PODCAST · science
microTalk
by Karl Klose
The talks from the researchers in the field of infectious diseases. The podcast is hosted by South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID).
Episodes
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When E. Coli's Day Is Gone and It Wants To Ride on…Cocaine. With Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D.
Cocaine action involves preventing the reuptake of the norepinephrine (NE) transporter, increasing NE and heightening nervous system stimulation. NE also signals through E. coli receptors to regulate its virulence, but is there a connection between E. coli and cocaine addiction? Dr. Vanessa...
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You Gotta Be Squid-ding Me!: microTalk with Ned Ruby and Margaret McFall-Ngai
The bacterium Vibrio fischeri colonizes the light organ of the bobtail squid, and this is one of the best characterized symbiotic relationships, thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. Ned Ruby and Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai (Caltech University). The symbiotic relationship between Ruby and his lab…
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How Microbiology Is Evolving: Insights from ASM Leadership and Researchers
microTalk, recorded live at ASM Microbe 2025, examines the current trajectory and future direction of microbiology. Karl and guests address scientific leadership within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), structural changes in the society, and the role of microbiology in addressing…
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Weed My Lips: Cannabis Viroids with Dr. Zamir Punja
Viroids are some of the most unusual biological infectious agents because they consist of only very small circular RNA molecules. They are too small to encode proteins, yet they are resilient and cause disease in a variety of agriculturally important plants, including cannabis, the sixth largest...
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Archaea for Me-a With Dr. Alexandre Bisson
Archaea are one of the three domains of life on earth, but these organisms are much more mysterious and less understood than either Bacteria or Eukaryotes. Dr. Alex Bisson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Brandeis University. His laboratory studies Archaea, primarily...
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Eradication of the Guinea Worm with Adam Weiss
Guinea worm infections have been plaguing mankind throughout recorded history. The Carter Center took the lead in the guinea worm eradication effort in the 1980's, when there were over 3 million cases per year. Through concentrated effort, this disease is on the brink of extinction, with only 14...
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CHARMing the Superbugs with Dr. Victor Nizet
Antibiotic resistant bacteria are threatening modern society by making antibiotics obsolete. Dr. Nizet is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD, as well as the faculty lead for the UCSD Collaborative to Halt Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes (CHARM). His laboratory…
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300 Days in Space with Astronaut Dr. Kate Rubins
Houston, we definitely do NOT have a problem…with interviewing Dr. Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut. Dr. Rubins is a virologist who has spent over 300 days in space, performing experiments aboard the International Space Station, where she was the first person to sequence DNA in space. We caught up…
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Gut on a Chip: Human Gastrointestinal Organoids with Dr. Hyun Jung Kim
Dr. Hyun Jung Kim, an Assistant Professor at Cleveland Clinic specializes in coaxing human cultured cells to differentiate and form tissues resembling the gastrointestinal tract, in order to study microbe-GI interactions. Dr. Kim discusses his surprising discovery of how common immortalized...
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Plague, Anthrax, and ASM, Oh My! With ASM president Virginia Miller and president-elect Theresa Koehler
Plague and anthrax are feared diseases due to high mortality rates following pulmonary exposure, and both are considered potential bioweapons. Dr. Virginia Miller, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and ASM President, studies plague, as well as other Gram negative...
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Microbes to the Rescue! Bioremediation with Dr. John Coates
Dr. John Coates, a professor at the University of California Berkeley specializes in environmental microbiology and how microbes can be utilized to resolve problems in industry. microTalk caught up with Dr. Coates at the ASMicrobe conference in Houston and discussed his research in applied and...
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The Evolution Revolution with Dr. Vaughn Cooper
The study of evolution has experienced a tremendous revolution with the advances in current sequencing technologies enabling e.g. rapid whole genome sequencing. Dr. Vaughn Cooper, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies evolution in microbes, has taken advantage of these...
