The 41st Congress of the European Society of Mycobacteriology (ESM-2021) was held online on June 28-29, 2021. The largest international society in the field of fundamental and applied research on the causative agent of tuberculosis and other mycobacteriosis has been holding its annual congresses since 1980. The only exception was 2020, when the congress was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The online ESM-2021 included the following main sections. New frontiers in next-generation sequencing (of special interest were talks on Applied genomics for tuberculosis diagnosis and surveillance; Unravelling the missing link between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium canettii in Ethiopia). Host pathogen interaction (in particular, lectures Systems Approaches to Identifying Bacterial Determinants of TB Infection Outcomes; Interaction Between Host Defence Peptides and Mycobacteria). Biomarkers (in particular, lectures TB diagnostics after the pandemic; Identification of drug resistance levels using RNA biomarkers-based DST; Within-host genetic micro-diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the link with tuberculosis disease features).
Researchers of the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics of the Institute actively participated in the event. Head of the laboratory Igor Mokrousov chaired the section “New Frontier in Next Generation Sequencing”. Posters were presented by: Anna Vyazovaya ("Changes in population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in northern Russia over 13 years"), Daria Starkova ("Drug resistance of Mycobacterium avium complex clinical isolates"), and Alena Gerasimova (“Increasing proportion of strains of ancient sublineage of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype among patients with HIV-tuberculosis coinfection”).
Within the framework of the congress, special prizes were awarded. The Gardner Middlebrook Award for lifelong achievements in mycobacteriology was given to Stefan Niemann from Research Center, Borstel, Germany. The Gertrud Meissner Award for early carrier scientist was awarded to Josephine Bryant from the University of Cambridge, England.
It was decided to hold the next ESM congress in Tirana (Albania) in 2022.
Website of the European Society for Mycobacteriology: https://esmycobacteriology.eu/
Previous Congresses: https://esmycobacteriology.eu/Events/Previous-Congresses.aspx
