From the Editor

As a member of ASM since I was a student, I always look forward to the annual ASM meetings. In 2015, ASM combined the ASM General Meeting and the Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy to create ASM Microbe. ASM Microbe was created with the goal of evolving into the most exciting, all-encompassing and groundbreaking forum for the microbial sciences. So far, we've taken this conference experience to Boston, New Orleans, Atlanta and San Francisco.

We receive nearly 5,000 abstracts highlighting cutting-edge science during the submissions process for ASM Microbe. The poster presentations, workshops and sessions at the meeting reflect the best of the best of those scientific abstracts. ASM Microbe brings together more than 8,000 microbiologists, engineers and scientists from all over the world to share their research, connect with each other and celebrate the field of microbial sciences.

For our second 2019 issue of Microcosm, we want to share the experiences, capture the moments and highlight some of the science that came out of the ASM Microbe meeting this year. We know not every member can join us every year, and we want to ensure that all of our members get to see the exciting science and professional development at ASM's flagship conference.

We offer track hubs in the ASM Microbe exhibit hall so people can connect with "their people." These hubs, based on the meeting's scientific tracks, offer specialized sessions and deeper dives into distinct disciplines. The ASM Microbe planning committee also curates track-based curriculum experiences for attendees to help them navigate the conference.

If you had a chance to make it to the ASM Microbe 2019 exhibit hall, perhaps you stopped by the ASM booth. This highly interactive area encompassed a live studio theater, where milestone episodes of This Week in Microbiology, microTalk and other ASM podcast sessions were recorded. You could play pathogen plinko, participate in user testing for the ASM website, get a personalized, hand-drawn button of your favorite microbe, visit the gift shop for everything from water bottles to baby onesies and, of course, find out everything you need to know about ASM.

I hope you enjoy the interviews, the photo spread and the science highlights in this issue of Microcosm. As always, I had a wonderful time at ASM Microbe this year, meeting new people and connecting with old friends. I listened to talks about exciting science, visited posters to learn about the latest research, discovered new opportunities for ASM members at the track hubs, explored new tools at the exhibits and watched ASM leaders discuss the future of microbiology and advance our mission "to promote the microbial sciences."

You can view video footage from ASM Microbe at ASM's YouTube channel. I hope to see you next year in Chicago. Remember that we offer an array of travel awards to help scientists gain exposure to the meeting and ultimately the science. You can view them at asm.org/travel-awards.

Stanley Maloy, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief