February 27-28, 2024
We're grateful for your participation and engagement throughout the event. For your convenience, this archive includes the full schedule, speaker lineup, and session details as they occurred. Whether you’re revisiting highlights or exploring content you may have missed, we hope you find this a helpful resource. We look forward to seeing you at future conferences.
7:30–8:30 a.m.
Registration I Refreshments I Browse Posters
8:30–8:45 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Presenter: Dean Reed
8:45–10:00AM
Keynote: Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance Presenter: Noelle Noyes
10:00–10:15 a.m.
Break
10:15–10:40 a.m.
Title: A novel modulator of echinocandin susceptibility in fungal pathogens
Presenter: Mark Hall
10:40–11:05 a.m.
Title: Lipid remodeling viewed from both sides
Presenter: Christina Ferreira
11:05–11:30 a.m.
Title: Analysis of antibiotic resistance using flow cytometry
Presenter: Paul Robinson
11:30–11:50 a.m.
Determinants Q&A
11:50 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Lunch
12:45–2:00 p.m.
Keynote: The complex dynamics of AMR and its impact on One Health and policy
Presenter: Paul Plummer
2:00–2:25 p.m.
Title: Harvesting the potential of gut microbiome in animal production
Presenter: Tingting Ju
2:25–2:40 p.m.
Break
2:40–3:05 p.m.
Title: Advantages, challenges, and opportunities in profiling pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in bacterial communities
Presenter: llya Slizovskiy
3:05–3:30 p.m.
Title: Reducing agricultural use of antimicrobials in lower and middle-income countries
Presenter: Paul Ebner
3:30–3:50 p.m.
Dynamics Q&A
3:50–6:00 p.m.
Reception & Poster Session
8:30–9:45 a.m.
Keynote: Deterring Drug Resistance, an overview of current US strategies in place to stem the tide of antimicrobial resistant infections
Presenter: Elizabeth Dodds-Ashley
9:45–10:10 a.m.
Title: Hit-to-lead optimization of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors for the treatment of VRE and Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Presenter: Daniel Flaherty
10:10–10:25 a.m.
Break
10:25–10:50 a.m.
Title: Novel pulmonary delivery systems for combining deadly lung infections caused by multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria
Presenter: Qi (Tony) Zhou
10:50–11:15 a.m.
Title: Bacterial hem in acquisition systems for targeted photodynamic inactivation
Presenter: Alexander Wei
11:15–11:35 a.m.
Deterrence Q&A
11:35 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Dr. Jerome Adams Closing Remarks & Poster Awards
Noelle Noyes, DVM, PhD
Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance: From Genes to Ecosystems
This session focuses on the determinants of antimicrobial resistance, with a focus on the mechanisms of resistance, as well as molecular and environmental factors promoting resistance and transfer.
Mark Hall, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Purdue University
A novel modulator of echinocandin susceptibility in fungal pathogens
Invasive fungal diseases are an increasing global health threat. Resistance to the few available antifungal drug classes is a significant part of the problem and there is a need to develop new antifungal drugs and identify new drug targets to combat resistance. Here I describe our work characterizing a protein phosphatase called Cdc14 as a novel antifungal drug target. In addition to its critical contribution to virulence of the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, we found that Cdc14 inhibition specifically enhances sensitivity to echinocandin antifungal drugs, suggesting that targeting it could help overcome clinical echinocandin-resistance.
Christina Ferreira, PhD, Metabolomics Analyst
Lipid remodeling viewed from both sides: How bacteria and Infected cells alter lipid metabolism upon antimicrobial challenge and infection
Multi-drug-resistant bacteria alter their own plasma membrane lipids, such as lipopolysaccharides and phospholipids, to evade membrane-targeted antibiotics. On the other hand, cell lipid metabolism is impacted by infection, as bacteria hijack cellular lipids for their persistence, survival, and potentiation of disease. Upon infection, cellular lipid metabolism is impacted in many ways, especially regarding membrane phospholipids and lipid droplet formation in the cytoplasm. Also, cellular lipids are used for pathogens as a carbon source, altering the reactions and leading to cellular and organelles malfunctioning. Dissecting such mechanisms offers avenues for the development of novel approaches to treat microbial infections.
