Overview

The Microbiology Society’s flagship Annual Conference 2020 was originally scheduled to take place between 30 March – 3 April 2020 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Due to the continued spread of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, the Council of the Microbiology Society, as Trustees of the Society, took the difficult decision to cancel this event.

The Scientific Conferences Committee are currently looking to reschedule much of this year’s meeting and scientific sessions to include them in next year’s Annual Conference.

Annual Conference 2021 is now scheduled to take place between 12 –16 April 2021 at Birmingham International Conference Centre (ICC) 

 
Publish with us

While we hope many of our speakers from this year will submit again to the 2021 conference, we understand there are often other commitments, or indeed - pressure to publish their results before then.

In this case, our academic journals at the Microbiology Society are ready and willing to evaluate and review manuscripts in a multitude of different forms. Whether research, short communications or methodologies - we're always here to serve the community, and ensure your work reaches the widest possible audience. If you'd like to discuss transforming your abstract or talk into a manuscript, please contact our Head of Journal Development, Alexander Mulhern at [email protected] and he will be happy to offer guidance.


Image: rabbit75_ist/Thinkstock.

Programme

Type

Session

Session View

Monday 30 March, Morning

Fleming Showcase

In celebration of the Society’s 75th anniversary, Annual Conference will include an additional Fleming Showcase day at the start of Annual Conference week. The Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize is awarded each year to an early career researcher who has achieved an outstanding research record within 12 years of being awarded their PhD. The Fleming Showcase will be used as an opportunity to formally observe the legacy of past Fleming Prize winners and to examine some of the most exciting science from around the globe. The day is organised by a Committee of Past Fleming Prize Winners, which is Chaired by Sir Paul Nurse and will be compèred by academic, writer and television broadcaster, Professor Alice Roberts. This will run on Monday 30 March 2020 and will be followed by the standard 4-days of scientific sessions.

Organisers

Paul Nurse (Francis Crick Institute, UK); Sarah Coulthurst (University of Dundee, UK); Neil Gow (University of Exeter, UK); Andrew Davison (University of Glasgow, UK); David Grainger (University of Birmingham, UK) and Tracy Palmer (University of Newcastle, UK).

Monday 30 March, Afternoon

Fleming Showcase

In celebration of the Society’s 75th anniversary, Annual Conference will include an additional Fleming Showcase day at the start of Annual Conference week. The Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize is awarded each year to an early career researcher who has achieved an outstanding research record within 12 years of being awarded their PhD. The Fleming Showcase will be used as an opportunity to formally observe the legacy of past Fleming Prize winners and to examine some of the most exciting science from around the globe. The day is organised by a Committee of Past Fleming Prize Winners, which is Chaired by Sir Paul Nurse and will be compèred by academic, writer and television broadcaster, Professor Alice Roberts. This will run on Monday 30 March 2020 and will be followed by the standard 4-days of scientific sessions.

Organisers

Paul Nurse (Francis Crick Institute, UK); Sarah Coulthurst (University of Dundee, UK); Neil Gow (University of Exeter, UK); Andrew Davison (University of Glasgow, UK); David Grainger (University of Birmingham, UK) and Tracy Palmer (University of Newcastle, UK).

Tuesday 31 March, Morning

Bacteroidetes: The microbiota and beyond

The Bacteroidetes are abundant colonisers of humans where they are one of the two dominant phyla. This session will focus on the many and varied interactions of the anaerobic Bacteroidetes with the human host, both as members of the normal resident microbiota and as opportunistic pathogens. Aspects of the physiology, metabolism and molecular genetics of Bacteroidetes, such as Bacteroides, Prevotella and Porphyromonas will be addressed along with potential cancer, Alzheimer’s and other disease associations. In addition to being of interest to researchers working on specific members of the Bacteroidetes, researchers studying oral, gastrointestinal tract and female genital system microbiomes will gain key insights into these important members of the microbiota. Offered papers relating to all aspects of the Bacteroidetes will be considered for presentation within the symposium.

Organisers

Sheila Patrick (Queen's University Belfast, UK) and Garry Blakely (University of Edinburgh, UK)

AMR

'The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. There is a danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug making them resistant'. Since Alexander Fleming's prophetic warning in 1945, antimicrobial resistance has rapidly developed into a critically important global health threat. How bad is AMR, and what can we do about it? This session will start by looking at the global scale of the AMR problem, then delve into the causes of AMR, and finally address some of the potential solutions. The session aims to bring together scientists with interests in AMR, across the fields of epidemiology, global public health, mechanisms of AMR development and spread, antimicrobial stewardship and discovery of novel therapeutics.

Organisers

Jody Winter (Nottingham Trent University, UK), Meera Unnikrishnan (Warwick University, UK) and Jennifer Ritchie (University of Surrey, UK)

Marine microbiology

Microbial life dominates the marine environment. Collectively their biomass greatly exceeds that of all other life forms in the oceans. Marine microbes have thrived in the world’s seas for billions of years and their diversity outweighs all non-microbial marine life combined. Microbes make the oceans work. They form and sustain global biogeochemical cycles, underpin food webs and maintain (or sometimes perturb) ecosystem health. Marine microbes are also a valuable source of biomolecules and enzymes, with great biotechnological potential. The session will bring together microbiologists from a range of fields with a collective interest in Marine Microbiology. The session will broadly cover three overarching themes; ‘marine microbial biogeochemistry’, ‘microbial symbiosis and interaction’, and ‘harnessing the potential of marine microbes’. As well as presentations from established research leaders in the field, the session will also showcase early career researchers.

Organisers

Michael Cunliffe (Marine Biological Association, UK); Katherine Duncan (University of Strathclyde, UK); James McDonald (Bangor University, UK) and Katherine Helliwell (Marine Biological Association, UK)

Microbial toxins as weapons of warfare?

