ASM-TMC Initiatives

Learn about the current events and outreach programs organized by the ASM-TMC chapter

MicroTalks Seminar Series

MicroTalks is a Texas Medical Center wide seminar series highlighting different research topics in infectious diseases and microbiology every month.

We strive to feature all trainee levels from graduate students to postdocs and faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Texas Children’s Hospital and UTHealth.

We accept speaker sign ups from anyone conducting microbiology research at any institution in the TMC area, all are welcome to attend the talks or showcase their work. Our goal is for a general microbiology audience to learn about a wide range of topics in microbiology as well as to provide the speakers an opportunity to present their work to receive constructive feedback or further direction.

MicroTalks provides a great opportunity for the microbiology community to network and a platform for the researchers to share their work. Microtalks is formatted to feature two speakers per seminar, with 30 minutes allotted to each speaker (20-25 minutes for speaking and 5-10 minutes for questions from the audience).

Our seminars take place on the last Wednesday of every month from 4pm to 5pm virtually via Zoom.

Click the link to sign up to give a presentation during our upcoming MicroTalks

Presentation Sign up

Seminar Flyers:
Examples of flyers for MicroTalks and other events are available on our google drive:

Flyers examples

Young Biologist Program

The American Society for Microbiology-Texas Medical Center Branch (ASM-TMC) established the Young Biologist’s Outreach Program at local high schools to supplement science education, further stimulate interest in biology, and provide mentorship and opportunities for STEM higher education to high school students.

The Young Biologist Program brings microbiology laboratory concepts and techniques to local high school students. Monthly sessions led by volunteer graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from the Texas Medical Center allow students to gain exposure to a variety of topics and practical laboratory experience in molecular biology and microbiology.

Sharing Teaching Material:
You can access our lecture slides and lab manuals from our google drive:

Teaching Material

Volunteering:
We are looking for volunteers for the 2023 YBP season!
Each month will have a lecture and lab session

Volunteer Sign Up

Annual MicroWorld Image Contest

1st Place 2021 MicroWorld Image Winner: Leroy Versteeg. Trypanosoma cruzi – The Silent Killer This image shows the final moments of a mouse cardiac fibroblast infected with dozens of Trypanosoma cruzi parasites. T. cruzi is a protozoan parasite that can cause Chagas disease in humans. When the flagellated parasite enters a fibroblast, it discards its flagella and multiplies in the cytoplasm of the cell. Once the fibroblast is completely filled with parasites, which typically takes 4-5 days, the parasites grow back their flagella and start swimming around in the cytoplasm of the fibroblast. The mechanical force of these movements ruptures the fibroblast’s cell membrane and the parasites escape. This whole process then repeats itself and more cells and tissues get infected. In this image, the cardiac fibroblast’s cell membrane was stained Cyan and the nuclei of the cardiac fibroblast as well as the T. cruzi parasites were stained Blue. The cell bodies of the T. cruzi parasites were stained Magenta and their flagella were stained Yellow.

ASM-TMC hosts an annual MicroWorld image contest to highlight trainees and their research

This event occurs during the Fall and is open to all levels and any STEM discipline, with the only stipulation that participants are associated with a Texas Medical Center affiliated institution.

Check Out Previous MicroWorld Winning Images

Submit Your SciArt for our MicroArt Contest (due May 1st)