International Cronobacter Conference.

The first International Conference on Cronobacter, formally known as Enterobacter sakazakii, took place in Dublin.

Biographies of Participants

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

John James (Jim) Farmer III, PhD, Scientist Director, United States Public Health Service (Retired)
J. J. Farmer III retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 1, 2000 after 30 years of service as a commissioned officer in the United States Public Health Service. He is currently a Guest Researcher at the CDC; Consulting Director of Infection Control, Hygia health Services, Birmingham Alabama; co-founder of the consulting company Silver Hill Associates; and co-founder of Gallery 8-12 gallery812@earthlink.net).
Scientific accomplishments include: publication of over 150 scientific papers; 48 book chapters; service on numerous national and international committees, editorial boards, working groups, and grand review boards; publication of many chapters, reviews, identificiation charts and computer programs, on Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrionaceae (The Prokaryotes, Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, and Diagnostic Procedures for Bacterial Mycotic and Parasitic Infections); discovery of the "mannuronate pathway" of carbohydrate metabolism and the enzyme mannuronate reductase (Enzyme Commission number 1.1.1.131); automation of the standard method for bacteriophage typing of Salmonella typhi. Development of "fingerprinting" methods; the first animal model for hemorrhagic colitis due to E. coli O157:H7 and a differential medium (sorbitol MacConkey agar); a selective medium to facilitate isolation of Serratia strains; and a new test dish for characterizing bacterial strains (U.S. Patent 3,715,280). Also, discovery of new clinically significant genera and species: Aeromonas schubertii, A. veronii, Cedecea, Enterobacter sakazakii, E. taylorae, Escherichia fergusonii, Esch. hermannii, Ewingella, Koserella, Kluyvera, Leminorella, Moellerella, Photorhabdus asymbiotica (Xenorhabdus luminescens DNA Group 5), Providencia rustigianii, Tatumella, Trabulsiella, Vibrio damsela, V. furnissii, V. hollisae, V. vulnificus biogroup 3, and many new "Enteric Groups" of the families Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrionaceae. The bacterial species Citrobacter farmeri was named in his honor.
Honors and awards: Meritorious Service Medal, PHS Citation, Commendation Medal, Unit Citation Award, Unit Commendation Award, Group Award for Program Operations, National Center for Infectious Diseases Group Special Achievement Award - Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA '88) Activity, and the Joseph W. Mountin Scientific Poster Award; Honorary Member, Spanish Society for Microbiology; Bausch and Lomb Science Medal; Georgia Institute of Technology's Outstanding Achievement Award; Chemical Rubber Company's Chemistry Achievement Award; National Science Foundation - Summer Fellowships; listed in "Who's Who in the South and Southwest", "American Men and Women of Science" and "Personalities of the South".

Jim Farmer pictured in uniform at the time he was working on "Esak."

Norrakiah Abdullah Sani is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Food Science Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, National University of Malaysia (UKM). She obtained a BSc in Food Science and Technology from the Agriculture University of Malaysia (UPM), MSc in Food Safety and Control (South Bank University, London) and PhD from the University of Reading, UK. Besides lecturing, she supervises PhD, MSc and final year Food Science students, and is the Coordinator for graduate studies in food science and nutrition. She is actively involved in R&D at UKM and has received funding and numerous awards for her research in food microbiology. Her current research interests are food safety and hygiene and her field of specialisation is in foodborne pathogen detection, e.g. Cronobacter in milk and drinking water, E. coli methods comparison, S. aureus in ready-to-eat food and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in black tiger shrimps.

Dr. Anderson joined the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in 1999 as Chief Specialist: Food Science, after 11 years service in the food industry, 10 of which were with Unilever. His role in the FSAI involves all aspects of risk analysis, Industrial liaison and HACCP. Dr. Anderson has lectured nationally on risk analysis and has conducted quantitative risk assessments on fluoride in infant formula and also on marine biotoxins in shellfish. Internationally, he has taken part in the WHO microbial risk assessment programme as well as the FAO/WHO expert consultaton on the use of risk assessment outputs in risk management. Dr Anderson has published papers in the area of food preservation systems, predictive microbiology and risk communication. He holds a primary degree in biochemistry and a PhD in predictive microbiology.

