American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
ASM`s meetings, journals and books explore the complete spectrum of microbiology, and collaborations with our partners strengthen relationships with academic, regulatory and industrial communities. ASM helps members advance their careers by providing professional development opportunities, fellowships, travel awards and workshops. With over 30,000 members, including researchers, educators and health professionals, ASM is one of the largest life science societies in the world.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Publishing company
- Industry Type:
- Publishing / Media / Marketing
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
About ASM
ASM accomplishes this mission through a variety of products, services and activities.
- We provide a platform for sharing the latest scientific discoveries through our books, journals, meetings and conferences.
- We help strengthen sustainable health systems around the world though our laboratory capacity building and global engagement programs.
- We advance careers through our professional development programs and certifications.
- We train and inspire the next generation of scientists through our outreach and educational programs.
ASM members have a passion for the microbial sciences, a desire to connect with their colleagues and a drive to be involved with the profession. Whether it is publishing in an ASM Journal, attending an ASM meeting or volunteering on one of the Society's many boards and committees.
Big parts of our everyday lives, from energy production, waste recycling, new sources of food, new drug development and infectious diseases to environmental problems and industrial processes-are studied in the microbial sciences.
Microbiology boasts some of the most illustrious names in the history of science--Pasteur, Koch, Fleming, Leeuwenhoek, Lister, Jenner and Salk--and some of the greatest achievements for mankind. Within the 20th century, a third of all Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to microbiologists.
HOW WE OPERATE
HOW WE OPERATE
In 2015 the ASM approved a new strategic plan that focuses the Society’s work on the following goals and objectives.
Visionary Society
ASM's culture of scholarship and innovation advances the microbial sciences.
- Enhance ASM's capacity to communicate authoritatively about the microbial sciences.
- Enhance ASM's position as the voice of the microbial sciences.
- Strengthen ASM's global partnerships and coalitions.
- Enhance ASM's capacity to anticipate and shape the future of the microbial sciences.
- Increase key stakeholders' knowledge about and awareness of the challenges facing and the importance of the microbial sciences.
Science Learning Organization
ASM both educates and learns from stakeholders to ensure the growth and the advancement of the microbial sciences.
- Cultivate an innovative environment for learning, content development and idea exchange.
- Increase efficiency and efficacy of programs by regularly assessing the program portfolio, individual services, and ASM's products.
- Enhance responsiveness to members and stakeholders by regularly soliciting and acting on feedback.
- Increase engagement of the global microbial sciences community in the work of ASM.
- Enhance ASM's capacity for personal, professional and scientific development.
Value to Stakeholders
ASM is an inclusive organization, engaging with and responding to the needs of its diverse constituencies.
- Increase ASM's ability to identify and develop the next generation of leaders for the organization and the science.
- Strengthen the relationship of ASM's products and programs to its brand.
- Increase our knowledge of and responsiveness to the current and emerging needs of diverse stakeholders.
- Improve outreach to current and potential members about the benefits of belonging to ASM.
- Increase awareness of the scientific community about ASM programs.
- Increase the opportunities for stakeholders to participate in or contribute to ASM.
- Enhance ASM's ability to address all members' needs through development and assessment of programs and services.
Organizational Excellence
ASM is a vibrant, responsive and transparent organization.
- Ensure ASM's governance, organizational structures, and processes are transparent, inclusive, efficient and agile.
- Strengthen the technology infrastructure to support ASM's goals.
- Ensure sufficient resources to achieve ASM's goals.
- Encourage a culture of experimentation and calculated risk taking.
Who We Are
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 47,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
The mission of ASM is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM accomplishes this mission through a variety of products, services and activities.
- We provide a platform for sharing the latest scientific discoveries through our books, journals, meetings and conferences.
- We help strengthen sustainable health systems around the world though our laboratory capacity building and global engagement programs.
- We advance careers through our professional development programs and certifications.
- We train and inspire the next generation of scientists through our outreach and educational programs.
ASM members have a passion for the microbial sciences, a desire to connect with their colleagues and a drive to be involved with the profession. Whether it is publishing in an ASM Journal, attending an ASM meeting or volunteering on one of the Society's many boards and committees.
