Blogs

Member Spotlight Recap: ISCAID

By Nicole Reynolds posted 2 days ago
The International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) stands as a beacon in the realm of veterinary infectious disease management and antimicrobial stewardship. Recently, Dr. Claire Fellman, DVM, PhD,, DACVIM, DACVCP, and President-Elect of ISCAID, unveiled a comprehensive overview of ISCAID's endeavors and future trajectories. ISCAID's Mission: Dr. Claire Fellman shed light on ISCAID's pivotal mission: to propel the understanding and management of infectious diseases in companion animals forward. With a firm commitment to evidence-based guidelines, ISCAID endeavors to enhance clinical outcomes, advocate for responsible antimicrobial ...

Analyzing Public Health Antibiotic Stewardship Data for Salmonella

By Nicole Reynolds posted 23 days ago
In a recent presentation at the College of Act at Penn State, Dr. Nkuchia Mikanatha shed light on the pressing issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from a human perspective. Funded by state agencies, the FDA, CDC, and Penn State, Dr. Nkuchia Mikanatha emphasized the importance of approaching AMR research with a collaborative mindset, while also highlighting the need for scientific responsibility in expressing views. AMR presents a significant challenge in the United States, with 2.8 million infections occurring annually. Salmonella alone accounts for over 16 cases per 100,000 individuals, showcasing the profound impact of AMR on public health. To delve deeper ...

Addressing Global Change in Plant Pathology

By Nicole Reynolds posted 27 days ago
Dr. Veronica Roman-Reyna, an assistant professor at Penn State, with a specialization in plant microbiology, embarks on a exploration of genomics in agricultural systems. Her research is driven by a relentless pursuit to understand and mitigate the impact of plant pathogens on crop health and agricultural sustainability. Delving into Genomic Epidemiology Dr. Roman-Reyna's research revolves around unraveling the genomic epidemiology of plant pathogens. By harnessing advanced sequencing technologies, she aims to dissect the genetic architecture underlying plant diseases, shedding light on their emergence and spread within agricultural ecosystems. Insights ...

Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Puerto Rican Dairy Farming at Penn State

By Nicole Reynolds posted 29 days ago
Collaborations often serve as catalysts for groundbreaking discoveries. This rings especially true for a recent endeavor led by Dr. Edward Dudley and a team of researchers from Penn State University, alongside collaborators in Puerto Rico. Their mission? To confront the critical issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within the realm of dairy farming in Puerto Rico. At the heart of this collaborative effort are the dedicated individuals comprising the research team: Undergraduate Researchers : Zoe Gold Blum and Aaron Horac, two undergraduates, have been pivotal in investigating the presence of foodborne pathogens in wastewater treatment facilities. ...

Penn State: Bridging Microbiome Science and Antimicrobial Resistance: A One Health Perspective

By Nicole Reynolds posted 03-26-2024
Dr. Nichole Ginnan, the Research Project Manager at the One Health Microbiome Center at Penn State, brings a wealth of experience in agricultural microbiomes and sustainable agriculture. With a focus on developing alternatives to antimicrobial use, Dr. Ginnan's expertise lies in microbial biological controls. In her discussion of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from a microbiome science perspective, she highlights the center's unique approach. The One Health Microbiome Center, under Dr. Seth Bordenstein's leadership, stands out as the first microbiome center to formally integrate a One Health approach. This integration brings together experts from diverse fields, ...

Exploring Research Operations at Penn State's Ganda Laboratories

By Nicole Reynolds posted 03-22-2024
At Penn State's Ganda Laboratory, led by Dr. Erika Ganda, a team of researchers is exploring agricultural health through a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach. Their work, grounded in the principles of One Health, aims to understand the complex interactions between antibiotics, microbes, and animal health, with a focus on practical solutions for sustainable agriculture. The journey began with a study of mastitis, a common dairy cow ailment characterized by inflammation of the mammary gland. w This initial foray into the dairy value chain proved pivotal, sparking a keen interest in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the role of microbiomes in shaping ...

