I first joined the ASR in 1994 and since then attended and presented at almost every meeting including joint European conferences. I am a microbiologist and a biochemist by training, and over the years worked on various aspects of rickettsiae and rickettsial diseases from characterizing individual proteins and vaccine development to identification of emerging pathogens and outbreak investigations in both academic and government institutions in Russia, France, and USA. Since 2011 I have become Professor at the College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University.  I have introduced numerous undergraduate and MS students to the field of rickettsiology, and trained 50+ individuals, including physicians, veterinarians and public health professionals in various laboratory techniques and protocols and their applications for clinical and field studies. I have worked internationally and served as an invited faculty and organizer of training workshops in China, St. Kitts-Nevis, Guatemala, Tunisia, Haiti, and India. I have served on both NIH and DOD MIDRP grant review panels, and as an Editor and Reviewer for many journals. After serving as a Secretary, Counselor, President, and Past President of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (for which I organized a recent successful meeting) and obtaining both ASM teaching fellowship (India), and an ASM Historical Archive grant, and participating regularly in ASM Career Mentoring, I decided I could do more for the ASR than solely attending as a presenting member. I have substantial experience I can bring to the ASR in a leadership role.  In particular, the development of a complete web-accessible historical archive for the ASR as it approaches the 50th year of its founding is an appealing goal for me.  Many participants in those early meetings are no longer with us or have retired so we should not lose this opportunity to pick their brains and files. I also feel that I can contribute to developing stronger ties with rickettsiologists around the globe. In conclusion, I would be very honored to serve in the capacity of officer of the ASR.

Roman Ganta, PhD, McKee Endowed Professor, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (https://bio.link/romanganta).  I am a member of the ASR since 1997.  My interactions with the society through the years helped greatly in advancing my career.  I feel that it is a great honor to have been nominated for the ASR Vice-President position.  If elected, I will bring in my years of wisdom and prior experience in promoting the good science in the field and preparing new generation scientists.  As (some of) you may know, I served on the ASR executive council from 2003 to 2010 (Secretary/Treasurer, Vice-president, and President).  When serving as the Secretary/Treasurer, I was the first person to introduce writing an NIH R13 conference grant which was funded.  The grant money to its entirety was used to pay for travel by several graduate students to attend the Spain 2005 meeting.  The NIH submissions to secure support were successful throughout my service to the ASR to fund meetings at Pacific Grove, CA (2006), Colorado Springs, CO (2007), and Hilton Head Island, SC (2009).  The funds were mostly used for travel awards and this tradition is continued to this day.  The ASR travel awards continue to provide opportunities to young scientists to grow in the field, feel inclusive and network well.  I was also instrumental in organizing all national meetings from one location; Kansas State University from 2006-2020 where I was a professor.  This helped greatly in coordinating the ASR conferences flawlessly.  My vision has always been to promote the growth of the new generation of scientists engaged in research on rickettsiales and rickettsial diseases.  I feel that it is important to have an inclusive approach to cover diverse areas of research from epidemiology, ecology, clinical aspects, cellular and molecular pathogenesis, molecular biology, molecular genetics, immunology, to investigate the roles of host, vector, pathogen and environment in studying rickettsial diseases; all of which leading to translational outcomes.  With my broadly focused research expertise on basic and translational research aimed at investigating Ehrlichia, Anaplasma and Rickettsia species and the diseases the pathogens cause, I am well-positioned to bring the collective wisdom from our community while promoting new generation of rickettsiologists to grow in the field as impactful scientists.   

I am a bacterial cell biologist with longstanding interest in understanding the mechanisms of growth and adaptation in alphaproteobacteria. My lab at Johns Hopkins University has historically leveraged the dimorphic, environmental model organism Caulobacter crescentus to address fundamental questions of bacterial growth and morphogenesis. In the last few years, we have initiated studies using Rickettsia parkeri as a model to probe the cell biology of rickettsial species during intracellular growth. I am excited to be a part of the rickettsiology community, and hope to contribute to the Society by leveraging my experiences in planning conferences and in the operations of other scientific societies. Most relevant of these are my experiences as co-chair of two Gordon Research Conferences, as a member of the ASM Microbe meeting planning committee, and as a member of the Women in Cell Biology Committee of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). I also bring organizational experiences gained as a Councilor for the ASCB, where I have helped to guide Society operations for the last few years. I would be honored to serve the ASR as Vice-President and help to advance the Society’s mission and the field of rickettsiology. 

