Join Dr. Krista Rantanen for an inside look at the unique challenges of cultivating anaerobic and microaerophilic bacteria. This session will explore why controlling oxygen levels is essential for studying the microbiota’s role in nutrient absorption, immunity, and disease.  We combine biological insight with practical tools to help researchers advance microbiome studies in physiologically relevant environments.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents one of the most pressing global health challenges of the 21st century, threatening the effectiveness of treatments and burdening healthcare systems worldwide. Traditional diagnostic methods, while foundational, often result in delays that contribute to the empirical and sometimes inappropriate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Advances in molecular diagnostics now offer unprecedented speed and accuracy in identifying infectious pathogens and resistance markers. However, the full potential of these technologies is realized only when integrated thoughtfully into clinical workflows. Clinical Decision Support (CDS) software serves as a critical bridge between complex molecular data and real-time, evidence-based clinical decision-making. By providing clinicians with rapid, actionable insights, CDS systems enhance the stewardship of antimicrobials, reduce unnecessary antibiotic exposure, and improve patient outcomes. This session will explore how molecular diagnostics, when paired with sophisticated CDS tools, can transform antimicrobial stewardship efforts, while also addressing current limitations and future directions.

Many assays still fall short in the effort to detect infectious diseases more rapidly and at the point of care. The challenge is not a lack of innovation, but rather unseen gaps in reagent quality, specificity, and reproducibility. Imagine being able to detect low-abundance pathogens, avoid cross-reactivity, and ensure consistency across batches from early discovery through scale-up.

This webinar will explore the common but often overlooked hurdles in developing sensitive and specific point-of-care diagnostics for respiratory viruses, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and complex microbial environments. We will highlight how precision-engineered antigens, antibodies, and molecular tools can improve signal detection, reduce background noise, and accelerate development timelines.

Through published examples and overview of the GenScript’s portfolio of IVD solutions, which include custom monoclonal antibodies, recombinant antigens, CRISPR enzymes, and NGS-ready oligos, participants will see how high-quality reagents combined with biological insight can lead to meaningful diagnostic advances. Whether you are working on lateral flow assays, ELISAs, or molecular tests, you will gain strategies to bring greater precision to every stage of assay development.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the key technical and biological challenges in developing sensitive and specific point-of-care assays for infectious diseases.

2. Explore molecular and immunological tools that can accelerate assay development timelines without compromising accuracy.

3. Recognize the benefits of working with an ISO-certified CRO partner for faster IVD commercialization.

Wastewater serves as a mirror of society, offering valuable insights into a wide range of parameters. Molecular biology leverages this potential by regular analysis of wastewater samples to monitor the infection dynamics of various pathogens. In Vienna, respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RSV have been an integral part of wastewater monitoring for several seasons. Beyond viruses, antibiotic resistance genes of bacteria are of particular interest, as their spread is associated with a major public health threat. In this presentation, the above-mentioned possibilities of molecular biological wastewater monitoring, which are carried out at TU Wien, will be highlighted, and it will be discussed how quantitative analysis of different targets using dPCR can support public health efforts by providing precise and reliable data for infection surveillance and antimicrobial resistance tracking.

From 12-1 PM PT on the day of the event, Labroots is excited to offer a variety of interactive networking opportunities designed to help you engage, explore, and expand your network.

Connect with fellow attendees in the social space through Speed Networking, chat with poster authors during our live Poster Discussion, and earn bonus points by visiting booths in our Exhibit Hall. See you there!

Respiratory viruses continue to pose significant public health challenges globally, including influenza viruses, coronaviruses etc. While existing vaccines have made substantial progress in protecting populations, the rapid mutation of viruses and the emergence of new pathogens continuously drive innovation in vaccine development.

In this webinar, we will explore novel vaccine types and their mechanisms. We will review key factors affecting linear mRNA stability and protein expression, and delve into circular RNA and self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) as alternative approaches. Additionally, we will discuss peptide libraries, which are vital tools in vaccine development. Through these discussions, participants will gain a deeper understanding of cutting-edge research in novel respiratory virus vaccines.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Novel vaccine types and mechanism.