Press Release: NIAMRRE Leadership Council Nominations Now Open

By Nicole Reynolds posted 03-19-2024
AMES, IOWA (March 12, 2024) – The National Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education (NIAMRRE) seeks nominations for the NIAMRRE Leadership Council for terms beginning July 1, 2024. The NIAMRRE Leadership Council is a group of individuals that function in an advisory capacity to the NIAMRRE Executive Director and Operations Center. This group differs from the NIAMRRE Advisory Council in that they may work externally from member institutions, providing review of administrative and fiduciary accountability and applying a high level, national and global perspective to NIAMRRE strategies and program prioritization. The Leadership Council meets ...

Talk To Us Tuesday

By Matthew Hadley posted 03-14-2024
Hey there! Are you curious about AMR? Are you looking to connect with NIAMRRE and those across the One Health spectrum? If so, let me point you toward Talk To Us Tuesdays, an exciting feature of our Daily Hashtag series on LinkedIn. What is a Daily Hashtag? If you are already following us on LinkedIn, you may have seen some posts using the Daily Hashtag format. We have five unique hashtags for each day of the week. Each with a distinct topic, such as Member Monday, Talk to Us Tuesday, What’s Going On Wednesday, Thank a Researcher Thursday, or Fast Fact Friday. Since it began, the series has been a great tool for our LinkedIn followers to connect with NIAMRRE ...

Member Spotlight Recap: Exciting Opportunities Ahead for NIAMRRE

By Nicole Reynolds posted 02-22-2024
The February Member Spotlight featured new faces on the NIAMRRE staff and a preview of what's to come in 2023. Though Dr. Paul Plummer could not join the rest of the staff, each team member took a moment to introduce themselves and highlight what they are most excited about in 2024. In the last six months, NIAMRRE has welcomed two new faces to the team. Hadley joined the team in September as the Communications Specialist. He has an extensive background in graphic design and marketing. Niki joined the team in November as the Member Development Specialist and has a marketing, strategy, and organizational leadership background. Dr. Kris Johansen, ...

Can’t Wait for the Lightning Talks at the 2024 NIAMRRE Annual Conference

By Kris Johansen posted 02-02-2024
The 2023 NIAMRRE Annual Conference was the first time we had lightning talks during the event. These brief, high level presentations were a really fun way to get a taste of the work our members are doing. We heard about everything from antimicrobial stewardship in companion animals to alternatives to antimicrobial treatments in livestock to infections in wildlife. We also heard about One Health antimicrobial resistance (AMR) programs and communication to rapid, point-of-care diagnostics to genome analysis to better understand AMR. Based on the success of last year’s lightning talks, this year’s conference planning committee decided to have not one, ...

Member Spotlight Recap: SIDP Highlights IDPs Pivotal Role in AMR Prevention

By Nicole Reynolds posted 01-31-2024
We recently got a glimpse into the critical work of professionals shaping the landscape of human healthcare. During the December Member Spotlight on the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, Dr. Krista Jens, the System Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Manager at Alina Health and the PGY2 ID Residency Program Director at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, dove into the realm of infectious diseases pharmacists – an indispensable role to the healthcare ecosystem. Unseen Guardians: Infectious Diseases Pharmacists Dr. Jens shines a light on the often-misunderstood role of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (IDPs). Board-certified in pharmacotherapy ...

Ruminating on Snow…and AMR

By Kris Johansen posted 01-19-2024
After a very mild start to the winter, the staff here at the NIAMRRE Operations Center have been experiencing extreme winter weather: nearly two feet of snow in the past 10 days, blizzard conditions, and extreme windchills due to actual air temperatures falling to -20 ◦ F. As the snow piles up, so do stories of kindness and commitment—neighbors digging out neighbors, rescued animals, the doctor who braved the brutal conditions on his ATV to reach the rural hospital where he works in time to help deliver a patient’s baby. But just like our paths to our garages, barns and sidewalks are narrowing due to ever-growing piles of snow, so too will our options ...

Here's to Another Year - By Paul Plummer

By Matthew Hadley posted 12-22-2023
Here’s to another year… By Paul Plummer Well, it seems like just yesterday I was writing a note to all of you reflecting on 2022, and now here we are looking back on 2023. It has been another productive and busy year. Although there is far more we could highlight, I wanted to share a few high points that we have collectively achieved over the last year. This winter, the operation center worked with six NIAMRRE members who expressed interest in pursuing a series of collaborative proposals for the USDA APHIS Antimicrobial Resistance Dashboard. We supported these projects by assisting with organizational calls, clearly defining proposal scopes ...