Microbes produce a fascinating range of chemicals, from simple molecules to complex proteins, many of which are well understood virulence factors playing a pivotal role in pathogenesis. In the environment production of toxins by bacteria, algae and fungi are less well understood despite advances in the tools available for their study. This exciting session will be focus on toxins as virulence factors in the morning and the ecological role of toxins in the environment.

Organisers

Christine Edwards (Robert Gordon University, UK)

Teaching microbiology in higher education symposium

This symposium will provide delegates with the opportunity to learn from the experience of those involved in AMR outreach and engagement activities. HEA fellowships will be explored in its wider breadth and an application workshop will allow delegates to receive feedback on how to right an application. The symposium will also create a platform for those involved or wanting to be involved in using digital technologies in teaching by facilitating live demonstrations. Those involved in teaching, wanting to pursue a teaching focused role or keep up to date with new techniques and standards, including post-doctoral demonstrators, are encouraged to attend.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Tadhg Ó'Cróinín (University College Dublin, Ireland); Nicola Crewe (University of Lincoln, UK); James Edwards (Plymouth University, UK); Alison Graham (University of Newcastle, UK) and Chris Randall (University of Leeds, UK)

Back to the future

This session follows the theme of the 75th anniversary meeting by looking at the past history of microbiology and how drawing from lessons of the past informs our research today. It will explore technologies today that are making use of techniques established decades ago, research that is delving into microbial archaeology to better understand pathogens of today and tomorrow, and investigations that are rediscovering and repurposing pharmaceuticals and treatments from previous eras.

Offered reflections on microbial practice in a specific area, application or technique are encouraged with a view to adoption of ‘historic’ ideas, or to highlight novel developments.

Organisers

Edward Louis (University of Leicester, UK); Elinor Thompson (University of Greenwich, UK) and Lori Snyder (Kingston University, UK)

Epigenetic phenomena in micro-organisms

Over the last decade there have been an increasing number of reports of phenotypic changes in microorganisms that cannot be explained by changes in DNA sequence or genome rearrangements. These so-called epigenetic phenomena represent a number of different underlying mechanisms ranging from DNA modification and chromatin remodelling to inherited conformational changes in cellular proteins. These reversible molecular processes can impact on the expression of large numbers of genes and thus represent a means of rapidly changing the transcriptional programme of a microorganism without genome modification. This session will cover the wide range of epigenetic phenomena in bacteria, fungi and protozoa.

Organisers

Mick Tuite (University of Kent, UK) and Alessia Buscaino (University of Kent, UK)

Viruses that get under your skin – virus infections of skin and associated epithelia

The skin is the largest organ of the body. It possesses a complex architecture of differentiated layers of keratinocytes and immune cells, including Langerhans cells, macrophages and dendritic cells that together provide an efficient barrier to pathogens. Nonetheless, the skin remains the natural route of entry and/or site of replication for many viruses, some of which also depend on it for shedding. This symposium will focus on recent breakthroughs in our understanding of virus-host interactions in the skin and the underlying molecular mechanisms behind these. Topics will include virus replication in the skin; virus control of cell differentiation; virus induced cancers at these sites; and immune responses in the skin to insect-delivered viruses. Viral-host interactions at surfaces associated with the skin, such as oral epithelium and the reproductive tract will be included.

Organisers

Gill Elliott (University of Surrey, UK); Christopher McCormick (University of Southampton, UK) and Gerald Barry (University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland)

Tuesday 31 March, Afternoon

Bacteroidetes: The microbiota and beyond

The Bacteroidetes are abundant colonisers of humans where they are one of the two dominant phyla. This session will focus on the many and varied interactions of the anaerobic Bacteroidetes with the human host, both as members of the normal resident microbiota and as opportunistic pathogens. Aspects of the physiology, metabolism and molecular genetics of Bacteroidetes, such as Bacteroides, Prevotella and Porphyromonas will be addressed along with potential cancer, Alzheimer’s and other disease associations. In addition to being of interest to researchers working on specific members of the Bacteroidetes, researchers studying oral, gastrointestinal tract and female genital system microbiomes will gain key insights into these important members of the microbiota. Offered papers relating to all aspects of the Bacteroidetes will be considered for presentation within the symposium.

Organisers

Sheila Patrick (Queen's University Belfast, UK) and Garry Blakely (University of Edinburgh, UK)

AMR

'The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. There is a danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug making them resistant'. Since Alexander Fleming's prophetic warning in 1945, antimicrobial resistance has rapidly developed into a critically important global health threat. How bad is AMR, and what can we do about it? This session will start by looking at the global scale of the AMR problem, then delve into the causes of AMR, and finally address some of the potential solutions. The session aims to bring together scientists with interests in AMR, across the fields of epidemiology, global public health, mechanisms of AMR development and spread, antimicrobial stewardship and discovery of novel therapeutics.

Organisers

Jody Winter (Nottingham Trent University, UK), Meera Unnikrishnan (Warwick University, UK) and Jennifer Ritchie (University of Surrey, UK)

Back to the future

This session follows the theme of the 75th anniversary meeting by looking at the past history of microbiology and how drawing from lessons of the past informs our research today. It will explore technologies today that are making use of techniques established decades ago, research that is delving into microbial archaeology to better understand pathogens of today and tomorrow, and investigations that are rediscovering and repurposing pharmaceuticals and treatments from previous eras.

Offered reflections on microbial practice in a specific area, application or technique are encouraged with a view to adoption of ‘historic’ ideas, or to highlight novel developments.

