ISHAM NEWS! (14-12-2010)

Dear , As we head into a season of festivities may those of us working on your behalf at ISHAM forward a few comments along with our best wishes.  Some of you will know that our President David Ellis has not been very well in the last few months – however we are looking forward to having him back and fully recovered soon.  In the meantime David has encouraged us not to lose any of the considerable momentum building up behind our plans for ISHAM Berlin and several other exciting initiatives that we are planning for the coming year.  We look forward to reporting these things to you soon.  Encouragingly, ISHAM membership is growing despite the pressures of a difficult economic climate.  Young ISHAM is making its mark and is mustering a considerable community of younger scientists to ensure that full advantage of the opportunities and mentorship available through ISHAM.  The local organising committee for Berlin congress 2012 has made fantastic progress in ensuring that this event will become our most ambitions and successful meeting yet.  Many of our Working Groups have been driving forward with their individual agendas – and we will look forward to hearing about this at the Berlin meeting where their activities will be specifically showcased.  Also can I ask you to remember to send us material for the Web Page – and allow us to use this to widen the community of medical mycologists who are accessing this cornucopia of information!

On behalf of Council may we wish you and your families a happy festive season! 

Neil Gow,  ISHAM President-elect

May we take the opportunity to remind you to renew your ISHAM membership for 2011 soon, so that you maintain access to Medical Mycology, receive ISHAM News, and assure yourself of all the advantages provided by the society. It is easy: just click here and pay via your shopping cart.

A new Case of the Month is available on the ISHAM homepage, donated by Peter Mayser: a very rare black fungus was isolated from skin. It is a close relative of several severe pathogens, but what is the clinical significance of this one? Give your opinion in the message box in your member area.

The next Fusarium Laboratory Workshop will take place at Manhattan State University, Kansas, U.S.A., June 19-24, 2011. Topics include identification, species concepts, mating types and VCG analyses. Information can be found here.

The 45th scientific meeting of the German-language Mycological Society (DMYKG) will be organized in Kiel, Germany, 1-3 September, 2011. A first announcement can be found here; we will keep you informed when the website is up and running.

In the series ‘Jacques Monod Conferences’ a meeting will be organized entitled New and Emerging Fungal Diseases of Animals and Plants: evolutionary aspects in the context of global changes. The workshop will take place in Roscoff, France, June 25-29, 2011, see here.

ISHAM Mycology Study Group (MSG) has initiated an Electronic Continuing Education Activity entitled ‘Innovations in Diagnosis and Management of Invasive Fungal Infections’. This is an interactive, multimedia, case-based, continuing education activity on the diagnosis and management of invasive mycoses including aspergillosis, mucormycosis, candidiasis, and coccidioidomycosis. For information, click here.  

At the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Netherlands Society for Microbiology a symposium will be organized in Arnhem, The Netherlands, 18-20 April, 2011. Among the speakers are Lynn Margulis, Joan Bennett and Craig Venter. Information and program can be found here. The meeting also includes the regular congress of the Netherlands Society for Medical Microbiolgy, see here.

Several free positions in microbiology are advertised in Sheffield (UK), Vaudois (Switzerland), Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Copenhagen (Denmark). Links and information can be found here and here.

A meeting on Fungal Barcoding is organized in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17-18 April, 2011. The program and further info can be found here. The meeting is directly followed by the symposium “One  Fungus One Name”,19-21 April, 2011, see here.

A website has been opened for the Workshop of the ISHAM Working Groups on Black Yeasts and on Chromoblastomycosis, entitled ‘Hidden Danger, Bright Promise’. The meeting will be held in Curitiba, Brazil, 1-4 December, 2011.

An ESCMID Postgraduate Technical Workshop will be held in Manchester, United Kingdom, 25-26 May 2011, entitled ‘Aspergillosis: from Allergy to Invasive Disease’.  The course will summarise the current knowledge about Aspergillus and aspergillosis, covering important aspects of biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. In addition to lectures from experts in their field there will be a comprehensive laboratory workshop. For information, click here.

Two issues of Medical Mycology are now available online: vol. 48 nos 7 and 8. In addition, a supplementary  special issue on Fungal Respiratory Infections in Cystic Fibrosis has appeared, which is online only.  You have free access to all these issues via your member area. For your convenience we list the contents of the three issues below: