Kirby Laboratory Blog - The Kirby Laboratory

JoVE manuscript accepted on use of Inkjet Printing to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing for single and drug combinations and follow up time-kill study methodology

11/29/2018

Postdoctoral fellow, Thea Brennan-Krohn, recently had a manuscript accepted in the Journal of Visualized Experimentation, aka JoVE. The title of the manuscript and link to the abstract are "Antimicrobial Synergy Testing by the Inkjet Printer-Assisted Automated Checkerboard Array and the Manual Time-Kill Method." We have been fielding a lot of questions over the past two years about implementation of inkjet printing antimicrobial susceptibility testing technology and thought it would be useful to share a video of the technique as well as classic time-kill analysis to analyze antimicrobial synergy. We are excited to learn that the CDC has decided to implement the technology in the near future in their Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network (ARLN), initially to test, the combination of ceftazidime-avibactam and aztreonam for activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-negatives.

KP Smith Speaking tomorrow at Harvard Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network as well as Broad Institute collaborator, Alejandro Pironti

10/31/2018

Kenneth P. Smith, PhD (Kirby Lab, BIDMC) “Bringing the reference laboratory to the bench: Use of inkjet printing technology for on-demand broth microdilution susceptibility testing”
Alejandro Pironti, PhD (Earl Lab, Broad Institute) “Carbapenemase-carrying plasmid found in three different bacterial genera in a single hospital over a nine-year span”

Symposium Description

"A Little Change Can Make a Lot of MIC Difference: the Inoculum Effect and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing"

8/1/2018

Thanks to American Society of Microbiology science writer, Julie Wolf, for highlighting our inoculum effect manuscript in the ASM mBiosphere Blog, "A Little Change Can Make a Lot of MIC Difference: the Inoculum Effect and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing"

Inoculum effect (IE) Manuscript Published Today!

7/27/2018

Now live on the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Webpage: The Inoculum Effect in the Era of Multidrug Resistance: Minor Differences in Inoculum Have Dramatic Effect on MIC Determination.

"Research Points to Potential Shortcoming of Antibiotic Lab Tests"

7/12/2018

Our inoculum effect manuscript in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy highlighted in BIDMC news release.

Superbugs: An Arms Race Against Bacteria by William Hall, Anthony McDonnell and Jim O'Neill

6/15/2018

"But it must be said that we have failed in controlling antimicrobial resistance whenever a physician has to make a choice between a safe drug that might not work and a dangerous but effective one." (page 38-39).

Congratulations to KP Smith on Inoculum Effect manuscript acceptance in AAC

5/26/2018

"The Inoculum Effect in the Era of Multidrug Resistance: Minor Differences in Inoculum Have Dramatic Effect on Minimal Inhibitory Concentration Determination."

The manuscript describes use of D300-based inkjet printing technology to investigate the inoculum effect with a resolution not previously possible. The inoculum effect is the general observation that the minimal inhibitor concentration (in other words level of resistance) of an organism to an antibiotic increases when a higher density of organisms is tested. This is effect is especially prominent for beta-lactam antiibiotics. It is of potential clinical concern during some types of infections when the organism burden is high. Here we explored whether subtle differences in inoculum within the range allowed by current standards can effect the susceptibility testing results that clinical laboratories obtain and provide to clinicians. Our findings for organisms with certain types of multidrug-resistance and very important classes of antibiotics was that these small allowable differences in inoculum could change the MIC determinations and the determination of whether organisms were susceptible or resistant to the antibiotics tested.

Congratulations to KP Smith who has won an "Outstanding Abstract Award"

3/28/2018

KP Smith wins an "Outstanding Abstract Award" otherwise known as the OAA, for his experimental work on the inoculum effect.

The award description on the ASM Microbe 2018 awards website: "Sponsored by ASM and determined by the ASM Microbe Program Committee, these awards highlight outstanding abstracts presented by students, residents, or medical/clinical fellows. All abstracts submitted by the deadline will be considered for these awards. Awards will include a cash prize of $200."

Catalyzing Research Innovation

1/18/2018

The laboratory has been fortunate to participate in Harvard Catalyst Reactor Program through the "Big Ideas, Small Features” Pilot Grant Award. A description of the program was recently published last week in Harvard Medical School news titled "Catalyzing Research Innovation."

A description of the supported work can be found at: "Reactor Program Awards Eight New Pilot Grants: Supports researchers with novel solutions to major clinical challenges."

Thea Brennan-Krohn awarded ACLPS grant to study synergy!

1/16/2018

Thea was awarded an Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) Paul E. Strandjord Young Investigator Research Grant to study antimicrobial synergy against multidrug-resistant pathogens!

"These grants are for research relevant to clinical laboratory science, clinical pathology, and laboratory medicine. Proposed research may be clinical, translational, basic science, quality improvement, and/or regulatory.

As this grant program is designed for young investigators, grant recipients must either be in training (residency and/or clinical or research fellowship) OR less than three years after their first faculty appointment (any level) at the time of application" . (quoted from: http://www.aclps.org/grant.html)

In the past, there have been only three such awards given nationally in a given year.