Organisers

Edward Louis (University of Leicester, UK); Elinor Thompson (University of Greenwich, UK) and Lori Snyder (Kingston University, UK)

Epigenetic phenomena in micro-organisms

Over the last decade there have been an increasing number of reports of phenotypic changes in microorganisms that cannot be explained by changes in DNA sequence or genome rearrangements. These so-called epigenetic phenomena represent a number of different underlying mechanisms ranging from DNA modification and chromatin remodelling to inherited conformational changes in cellular proteins. These reversible molecular processes can impact on the expression of large numbers of genes and thus represent a means of rapidly changing the transcriptional programme of a microorganism without genome modification. This session will cover the wide range of epigenetic phenomena in bacteria, fungi and protozoa.

Organisers

Mick Tuite (University of Kent, UK) and Alessia Buscaino (University of Kent, UK)

Marine microbiology

Microbial life dominates the marine environment. Collectively their biomass greatly exceeds that of all other life forms in the oceans. Marine microbes have thrived in the world’s seas for billions of years and their diversity outweighs all non-microbial marine life combined. Microbes make the oceans work. They form and sustain global biogeochemical cycles, underpin food webs and maintain (or sometimes perturb) ecosystem health. Marine microbes are also a valuable source of biomolecules and enzymes, with great biotechnological potential. The session will bring together microbiologists from a range of fields with a collective interest in Marine Microbiology. The session will broadly cover three overarching themes; ‘marine microbial biogeochemistry’, ‘microbial symbiosis and interaction’, and ‘harnessing the potential of marine microbes’. As well as presentations from established research leaders in the field, the session will also showcase early career researchers.

Organisers

Michael Cunliffe (Marine Biological Association, UK); Katherine Duncan (University of Strathclyde, UK); James McDonald (Bangor University, UK) and Katherine Helliwell (Marine Biological Association, UK)

Microbial toxins as weapons of warfare?

Microbes produce a fascinating range of chemicals, from simple molecules to complex proteins, many of which are well understood virulence factors playing a pivotal role in pathogenesis. In the environment production of toxins by bacteria, algae and fungi are less well understood despite advances in the tools available for their study. This exciting session will be focus on toxins as virulence factors in the morning and the ecological role of toxins in the environment.

Organisers

Christine Edwards (Robert Gordon University, UK)

Teaching microbiology in higher education symposium

This symposium will provide delegates with the opportunity to learn from the experience of those involved in AMR outreach and engagement activities. HEA fellowships will be explored in its wider breadth and an application workshop will allow delegates to receive feedback on how to right an application. The symposium will also create a platform for those involved or wanting to be involved in using digital technologies in teaching by facilitating live demonstrations. Those involved in teaching, wanting to pursue a teaching focused role or keep up to date with new techniques and standards, including post-doctoral demonstrators, are encouraged to attend.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Tadhg Ó'Cróinín (University College Dublin, Ireland); Nicola Crewe (University of Lincoln, UK); James Edwards (Plymouth University, UK); Alison Graham (University of Newcastle, UK) and Chris Randall (University of Leeds, UK)

Viruses that get under your skin – virus infections of skin and associated epithelia

The skin is the largest organ of the body. It possesses a complex architecture of differentiated layers of keratinocytes and immune cells, including Langerhans cells, macrophages and dendritic cells that together provide an efficient barrier to pathogens. Nonetheless, the skin remains the natural route of entry and/or site of replication for many viruses, some of which also depend on it for shedding. This symposium will focus on recent breakthroughs in our understanding of virus-host interactions in the skin and the underlying molecular mechanisms behind these. Topics will include virus replication in the skin; virus control of cell differentiation; virus induced cancers at these sites; and immune responses in the skin to insect-delivered viruses. Viral-host interactions at surfaces associated with the skin, such as oral epithelium and the reproductive tract will be included.

Organisers

Gill Elliott (University of Surrey, UK); Christopher McCormick (University of Southampton, UK) and Gerald Barry (University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland)

Wednesday 01 April, Morning

AMR

'The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. There is a danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug making them resistant'. Since Alexander Fleming's prophetic warning in 1945, antimicrobial resistance has rapidly developed into a critically important global health threat. How bad is AMR, and what can we do about it? This session will start by looking at the global scale of the AMR problem, then delve into the causes of AMR, and finally address some of the potential solutions. The session aims to bring together scientists with interests in AMR, across the fields of epidemiology, global public health, mechanisms of AMR development and spread, antimicrobial stewardship and discovery of novel therapeutics.

Organisers

Jody Winter (Nottingham Trent University, UK), Meera Unnikrishnan (Warwick University, UK) and Jennifer Ritchie (University of Surrey, UK)

Essential Skills: Entrepreneurship

This session will provide participants with useful information about the key areas of business to consider when becoming a scientific entrepreneur. Participants will be given a checklist of considerations from patents and funding to marketing strategies and creating a team. Microbiology entrepreneurs will provide insight into how they transformed their scientific research into business ideas, and the afternoon will conclude with live pitches with professional feedback from invited guests. This session will be useful for those considering or wanting feedback on a business idea.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Diane Wilkinson (CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd, UK) and Tadhg Ó'Cróinín (University College Dublin, Ireland)

Identifying novel eukaryotic drug targets and mechanisms of action

The ever-increasing drive to improve societal health has provided enormous advances in the medicinal treatment of diseases and conditions. At the heart of many of these advances is the identification and validation of new drugs – relating to both non-infectious and infection-related diseases. Past approaches in drug discovery were primarily based upon demonstrated efficacy in mammalian models. However, nowadays, the pharmaceutical industry requires a validated mechanism of action for new drugs to improve confidence in these products. Identifying these targets and mechanism in mammalian models is highly problematic due to the restricted nature of experimental approaches using mammalian cells, because of the complex nature and genetic redundancy of mammalian biology, and in the field of eukaryotic pathogen research these models are complicated by the high degree of homology between the host and the infection. To aid this research, Eukaryotic microbial models have been employed to in the field of drug discovery particularly relating to identifying targets and mechanism of action in both infection biology and in many other areas beyond this (i.e. identification of the mechanisms of action for novel anti-cancer or anti-epileptic drugs). This session will focus on the use of eukaryotic microbial models for the identification of drug targets and their respective mechanisms of action, ranging from the identification of novel therapeutics for the treatment both in infection and other disease paradigms. It will seek to cover a variety of eukaryotic systems, including yeast, fungi, social microbes and trypanosomes, looking at medical drug discovery and drug target research, in wide ranging fields of medicine.