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Adversary o' Malaria with Dr. Debopam Chakrabarti
Malaria continues to have a significant impact on humans. The Plasmodium parasites are transmitted through mosquito bites, and the disease has a tremendous impact on global health. Dr. Debopam Chakrabarti, a professor at the University of Central Florida who specializes in malaria. Dr.…
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"Ex" Marks the Spot: Exosomes with Ramin Hakami
Exosomes are small vesicles that that facilitate communication between eukaryotic cells. They resemble mini-cells, and act like carrier pigeons, trafficking various "payloads" among cells. Dr. Ramin Hakami is a Professor of Microbiology at George Mason University. Dr. Hakami studies how…
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Coxiella burnettii with Stacey Gilk
Coxiella burnettii causes Q Fever, a zoonotic disease that is rarely acquired by humans. But Q Fever has a history of being developed as a bioweapon because of its ability to be spread by aerosols and cause debilitating but not lethal disease. Dr. Stacey Gilk is an Associate Professor at the...
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Chytridiomycosis: Amphibians and Fungal Disease with Anat Belasen
There have been dramatic declines in amphibian populations around the world, and one of the culprits is the disease Chytridiomycosis. This is a skin disease of amphibians caused by two different species of Batrachochytrium fungi, and it has decimated frog and salamander populations and even…
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The Largest Bacterium, Thiomargarita Magnifica, with Jean-Marie Volland
Microbiology textbooks teach that bacteria are so small that they cannot be seen without a microscope, and that they do not contain organelles or a nucleus. Then along comes Thiomargarita magnifica and smashes this dogma. T. magnifica is a giant bacterium that reaches 2 cm in length and can be...
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Vibrio vulnificus (and other Vibrios) with Salvador Almagro-Moreno
Vibrios are marine bacteria that live in aquatic environments with a lot of other microbes, and occasionally a particular strain will arise that can cause serious disease in humans and can spread through the population in pandemics. V. cholerae causes large pandemics of cholera, and V. vulnificus...
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Get a Whiff of Cdiff: A Discussion About C. difficile with Vincent Young
One of the consequences of the "Antibiotic Era" has been the increased occurrence of infections caused by Clostridioides difficile, also known as "Cdiff", which in some cases can be life-threatening. Antibiotics alter the microbes that live in the gastrointestinal tract (the "microbiome")…
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A Career in the Time of Cholera: A Discussion with ASM Lifetime Achievement Award Winner John Mekalanos
Dr. John Mekalanos (Harvard Medical School) has devoted his career to the study of bacterial pathogens, with a special emphasis to understanding Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes the deadly disease cholera. And what an amazingly productive research path he has followed, from the…
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"Crypto" currency: Cryptosporidium with Boris Striepen
Watch out for this kind of "Crypto" Currency: Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes diarrheal disease in humans. Cryptosporidiosis is a common cause of waterborne disease in the U.S., and responsible for serious and potentially fatal infections in HIV positive individuals and malnourished...
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067: The Chicken Runs: Campylobacter Diarrhea with David Hendrixson
Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of diarrheal disease in humans. However, C. jejuni is also naturally found in chickens and doesn't cause them any problems, so people frequently get sick from eating undercooked chicken. Dr. David Hendrixson is a Professor of Microbiology at the UT…
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066: The Eyes Have It: Corneal Infections with Eric Pearlman
Our eyes are one of the most sensitive areas on our bodies, and they are constantly bathed in microbes, and yet we rarely get eye infections. However, certain microbes can take advantage of minor injuries to the eye and cause very serious infections that can lead to blindness. Dr. Eric Pearlman…
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065: Cheese Please! The Cheese Microbiome with Rachel Dutton
Cheese is delicious, and also the product of a complex mixture of microbes. Different communities of microbes produce the wide variety of cheeses made around the world. Dr. Rachel Dutton is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego who studies cheese microbiomes. Dr. Dutton...