Peter K. Ben Embarek is currently working with the World Health Organization (WHO) in lending support to Member States on how to develop and strengthen national integrated and multisectoral food safety strategies and national policies. He joined WHO at its HQ in Geneva, Switzerland in 2001 where he was responsible for the microbiological aspects of food safety matters in the work of the Organization. Beginning in 2001, he covered food safety issues as part of the WHO assessment and response efforts to new emerging public health issues such as SARS and Avian Influenza. Dr Ben Embarek served with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) beginning in 1995 where he coordinated research and development activities and provided technical advice on safety and quality aspects of fishery products at the regional office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1997, he joined the Fisheries Department of FAO HQ in Rome, Italy where he covered food safety aspects of the work of the Department. Dr Ben Embarek received his MSc Degree in Food Science and Technology and a PhD in Food Safety from the Royal Agricultural and Veterinary University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Prof Beuchat earned a BSc in Horticulture at Pennsylvania State University and MSc and PhD degrees in Food Science from Michigan State University. After working in R&D at Quaker Oats Company, he joined the University of Georgia in 1972, where he is now a Distinguished Research Professor in the Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science and Technology. Prof Beuchat's research interests include the microbiology of fruits, vegetables and nuts; methodologies for detecting and enumerating pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and molds in foods; metabolic stress and injury of microorganisms; relationships of water activity to microbial growth; and the efficacy of disinfection and preservation technologies. He has written, edited, or co-edited 5 books and numerous chapters, monographs, scientific articles and abstracts on the microbiological safety and spoilage of foods.

Norma Binsztein studied Biology at the School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires. Specializing in Microbiology, she has become part of the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades infecciosas-ANLIS "Carlos G Malbran", Argentina, and was Chief of the Bacteriology Department from January 1994 to April 2007. Her interest focuses on Enterobacteria and diarrheal and foodborne diseases, mainly in virulence factors and genetic relationships. Research projects have led to 90 congress reports, 51 papers and a chapter in the "Blue Book of Pediatric Infectology". She has been actively involved in the National Surveillance System in the field of microbiology-enteric pathogens laboratories network and co-coordination of the Diarrhea, Cholera and Foodborne Pathogens (FBP) Network in Argentina. Norma has been the co-coordinator, with PAHO, of the WHO GSS for South America since 2000 and of the PulseNet Latin America Network since 2003. She is also a member of the Advisory Group of INFOSAN.

After receiving an MSc in public health from Johns Hopkins University and a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin, Ann Bowen completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Washington. She next enjoyed practicing community pediatrics in her hometown in northern Wisconsin, and later joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, or "disease detective." She is currently a medical epidemiologist in CDC's Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch, focusing primarily on diarrheal disease prevention in the developing world, handwashing in community settings, and infant feeding safety.

Professor Francis Butler is Associate Professor of Food Engineering within the UCD School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine. He leads the Food Chain Integrity Group within the UCD Institute of Food and Health and has considerable experience in the area of quantitative risk assessment and food traceability systems. He currently coordinates an EU 6th Framework STREP Project (SIGMACHAIN) in the area of food chain traceability systems and is a partner in two other EU 6th Framework projects in the area of quantitative risk assessment. He also coordinates the Irish National Microbial Risk Assessment Network.

With a background in microbiology, Sarah Cahill worked in the dairy and beverage sectors before receiving her PhD in food microbiology from University College Dublin, Ireland. She joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy in 1999 and currently works in the organization's Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division. She is the FAO Secretariot for the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) responsible for providing scientific advice on microbiological hazards on a wide range of foods, from infant formula to fresh produce, to Codex and FAO member countries. She also works on the development and implementation of activities to support the use of food safety risk assessment and enhance food safety in countries.

Jean-Louis Cordier studied Microbiology and Biochemistry from 1974 to 1978 at the Swiss Federal Technical Highschool, Zurich, where he also completed a PhD in Sciences (Microbiology) from 1978 to 1982. He then worked as a postdoctoral scientist in Chemical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Technical Highschool, Lausanne, until 1984 when he joined Nestle. He has held a variety of positions in Quality Assurance, such as Head of Food Safety Microbiology of the Research Center (1993 - 1999), and has been Food Safety Manager with Nestle Nutrition since 2005. Dr. Cordier is a member of the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF).