Organisers

Robin Williams (Royal Holloway, UK) and Rebecca Hall (University of Birmingham, UK)

Marine microbiology

Microbial life dominates the marine environment. Collectively their biomass greatly exceeds that of all other life forms in the oceans. Marine microbes have thrived in the world’s seas for billions of years and their diversity outweighs all non-microbial marine life combined. Microbes make the oceans work. They form and sustain global biogeochemical cycles, underpin food webs and maintain (or sometimes perturb) ecosystem health. Marine microbes are also a valuable source of biomolecules and enzymes, with great biotechnological potential. The session will bring together microbiologists from a range of fields with a collective interest in Marine Microbiology. The session will broadly cover three overarching themes; ‘marine microbial biogeochemistry’, ‘microbial symbiosis and interaction’, and ‘harnessing the potential of marine microbes’. As well as presentations from established research leaders in the field, the session will also showcase early career researchers.

Organisers

Michael Cunliffe (Marine Biological Association, UK); Katherine Duncan (University of Strathclyde, UK); James McDonald (Bangor University, UK) and Katherine Helliwell (Marine Biological Association, UK)

Microbial physiology, metabolism and molecular biology forum

This forum will consider offered papers on all aspects of microbial (prokaryotic and eukaryotic) metabolism and physiology, including fundamental research on the biochemistry and structure of cells, cell growth and division, cell architecture and differentiation, synthesis and transport of macromolecules, ions and small molecules and the cell cycle; but also on the role of physiology in microbial engineering, signalling and communication, sensing and cellular responses, the molecular mechanisms behind these phenomena and their potential applications

Organisers

Gillian Fraser (University of Cambridge, UK) and Martin Welch (University of Cambridge, UK)

Virology workshop: Retroviruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of a retrovirus and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Tamyo Mbisa (Public Health England, UK) and Rachael Tarlinton (Nottingham University, UK)

Virology workshop: DNA viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of DNA viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Gill Elliott (University of Surrey, UK) and Blair Strang (St George's, University of London, UK)

Virology workshop: Negative strand viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of these viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Holly Shelton (Pirbright Institute, UK); Martina Scallan (University College Cork, Republic of Ireland) and Ed Hutchinson (University of Glasgow, UK)

Virology workshop: Positive strand and double-strand RNA viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of these viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Steve Griffin (University of Leeds, UK) and Gerald Barry (University College Dublin, Ireland)

Wednesday 01 April, Afternoon

Bioproduction and biomaterials

This session will highlight advances made in microbial bio-engineering, synthetic microbiology and systems biotechnology that ultimately aims to disrupt the fossil-fuel based economy through the establishment of sustainable manufacturing of metabolites, materials and medicines for a range of applications and sectors. Contributions are invited on topics such as bio-based and/or self-organising building blocks and nanoparticles, bioproduction, biofabrication, smart and hybrid biomaterials, biosensors and bioremediation while submissions on novel tools for design and bio-engineering will also be most welcome.

Organisers

Geertje van Keulen (Swansea University, UK); Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, UK) and Nick Tucker (University of Strathclyde, UK)

Genetics and genomics forum

Offered papers on all aspects of the genes and genomes of microbes (prokaryotes and eukaryotes) and their mobile elements will be considered, including their sequencing, transcription, translation, regulation, chromosome dynamics, gene transfer, population genetics and evolution, taxonomy and systematics, comparative genomics, metagenomics, bioinformatics, and synthetic biology.

Organisers

Andrew Preston (University of Bath, UK) and Sarah Maddocks (Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK)

Virology workshop: Cell stress and viruses

The synthesis of viral proteins and genome is dependent on gaining control of the host cell translation machinery, imposing major stress on the host. In response to this stress, infected cells can induce several defence mechanisms to promote cell survival, pathogen elimination or to restrict the use/availability of energy and nutrients. This session will bring together scientists interested in the multiple cellular stress responses triggered, and subsequently manipulated, by viruses. These responses include metabolic stress, pathogen sensing, autophagy, protein quality control, the DNA damage response, inflammation and stress granules. Many of these pathways are essential for the maintenance of the cellular proteostasis network and are intimately linked to antiviral defences. Therefore, this session will illustrate novel and elegant interactions viruses have evolved to manipulate these stress responses by hijacking, co-opting or inactivating their individual components. Through understanding of these interactions fundamental new insight into key biological processes is revealed. Furthermore, it has the potential to identify new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. Thus, this session will be of broad appeal to virologists interested in a particular pathogen and the general process of pathogenesis, but also cell biologists or microbiologists with interest in specific cellular stress responses.

Organisers

Matthew Reeves (University College London, UK); Nicolas Locker (University of Surrey, UK) and Claire Shannon-Lowe (University of Birmingham, UK)

Virology workshop: Clinical Virology

This workshop will involve a range of clinical virology cases. Different aspects of clinical virology that will be covered include: differential diagnosis of encephalitis, management of hepatitis, diversity of rotavirus sequences, and diagnosis of respiratory infections.