Paul Robinson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Cytometry
Analysis of antibiotic resistance using flow cytometry
Paul Plummer, DVM, PhD, Professor
The complex dynamics of AMR and its impact on One Health and policy
In this session we will focus on the current landscape of antimicrobial resistance, both nationally and internationally, and how the dynamics of disease emergence, transmission, and ecology impact mitigation efforts. We will use some specific examples to further explore this complexity and discuss the implications on policy.
Tingting Ju, PhD
Harvesting the potential of gut microbiome in animal production
Gut microbes that have co-evolved with the host could impact gut health and therefore influence nutrient utilization and sustainable livestock production; however, our understanding of the biology, lifestyle, and function of these microbes remains limited. Understanding the mechanisms through which gut commensal microbes impact host physiology in the context of different nutritional, management, and processing strategies could provide ways to address and mitigate the growing problem of AMR. Translating these basic science discoveries into production practices will help develop and maintain effective animal health-management systems, improve efficiency, and reduce production costs.
Ilya Slizovskiy, DVM
Advances, challenges, and opportunities in profiling pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in bacterial communities
Paul Ebner, PhD
Reducing agriculture use of antimicrobials lower-and middle-income countries: Pakistan poultry production
In 2019, the International Development Research Centre (Canada) initiated its Innovated Veterinary Solutions for Antimicrobial Resistance program with funding for several research projects aimed at reducing the use of antimicrobials in food animal production in lower- and middle incomes countries (LMIC). Pakistan is the 11th largest poultry producer in the world and poultry products are affordable, high-quality sources of protein in a country that is protein deficient. Here, it was discussed about the (Purdue University, University of Sargodha, and the University of the Punjab) efforts in developing non-antibiotic means to prevent and control avian colibacillosis (Avian Pathogenic E. coli [APEC]) and fowl typhoid (Salmonella Gallinarum) as well as our current and future initiatives for commercialization and adoption of our results.
Elizabeth Dodds, PharmD, MHS, FCCP, BCPS
Deterring Drug Resistance, an overview of current US strategies in place to stem the tide of antimicrobial resistant infections
This talk will provide an overview of current US strategies in place to stem the tide of antimicrobial resistant infections.
Daniel Flaherty, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Hit-to-lead optimization of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors for the treatment of VRE and Neisseria gonorrhoeae
In this lecture I will present our labs efforts at repositioning the FDA-approved human carbonic anhydrase inhibitor scaffold toward two high priority pathogens for drug resistance, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus and N. gonorrhoeae. Studies describing the design and synthesis of new chemical entities to evaluate structure-activity relationships against each pathogen will be described. Finally, in vivo efficacy data will be presented that demonstrates the translatability of leads for further development.
Qi (Tony) Zhou, PhD, University Faculty Scholar Associate Professor
Novel pulmonary delivery systems for combating deadly lung infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria
Lung infections are one of the leading courses of death globally. Lung infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria are extremely dangerous because these tough pathogens reside deep in the airways; however, traditional oral or parenteral administrations of many antibiotics cannot deliver drugs to the infection sites in the deep lungs. Delivery of antibiotics directly to the respiratory tract provides an attractive solution for lung infections because it allows higher drug concentrations to be achieved at the target site with lower systemic exposure. Dr. Qi (Tony) Zhou has built up a leading research program in developing novel dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations of high-dose antibiotics using innovative manufacturing techniques. These new inhalation therapies have demonstrated superior drug delivery efficiency and excellent in vivo efficacy, which are highly promising for combatting deadly lung infections caused by multidrug resistant bacteria.
Alexander Wei, PhD, Professor – Organic Chemistry
Bacterial hemin acquisition systems for targeted photodynamic inactivation
