Dear ASM Maryland Branch Members,

​

As the current President of the Maryland Branch, I would like to welcome all of you to an exciting new year with the 2026-2027 series of ASM Maryland Branch meetings. It is my honor to serve as President for the coming year.

​

Maryland is the home of many esteemed universities, hospitals, state and federal governmental agencies, and biotechnological corporations, which employ, educate and train many of our members. We are a diverse group representing various backgrounds including microbiology, virology, immunology, medicine, public health, environmental science and engineering, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and science policy. To serve our members’ interests, build community and provide current scientific information on emerging topics, we host a series of dinner meetings each year as well as events dedicated to student experiences. The dinner meetings start with a social hour, where we encourage all attendees to arrive early to engage and network.

Dinner meetings and student conferences
For last year’s 2025-26 season, we hosted four dinner meetings with an average of 72 attendees.   Almost 45% of our attendees last year were students, who bring great energy to our Branch events. 

​

We have another engaging meeting line-up for the 2026-27 season.

​

The first dinner meeting took place at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Skylight Room of The Commons Building on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 and will feature the current ASM President Dr. Vaughn Cooper, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh. He will present the seminar “Bacterial Adaptations When Antibiotic - Immunity Collaborations Fail. We are looking forward to seeing our colleagues and new faces at this first dinner meeting of the season. As a part of this meeting, it has become a tradition that the Center for the History of Microbiology/ASM Achieves present an exhibition, since they are located at UMBC (https://lib.guides.umbc.edu/choma). We appreciate the excellent exhibitions that ASM Archivist Colleen Puterbaugh provides. This year should be especially interesting with an interactive component.

​

The second dinner meeting is planned for Monday, February 15, 2027 at the University of Maryland Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) in Baltimore. Dr.  Joao H.F. Pedra, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine will present “Tick-Borne Disease Across Biological Scales: From the Tick to the Patient”.

​

The third dinner meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 14, 2027 at the Towson University Science Complex. ASM Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Monica Oli, Master Lecturer from the University of Floridia will present the seminar: “The Second Brain: Deciphering the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis”.

​

The fourth and final dinner meeting is the Annual ASM Maryland Branch Poster Session that will take place on Monday, June 17, 2027 prior to ASM Microbe 2025 (June 22-25, 2027, in Chicago, IL). Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit abstracts to be considered for the J. Howard Brown Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student Awards. The 1st and 2nd Place Graduate and Undergraduate Winners will present their research at the meeting. The poster session will take place once again at the Medical School Teaching Facility (MSTF) Atrium, 1st Floor; University of Maryland-Baltimore, 685 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD.

​

Awards for ASM Maryland Branch members
The ASM Maryland Branch each year honors several microbiologists by issuing the following awards:

​

Barnett Cohen Award. This award is presented to a professional microbiologist in recognition of their contributions, devotion, and interest in promoting the science of microbiology. This award was established in memory of Dr. Cohen in 1954. Dr. Cohen was president of the Branch in 1942, and president of the national society in 1950. The Cohen Award is intended for microbiologists with an established career record.  Therefore, to be eligible for the award, nominees must have worked in some aspect of the field of microbiology for at least 10 years past the graduation date of their terminal degree. The Cohen award was not awarded in 2026. 

​

Richard S. Schwalbe Award. This is presented to an outstanding bench microbiologist, who possesses those professional qualities embodied by Rick Schwalbe: superior performance in clinical microbiology, willingness to train and share knowledge, scientific curiosity, and a constant striving for excellence. The Schwalbe Award is intended for clinical microbiologists with an established career record.  Therefore, to be eligible for the award, nominees must have worked in some aspect of the field of clinical microbiology for at least 10 years past the graduation date of their terminal degree.This award was established in 2000 to honor the memory of Dr. Richard S. Schwalbe, former president of the Maryland Branch of ASM. 
In 2026 the Schwalbe Award went to Katharine Uhteg, Johns Hopkins Hospital

​

J. Howard Brown Awards. These are presented to an outstanding graduate and undergraduate student who is making a contribution worthy of recognition in the field of microbiology. This award was established in memory of J. Howard Brown in 1954. These awards are issued at the annual student symposium in May/June prior to the ASM Microbe meeting. 
In 2026 the J. Howard Brown Award Graduate winners were: Jaylyn King (1st), Yuzhu Mao (2nd) and Ian O'Keefe (3rd). The 2026 Undergraduate winners were: Aryaan Duggal (1st), Litzzy Romero (2nd) and Ema Hrvat (3rd).