Organisers

Tamyo Mbisa (Public Health England, UK) and Stephen Winchester (Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust)

Virology workshop: DNA viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of DNA viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Gill Elliott (University of Surrey, UK) and Blair Strang (St George's, University of London, UK)

Virology workshop: Negative strand viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of these viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Holly Shelton (Pirbright Institute, UK); Martina Scallan (University College Cork, Republic of Ireland) and Ed Hutchinson (University of Glasgow, UK)

Virology workshop: Positive strand and double-strand RNA viruses

This workshop will be structured around a typical life-cycle of these viruses and will cover virus entry and uncoating, genome replication, particle structure, assembly and egress. Pathogenesis will be covered to demonstrate the diversity of diseases that these viruses cause, together with the host response to infection, and vaccine or antiviral-based treatments or therapies that can be used to combat infection. Both human and animal pathogens will be covered, including the opportunity for clinicians to present studies on ongoing outbreaks or epidemiological studies.

Organisers

Steve Griffin (University of Leeds, UK) and Gerald Barry (University College Dublin, Ireland)

Thursday 02 April, Morning

Bioproduction and biomaterials

This session will highlight advances made in microbial bio-engineering, synthetic microbiology and systems biotechnology that ultimately aims to disrupt the fossil-fuel based economy through the establishment of sustainable manufacturing of metabolites, materials and medicines for a range of applications and sectors. Contributions are invited on topics such as bio-based and/or self-organising building blocks and nanoparticles, bioproduction, biofabrication, smart and hybrid biomaterials, biosensors and bioremediation while submissions on novel tools for design and bio-engineering will also be most welcome.

Organisers

Geertje van Keulen (Swansea University, UK); Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, UK) and Nick Tucker (University of Strathclyde, UK)

Essential Skills: How to secure a fellowship

Funding advisors will provide participants with greater clarity around fellowship strategies and application processes. Attendees will learn how to find the best fellowships for them and will learn from those who have recently been awarded fellowships. Those wishing to gain personal one-to-one feedback and advise from experts are welcome sign up to attend an allocated time slot during the application surgery. Early and mid-career researchers wanting to explore fellowship application processes are encouraged to attend.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Daniela Barilla (University of York) and Rachel Asiedu (Microbiology Society, UK)

Outer layers of microbiology

This session comprises current research on the microbial cell surface which is relevant to wider microbiology and indeed biology in general. As broad a range of topics as possible will be included, to encompass microbial outer layers and their roles in communication with neighbours and the environment, signal generation, receptors and sensing, evolutionary aspects, and the function of transporters and enzymes in the membrane or cell wall. We hope these will appeal to all interests, from basic science to biomedicine and biotechnology.

Organisers

Elinor Thompson (University of Greenwich, UK) and John Morrissey (University College Cork, Republic of Ireland)

Public health microbiology

A broad session covering the spectrum of public health microbiology applications. Invited speakers cover the practise and application of public health microbiology at the global level (Fatima Serhan, WHO) and at the national level (Gayatri Amirthalingam, PHE Colindale, UK). We cover public health microbiology at the front line including an update on the contentious issue of Lyme disease incidence and epidemiology (Anne Cruickshank, Lyme Disease Action UK); and how genomics can be incorporated fully into national level surveillance and epidemiology of infectious disease as demonstrate by Michael Weigand, CDC Atlanta, USA. We will include offered papers from across the breadth of public health microbiology to deliberately create a broad interest session.

Organisers

Andrew Preston (University of Bath, UK) and Norman Fry (Public Health England, UK)

Starve the livestock pathogen, feed the world

With the United Nations' resolution to eliminate world hunger by 2030 and the globe's population heading toward nine billion, the agriculture industry will need to increase livestock production from the same, or less, land. Livestock is using most of the agricultural land (80% including grazing land and cropland for feed). Africa and Asia are the continents with the largest share of the world's uncultivated land, but attempts to develop and expand current capacity in order to meet the growing food demand are halted by deadly killers in the form of viruses, bacterial and protozoan parasites. This session focuses on neglected livestock diseases that have a large economic impact on poor livestock keepers in Africa and South Asia. WWe will showcase the latest developments in basic and applied biology research in swine fever, animal trypanosomiasis, Brucellosis, bovine TB, coccidiosis, East Coast Fever, porcine cysticercosis, discuss host-pathogen interactions, vaccinology strategies and much more.

Organisers

Catarina Gadelha (University of Nottingham, UK), Jennifer Ritchie (University of Surrey, UK); Pip Beard (The Pirbright Institute, UK) and Sonja Rueckert (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)

The secret life of mobile genetic elements

Bacteria host a diverse range of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) — including plasmids, transposons, integrative-conjugative elements, and prophages — that make a significant impact on the lives of the bacteria they inhabit, and beyond. As vehicles of horizontal gene transfer, MGEs facilitate rapid adaptation, allowing microbes to colonize new environments, exemplified by the alarming spread of resistance genes between lineages. Changes in MGE copy number can alter gene dosage, enhancing evolution through increased mutational supply, while changes to genome architecture or gene expression caused by MGE activity can result in large-scale phenotypic change. MGEs interact with one another in multifarious ways both competitive and collaborative, affecting the success of the microbes that host them. Meanwhile, the functions encoded by MGEs represent a powerful molecular toolkit which has been repurposed by microbes for various services including gene regulation and antagonising neighbours. In this session we will consider the far-reaching contribution that these ubiquitous, diverse, and versatile elements make to microbial life.

Organisers

Robert Fagan (University of Sheffield, UK) and James Hall (University of Liverpool, UK)

Microbes and their metabolites: Metabolic networks underpinning microbe-host interactions

Microbes are versatile metabolic factories that have the potential to produce a wide range of metabolites, including small bioactive compounds. Many microbes also have specific symbiotic interactions with multicellular organisms, including insects and other animals. There is now an increasing body of work showing that some microbial metabolites have important roles in controlling the development and/or behaviour of these multicellular organisms. In this symposium the role of metabolites produced by complex microbial communities, such as the gut microbiota, in animal health and development will be explored. This symposium will also discuss the role of specific signalling molecules that are produced by microbes and have been shown to have key roles in regulating the life-cycles of their animal hosts. Finally, in addition to making metabolites, the symposium will hear how microbes can transform one type of molecule into another with potentially serious implications on the health of the host.