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064: Fun(gus) in the Sun(gus): Fungal Infections with Neil Clancy
Candida albicans is the most common cause of fungal disease in the United States. C. albicans can cause serious and often fatal systemic infections, especially in hospitalized patients with underlying conditions. Dr. Cornelius Clancy is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and…
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063: Tick Schtick: Lyme Disease with Tim Sellati
Lyme Disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted to humans through the bite of a deer tick, and can lead to the debilitating disease that most commonly is associated with arthritis, but can also cause heart and…
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062: The Rules of Attraction: Bacterial Magnetosomes with Arash Komeili
Some bacteria have the amazing ability to orient themselves using the earth's magnetic field, due to the presence of an intracellular organelle called the magnetosome, which are estimated to have evolved 3 billion years ago. Dr. Arash Komeili is a Professor at the University of California…
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061: TB or not TB? That is the Question… for Bill Jacobs
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most prevalent infectious diseases in the world, with approximately 10 million people becoming sick and 1.5 million people dying every year from Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Dr. William Jacobs is a Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine...
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060: Geezer Germs: Geriatric Bacteria with Steve Finkel
What happens when a bacterium gets old? Continuous culture of bacteria without any added nutrients can reveal the dynamics of "old" bacteria. Dr. Steve Finkel is a Professor at University of Southern California who studies what happens beyond "stationary phase" in bacterial cultures. Finkel…
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059: All Hail Females: Women in Science with Joan Bennett
Despite comprising half of the population, women are underrepresented as scientific professionals. The reasons for underrepresentation are multi-factorial. Dr. Joan Bennett is a Professor at Rutgers University who studies fungi; she is a past president of the American Society of Microbiology, and…
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058: Biotechnology Ideology: Genomics Technologies with Joe DeRisi
Genomics-based technologies have revolutionized science. From microarrays to next-generation sequencing, genomics technologies are having a tremendous positive impact on all aspects of human health. Dr. Joe DeRisi is a professor at the University of California San Francisco and co-president of…
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057: Undone by Fungi Again: The Mycobiome with Mahmoud Ghannoum
One reason is because the overwhelming bacterial members of the microbiome keep the fungi in check. Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum is a professor at Case Western University and the director of the Center for Medical Mycology, who studies fungal pathogens, such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcus....
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056: Lilliputian Evolution: Bacterial Evolution with Stanley Maloy
The presence of bacterial toxins in a remote coral reef got Stanley Maloy thinking about the evolution of pathogens, and where "emerging diseases" come from. Dr. Stanley Maloy is a professor at San Diego State University who studies Salmonella, which causes gastrointestinal illness as well as…
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055: The Age of Phage: Phage Therapy with Graham Hatfull
Bacteriophages ("phages"), or bacterial viruses, are the most abundant biological entity on the planet, and the microbial world is shaped by these predators and parasites. The ability of bacteriophages to specifically target and kill their prey is being explored as an alternate therapy to...
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054: Urine Trouble: Urinary Tract Infections with Harry Mobley
Frequent urges to go "number one" can be the symptom of a urinary tract infection (UTI), one of the most common types of bacterial infections in humans. Usually the treatment of UTIs is quick and effective, but sometimes the organisms causing the infection can get into the kidneys and cause…
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053: Vibri-Oh-No! - "Flesh Eating" Vibrios with Karla Satchell
Summer brings warm beach weather, and with it come gruesome news reports of "flesh eating disease" that people catch from the ocean. Vibrio vulnificus is a marine bacterium that prefers warmer seawater, and it can infect wounds and cause necrotizing fasciitis, also known as "flesh eating…
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052: Goodbye Guinea Worm: Guinea Worm Eradication with Adam Weiss
One of the more gruesome parasitic infections is that of the guinea worm: these 3 feet long worms typically emerge from painful boils in the feet to release eggs, and have to be slowly wound onto a stick over the course of days to weeks to pull them them out of the infected person's leg. This...
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051: Microbes in Hot Water: Climate Change with Sanghoon Kang
The earth is warming up, and many aspects of life on earth are changing with the changing climate. Increased global temperature has multifactorial impacts on living organisms, including microbes. Dr. Sanghoon Kang is an assistant professor at Baylor University who studies climate change and its...
