Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to change the way we practice medicine and public health. The tools and AI approaches can substantially impact a broad range of fields from the manner we approach patient care to strategies to discover new antimicrobials, track pandemics and deploy public health measures. AAC recently published a commentary on the impact of AI in infectious diseases and we have a conversation with the lead author of the manuscript and a expert guest who is applying these concepts in real time.    Topics discussed: Basic concepts of AI and different applications. How AI can affect the practice of infectious diseases and antimicrobial research. Specific examples in which AI may have a transformative effect in the future. Guests: Lilian Abbo, MD MBA. Associate CMO Infectious Diseases, Professor of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Jackson Health System, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami Transplant Institute Masayuki Nigo, MD, MSc.  Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Section of Transplant Infectious Diseases. This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up. Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

Dr. Elli Theel and Dr. Alex McAdam discuss recent viral outbreaks with expert virologists. Recorded before a live audience at ASM Microbe 2023. Topics: What are the recent epidemiologic and diagnostic findings with Mpox?  What are the reservoirs for influenza A H5N1 and how is it transmitted to humans? Why was there such a large number of cases of human metapneumovirus this past respiratory virus season? Guests: Dr. Ben Pinsky, Director of the Clinical Virology laboratory and Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Stanford Health Care and the Stanford University School of Medicine Dr. Ryan Relich, Director of Clinical Microbiology and the Special Pathogens Unit laboratory at IU Health and Eskenazi Health and an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro. Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript. Follow JCM on Twitter via @JClinMicro

In response to the global burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the critical role antimicrobial stewardship plays in optimizing antibiotic use and reducing the subsequent emergence of AMR, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy is excited to add a new section to the journal focused on antimicrobial stewardship studies. Combatting the devastating burden of AMR requires novel, multipronged approaches from clinicians and scientists alike. Launching this new section is an important step in disseminating cutting-edge research that will have notable implications in the global fight against antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Topics discussed: The role of antimicrobial stewardship in preventing emerging of resistance. The types of high-quality manuscripts that AAC is seeking in this area. Encourage excellence in antimicrobial stewardship research. Guests: Pranita Tamma, MD MPH, Associate Professor of Pediatrics Director, Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MA, Editor AAC. Ryan Shields PharmD, MS.  Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director, Antibiotic Management Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Editor AAC. This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up. Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.

The combination of aztreonam with ceftazidime-avibactam is increasingly used for treatment of antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative bacilli. Clinical laboratories are asked to perform susceptibility testing using this combination, but many laboratory directors have been unsure how to approach this. Today, we’ll discuss a recent paper in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology in which the investigators evaluated a promising method for testing this combination of two antimicrobials and a beta-lactamase inhibitor. We will also discuss the rational for combining these agents, as well as what lab directors should consider before validating and offering this susceptibility testing.   Guests: Dr. Trish Simner - Director of the Medical Bacteriology and Infectious Disease Sequencing Laboratories, Johns Hopkins Hospital Dr. Romney Humphries - Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and the Medical Director of the Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Links: Multicenter Evaluation of an MIC-Based Aztreonam and Ceftazidime-Avibactam Broth Disk Elution Test   This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Alex McAdam and Dr. Elli Theel. JCM is available at https://jcm.asm.org and on https://twitter.com/JClinMicro. Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript. Follow JCM on Twitter via @JClinMicro

Recorded at ASM Microbe 2023, Cesar has a conversation with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi about the role of minority women in science and discovery, the journey of Hispanic women in science and the current challenges posed by society to deliver science and global health equity. Guest: Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi - Sr. Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Distinguished Professor of Biology at Baylor University, Waco This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at aac.asm.org. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/membership to sign up. Visit journals.asm.org/journal/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.