Organisers

David Clarke (University College Cork, Ireland); Gunnar Schroeder (Queen's University, Belfast) and Conor Feehily (Teagasc Moorepark, Republic of Ireland)

Thriving under stress: manipulation of cellular responses by viruses

The synthesis of viral proteins and genome is dependent on gaining control of the host cell translation machinery, imposing major stress on the host. In response to this stress, infected cells can induce several defence mechanisms to promote cell survival, pathogen elimination or to restrict the use/availability of energy and nutrients. This session will bring together scientists interested in the multiple cellular stress responses triggered, and subsequently manipulated, by viruses. These responses include metabolic stress, pathogen sensing, autophagy, protein quality control, the DNA damage response, inflammation and stress granules. Many of these pathways are essential for the maintenance of the cellular proteostasis network and are intimately linked to antiviral defences. Therefore, this session will illustrate novel and elegant interactions viruses have evolved to manipulate these stress responses by hijacking, co-opting or inactivating their individual components. Through understanding of these interactions fundamental new insight into key biological processes is revealed. Furthermore, it has the potential to identify new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. Thus, this session will be of broad appeal to virologists interested in a particular pathogen and the general process of pathogenesis, but also cell biologists or microbiologists with interest in specific cellular stress responses.

Organisers

Nicolas Locker (University of Surrey, UK); Stephen Griffin (University of Leeds, UK); Matthew Reeves (UCL, UK) and Claire Shannon-Lowe (University of Birmingham, UK)

Thursday 02 April, Afternoon

Bioproduction and biomaterials

This session will highlight advances made in microbial bio-engineering, synthetic microbiology and systems biotechnology that ultimately aims to disrupt the fossil-fuel based economy through the establishment of sustainable manufacturing of metabolites, materials and medicines for a range of applications and sectors. Contributions are invited on topics such as bio-based and/or self-organising building blocks and nanoparticles, bioproduction, biofabrication, smart and hybrid biomaterials, biosensors and bioremediation while submissions on novel tools for design and bio-engineering will also be most welcome.

Organisers

Geertje van Keulen (Swansea University, UK); Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, UK) and Nick Tucker (University of Strathclyde, UK)

Essential Skills: How to secure a fellowship

Funding advisors will provide participants with greater clarity around fellowship strategies and application processes. Attendees will learn how to find the best fellowships for them and will learn from those who have recently been awarded fellowships. Those wishing to gain personal one-to-one feedback and advise from experts are welcome sign up to attend an allocated time slot during the application surgery. Early and mid-career researchers wanting to explore fellowship application processes are encouraged to attend.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Daniela Barilla (University of York) and Rachel Asiedu (Microbiology Society, UK)

Exploring the eukaryotic tree of life

This session, under the umbrella of Protistology-UK, will complement the new UK initiative “Darwin Tree of Life Project”, which aims to sequence and annotate the genomes of 66,000 UK species of animals, plants protists and fungi. This initiative is part of the “Earth BioGenome Project”, which targets to sequence all 1.5 million known eukaryotic species on earth. Protists and fungi are the main contributors to this list and we will explore their vast diversity, not only within the UK, but globally. Speakers will discuss which branches of the eukaryotic tree of life have been over/underestimated based on recent metagenomics data and which regions have been undersampled to explore and discover potentially new branches of the eukaryotic tree.

Organisers

Anastasios Tsaousis (University of Kent, UK) and Sonja Rueckert (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)

Microbes and their metabolites: Metabolic networks underpinning microbe-host interactions

Microbes are versatile metabolic factories that have the potential to produce a wide range of metabolites, including small bioactive compounds. Many microbes also have specific symbiotic interactions with multicellular organisms, including insects and other animals. There is now an increasing body of work showing that some microbial metabolites have important roles in controlling the development and/or behaviour of these multicellular organisms. In this symposium the role of metabolites produced by complex microbial communities, such as the gut microbiota, in animal health and development will be explored. This symposium will also discuss the role of specific signalling molecules that are produced by microbes and have been shown to have key roles in regulating the life-cycles of their animal hosts. Finally, in addition to making metabolites, the symposium will hear how microbes can transform one type of molecule into another with potentially serious implications on the health of the host.

Organisers

David Clarke (University College Cork, Ireland); Gunnar Schroeder (Queen's University, Belfast) and Conor Feehily (Teagasc Moorepark, Republic of Ireland)

Outer layers of microbiology

This session comprises current research on the microbial cell surface which is relevant to wider microbiology and indeed biology in general. As broad a range of topics as possible will be included, to encompass microbial outer layers and their roles in communication with neighbours and the environment, signal generation, receptors and sensing, evolutionary aspects, and the function of transporters and enzymes in the membrane or cell wall. We hope these will appeal to all interests, from basic science to biomedicine and biotechnology.

Organisers

Elinor Thompson (University of Greenwich, UK) and John Morrissey (University College Cork, Republic of Ireland)

Public health microbiology

A broad session covering the spectrum of public health microbiology applications. Invited speakers cover the practise and application of public health microbiology at the global level (Fatima Serhan, WHO) and at the national level (Gayatri Amirthalingam, PHE Colindale, UK). We cover public health microbiology at the front line including an update on the contentious issue of Lyme disease incidence and epidemiology (Anne Cruickshank, Lyme Disease Action UK); and how genomics can be incorporated fully into national level surveillance and epidemiology of infectious disease as demonstrate by Michael Weigand, CDC Atlanta, USA. We will include offered papers from across the breadth of public health microbiology to deliberately create a broad interest session.