Edita Custic studied food technology at the University of Zagreb in Croatia and received her Master of Engineering in Food Engineering in 2005. She continued her education at London Metropolitan University and was awarded Master of Science with distinction in Food Science in 2008. Her MSc student project, on which her talk is based, investigated biofilm formation by Cronobacter. Future plans involve pursuing research in the field of food microbiology.

Dr. Foley-Nolan is Director: Human Health and Nutrition with safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board. Dr Foley-Nolan directs the public health and nutrition functions of the organization. Dr Foley-Nolan has a medical degree from UCC; a masters in Public Health from UCD and is a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Dr Foley-Nolan has worked at consultant level in public health medicine in the Health Service Executive, and is a specialist in the areas of health promotion and food safety. Dr Foley-Nolan holds a lecturer post in UCC and is a trainer and examiner at the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Dr Foley-Nolan is a founder member of the Cork Zoonoses Committee and the Infoscan Infectious Disease Bulletin, both of which were subsequently replicated throughout the country. She has also served on a number of national advisory groups including those on MRSA, the HPSC's Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland and the National Lifestyle Surveys for the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of Health and Children. Dr Foley-Nolan is currently a member of the Veterinary Council of Ireland.

Steve Forsythe's first degree was in BSc Applied Biological Sciences at University of West of England, Bristol. His PhD was in intestinal microbiology at Newcastle University, followed by three years as research fellow on bacterial anaerobic respiration at Birmingham University. His first lectureship was at University of East London, before becoming Senior Lecturer and then Reader in microbiology at Nottingham Trent University. He has authored nearly 50 refereed papers, and three books on microbiology ranging from food microbiology to genotoxicity testing. The second edition of 'The Microbiology of Safe Food' for Blackwell Publishing is to be published later this year. He was on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) AFC for 3 years. He has been working on Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii) since 2003, and has been expert advisor at the three FAO-WHO risk assessments. He was made the first 'Professor of Microbiology' at Nottingham Trent University in August last year.

Brendan Healy received a BSc honours in Industrial Microbiology from University College Dublin in 2007. He was presented an award by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland for his final year dissertaton. He received an IRCSET scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in Molecular Biology with the Centre for Food Safety, UCD. At present he is investigating the molecular subtyping of Cronobacter spp. and characterizing the virulence of these opportunistic pathogens. Other research interest include detection and identificatoin of foodborne pathogens and the monitoring of food production processes.

After completing a PhD at Nottingham Trent University, Carol Iversen worked for Nestle Research Centre, Switzerland, where she led an international collaboration to define the taxonomy of Enterobacter sakazakii and propose a new genus, Cronobacter. Dr. Iversen then joined the research team at the Institue for Food Safety and Hygiene, University of Zurich, to continue work on isolation methods and virulence characterization of these organisms before moving to Ireland under an IRCSET postdoctoral fellowship in 2008. Dr. Iversen is currently engaged in research on foodborne pathogens at the Centre for Food Safety, UCD. She is also a representative for the National Standards Authority of Ireland on the ISO and CEN committees for Microbiology and Microbial Contamination, and is co-project leader of the ad'hoc group for development of a horizontal EN ISO standard for the detection of Cronobacter (E. sakazakii).

After finishing his studies at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands in 1983 Han Joosten worked five years at NIZO Food Research on the formation of biogenic amines in cheese, obtaining his PhD degree from the University of Wageningen on this subject. From 1989 to 1991 he worked as a postdoc at the Autonomous University of Madrid on molecular characterization of African Swine Fever Virus. After this he headed the microbiological laboratory of Coberco Research in Deventer, the Netherlands and moved back to Spain in 1994 where he worked for two years at the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research (CIT-INIA) in Madrid on a bacteriocin-producing Enterococcus strain. Since 1996 Han is employeed by Nestle at their research centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is responsible for providing scientific guidance on various research projects and early identification of emerging microbiological safety issues. As a senior scientist he also provides advice to the business and quality management on analytical methods, hurdle technology, safety assessments and HACCP.