2. Differences among linear mRNA, circular RNA and saRNA.

3. Peptide library types used for vaccine development.

Ebola virus executes its replication cycle through a tightly orchestrated sequence of events, but the host factors that govern the timing of these steps have remained poorly defined. In this talk, I will present our development and application of high-biocontainment optical pooled screening, the first large-scale, image-based CRISPR knockout screen capable of resolving the temporal program of Ebola virus infection at single-cell resolution. By integrating high-content imaging, deep learning–driven phenotypic analysis, and time-resolved infection markers, we mapped how specific host genes control discrete transitions in the viral life cycle, from entry and transcription to genome replication and egress. This approach revealed both stage-specific regulators and multifunctional factors that influence multiple phases of infection, offering new mechanistic insights and identifying potential antiviral targets. Our findings demonstrate the power of combining CRISPR screening with advanced imaging to deconvolve complex viral programs and highlight a generalizable strategy for studying other high-consequence pathogens in real time.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the sequence of key stages in the Ebola virus replication cycle and the importance of host factors in regulating these steps.

2. Explain how high-biocontainment optical pooled CRISPR screening combined with high-content imaging can resolve the temporal dynamics of viral infection at single-cell resolution.

3. Analyze how stage-specific and multifunctional host factors influence Ebola virus replication and identify potential antiviral targets.

Large scale deployment of rapid, low-cost, hand-held point of care testing devices for diagnosing infectious diseases is critical for improving global health. Recent advances in engineering and technologies have brought us closer to realizing the goal of near patient testing; to test and treat, if needed, in a single visit. This paradigm shift in point of care testing is being made possible through miniaturization, integration of advanced technologies and improved analytical performance characteristics. Even with these advances, questions remain over the role the lab should play in oversight of near-patient testing to ensure proficiency and accuracy of test results.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss WHO’s ASSURED criteria for POCT.

2. Identify some of the newest POCT technologies being used.

3. Discuss quality control/quality assurance steps needed for POCT accuracy.

Infertility affects one in six couples, with fertility treatments facing daunting 2:1 odds of failure versus success. Emerging research highlights the critical role of vaginal microbiome health in reproductive outcomes. Dysbiosis and other microbiological conditions of the female genitourinary system have been strongly linked to poor fertility outcomes. However, routine infertility care is hindered by the lack of standardized diagnostic tools for microbiome characterization. Current standard of care tests are not suitable for microbiome profiling, and common approaches for microbiome analysis, such as sequencing, face significant technical limitations when applied to vaginal specimens.

This presentation reviews key studies connecting vaginal microbiome health to fertility outcomes and examines the technical barriers to vaginal microbiome analysis. It introduces PMP™, a precision microbiome profiling method utilizing highly parallelized single-plex quantitative PCR, and discusses its potential for routine use in infertility care, including applications in blended care models.

Climate change has been and will continue to alter vulnerable polar regions, with many questions arising about the microbial responses within these dynamic systems and the impact it will have on a global scale. Glacial and ice sheet habitats are among the most fragile, but remain some of the most difficult places to study because of their challenges: extreme environmental conditions, largely low biomass loads, and limited accessibility. I will share how we have tackled some of these challenges through multidisciplinary collaborations to better understand microbial communities found on and under ice and present findings from studies that have been conducted to date. Additionally, I will touch on future research directions and discuss barriers that remain.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify some of the different microbial habitats found in icy ecosystems         

2. Describe key logistical and environmental challenges encountered in conducting polar microbial research. 

3. Explain how multidisciplinary approaches have advanced our understanding of microbial communities in polar environments and discuss future research needs.

In this seminar, Dr. Mason will cover new discoveries in RNA-sequencing (metatranscriptomics) and DNA-sequencing (metagenomics) across dozens of cities on Earth as part of the MetaSUB Consortium, including wastewater as a novel means to track microbes in cities, new species found on the International Space Station, and results from the Inspiration4 mission.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe how metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing are used to study microbial diversity in urban and space environments.

2. Identify novel microbial species and community dynamics discovered through global city sampling, wastewater monitoring, and spaceflight missions.

3. Evaluate the implications of microbial surveillance for public health, environmental monitoring, and human space exploration.