Big parts of our everyday lives, from energy production, waste recycling, new sources of food, new drug development and infectious diseases to environmental problems and industrial processes-are studied in the microbial sciences.
Microbiology boasts some of the most illustrious names in the history of science--Pasteur, Koch, Fleming, Leeuwenhoek, Lister, Jenner and Salk--and some of the greatest achievements for mankind. Within the 20th century, a third of all Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to microbiologists.
Read ASM`s New Strategic Plan
Read ASM's New Strategic Plan
In 2015 the ASM approved a new strategic plan that focuses the Society’s work on the following goals and objectives.
Visionary Society
ASM's culture of scholarship and innovation advances the microbial sciences.
- Enhance ASM's capacity to communicate authoritatively about the microbial sciences.
- Enhance ASM's position as the voice of the microbial sciences.
- Strengthen ASM's global partnerships and coalitions.
- Enhance ASM's capacity to anticipate and shape the future of the microbial sciences.
- Increase key stakeholders' knowledge about and awareness of the challenges facing and the importance of the microbial sciences.
Science Learning Organization
ASM both educates and learns from stakeholders to ensure the growth and the advancement of the microbial sciences.
- Cultivate an innovative environment for learning, content development and idea exchange.
- Increase efficiency and efficacy of programs by regularly assessing the program portfolio, individual services, and ASM's products.
- Enhance responsiveness to members and stakeholders by regularly soliciting and acting on feedback.
- Increase engagement of the global microbial sciences community in the work of ASM.
- Enhance ASM's capacity for personal, professional and scientific development.
Value to Stakeholders
ASM is an inclusive organization, engaging with and responding to the needs of its diverse constituencies.
- Increase ASM's ability to identify and develop the next generation of leaders for the organization and the science.
- Strengthen the relationship of ASM's products and programs to its brand.
- Increase our knowledge of and responsiveness to the current and emerging needs of diverse stakeholders.
- Improve outreach to current and potential members about the benefits of belonging to ASM.
- Increase awareness of the scientific community about ASM programs.
- Increase the opportunities for stakeholders to participate in or contribute to ASM.
- Enhance ASM's ability to address all members' needs through development and assessment of programs and services.
Organizational Excellence
ASM is a vibrant, responsive and transparent organization.
- Ensure ASM's governance, organizational structures, and processes are transparent, inclusive, efficient and agile.
- Strengthen the technology infrastructure to support ASM's goals.
- Ensure sufficient resources to achieve ASM's goals.
- Encourage a culture of experimentation and calculated risk taking.
What We Do
ASM has various internal departments that work to advance the society's mission.
ASM ACADEMY OF MICROBIOLOGY
The American Academy of Microbiology (Academy) is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world's oldest and largest life science organization. The mission of the Academy is to recognize scientists for outstanding contributions to microbiology and provide microbiological expertise in the service of science and the public.
ASM PRESS
ASM publishes books by internationally renowned authors and editors with expertise in a broad range of microbiology disciplines.
ASM EDUCATION
ASM's education department works to educate individuals at all levels in the microbiological sciences. It supports both student and faculty development through fellowships, online publications, conferences, workshops/ institutes and networking opportunities.
ASM INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
ASM International Affairs' two essential programs, Global Engagement and Sustainable Development, leverage ASM's resources to ensure sustainable health systems strengthening around the world, where it is needed the most. Specialized programs in science communication, best practices, evidence-based policy making, microbiology mentorship and laboratory biosafety and biorisk management are central to ASM's work.
ASM has members in 158 countries who engage scientists and foster collaboration on a global scale. ASM currently focuses our efforts on 24 countries and is constantly working on expanding.
Laboratory Capacity Building: Better Labs, Better Health Globally
ASM utilizes the support of its members to provide clinical microbiology technical assistance in resource-constrained countries. More than 5,000 ASM members are clinical microbiologists with years of experience developing quality control programs, managing laboratories, instituting good laboratory practice, and training on diagnostic tools and procedures. ASM is able to rapidly engage these experts as consultants for the numerous LabCap projects that strengthen and expand clinical microbiological services, primarily through the training of laboratory staff.
LabCap Goals Include:
- Strengthen microbiology laboratory capacity and health systems for quality assured diagnostics of infectious diseases.