Dr Matthias Kiehias studied biotechnology at the Technical University in Berlin and completed a diploma theses at the University of Dortmund and the Czech Academy of Science in Prague. In 1996, he completed a PhD at the Technical University in Berlin, Department for Bioprocess Engineering. He has since worked for BIOTECON Diagnostics, Potsdam Germany, in the area of PCR rapid tests for the food industry and is currently the Global Sales Director.

Dr Michael L. Kotewicz is with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Applied Research and Safety Assessment (OARSA), in the Division of Molecular Biology. His research at FDA examines the chromosomal structure, evolution, and variability of foodborne pathogens, including E. coli, Salmonella and Enterobacter spp. Dr Kotewicz received his BA from the University of Washington, Seattle US. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, US, for the purification and characterization of the integration protein of bacteriophage lambda. He was a Jane Coffin-Childs' postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University and worked for 10 years at BRL/LTI/Invitrogen. At BRL, he purified and mapped the polymerase and RNase domains of Moloney virus reverse transcriptase and was co-inventor of a cloned transcriptase and RNase-minus "Superscript". He has worked at the FDA on emerging foodborne pathogens since 1997.

Peter Kuhnert is working at the University of Bern, Switzerland as an associate professor in bacteriology. He completed a PhD in molecular biology studying gene regulation of the porcine TNF-locus. As a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel he focused on the regulation of the human TNF-receptor genes and its role in the immune response. After his return 1994 he switched topics and is since then working at the Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology where he focuses on bacterial virulence, phylogeny and taxonomy. His work includes pathotyping of E. coli, genotyping of foodborne pathogens with an emphasis on Campylobacter, pathogenesis and virulence mechanisms of Pasteurellaceae as well as work on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.

Dr Lorraine Kyne MD, MPH, FRCPI is a Consultant Physician in Medicine for the Older Person at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin and Senior Lecturer in University College Dublin (UCD). She is the recipient of a Clinician Scientist Award from the Health Research Board, Ireland. Her research interests include nosocomial infections, the innate and humoral immune response to infection and outcomes in terms of morbidity, mortality and health care costs. She has recently become involved with the Cronobacter (E. sakazakii) research group at the Centre for food safety, UCD, and is currently studying the prevalence and significance of colonisation with Cronobacter in different groups of older patients. She has written several publications, book chapters and review articles on infection in the older person.

Dr Lampel joined the FDA as a research microbiologist in 1987 after five years as a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. He received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Miami and was a postdoctoral fellow at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr Lampel currently serves as the Director of the Division of Microbiology, which is responsible for developing bacteriological and molecular-based methods to isolate, detect, and subtype foodborne pathogens. Dr Lampel is also the Editor of FDA's Bacteriological Analytical Manual and serves as the FDA's expert on the detection and isolation of the foodborne bacterial pathogen Shigella. Other professional activities include serving on several editorial boards, NIH and USDA study panels, and ad'hoc review panels for several journals and extramural grant programs. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and is a member of several PhD dissertation committees.

Dr Angelika Lehner studied Molecular Biology in Vienna and finished her PhD in 1995. Within the same year, she entered the Food Microbiology field in which she has been working ever since. During the last 13 years of scientific work in several profit and non-profit institutions, she acquired knowledge on a broad spectrum of modern molecular techniques for the identification, molecular characterization and physiological analyses of both cultured and uncultured organisms including advanced (BAC) cloning techniques, chip technology, and in-situ hybridization based methodologies. Since July 2004, Dr Lehner holds a position as scientist and lecturer at the Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene (Head: Prof R. Stephan) at the University of Zurich, where she started focusing on Enterobacter sakazakii. In March 2008 she successfully completed her habilitation which qualifies her to work as Assistant Professor.

Dr Niall Mullane graduated from UCD in 2008 with a PhD in molecular microbiology. His studies focused on detection, surveillance, sub-typing and serotyping of the opportunistic pathogen Cronobacter (E. sakazakii). Niall described the first two serotypes of C. sakazakii and also developed an MLVA typing protocol for this species. Niall presently works for Danone Baby as a senior microbiologist in manufacturing. His efforts are focused on design and implementation of improved control measures to strengthen existing practices for control of Enterobacteriaceae.

Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Seo earned a BSc and MSc in Dairy Microbiology from Konkuk University. His interest in food safety led to a PhD in Food Science and Technology at University of Georgia, USA, working in the lab of Dr Robert Brackett and Joseph Frank. His PhD research explored the development of rapid detection methods for foodborne pathogens using immunochemical techniques. During an USDA Postdoctoral Fellowship at the South East Poultry Research Lab, USDA/ARS, with Dr. Peter Holt, he developed various detection methods for Salmonella Enteritidis using molecular and immuno technologies. He also pioneered control measures against Salmonella infection in chickens including vaccines, CE cultures, and mucosal immunological measures. Prior to joining the member of faculties in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Seo worked with the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA for six years, focusing on developing detection methods for Salmonella Enteritidis in eggs and E. sakazakii in powder milk. As a principle investigator, Dr. Seo developed a real-time PCR assay and a selective agar media for selective detection of E. sakazakii. Current research includes studies of detection methods for foodborne bacteria and viruses at the Konkuk University. Dr. Seo has published nearly 30 research articles in international journals including Journal of Food Protection and International Journal of Food Microbiology.

Mary Alice Smith, PhD, is a developmental toxicologist and and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Science at the University of Georgia, USA. Dr. Smith has a PhD in toxicology for the University Of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Her research focuses on developing animal models to study the effects of biological and chemical agents on pregnancy and development, and the use of dose information in risk assessment. She currently is investigating the mechanisms by which Enterobacter sakazakii infects premature infants resulting in death, hydrcephaly or mental retardation and how Listeria monocytogenes infects fetuses resulting in stillbirths. She has developed animal models for fetuses and neonates. Dr. Smith's research has been funded in part by the Food and Drug Administration, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) and the American Meat institute. Dr. Smith has served on expert committees assessing risk for foodborne pathogens and review panels for various federal agencies. She serves on the editorial board of the international journal Reproductive Toxicology.

Roger Stephan is veterinarian with specialization in microbiological food safety. He is a full professor at the University of Zurich and since October 2003 director of the Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene. He has pubished more than 130 research papers, with a strong focus on foodborne pathogens. Since 2002 he is a diplomat of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH). Currently he is the president of the Swiss Society for Food Hygiene. His group is working on different aspects of Cronobacter spp.

Dr. Tall completed his PhD at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMAB) in 1988. His postdoctoral training took place with the Center for Vaccine Development, UMAB, and as a senior staff fellow with the Div. of Microbiol. (DMS), Microbial Ecol. Br., CFSAN, FDA. He currently works within the Virulence Mechanisms Branch of CFSAN. His research interests include: pathogenic mechanisms of foodborne enteric bacteria; characterization and expression of adherence factors; fimbriae ultrastructure, effects of environmental influences on bacterial attachment/invasion mechanisms associated with foodborne enteric pathogens such as enteropathogenic E. coli, Salmonella spp., Cronobacter spp., Vibrio spp. and the use of BSL-3 lab protocols and methods for the detection of bio-threat agents from foods. Dr. Tall has served in the District of Columbia Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM; 1992-1999), and is currently serving on the Committee for the Advancement of FDA Science (2008). He has received a total of 28 awards including U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service; CFSAN Excellent in Laboratory Science Scientific Achievement Award, Several CFSAN Exceptional Achievement Awards, and a FDA Commissioner's Special Citation award. He has given 31 invited talks, published more than 73 refereed scientific articles or Book Chapters and has given over 140 abstract presentations at international scientific meetings.

Patrick Wall is currently Associate Professor of Public Heath in the UCD school of Public Health and Population Science and Co Director of the UCD Centre for Behaviour and Health. He was previously Adjunct Professor of Food Safety in the UCD Centre for Food Safety and before that he was the first Chief Executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. There he contributed to the setting up of a science based Consumer Protection Agency created in the aftermath of BSE. Prior to that he was a consultant in the NHS based in the Public Health Laboratory Service's Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in charge of surveillance, and investigation of outbreaks, of gastrointestinal diseases. He was the second Chairperson of the management board of the European Food Safety Authority. He is both a veterinary surgeon and a medical doctor. He has an MSc in Infectious diseases from the University of London and an MBA from UCD's Michael Smurfit Graduate School Of Business. He is a Member of the Faculty of Public Heath Medicine in Ireland and Fellow of the Faculty in the UK.