Travel Awardees Share Their ASM Microbe 2022 Stories
Every year, ASM presents dozens of microbiologists at various career stages with travel awards to attend ASM Microbe. Here, we share a few of their experiences attending ASM's flagship conference.
Odion Ikhimiukor
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Odion Ikhimiukor | Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Award, ASM Microbe 2022
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: ASM Microbe is a dream conference, and most of my colleagues, many of us in the field, always want to attend. You get to meet a lot of awesome people and the top scientists that are in your field. I was super excited when I got the travel award because without it, it would be impossible to attend because of the expenses involved. I'm really happy, and it means a lot for my career. Now, I've made a lot of connections with so many people. I've gotten so many ideas on how I think that I could shape future research.
Sara Alosaimy.
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Sara Alosaimy | Infectious Disease Fellow, ASM Microbe 2022
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: I'm very excited to finally be at ASM Microbe. While we had 2 years of virtually meeting, getting to know each other by seeing people in-person has been very rewarding. ASM Microbe gives you the opportunity to meet brilliant minds and exchange ideas that are beyond the capacity of a single institution where interactions occur only with local mentors and peers. It has definitely expanded my horizon and my scientific thought processes.
Q: What advice would you give to prospective travel awardee applicants?
A: My advice for them is to be persistent, to stay curious and to seek the opportunities they think they're worthy of. I had been a fellow for 3 years, and in my last year as a fellow I have finally received the award.
Ninecia Scott.
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Ninecia Scott | URM/Minority Travel Award, ASM Microbe 2022
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: It's been really exciting to see how diversified microbiology is, to see a lot of people from the Black Microbiologist Association here and to just interact with people based on their science and based on community. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to come here was because I wanted to get involved in ASM. I'm still an early-career investigator and scientist; I get to see a lot of potential mentors and mentees in the future. The Minority Travel Award is a fantastic opportunity to meet other people within your discipline and explore other disciplines. I do host-pathogen interactions, so looking at the bacterial side, as well as the immunology side, and seeing other people geeked out about it; that's cool.
David Parker.
Source: American Society for Microbiology
David Parker | URM/Minority Travel Award, ASM Microbe 2022
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: To be accepted or even invited [to ASM Microbe] is like an invitation to play in the Super Bowl, it feels like you are here presenting and communing with the best-not just in your state, not just in your country, but the best in the world are here to show the advancements in microbiology. To be part of that community is an amazing honor.
Q: What advice would you give to prospective travel awardee applicants?
A: If there are people that are looking into applying for the Travel Award, but maybe haven't found the courage or discourage themselves by saying, "Oh, wow, I'll never get that, I'm not smart enough for that, my research isn't good enough for that." You know what? Always apply, simply because if you shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you still land among the stars. So, go out there, put your best foot forward, because you never know unless you try.
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: Two years after the start of COVID-19, I have all of this work that I'm so excited to share, but I've had no real opportunity to share it. So, I knew that it was going to be an awesome opportunity to attend ASM Microbe, specifically because of the breadth of different microbiologists that are here. It's such an exciting opportunity to see all of these different programs in both academia and industry. What wasn't expected was the level of energy that a person can get from something like ASM Microbe. It's this huge, diverse, exciting event, and everyone's here because we're like, really specific nerds.
Q: What advice would you give to prospective travel awardee applicants?
A: The advice that I would give is to be a storyteller in your abstract. If you're not giving background information that makes a person jump into your system with you and know why you care about it, then probably it's going to be hard for your abstract to stick out of a pile.
Ami Seeger.
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Ami Seeger | Richard and Mary Finklestein Award, ASM Microbe 2022
Q: What does it mean to you to attend ASM Microbe?
A: My advisor has been coming to the ASM conference for a long time, and he has always talked about how fun the experience is. It's a great place to hear first-hand about all the new and exciting research that is happening in the microbiology field. Some of my friends and colleagues that have graduated from our university are here, so it's a good place to catch up with them. And, of course, to meet and network with people who are working on a similar topic interest as I am.
Interested in applying for a travel award to attend ASM Microbe?
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