Pathogens Webinar | Current Status of Acinetobacter Infections
the chair
7th Pathogens Webinar
Current Status of Acinetobacter Infections
Acinetobacter baumannii has become a relevant threat for public health worldwide. This pathogen, belonging to the ESKAPE group, is one of the main causes of nosocomial infections with high mortality rates, such as pneumonia, blood infections, meningitis, UTIs, as well as skin and wound infections. Worryingly, A. baumannii infections are often difficult to treat because of the growing spread of multidrug-resistant strains globally. Even though few reports describe A. baumannii infections in companion animals in veterinary medicine, the possible transmission from humans to animals or vice versa could represent a new topic for discussion.
This explains the increasing interest and increasing studies about the pathogenesis, virulence factors, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, diagnostic tools, therapeutic approaches, and prevention of Acinetobacter baumannii infections.
This webinar aims to speak on Acinetobacter spp and in particular A. baumannii infections in human and veterinary medicine, highlighting the importance of studies with a One Health approach to better define the real spread of this pathogen in hospital and extra-hospital reservoirs and environments.
Date: 10 March 2022
Time: 2:30pm CET | 8:30am EST | 9:30pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 819 4546 0818
Webinar Secretariat: pathogens.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet Our Speakers
Prof. Dr. Luisa De Martino
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production of the University of Naples Federico II (Naples, Italy);
Ph.D. Luisa De Martino, born in Naples (Italy) on 27 February 1959, is Associate Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production of the University of Naples Federico II (Naples).
She obtained her MSc in Biological Science (1984), Specialist in Microbiology and Virology (1989), and Ph.D. in Molecular Diagnostics in Infectious Diseases of Animals (2001).
She was a research scientist from 1988 to 1990 at Max-Planck Institute for the Medical Research of Heidelberg, Germany; in 1999 at the Institute of Virology - German Cancer Research Center of Heidelberg, Germany; in 2007 at the Institute of Virology, Veterinary Medical Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Since 2002, she has been teaching “Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology” for students in the second year of the degree course in veterinary medicine at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production of the University of Naples Federico II (Naples).
She is currently studying the phenotypic and genotypic profile of antibiotic-resistance of bacteria of animal origin. Moreover, she focuses her research on in vitro interaction between human keratinocytes and clinical strains of Malassezia pachydermatis. Innate immune response against Malassezia pachydermatis and Bovine herpesvirus 1/host interaction with particular attention to iron metabolism.
Since November 2010, she has been Head of the Diagnostic Laboratory of Microbiology supporting the University Teaching Veterinary Hospital of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production of the University of Naples “Federico II”.
Since 2015, she has organized Workshops of Veterinary Medicine in Naples (Italy) each year on topics concerning antibiotic resistance in large animals, small animals, bacterial infections of public health, alternative antimicrobial therapies and animal vaccination programs.
Since 2017, she is a member of the management committee of the Task Force for Microbiome Studies of the University of Naples Federico II (Naples).
On Thursday, 10 March 2022, MDPI and the Journal Pathogens organized the 7th webinar on Pathogens, entitled "Current Status of Acinetobacter Infections".
The introduction was held by the Chair of the webinar, Prof. Dr. Luisa De Martino. She is Associate Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production of the University of Naples Federico II (Naples).
The first speaker to quick off this webinar was Dr. Francesca Paola Nocera, with her presentation "Acinetobacter baumannii: Its Clinical Significance in Human and Veterinary Medicine". She is a University Researcher (SSD VET/05- Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals) at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples "Federico II".
She was followed by Dr. Cecilia Ambrosi with her presentation "Acinetobacter baumannii: An Ancient Commensal with Weapons of a Pathogen". She is a Researcher of Microbiology at the San Raffaele Open University, of Rome, Italy.
The third presentation was held by Mr. Soe Yu Naing & Prof. Dr. Aldert L. Zomer with their presentation "Genomic investigation of two Acinetobacter baumannii outbreaks in a veterinary intensive care unit in the Netherlands". Mr. Soe Yu Naing is a researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Prof. Dr. Aldert L. Zomer is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
They were followed by Ms. Ourania Kousovista with her presentation "Correlation between Acinetobacter baumannii Resistance and Hospital Use of Meropenem, Cefepime, and Ciprofloxacin: Time Series Analysis and Dynamic Regression Models". She is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Crete.
The second group presentation "Colistin resistance onset strategies and genomic mosaicism in clinical Acinetobacter baumannii lineages" was held by Prof. Dr. Stefania Stefani, Prof. Dr. Viviana Cafiso & Dr. Stefano Stracquadanio. Prof. Dr. Stefania Stefani is Full Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania (Italy). Dr. Viviana Cafiso is Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania (Italy). Dr. Stefano Stracquadanio is a post-doc researcher at the molecular medical microbiology and antibiotic resistance laboratory of the BIOMETEC Department of the University of Catania (Italy).
The presentations were followed by a Q&A and a discussion, moderated by the Chair Prof. Dr. Luisa De Martino. The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found here on Sciforum website. In order to stay updated on the next webinars on Pathogens be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on “Subscribe” at the top of the page.
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Luisa De Martino
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2022