This presentation explores the role of microorganisms in the engineered barrier system of a deep geological repository (DGR) for used nuclear fuel, with a focus on bentonite clay and surrounding subsurface environments. Microbial activity, particularly the production of sulfide by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), poses a potential risk to corrosion of copper that will surround used fuel containers. To assess this, a combination of cultivation and molecular analyses were used to characterize microbial communities in a range of bentonite clays and DGR-relevant environments. Results show that dry compacted bentonites at high densities and low water activity limit microbial growth, supporting the role of these factors as effective barriers for microorganisms. Field studies at the Grimsel Underground Research Laboratory (MaCoTe experiment) confirmed microbial community stability over a decade in saturated modules under repository-like conditions. Laboratory enrichments recovered various taxa, including aerobic heterotrophs and SRB, but only under permissive conditions. Subsurface rock samples yielded no detectable microbial signal, whereas groundwater contained low abundance microbial communities including members of CPR and DPANN lineages. Together, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of bentonite as a microbiological barrier, while highlighting the importance of water availability, density, and swelling pressure in controlling microbial survival. This research helps inform microbial risk assessment and long-term safety evaluations for DGR systems in Canada and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe characteristics of the subsurface and how they impact microbial communities

2. Contrast microorganisms found in bentonite clay with those found in the subsurface

3. List characteristics of a deep geological repository and explain how these will prevent microbial growth

Background: Sink drains have been identified as a source of antimicrobial resistant organism (ARO) outbreaks in healthcare settings. AROs can colonize sink drains long-term, and these reservoirs can seed infections in patients. Despite this, there is currently no recommended protocol for sink drain hygiene. We sought to identify possible transmission links in a non-outbreak setting, and then tested the use of a hygiene intervention to reduce ARO presence in sink drains. 

Methods: In our first study, we sampled environmental surfaces including sink drains in two buildings; in one, we collected environmental swab samples from a stem cell transplant and oncology (SCT) ICU (old ICU) for its last month of operation. In the other, we collected environmental swab samples prior to patient move-in, and then across the first year of operation in a new SCT ICU (new ICU). Swabs were selectively cultured, and ARO isolates were subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS). We also collected remnant fecal samples and isolates from blood stream infections to identify strain sharing with environmental surfaces. In our second study, we later collected more environmental and clinical samples from the new ICU rooms while implementing a novel foamed-peracid based hygiene intervention at two cadences: 1x/week and 5x/week. We monitored changes in recovery of all microbial growth as well as changes in specific organisms and strains recovered.

Results: We found that sink drains housed the most ARO burden over other surfaces sampled. The most frequent AROs isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and WGS analysis identified lineages of P. aeruginosa present in sink drains prior to patient move-in to the new ICU and patient infections, suggesting movement between the two sources. In the second study, we continued sampling of the new ICU surfaces, and confirmed continued sink drain carriage of several P. aeruginosa and S. maltophilia lineages across 4 years. After implementing the hygiene intervention, we found significant reductions in Gram negative bacterial growth of up to 85% in 5x/week rooms; reductions were not significant in 1x/week. However, we observed significant reductions in Pseudomonas spp. and Stenotrophomonas spp. at both intervention frequencies, and up to 100% and 95% in the 5x/week rooms, respectively. Following intervention periods, we observed new strains of P. aeruginosa replaced the old strains, while for S. maltophilia the old strains tended to return.

Conclusions: AROs for reservoirs in sink drains and can be associated with infections even in non-outbreak settings. There is a critical need for standardized hygiene interventions to reduce or eliminate these reservoirs to reduce risk to patients. A foamed-peracid based intervention may effectively reduce ARO burden, but further work is required to establish protocols. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the role of hospital sink drains as long-term reservoirs for antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs) and their potential to contribute to patient infections.

2. Interpret whole-genome sequencing data and environmental sampling results to identify transmission links between sink drain AROs and clinical infections.

3. Evaluate the effectiveness of a foamed-peracid based hygiene intervention at different cleaning frequencies in reducing ARO burden in healthcare environments.

Vertical transmission of viruses from mother to child can occur during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding, and may result in significant morbidity in the neonate. These maternally acquired infections, classified as congenital or perinatal, can lead to a spectrum of clinical outcomes ranging from mild, transient symptoms to severe, long-term complications. This presentation aims to examine the immunological adaptations during pregnancy and provide an overview of viral pathogens that can be transmitted from mother to child.

Learning Objectives:

1. Define and characterize TORCH pathogens and their relevance in the context of vertical transmission.
2. Describe the immunological adaptations that occur across the different stages of pregnancy.
3. Understand the clinical impact of TORCH viral infections on both maternal and neonatal health, and summarize current treatment and management guidelines.