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Center for Biofilm Engineering
News Update:
December, 2008
Volume 11, Issue 12
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Happy Holidays
Our holiday card is art and science wrapped in
sound, animation, and microscopy just for you! It was
collaboratively created by Alessandra Agostinho, Skye Saylor, and
Peg Dirckx. We’d tell you more about it but that would take away the
surprise!
View the card with your sound on.
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Industry Highlights
Upcoming
Technical Advisory Conference
The winter
2009 Technical Advisory Conference (TAC) for our Industrial
Associate members and invited guests will be held in Bozeman MT,
February 3-4, (Tuesday-Wednesday). The TAC will feature sessions on
quorum sensing and wound biofilms, and industrial/environmental
biofilms. A draft agenda is posted on the CBE’s homepage at:
www.biofilm.montana.edu
Please
contact Paul Sturman (406) 994-2102 for further information.
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Wound Biofilm
Retreat Announcement
In
conjunction with the upcoming conference, the Center for Biofilm
Engineering will be hosting a retreat on the topic of “Biofilms in
Chronic Wounds.” The retreat will bring together a small group of
distinguished scientists, clinicians, and company representatives to
present and discuss how microbial biofilms impact wound healing. In
addition to reviewing the state of knowledge regarding biofilms in
wounds, we hope to illuminate paths towards new therapies for
improving healing based on targeting biofilms. For conference
attendees who stay for the retreat, the afternoon will be an
atmosphere of collegial brainstorming carrying over to a group
dinner that evening. The retreat will be held in Bozeman at the host
hotel, Hilton Garden Inn, on Wednesday February 4, 2009 from 1:00pm
– 5:00pm. A draft agenda is posted on the CBE’s homepage at:
www.biofilm.montana.edu. Retreat cost
in addition to the conference fee: Members, $50; Non-members, $100.
Please
contact Paul Sturman (406) 994-2102 for further information.
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New
Industrial Associates
We are pleased to welcome a new member company.
Alcon Research, Ltd has joined the CBE
as an Industrial Associate. Alcon's mission is to help people
worldwide see better. As the leader in eye care, Alcon strives to
make significant contributions in the fight to prevent and, one day,
eliminate blindness. To that end, Alcon is dedicated to providing
the highest quality eye care products for treating various eye
diseases and conditions. The industrial representative will be
Matthew Tatarko.
Read
more about Alcon Research, Ltd
Baxter Healthcare, Inc. has joined the CBE as an Industrial
Associate. Baxter International, Inc. develops, manufactures, and
markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with
hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease,
trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. As a global,
diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination
of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology
to create products that advance patient care worldwide. The
industrial representative will be Mark Pasmore.
Read more about
Baxter Healthcare
View
our Industrial Associate member companies
Read more about membership information
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Research Highlights
DOE Award for Carbon Mitigation Project
DOE EPSCoR awarded an Implementation Grant submitted by Montana
State University, The University of Montana (UM), and Montana Tech
of the University of Montana (MTech). The award is for $1,440,000
for three years, beginning September 1, 2008 and ending August 31,
2011. Congratulations to Al Cunningham (PI) and his team!
This project “Environmental responses to carbon mitigation through
geological storage,” will make a significant contribution to the
study of carbon mitigation through geological storage. Both deep and
shallow subsurface research needs will be addressed through research
directed at improved understanding of environmental responses
associated with large scale injection of CO2 into
geologic formations. The research plan, which represents a
collaboration between three Montana University system campuses and
five DOE National Laboratories (LANL, LBNL, PNNL, NETL and LLNL) has
two interrelated research objectives.
• Objective 1: Determine the influence of CO2-related
injection of fluids on pore structure, material properties, and
microbial activity in rock cores from potential geological carbon
sequestration sites.
• Objective 2: Determine the effects of CO2 leakage on
shallow subsurface ecosystems (microbial and plant) using field
experiments from an outdoor field testing facility.
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Latest CBE Publications
“Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on
the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and
snow”
Christner BC, Cai R, Morris CE, McCarter KS, Foreman CM, Skidmore
ML, Montross SN, Sands DC
PNAS 2008; 105(48):18854-18859
“Tolerance of dormant and active cells in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
PA01 biofilm to antimicrobial agents”
Kim J, Hahn JS, Franklin MJ, Stewart PS, Yoon J
J Antimicrob Chemother. 2008 Nov 11. [Epub ahead of print]
“Decomposition of complex microbial behaviors into resource-based
stress responses”
Carlson RP
Bioinformatics 2008; [Epub ahead of print]
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Happy Retirement
John Neuman, CBE Technical Operations Manager will be retiring at
the end of this month. John started working at the CBE November 1,
1994. For 14 years, John has dedicated himself to teaching and
training student and staff researchers, ensuring safe and
professional practices in our laboratories, and managing the
operation and maintenance of CBE equipment and facilities. John
shared with us his expertise in analytical chemistry, oversaw an
excellent safety record, trained and mentored many, many students,
visitors, and staff, practiced teamwork daily, understood and
supported the larger mission of the CBE, and helped make us proud to
work at CBE. In recognition of his contributions to the university,
he received a prestigious Montana State University Employee
Recognition Award in 2001. We are grateful for his exemplary service
and wish John a happy retirement!
