Editors in Conversation

Is the future of cervical cancer screening non-invasive? Sharmila Manjeshwar, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Klausner M.D. MPH, discuss a breakthrough in HPV diagnostics: urine-based testing. While vaccination and clinical screening have reduced cervical cancer rates, participation has stalled due to barriers like healthcare access and the invasive nature of traditional clinician-collected samples. This conversation explores how novel high-volume urine concentration technology is changing the landscape, making screening more accessible, private, and efficient.
Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/am7NvL1Y0g4
Guests:
Sharmila Manjeshwar, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Klausner M.D. MPH
Links: 
Performance of a novel, urine-based test for the detection of cervical human papillomavirus infection
This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and hosted by JCM Editor in Chief, Romney Humphries, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Elitza (Elli) Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM). 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Become an ASM member to receive up to 50% off publishing fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

Most microbiome research focuses on soil, oceans, or hosts. But the atmosphere itself harbors diverse communities of bacteria and fungi that move between ecosystems. This episode explores a recent mBio study comparing airborne microbial communities above a subalpine forest and a grassland in Colorado.

The conversation unpacks what the "aerobiome" is, how scientists actually sample microbes from the air, and why height, time of day, and season matter. The study reveals striking differences between fungi and bacteria, with fungi showing strong site-specific structure and environmental sensitivity, while bacteria appear more ubiquitous. They also discuss "vertical filtering," long-distance dispersal, and what these findings mean for pathogen spread, ecosystem connectivity, and climate change.

The atmosphere is not empty space, it is an active conduit connecting microbial life across landscapes.
Guests:
Carolyn R. Cornell, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University
Jane E. Stewart, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University
Links: 
Spatiotemporal patterns of airborne microbial communities in forest and grassland ecosystems.
This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 
This episode is brought to you by the mBio journal available at https://asm.org/mBio. 
If you plan to publish in mBio, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.
Visit https://asm.org/mBio to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.
Follow mBio on twitter at https://x.com/mbiojournal.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (or MALDI) has revolutionized the clinical microbiology laboratory, enabling rapid, accurate and cheap identification of bacteria, yeast, moulds and mycobacteria. In most labs, it has become a verb (I maldi'ed it). But – can it replace our antimicrobial susceptibility tests? Let's find out!
Guests:
Dr. Frieder Schaumburg
Niklas Wiesmann

In the inaugural episode of Editors in Conversation mBio edition, Marvin Whiteley speaks with Arturo Casadevall, infectious-disease physician-scientist, founding Editor in Chief of mBio, and a leading voice in fungal pathogenesis and scientific rigor.

They explore how climate change may be reshaping the fungal kingdom, potentially eroding the thermal barrier that has historically protected humans from most fungal pathogens. Using Candida auris (C auris) as a case study, they discuss heat adaptation, antifungal resistance, and what climate change could mean for future outbreaks.

The conversation also examines fungal pandemics in pop culture, the challenges of antifungal drug development, and the promise of vaccines and biotechnology. Fungi are both threat and ally in a changing world, and understanding them has never been more urgent.
Guest:
Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D. - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Infectious-disease physician-scientist, Founding Editor in Chief of mBio®
Links: 
On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds 
Reflections on my 15 years as mBio editor in chief
This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/mbio to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Receive up to 50% off fees when you publish in mBio® or any of the ASM journals by becoming an ASM member. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

The Interdisciplinary Meeting of Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation has launched! The first version of IMARI brought together researchers, clinicians, industry leaders and policymakers to address one of the greatest challenges in modern medicine: antimicrobial resistance" Check the highlights at IMARI.org and prepare for IMARI 2017 from January 27-29, 2027!
The inaugural amazing conference took place in Las Vegas. This is the forst time that ASM and IDSA collaborate together in a scientific meeting. One of the sessions involved an unprecedent collaboration between two journals AAC and JID published by each society. To celebrate this achievement we had a session of the best AMR papers of 2025 for AAC and JID. This session will be presented here as apart of our series. 
Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/XRYl7863z34
Objectives:
- Review the best papers and topics of AMR in 2025 form AAC and JID.
- Discuss the context of each finding and contributions to the AMR community
- Elaborate on the implications for AMR, novelties and how the field is advancing.
Guests: 
- Ayesha Khan, Ph.D.  Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Associate Director, Division of Clinical Microbiology Biomedical & Translational Research Track. Principal Investigator, UC3P UCI Prime Pre-Health Pathways Program.
- Madison Stellfox, M.D. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. 
Links: 
Links:
AAC
A microbiological and structural analysis of the interplay between sulbactam/durlobactam and imipenem against penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of Acinetobacter spp. https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01627-24
JID
Ampicillin/Sulbactam in Combination with Ceftazidime/Avibactam Against Metallo-β-Lactamase-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: A Genomics-Informed Mechanism-based model https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf567
AAC
Advancements in the fight against globally distributed OXA-48 carbapenemase: evaluating the new generation of carbapenemase inhibitors https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01614-24
JID
Daptomycin-Loaded Nanocarriers Facilitate Synergistic Killing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus via Lipid-Mediated Interactions and Targeting https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf492
AAC
Amoxicillin-non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae causing invasive pneumonia: serotypes, clones, and clinical impact https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00237-25
JID
Blood Cultures Contain Populations of Genetically Diverse Candida albicans Strains that May Differ in Echinocandin Tolerance and Fitness https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf495
AAC
Antibiofilm activity of manogepix, ibrexafungerp, amphotericin B, rezafungin, and caspofungin against Candida spp. biofilms of reference and clinical strains https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.00137-25
JID
Engineered Mycobacteriophage TM4::GeNL Rapidly Determines Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, Rifampicin, and Clofazimine Sensitivity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae438
AAC
Emergence of antibiotic-specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis phenotypes during prolonged treatment of mice https://doi.org/10.1128/aac.01310-24
JID
The Changing Paradigm in Infectious Diseases—Host-Directed Medicine: Implications for the Next Generation of ID Physicians https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf497
JID
Triggering Toll-Like Receptor 5 Signaling During Pneumococcal Superinfection Prevents the Selection of Antibiotic Resistance https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae239
IMARI Conference
This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal available at https://asm.org/aac. 
If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit https://asm.org/joinasm to sign up.
Visit https://asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript.
Follow Cesar on twitter at https://twitter.com/SuperBugDoc for AAC updates.