ETSU hosts ASM regional conference for first time

East Tennessee State University’s student chapter of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Department of Health Sciences in the College of Public Health hosted the ASM Fall Regional InPerson Conference in October 2022.

“We were so thrilled to host the Regional ASM Conference,” said Courtney Henley, a senior microbiology major from Jonesborough and president of the ETSU ASM chapter. “This was the first time for ETSU to host this conference, which allowed sharing of research, collaboration with other microbiology programs, and learning about future career opportunities.

“The conference included 15 universities from Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and North

Carolina. It was quite an honor for ETSU to unite the leading science and research programs in our region.”

Funding was provided by the national and Kentucky/Tennessee regional ASM organizations, as well as a grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) that promotes science and research among universities in the areas of scientific research and education. Additional sponsorship was provided by the College of Public Health and its Department of Environmental Health, the Department of Biomedical Sciences in Quillen College of Medicine, and the ETSU Center for Inflammation, Infectious Disease, and Immunity.

The two-day event featured poster and oral presentations and a career expo. A Microbiology Career Panel included representatives from careers in industry, academia, and government.

Two ASM Distinguished Speakers addressed the conference: Dr. Steve Diggle of Georgia Tech and Dr. Kim Orth of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The ETSU Department of Health Sciences, which sponsors the university’s ASM student chapter, has high rates of student placement into a variety of professional and graduate schools.