Email John and send him your best wishes!
john_n(AT)biofilm.montana.edu
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Education
Christine Foreman and Markus Dieser were honored at the AIRO
(American Indian Research Opportunities) 2008 Recognition Dinner on
December 5, 2008, for their part as research mentors to Mervin
Failing, a 54-year-old Sioux-Assiniboine Indian from Fort Peck,
Montana, who decided to pursue a career in education by applying to
Montana State University's BRIDGES (Bridging Tribal Colleges to MSU)
program. An MSU News story followed the event and is excerpted
below.
Native American student brings home conference award
MSU News Service, 12/10/2008
by Melynda Harrison
Mervin Failing spent 14 years educating children. As a teacher's
aide at Poplar Elementary School in Poplar, Montana, Failing watched
children learn, graduate and go on to college. He also watched some
of them return as teachers, which made him think about his own
career.
"I figured if the kids I taught were becoming teachers, I should
too," recalled Failing.
Inspired by his students' success, the 54-year-old Sioux-Assiniboine
Indian from Fort Peck, Montana, decided to pursue his own career in
education by applying to Montana State University's BRIDGES
(Bridging Tribal Colleges to MSU) program.
Read the full story
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Montana State University
NSF-IGERT PhD Traineeships in Geomicrobiology
We are excited to announce the availability of PhD traineeships as
part of a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education
and Research Training (IGERT) Program focused on the geomicrobiology
of complex microbiological systems. This graduate program brings
together expertise in hydrodynamics, geochemistry, microbial
ecology, biochemistry, and genomics. The primary goal of this
research and education program is to train students to use
consistent and coherent interdisciplinary approaches in the study of
microbial communities that lead to a more comprehensive
understanding of the important interface between the biosphere and
geosphere. The novel training program encompasses research
scientists focused on the microbiology of extreme thermal,
psychrophilic, or industrial biofilm communities. For more
information and application instructions, please consult the IGERT
Program on-line at
www.igertmsu.montana.edu. If you need additional
information regarding program content or application procedures,
please contact Drs. Bill Inskeep (binskeep(AT)montana.edu) or Christine
Foreman (cforeman(AT)montana.edu).
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Outreach
Visitors
The following people have recently visited the Center, toured the
labs, and learned about the activities and programs.
Marcia Ryder, Health Research Association, an affiliate of the
University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, November
21, 2008.
Nikolas Kerr, Medtronic Spinal and Biologics Business, Memphis, TN,
November 14, 2008.
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CBE People in Action
Mari Eggers and our community partner from Little Big Horn College,
Crescentia Cummins,
will co-present a poster “Community based risk assessment on the
Crow Reservation” at the NIH Summit: The Science of Eliminating
Health Disparities, Washington, DC, December 15-18, 2008.
Phil Stewart as invited speaker presented “Four big hits at the
Center for Biofilm Engineering,” at the NSF Engineering Research
Centers meeting, Washington, DC, December 4-5, 2008.
Phil Stewart as invited speaker presented “Physics and physiology of
staphylococcal biofilms,” at the University of Montana (Division of
Biological Sciences), Missoula, MT, November 24, 2008.
Christine Foreman as invited speaker presented “Polar
geomicrobiology: Life in the cold,” at Dartmouth College, Hanover,
NH, November 20, 2008.
Anne Camper gave the following presentations at the Water Quality
Technology Conference, Cincinnati, OH, November 15-19, 2008.
Workshop presentation: “Nitrifying biofilms and ‘new’ organisms:
Household plumbing simulations.”
Conference presentation: “Nitrification in a simulated domestic
plumbing system,”
(co-author Rahman MS).
Poster presentation: “Isolation and characterization of a
heterotrophic nitrifying bacterium
from a reactor that simulates premise plumbing,”(co-authors
Encarnacion GD, Leach LH, Rahman MS, Hisey BS).
Pat Secor presented “Host pathogen interactions in an in vitro wound
model,” at Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, November 13-15, 2008.
Elinor Pulcini presented "Biofilms, antimicrobial device testing
protocols, and FDA requirements," Anti-microbial Focus Group
Meeting, Medtronic Spinal Division, Toronto, Canada, October 16,
2008.
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Diane Williams
(editor) and Carol Leist (copy editor) of the CBE News Update.
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