Organisers

Andrew Preston (University of Bath, UK) and Norman Fry (Public Health England, UK)

Starve the livestock pathogen, feed the world

With the United Nations' resolution to eliminate world hunger by 2030 and the globe's population heading toward nine billion, the agriculture industry will need to increase livestock production from the same, or less, land. Livestock is using most of the agricultural land (80% including grazing land and cropland for feed). Africa and Asia are the continents with the largest share of the world's uncultivated land, but attempts to develop and expand current capacity in order to meet the growing food demand are halted by deadly killers in the form of viruses, bacterial and protozoan parasites. This session focuses on neglected livestock diseases that have a large economic impact on poor livestock keepers in Africa and South Asia. WWe will showcase the latest developments in basic and applied biology research in swine fever, animal trypanosomiasis, Brucellosis, bovine TB, coccidiosis, East Coast Fever, porcine cysticercosis, discuss host-pathogen interactions, vaccinology strategies and much more.

Organisers

Catarina Gadelha (University of Nottingham, UK), Jennifer Ritchie (University of Surrey, UK); Pip Beard (The Pirbright Institute, UK) and Sonja Rueckert (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)

The secret life of mobile genetic elements

Bacteria host a diverse range of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) — including plasmids, transposons, integrative-conjugative elements, and prophages — that make a significant impact on the lives of the bacteria they inhabit, and beyond. As vehicles of horizontal gene transfer, MGEs facilitate rapid adaptation, allowing microbes to colonize new environments, exemplified by the alarming spread of resistance genes between lineages. Changes in MGE copy number can alter gene dosage, enhancing evolution through increased mutational supply, while changes to genome architecture or gene expression caused by MGE activity can result in large-scale phenotypic change. MGEs interact with one another in multifarious ways both competitive and collaborative, affecting the success of the microbes that host them. Meanwhile, the functions encoded by MGEs represent a powerful molecular toolkit which has been repurposed by microbes for various services including gene regulation and antagonising neighbours. In this session we will consider the far-reaching contribution that these ubiquitous, diverse, and versatile elements make to microbial life.

Organisers

Robert Fagan (University of Sheffield, UK) and James Hall (University of Liverpool, UK)

Thriving under stress: manipulation of cellular responses by viruses

The synthesis of viral proteins and genome is dependent on gaining control of the host cell translation machinery, imposing major stress on the host. In response to this stress, infected cells can induce several defence mechanisms to promote cell survival, pathogen elimination or to restrict the use/availability of energy and nutrients. This session will bring together scientists interested in the multiple cellular stress responses triggered, and subsequently manipulated, by viruses. These responses include metabolic stress, pathogen sensing, autophagy, protein quality control, the DNA damage response, inflammation and stress granules. Many of these pathways are essential for the maintenance of the cellular proteostasis network and are intimately linked to antiviral defences. Therefore, this session will illustrate novel and elegant interactions viruses have evolved to manipulate these stress responses by hijacking, co-opting or inactivating their individual components. Through understanding of these interactions fundamental new insight into key biological processes is revealed. Furthermore, it has the potential to identify new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. Thus, this session will be of broad appeal to virologists interested in a particular pathogen and the general process of pathogenesis, but also cell biologists or microbiologists with interest in specific cellular stress responses.

Organisers

Nicolas Locker (University of Surrey, UK); Stephen Griffin (University of Leeds, UK); Matthew Reeves (UCL, UK) and Claire Shannon-Lowe (University of Birmingham, UK)

Friday 03 April, Morning

Environmental and applied microbiology forum

This forum includes offered papers on any area and any organism relevant to environmental, ecological, applied and industrial microbiology, including (non-human) host–microbe communities and interactions, marine and freshwater microbiology, soil and geomicrobiology, air-, cryo- and extremophile microbiology, climate change, biotechnology, bio-processing and bio-engineering, food microbiology, and other applied and industrial microbial processes, including microbe-mediated biodegradation and bioremediation.

Organisers

Christine Edwards (Robert Gordon University, UK); Michael Cunliffe (Marine Biological Association, UK); Katherine Duncan (University of Strathclyde, UK) and James MacDonald (Bangor University, UK)

Essential Skills: Unconscious bias

During this workshop AdvanceHE will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to identify unconscious biases, understand their potential for impacting on decision making and develop techniques to minimise that impact. This interactive workshop will explore the way the brain processes information and makes shortcuts and assumptions on our behalf, without us even noticing. Participants will take part in discussions on strategies and mechanisms for managing our brain’s processing and ultimately, ensuring our actions are based on sound rationale and are not unconsciously biased. This session is suited to those in managerial positions or involved in staff management practices such as recruitment, appraisal and performance management. Those wanting to learn more about unconscious bias are also encouraged to attend.

Register on eventbrite.

Organisers

Irfaan Arif (AdvanceHE, UK)

Exploring the eukaryotic tree of life

This session, under the umbrella of Protistology-UK, will complement the new UK initiative “Darwin Tree of Life Project”, which aims to sequence and annotate the genomes of 66,000 UK species of animals, plants protists and fungi. This initiative is part of the “Earth BioGenome Project”, which targets to sequence all 1.5 million known eukaryotic species on earth. Protists and fungi are the main contributors to this list and we will explore their vast diversity, not only within the UK, but globally. Speakers will discuss which branches of the eukaryotic tree of life have been over/underestimated based on recent metagenomics data and which regions have been undersampled to explore and discover potentially new branches of the eukaryotic tree.

Organisers

Anastasios Tsaousis (University of Kent, UK) and Sonja Rueckert (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)

Infection Forum

Offered papers will be presented in areas related to infections caused by prokaryote and eukaryote pathogens of human, veterinary or botanical significance including epidemiology, diagnosis, identification, typing, pathogenesis, treatment, antimicrobial agents and resistance, prevention, virulence factors, host responses and immunity, transmission, and models of infection at the cell, tissue or whole organism level.

