The Many Host of Mycobacteria (MHM) symposia brings together researchers from diverse disciplines to discuss topical questions in mycobacterial research and identify opportunities for collaborations for combating human and animal disease caused by mycobacteria. Attendees offer wide-ranging experience in human and animal diseases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. leprae, M. bovis, and pathogenic nontuberculous mycobacteria (M. avium, M. abscessus), M. marinum, M. ulcerans, M. avium spp. paratuberculosis, and M. mungi in diverse hosts, including humans, mice, guinea pigs, ferrets, rabbits, non-human primates, medakka, armadillos, cattle, deer, cats/lions, elephants, badgers, possums, horses, cape buffalo and mongoose.
The ninth MHM symposium (MHM9) is sponsored by the OSU Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and the OSU Global One Health Initiative (GOHi). MHM9 will be held July 11-13, 2022 at the Blackwell Inn & Pfahl Conference Center in Columbus, OH. MHM speakers and attendees represent basic and clinical scientists with diverse backgrounds and approaches to the study of mycobacterial disease. As with previous MHM symposia, a workshop format will be used to foster open and interactive discussion, and registration fees are kept low in order to encourage as much participation as possible. The overarching focus of MHM9 are “Confounders of Mycobacterial Disease.” Confounders include (but are not limited to) co-infections or co-morbidities, environmental factors, healthcare inequalities and social stigmas which influence infectivity, disease transmission, surveillance and treatment outcomes. Overviews of the activities planned for each day are below.
Day 1 (07/11/22): “Infectious disease in Indigenous health”
Mycobacterial disease and associated co-infections/co-morbidities have disproportionately impacted Native American communities for centuries. This workshop will be led entirely by Indigenous people with local and national expertise in Native American history and its intersection with health and, specifically, infectious disease. The objectives for Day 1 are to: Demonstrate the role of infectious disease in American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) health; Discuss the specific impact of TB in historical and contemporary AI/AN communities and its intersection with dispossession and disenfranchisement; Link issues of infectious disease to other prominent health conditions of special interest to Indigenous communities (e.g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc); Present research by Indigenous investigators focusing on topics in infectious disease; and Consider approaches and programs built to foster engagement of AI/AN people with health and biomedical research and outline ways to better support Indigenous trainees and colleagues. Day 1 will end with a a panel discussion on ethical engagement, scientific training and research with Indigenous communities.
Day 2 (07/12/22): “Coinfections and Comorbidities”
Activities will include presentations and panel discussions regarding co-infections (HIV, influenza virus, NTM, helminths and other parasites) and co-morbidities (diabetes, immunosuppression, cystic fibrosis) in a wide variety of hosts. Day 2 will also include sessions devoted to the wide array of locales (both domestic and exotic) in which mycobacteria are found, and how we might “flip” our perspective of mycobacteria and use them (and the lessons learned from them) to improve society as a whole. Day 1 will end with a panel discussion on TB and other infectious diseases among Alaskan Natives.
Day 3 (07/13/22): “Environments and Animal Reservoirs”
Activities will include presentations and panel discussions regarding confounders that originate external to the host (nutrition, microbiome, antibiotic resistance) or originate in the environment (smoking/air pollution, climate change, human encroachment on wildlife reservoirs of mycobacterial pathogens). The discussion of environmental confounders is particularly relative to zoonotic TB (zTB) and the One Health approach that recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment in achieving optimal heath.
Register for either onsite or online attendance of MHM9 using the survey buttons below.
Onsite REGISTRATION SURVEY (you will need a credit card to complete)
Online REGISTRATION SURVEY (attendance is free)
For additional information or if you have questions regarding registration, please reach out to the OSU Infectious Diseases Institute at IDI@osu.edu.