November Member Spotlight Recap: The University of Vermont

By Kris Johansen posted 11-30-2023
NIAMRRE welcomed Dr. John Barlow, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont, for the November Member Spotlight. Dr. Barlow’s excellent talk, “AMR on small to medium sized dairy farms in Vermont: is it relevant?” provided insights to the work conducted in his laboratory, which is aimed at helping to support organic dairy farmers in the state, as well as artisanal cheese-making farmers. Dr. Barlow’s group’s work uses a One Health approach and includes food safety, milk quality, and mastitis on farms making farmstead cheese and artisan cheese, antibiotic ...

A Look Inside the 2023 Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Workshop

By Matthew Hadley posted 11-17-2023
On Monday this week, I attended the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Workshop at Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa. In addition to NIAMRRE , this workshop was co-hosted by Iowa State University's Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Life Science, ISU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the College of Veterinary Medicine Association of Graduate Students . I arrived at Reiman Gardens early to explore the lush green spaces and to get a feel for the venue. The workshop couldn't have asked for a better setting. One of the walls of the conference room was a window that provided a widescreen ...

October Member Spotlight Recap: The Sunswine Group

By Kris Johansen posted 10-19-2023
NIAMRRE welcomed presenters Dr. Casey Bradley, President of the Sunswine Group, and Dr. Liliana Nolasco, Senior Data Analytics Strategist, for its October Member Spotlight. The Sunswine Group, which was founded in the spring of 2020, offers innovative products and services for the animal agriculture industry, including research and development, technical writing, technical sales, data analytics, nutritional consulting, premixes and retail products, as well as professional development for animal scientists and others in the animal agriculture sector through short courses, corporate training, and one-on-one coaching. Dr. Nolasco provided an excellent overview ...

Takeaways from the 2023 AMR Insights Masterclass

By Matthew Hadley posted 10-11-2023
On September 28th and 29th, Riassa and I woke up early in order to virtually attend the AMR Insights International Masterclass hosted out of Amsterdam by Maarten Van Dongen. During the class, I had two major takeaways about the the larger AMR community. First that there was a high engagement from the more than one hundred attendants from around the globe. At the beginning of each day, the Masterclass participants proudly chimed into the chat box with their locations and affiliations. Beyond introductions, each presenter stayed online after their lecture to respond to the bevy of questions enthusiastically posed by participants. The generative discourse throughout ...

One Health AMR IPE 2024 Cohort Accepting Applications

By Sarah Al-Mazroa Smith posted 10-05-2023
We are excited to announce that the 3rd Annual One Health AMR Interprofessional Education (IPE) Cohort applications have been opened! This virtual program seeks representation from all the One Health Sectors and individuals at various career stages. Individuals should be active in the human, animal, environment, or plant sectors and want to learn more about working together to combat antimicrobial resistance. Participants in the cohort can gain awareness and knowledge about interprofessional education and practice, enhance and diversify their professional networks, and contribute to addressing a critical One Health gap. The last two cohorts have brought individuals ...

When Did You First Become Aware of One Health?

By Kris Johansen posted 09-28-2023
When did you first become aware of the One Health framework? For me, it was a meeting on the Iowa State University campus back in the "aughts" that brought together campus leaders, researchers and other stakeholder from across the university. It was a really novel concept to me at the time, but I was in a different role and really didn't think that much about One Health or try to apply it in my work until joining NIAMRRE years later in 2020. And while the term "One Health" was first used in 2003-2004 1 , the concept dates back to the 19th century when Dr. Rudolf Virchow recognized the link between human and animal health while studying Trichinella spiralis ...

Six Things I learned from the VetNOW Member Spotlight

By Kris Johansen posted 09-14-2023
Last week we were treated to an excellent Member Spotlight presentation by Dr. Gil Patterson, Chief Medical Officer for Food Animal Services at VetNOW. VetNOW is a medical technology company that helps veterinarians expand their reach and provide better service. Here are six key takeaways I learned during the presentation: VetNOW started as a telemedicine company but is migrating into the medical technology space by incorporating new technologies, such as sensors, and databases and integrating them to provide more tools to the veterinarian. A variety of factors, such as a shortage of veterinarians, industry demands for increased levels of expertise, ...