Organisers

Andrew Edwards (Imperial College London, UK); Duncan Wilson (University of Exeter, UK) and Helen Brown (Cardiff University, UK)

The dynamic (parasite) cell

Protozoa, like many eukaryotic cells, organise their molecules, structures and organelles into specialised microenvironments to accomplish particular cellular functions like energy production, cell division, nutrient update and secretion of communication signals. Protozoan parasites, however, have an extra level of constraint: they must perform these vital eukaryotic functions while the organism avoids elimination by the host immune system. The dynamic parasite cell session will provide a showcase for the latest cell biology research done in parasites, illustrate the use of dynamic methods to interrogate cellular function, and explore mechanisms of parasite cell motility, endocytosis, DNA replication, metabolism, host interactions and all things cellular.

Organisers

Catarina Gadelha (University of Nottingham, UK)

Thriving under stress: manipulation of cellular responses by viruses

The synthesis of viral proteins and genome is dependent on gaining control of the host cell translation machinery, imposing major stress on the host. In response to this stress, infected cells can induce several defence mechanisms to promote cell survival, pathogen elimination or to restrict the use/availability of energy and nutrients. This session will bring together scientists interested in the multiple cellular stress responses triggered, and subsequently manipulated, by viruses. These responses include metabolic stress, pathogen sensing, autophagy, protein quality control, the DNA damage response, inflammation and stress granules. Many of these pathways are essential for the maintenance of the cellular proteostasis network and are intimately linked to antiviral defences. Therefore, this session will illustrate novel and elegant interactions viruses have evolved to manipulate these stress responses by hijacking, co-opting or inactivating their individual components. Through understanding of these interactions fundamental new insight into key biological processes is revealed. Furthermore, it has the potential to identify new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. Thus, this session will be of broad appeal to virologists interested in a particular pathogen and the general process of pathogenesis, but also cell biologists or microbiologists with interest in specific cellular stress responses.

Organisers

Nicolas Locker (University of Surrey, UK); Stephen Griffin (University of Leeds, UK); Matthew Reeves (UCL, UK) and Claire Shannon-Lowe (University of Birmingham, UK)

Friday 03 April, Afternoon

Essential Skills: Bioinformatics

The eukaryotic domain of life is hugely under-sampled by genome sequencing, and as a result our understanding of eukaryotic abundance, diversity, ecology, and genome evolution remains limited. High-throughput and long-read sequencing technologies now make it possible for individual labs to carry out eukaryote genome sequencing projects. But the complexity of microbial eukaryotic genomes, and their enormous variation in structure and content, make analysis of the resulting data challenging. The available bioinformatic tools are developing rapidly, and the best tools to use often depend on properties of the data at hand. In this workshop, we will discuss the challenges presented by analysis of microbial eukaryotic genomes and deal with best practice approaches for de novo eukaryotic genome assembly, annotation, and subsequent comparative and phylogenomic analyses. Please note, this is an interactive session without a formal break. Catering will be provided for delegates in the room.

Organisers

Anastasios Tsaousis (University of Kent, UK) and Sonja Rueckert (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)

Infection Forum

Offered papers will be presented in areas related to infections caused by prokaryote and eukaryote pathogens of human, veterinary or botanical significance including epidemiology, diagnosis, identification, typing, pathogenesis, treatment, antimicrobial agents and resistance, prevention, virulence factors, host responses and immunity, transmission, and models of infection at the cell, tissue or whole organism level.

Organisers

Andrew Edwards (Imperial College London, UK); Duncan Wilson (University of Exeter, UK) and Helen Brown (Cardiff University, UK)

Phage biology

Bacteriophages have come to the forefront in recent years, in particular due to their exciting applications in treatment of resilient bacterial infections. This session will bring together various topics on phage biology ranging from fascinating fundamental biology to phage genetic engineering and novel therapeutic applications.

Organisers

Meera Unnikrishnan (University of Warwick, UK) and Robert Fagan (University of Sheffield, UK)

The dynamic (parasite) cell

Protozoa, like many eukaryotic cells, organise their molecules, structures and organelles into specialised microenvironments to accomplish particular cellular functions like energy production, cell division, nutrient update and secretion of communication signals. Protozoan parasites, however, have an extra level of constraint: they must perform these vital eukaryotic functions while the organism avoids elimination by the host immune system. The dynamic parasite cell session will provide a showcase for the latest cell biology research done in parasites, illustrate the use of dynamic methods to interrogate cellular function, and explore mechanisms of parasite cell motility, endocytosis, DNA replication, metabolism, host interactions and all things cellular.

Organisers

Catarina Gadelha (University of Nottingham, UK)

Thriving under stress: manipulation of cellular responses by viruses

The synthesis of viral proteins and genome is dependent on gaining control of the host cell translation machinery, imposing major stress on the host. In response to this stress, infected cells can induce several defence mechanisms to promote cell survival, pathogen elimination or to restrict the use/availability of energy and nutrients. This session will bring together scientists interested in the multiple cellular stress responses triggered, and subsequently manipulated, by viruses. These responses include metabolic stress, pathogen sensing, autophagy, protein quality control, the DNA damage response, inflammation and stress granules. Many of these pathways are essential for the maintenance of the cellular proteostasis network and are intimately linked to antiviral defences. Therefore, this session will illustrate novel and elegant interactions viruses have evolved to manipulate these stress responses by hijacking, co-opting or inactivating their individual components. Through understanding of these interactions fundamental new insight into key biological processes is revealed. Furthermore, it has the potential to identify new opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. Thus, this session will be of broad appeal to virologists interested in a particular pathogen and the general process of pathogenesis, but also cell biologists or microbiologists with interest in specific cellular stress responses.

Organisers

Nicolas Locker (University of Surrey, UK); Stephen Griffin (University of Leeds, UK); Matthew Reeves (UCL, UK) and Claire Shannon-Lowe (University of Birmingham, UK)

Lecture View

Monday 30 March, Afternoon

Tuesday 31 March, Morning