- Ensure institutionalization of quality management systems (QMS).
- Develop and implement tools and practices to support human capacity building.
- Support laboratory systems strengthening across disease areas.
- Advance ASM Mission through global networks.
LabCap's approach to strengthening laboratory capacity includes:
- Strengthening the national public health network for clinical microbiology
- Ensuring countries have ownership of the laboratory infrastructure and programs they develop, as they are ultimately responsible for implementing them
- Understanding that the strengthening and expansion of in-country laboratory programs requires a significant time commitment via mentoring
- Establishing South-to-South collaborations involving the sharing of evaluated, culturally appropriate, and highly effective strategies and programs
- Encouraging South-to-North collaborations in order to continue to strengthen the cadre of highly competent microbiologist mentors for LabCap Program countries
- Fostering the expansion of Centers of Excellence as international and/or regional centers for quality assurance and training by providing both access to ASM educational and scientific resources and linkages to ASM partners
- Promoting Partner collaborations by bridging the organizational affiliations of multiple partners and ASM to maximize coordination of international laboratory capacity building efforts and optimize resource leveraging
Support
U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Initiatives
Under a multi-year Cooperative Agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ASM is collaborating with the CDC's Global AIDS Program (GAP) on capacity building of global HIV and clinical microbiology laboratories in resource-limited countries throughout the world in support of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Initiatives. CDC's long-standing partnerships with Ministries of Health support improvement of critical infrastructure and services to build sustainable national public health capacity and help resource-constrained countries prevent HIV infection; improve treatment, care, and support for people living with HIV.
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)
ASM is supporting efforts to control and prevent malaria in Guinea as part of a multi-million dollar USAID-funded President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) program, StopPalu. PMI is a U.S. Government initiative designed to cut malaria deaths in half in target countries in sub-Saharan Africa. PMI is implemented by USAID and CDC and works in partnership with host country governments in Africa, and builds on existing national programs. The newly awarded 4-year cooperative agreement, led by RTI-International, involves a consortium of 4 global health organizations including ASM, Johns Hopkins’ JHIEPGO, and Guinea’s Centre Africain de Formation pour le Développement (CENAFOD), together with 4 Guinean nongovernmental organizations; the consortium will implement an array of multi-sectoral interventions to address malaria in Guinea.
Annual M&E Statistics
- Mentoring that enables visible, immediate results in improving laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious diseases
- Providing timely advice on laboratory renovations, equipment, and supply needs
- Developing and harmonizing international training tools for TB and other infectious diseases
- Maintaining close relationships with in-country laboratorians
- Coordinating with strong international collaborators to gain information on activities already ongoing in-country and harmonizing LabCap's efforts accordingly
- Collaborations with laboratory-oriented organizations leading to development of best practices
BioResource Centers
BioResource Centers
ASM's BioResource Centers (BRCs) provide scientists, educators, laboratorians, policy makers and students with cutting-edge scientific resources, training, and increase their knowledge-base of biological sciences. BRCs serve as locations for scientists and stakeholder to convene, offer access to cutting-edge scientific resources and provide ongoing professional development training through scientific webinars, virtual workshops as well as on-site workshops and lectures.
ASM JOURNALS
The mission of the ASM Journals program is to advance the microbiological sciences through the pursuit of scientific knowledge and dissemination of the results of fundamental and applied research. Edited by working scientists who are drawn from eminent institutions around the world, ASM Journals have delivered excellence and value for nearly 100 years. Known for their quality, rigor, and fairness, ASM Journals continue to provide current, influential coverage of basic and clinical microbial research. View all of ASM's journals.
ASM PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE
The Professional Practice Committee's (PPC) mission is to provide professional development opportunities and content to members to increase their skill, enhance their job performance and contribute to the profession. The PPC will serve the microbiology profession by representing clinical microbiologists and immunologists, microbiologists working in the pharmaceutical, environmental and food industries and biological safety officers. Currently, the PPC oversees professional certification, accreditation of postgraduate clinical training programs, the clinical microbiology portal, mentoring for clinical microbiologists, and the Speakers' Bureau. The PPC also develops evidence-based and consensus-based practice guidelines and offers professional development opportunities.