens of importance to human health are located in this geographic region and have participated in multiple MAMPMs. All previous nine meetings have been held at Wintergreen Resort Conference Center, which features a central location, excellent facilities, and a professional conference staff. MAMPMs attract scientists from both within and outside the Mid-Atlantic region; the 9th MAMPM in 2017 featured 180 attendees from 12 states. One of MAMPM’s key goals is to provide students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty with the opportunity to present their work to a knowledgeable audience, focused in this discipline, in a collegial yet scientifically rigorous environment. MAMPM is a formative experience for young scientists’ professional development and remains one of the most appealing, and positively evaluated, aspects of this conference. MAMPM 2019 will consist of four sessions over three days. The schedule is arranged by the MAMPM Organizing Committee, comprised of the current, future, and two past conference chairs. Each session will feature an invited keynote speaker and talks by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and a limited number of principal investigators, selected from the submitted abstracts by the Scientific Program Committee. Drs. Leah Cowen, JoAnne Flynn, Nina Salama, and Eric Skaar have agreed to be the MAMPM 2019 Keynote Speakers. Two poster sessions will provide the opportunity for all participants to present and discuss their work face-to-face. MAMPM 2019 will be publicized through advertisements in professional publications, social media posts, and direct mailings (physical and email) to relevant departments at academic institutions, government and private laboratories within the region and to members of the local American Society for Microbiology branches that serve this region. A dedicated website (http://mampm.org/) publicizes the meeting and provides the necessary information and forms required for registration. MAMPM remains committed to ensuring a balanced representation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons of disability in the leadership, conference participants, and speakers, including keynote speakers. To this end, two Diversity Ambassadors have been recruited to facilitate participation from historically underrepresented populations. MAMPM 2019 will feature an event that is open to all conference attendees, focused on career transition points, and featuring discussion leaders and panelists to highlight and emphasize the diversity of the field of microbial pathogenesis.