​

Peggy Cotter Awards. These are presented to Early Career Branch Members (defined as up to 15 years beyond terminal degree) and must be used for participation in the annual ASM Microbe meeting. 
In 2026 the Cotter Awards went to: Kathleen Gillespie, BCCC; Kirsten Guckes, Salisbury University; Mairui Gao, UM-College Park

​

Upcoming deadlines for nominations:
We strongly encourage you to nominate your colleagues for these awards. Self-nominations are also welcome. Please submit the nominations for the 2025 awards via this link: https://www.asmmdbranch.com/awards-and-nominations
●    Peggy Cotter Award applications: Open now – will close Feb. 1, 2027.
●    Barnett Cohen Award: nominate by April 5, 2027
●    Richard S. Schwalbe Award: nominate by April 5, 2027

​

Board of Directors
ASM Maryland Branch meetings are largely possible due to the efforts of our Board of Directors, who are all volunteering their time for the branch activities. I would like to thank the 2025-26 Board and particularly President Dr. Muyideen Haruna, Morgan State University for his leadership the past year (he will serve as past-President) as well as Dr. James Kaper, our outgoing Councilor.  We welcome President-Elect Dr. Kathleen Gillespie and thank Dr. Robert Ernst for serving as our new Councilor. We are also fortunate to have Monica Smith (Treasurer) and Richard Pfeltz (Secretary) continuing to serve in their roles – thank you for your continued guidance. We would also like to thank Michelle Snyder, Nick Carbonetti, Birthe Kjellerup, James Kaper, and Jenn Kerr for continuing to serve the ASM Maryland Branch as members of the Board of Directors. The Board would like to encourage all members to reach out to us with suggestions, ideas, questions, and feedback.

​

ASM Membership
We invite both members and non-members of the ASM Maryland Branch and National ASM organization to visit the Branch website (https://www.asmmdbranch.com/), which contains information about the three Maryland Branch awards (Barnett Cohen, Richard S. Schwalbe, and J. Howard Brown Awards) and information about the four upcoming meetings. Branches of ASM are the foundation of the National organization and play an important role in ASM’s functionality. 

​

As such, the ASM Maryland Branch membership is open to the general public with the only requirement being an interest in microbiology. 

​

Branch memberships are only $20 for Full, $5 for Student, and free for Emeritus memberships. We encourage those who would become members locally to also become members of the 
National ASM organization. Through National ASM (www.asm.org), you may choose to be a Supporting, Contributing, or Premium member, with Contributing and Premium members eligible for discounts to national conferences and meetings as well as discounts on journals and educational materials. For current students and post-doctoral scholars, the National ASM organization continues to offer a discounted membership.

ASM Maryland Branch Sponsorships
The activities in the Maryland Branch are based on volunteers and we are grateful for the members who contribute. We also rely on sponsors to make the events possible during the year and for making it possible for offering reduced registration fees to students, so they are able to attend the meetings, present research, expand their networks and contribute to the branch and field of microbiology.

​

The Maryland Branch offers four levels of sponsorships ranging from $500 to $2000. Sponsorship info can be found here: https://www.asmmdbranch.com/sponsorship. If you or somebody you know might be interested in sponsoring one or more meetings, please feel free to contact me (aestes@towson.edu). 

ASM Maryland Branch T-shirts 
We are continuing the successful T-shirt sale and expanding to offer additional colors (white, oatmeal and grey) this year. The logo had been commissioned a few years ago by Grace Deitzler, postdoctoral fellow, artist, and microbiologist at Harvard University (sites.google.com/oregonstate.edu/gracedeitzler/home). 

The cost for a T-shirt will only be $15 and will include a free “crabby” sticker. Please contact Bob Ernst (rkernst@gmail.com) if you are interested in purchasing t-shirts. They will be delivered at the next branch meeting. 

Together with the rest of the Board of Directors, I’m looking forward to the many exciting activities that we have planned for the ASM Maryland Branch in the coming year. We can’t wait to see you at our next meeting—whether you’ve been attending for years or are planning to attend for your first time. Please feel free to bring a colleague and/or a friend to the meetings this year – we are excited to welcome everybody.

Kind regards,

Anne Estes, PhD
2026-2027 President
American Society for Microbiology, Maryland Branch
Email: aestes@towson.edu