My PhD and post-doctoral work centered upon identifying genes required for bacterial cell division and sporulation (1985-1993). During my 28 years at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I have focused primarily on surveillance of circulating strains of the 3 major streptococcal pathogens, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, and S. agalactiae. Up until about 12 years ago I naively believed that PCR-based detection of sequences specific for pneumococcal capsular serotypes in upper respiratory specimens would also be specific for the pneumococcal species itself. I soon realized that in different pneumococcal carriage surveys that “pneumococcal serotype-specific” PCR amplicons were more commonly indicative of non-pneumococcal species such as Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus oralis, and Streptococcus infantis that expressed these same serotypes. It is possible that the broad species diversity of capsular serotype expression in the human upper respiratory tract has profoundly affected the global landscape of pneumococcal disease and population immunity. It follows also that analyses of more representatives of pneumococcal cps operons within related streptococcal species might answer questions of the species origins of different serotypes and frequencies of interspecies cps transfer events. The elucidation of the capsular serotype overlap between the Mitis group species is at a very early stage. Here I will summarize some of our findings.

I am working towards understanding global spatiotemporal dynamics of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) populations. The migratory pathways and connectivity of pneumococcal populations has implications for estimating the geographic impact of emerging phenotypes and can inform prevention and treatment strategies.

Julia is a research associate in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins and a Epidemiology PhD student at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her work on the PSERENADE project aims to summarize and assess the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on invasive pneumococcal disease incidence and serotype distribution in the setting of PCV10/13 programs. Julia received her MSPH in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control and certificate in Vaccine Science and Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her BS in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Johan F. Bernal is microbiologist with (c)master’s degree in public health from Andes University Bogotá, Colombia. He has been working approximately for 10 years from "one health" scope generating knowledge in antimicrobial resistance and molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases in Colombia. Last 5 years, he has been part of the implementation of genomics to understand antimicrobial resistance and the epidemiology in pathogens of global health concern. His working base has been “Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria-AGROSAVIA" involved in the Colombian program for antimicrobial resistance surveillance- COIPARS. He had participated in national and international projects, recently, he is part of NIH Global Health Research Unit, initiative of the Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance (CGPS) at Sanger institute in UK, and for 2 years, he has been bioinformatic area coordinator in AGROSAVIA. He has been involved in different OMS/PAHO pathogens reference networks in latin america (Pulsenet, Relavra).

Marta graduated in Pharmacy (MPharm) from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2016, during which she also studied at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). During this time, she also collaborated in a neuropharmacology project at The Scripps Research Institute. After graduating with high interest in the public health field, she volunteered as a pharmacist in a health promotion campaign in rural areas of Ecuador. Upon returning, she worked as scientific advisor trainee at GlaxoSmithKline in the Vaccines Medical Department, which sparked her interest in vaccines and vaccine policy. She completed an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2018, writing her thesis on the impact of quasi-mandatory vaccine policies in vaccine uptake in Australia. She has worked in epidemiology since then, starting as a public health intelligence analyst in the joint Department of Public Health of two inner London boroughs (Camden and Islington). She is currently a surveillance scientist in the Immunisations and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Division at the UK Health Security Agency, mainly on Invasive Pneumococcal Disease, Haemophilus Influenzae and Rotavirus.

Nicole Blackman, DNP, MN, RN identifies as an urban Indigenous Kwe (woman) with both Anishinaabe and German ancestry. She is a proud member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and actively involved in health equity advocacy efforts at the provincial level, as well as within her local community of Durham Region. Nicole is a Registered Nurse holding a Doctor of Nursing Practice attained through Walden University and has focused her academic and professional career on Indigenous health and the incorporation of the model of wholistic health and wellbeing. She has over 13 years’ experience working in leadership positions with an Indigenous focus. Positions she has held include Director of Professional Practice for Weeneebayko Area Health Authority in the James and Hudson Bay region of northeastern Ontario, Indigenous Lead at the Durham Region Health Department, Health Director for the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, and is currently the Provincial Director of the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council. Nicole has dedicated her advanced practice nursing career towards working collaboratively with the Indigenous population to strengthen health and social outcomes, recognizing the importance of cultural as healing in all forms of Indigenous health care.

Her research group has a major focus on investigating the physiology and pathophysiology of respiratory infections and inflammation from an ecological perspective, with the ultimate goal to design or improve treatment and preventive strategies for respiratory infections in susceptible populations. To this purpose, the team uses a fully translational approach, combining epidemiological, molecular microbiological, immunological and systems biology approaches to answer their research questions. Moreover, they execute mechanistic studies in vitro and in vivo.