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We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd Belgian celebration of International Microorganism Day to be held on Saturday September 21st at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
International Microorganism Day was laid down to commemorate the discovery of microbes by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1676. Since 2017, microbiologists across the world get together on this day to disseminate their passion for microbiology to younger kids and the broad public.
On this occasion, the Young Belgian Society for Microbiology is organizing a day filled with hands-on microbiology activities open to all ages. These activities not only highlight the relevance of microbiology in our day-to-day lives but also explore individuals’ artistic sides (virus-origami, painting with bacteria etc.).
We invite colleagues, students, parents and teachers to our IMD celebrations and experience an educational and fun way to start the academic year. We are also offering a reduced price for adults (10 euros instead of 13) to visit the Museum of Natural Sciences when accompanied with this flyer that would give access to all our activities. The entry fee for students and children between 4 and 17 years old remains unchanged at €5.
We are hoping that you will spread the word about our event to students, parents and teachers in your vicinity.

Symposium organized by the ULB on Monday September 16th, 2024 on the subject “Antimycobacterial drug development”. Location: Salle Solvay,building NO, Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels. Qualified researchers will present keynote lectures and Belgian PhD students or postdoc will be able to present short communications.

The inscription is free but mandatory through the following link (closed on September 16th, 2024):
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdc8gh3jqmaF6DY5Tqqxi5QSLvZElXywyOfXUYGrI6-lSANSw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Program divided in 4 sessions:
• New antimycobacterial and antimicrobial compounds in view
• New mycobacterial targets in view
• New drug regimens in view
• New antimycobacterial drug assessments in view

Among the qualified managers making an oral presentation:

• Prof. Jayanta Haldar (JNCASR, Bangalore, India) on « Vancomycin analogues in the pipeline of antimicrobial drug development”
• Prof. Alain Baulard (Institut Pasteur de Lille, France) on « Rewiring M.tuberculosis to reverse antibiotic resistance: Alpibectir from bench to bedside”
• Prof. Leen Rigouts (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium) on “Genetic variants across phylogenetic lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex may cause resistance in drug-naïve populations”.
• Prof. Gilles Berger (Université Libre de Bruxelles) on « Exploring transition metal complexes for human diseases »
• Prof. Véronique Fontaine (Université Libre de Bruxelles) on “Why to target GroEL1 and PDIM biosynthesis to fight M. tuberculosis ”

Born in 1921, Lise Thiry (https://belsocmicrobio.be/famous-belgian-microbiologists/lise-thiry/) passed away January 16th 2024, at the respectable age of 102! A time to remember her astonishing commitments, whether scientific, political or social, at a time when not everyone paid attention to women speaking. From 1947 she worked at the Institut Pasteur in Brussels, where she set up the Virology laboratory in 1952. Alongside many fundamental discoveries, her lab developed diagnostic tests for the detection of a number of viruses (e.g. scarlet fever, mumps, poliomyelitis, VRS, adenovirus, HIV). In 1985, she detected HIV particles in the milk of mothers from Rwanda, identifying a route of transmission and raising, for the first time, doubts about the universally accepted benefits of breastfeeding. In addition to her brilliant scientific career, in the early seventies, Lise started a political career at the socialist party. In 1985, she received the title of “Woman of the year” and became a member of the Senate. In 1990, she was part of the commission in charge of evaluating the impact of the new law legalizing abortion. She championed the rights of asylum seekers, and other excluded people. Besides her scientific publications, she wrote a series of books, including “Conversations avec des clandestins” (ISBN 978-2-87267-064-2, unfortunately not translated).
We present our condolences to her family. She keeps showing us the way to dedicating scientific research to the benefit of people and society.

Mini-symposium organized on February 23 (2 pm) at KU Leuven (Aula van de Tweede Hoofdwet, Kasteelpark Arenberg 41, Leuven). See leaflet for more info.

It is with deep sadness that we inform you that our colleague and friend Pierre Cornelis passed away on Saturday December 2nd. Pierre was Honorary member of BSM. Click on this link for an obituary written by VUB colleague Eddy Van Driessche. We would like to express our condolences to Pierre’s family, friends and colleagues.

The Young BSM board was established two years ago and consists of Belgium-based early career microbiology scientists with a passion for science communication. Our goal is to bring microbiology to the public through the organization of outreach activities.

Currently, the YBSM Board is looking for applicants who can strengthen the team with their talents of being a secretary, media curator, illustrator and/or else. We are looking for pro-active candidates who are interested in shaping what it means to do scientific outreach and defining our next goals. As a board, we are committed to represent the whole Belgian microbiology community, therefore we specifically urge young microbiologists from the French-speaking part of Belgium to apply.

Hence, if you are a BSM member and an early career scientist and you have an interest in science communication, committed to proactively participate and attend at least 6 meetings annually, don’t hesitate to apply by filling in the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/BFYvnRkur2. Applications will be accepted until 18/12/2023.