I am submitting this summary of my work and contributions to the field of Rickettsiology as part of my candidacy for the position of Vice-President for the American Society for Rickettsiology (ASR). For over fifteen years, my research teams at the University of Chicago and at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine have utilized a variety of cell biology, molecular biology and biochemical approaches to elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing spotted fever group rickettsiae (Rickettsia rickettsii, Rickettsia conorii and other pathogenic Rickettsia species) adhesion and invasion of target human cells with the hope of identifying putative targets that can be exploited for the development of novel anti-microbial therapies. Our research has helped to define the roles of a family of bacterial outer membrane proteins termed Sca proteins, and their putative host cell receptors in the progression of SFG rickettsial pathogenesis using in vitro and in vivo models. Using these tools, we have demonstrated that a subset of Sca proteins serve as bona fide protective antigens and have described their respective contribution to protective immunity against severe and fatal disease outcomes. Our recent published work has expanded the breadth of our studies to also include research into the modulation of host cell pathways that are used by pathogenic Rickettsia species to acquire essential nutrients for survival and growth, in particular within macrophages. To complement these studies, we have recently begun the generation, isolation and characterization of random transposon mutants in R. rickettsii strain Sheila Smith with the goal of finding genes and gene products that are involved in the survival of pathogenic species in mammalian phagocytic cells. I have successfully served as a principle investigator on NIH-funded grants to lead these projects whose work has resulted in the publication of several peer-reviewed articles, which have been widely cited by other investigators in the field. I have been an active member of the ASR since 2005 and have previously served as a Councilor-at-Large for this Society. I have demonstrated leadership in training current and future investigators in our field and will utilize these skills to help serve the Society in the position of Vice-President to the best of my ability should I be elected.

My name is Isaura Simões, and I am an Associate Professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. My first contact with the ASR was back in 2011, when I first attended the ASR meeting held in Crete, Greece, that year. Over these 13 years, I have gained so much by being part of this fantastic Society! I have established very productive collaborations, had the privilege of being awarded Travel Awards (both me and my mentees!) - which were critical for helping to support my participation at different ASR Meetings when I was in Portugal, had the honor of being part of the Scientific Committees of the 30^th to 34^th Meetings of the Society, and, most importantly, have met fantastic people and made many, many dear friends. The support and opportunities provided by the ASR have been invaluable, and I am deeply committed to giving back to the Society. I would love to have the chance of doing that now as a Councilor-at-Large. In this role, I aim to continue fostering the cooperative and welcoming spirit that defines the ASR. I will ensure that my actions contribute to the continuous thriving and success of the Society by promoting collaboration, inclusivity, and supporting both new and existing members. 

I have attended the ASR meetings and have been part of this community since 2010. The American Society for Rickettsiology holds a special place in my heart. This is the most welcoming scientific community I have ever participated in, and it provides a special place for mentoring trainees. We are all suckers for punishment, working on the most complicated obligate (for most) intracellular pathogens. When I was a postdoc, I said that I am out if it doesn't grow overnight or have genetics, yet here I am. The only reason I have stayed so long is because this is a fantastic group of scientists! I am a bacteriologist with over 17 years of research productivity, focusing on defining host-pathogen interactions using various in vitro and in vivo models with diverse pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia pseudomallei, and Coxiella burnetii. From my graduate training to today, I have studied how clinical disease is caused by bacterial pathogens, with a focus on the interplay between the pathogens and the host to identify virulence factors or processes necessary for pathogenesis. These studies have been used to identify vaccine candidates and develop novel vaccines for challenging pathogens, including P. aeruginosa, B. pseudomallei, and C. burnetii. I would be happy to serve as the Councilor-at-Large for the ASR.