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050: Into the Matrix: Fungal Biofilms with David Andes
Candida albicans is the most common fungal infection of humans. C. albicans can cause superficial infections like thrush or vaginitis when it overgrows within healthy individuals, but it causes much more serious disease when it infects immunocompromised individuals. C. albicans can form a...
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049: Trivia About Chlamydia: Sexually Transmitted Disease with Mary Weber
Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial disease in the U.S. Chlamydia infections in women can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, and in the worst cases ectopic pregnancy or sterility. C. trachomatis are obligate intracellular bacteria, which has made studying the...
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048: Zebrafish in the Time of Cholera: Vibrio cholerae with Brian Hammer
Vibrio cholerae causes a severe gastrointestinal illness that leads to massive fluid loss that can be fatal. These bacteria are normally found in the marine environment, but they can spread rapidly through human populations and cause large epidemics. V. cholerae are able to coordinate their...
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047: Urinary Commentary: UTIs and Proteus mirabilis with Karine Gibbs
Proteus mirabilis is a common cause of Urinary Tract Infections. These bacteria are found within the gastrointestinal tract, but they are sometimes able to ascend the urinary tract and cause bladder infections. One of the amazing attributes of Proteus is its ability to crawl across Petri dishes,...
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046: The Scoop on Whoop: Bordetella with Jeff Miller
Dr. Jeff Miller has been studying Bordetella pertussis, the bacterium that causes whooping cough in humans, for over three decades, and he keeps uncovering novel aspects of the pathogenesis of this organism. B. pertussis still causes outbreaks of human disease, and Dr. Miller has unraveled in...
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045: Tiptoe Through the Crypto: Cryptococcus with Paul de Figueiredo
The devastation of the immune system that occurs during AIDS renders patients highly susceptible to a number of infections that a functioning immune system can easily control. One of the most common infections in AIDS patients is Cryptococcosis, caused by a fungus. Cryptococcus neoformans can...
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044: Giant Viruses, Rickettsia, and Whipple, Oh My! A Discussion with Didier Raoult
Dr. Didier Raoult considers himself a "microbe fisher", always "fishing" to discover new microbes. He says that in order to fish successfully, you need to first create the correct fishing pole (tools), and then fish in places where no one else is fishing. Dr. Raoult is the Director of the...
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043: Native Alaskan Perspectives in Microbiology with Kat Milligan-Myhre
Dr. Kat Milligan-Myhre was raised in a remote Alaska Native community above the Arctic Circle, and was the first person from her village to obtain a PhD. in biological sciences. She is now a faculty member at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Her research focuses on determining the extent that...
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042: Undone by Fungi: Mucormycosis with Ashraf Ibrahim
There are increasing numbers of people with immunocompromised conditions that make them more susceptible to a variety of diseases, including fungal diseases. A group of fungi in the order Mucorales can cause a potentially fatal disease called Mucormycosis in immunocompromised and diabetic...
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041: There's a Germ in my Worm: Bacterial-driven Metamorphosis with Nick Shikuma
Many organisms metamorphose from a larvae into an adult, for example a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly, but some animals require bacteria in order to undergo this transition. This amazing bacterial-stimulated morphological transition is fairly widespread among different marine…
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040: Public Health in the Time of Cholera: Enteric Disease Intervention with Christine Marie George
Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that can spread among human populations in large epidemics when water quality is poor. Dr. Christine Marie George is an Associate Professor in the department of International Health and Environmental Health Engineering…
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039: Let's Veto Mosquitoes: Malaria with Gunnar Mair
The malaria parasite, Plasmodium, is transmitted to people through mosquito bites. The parasite needs to infect humans to undergo the morphologic transitions important for its lifecycle, but it also needs to infect mosquitoes to be able to complete its lifecycle. Dr. Gunnar Mair is an Assistant...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does microTalk have?
microTalk currently has 88 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is microTalk about?
The talks from the researchers in the field of infectious diseases. The podcast is hosted by South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID).
How often does microTalk release new episodes?
microTalk has 88 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to microTalk?
You can listen to microTalk on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts microTalk?
microTalk is created and hosted by Karl Klose.
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