2006 PulseStar Awards

Presented by APHL and CDC/FDDB

We’re in the South, right?

You might be a PulseNut…

“PulseNut”

You might be a PulseNut…

• …if your two dogs are named BioNumerics and Quanitity One.

• …if you refer to your new baby as your “bundle file”full of joy.

• …if you think the street on the TV show Desperate Housewives is named “Listeria Lane.”

• …if you know by heart the kb values for the Braenderup standard.

…you just might be a PulseNut

• If your doodling from the morning staff meeting turns out to be the PulseNet logo…

• If next to the pictures of your children, you carry in your wallet pictures of your latest gel images…

• If you believe that one of Snow White’s 7 dwarves goes by the name Grumpensis…

• If you have twins and you refer to them as doublets…

You might be a PulseNut…

• …if in the last presidential election, you cast a write in vote for Dr. Swaminathan.

You can’t give Rednecks money…

You might be a PulseStar if…•You successfully subtyped Shigella, Listeria, E. coli O157:H7, Y. enterocolitica, and Aeromonas strains enabling linkage of additional cases•You successfully identified 3 unique strains of Salmonella Typhimurium associated with illegally imported unpasteurized queso fresco cheese and linked them with dozens of infections in cheese consumers in Southern California and Mexico•You collaborate with state (and County!) epidemiologists and other PulseNet labs to identify related cases of foodborne illness

PulseStar Award Winner:

Cathy Adams

San Diego CountyPublic Health Laboratory

You might be a PulseStar if…•You discover the ConAgra E coli O157 outbreak in 2002 that results in the second largest ground beef recall on record •You receive consistent accolades from disease control epidemiologists for your promptness and expertise in identifying and reporting clusters •You develop and implement a dedicated data base to track all isolates that are subtyped•You detect numerous outbreaks of foodborne illness using PulseNet tools, including a recent outbreak of Campylobacterosis associated with milk in the Colorado prison system

PulseStar Award Winner:

Ann Woo-Ming

Colorado Department ofPublic Health and Environment

PulseStar Award Winner:

You might be a PulseStar if…•You perform PFGE in a timely manner even though you have other lab responsibilities •You improve the quality of your gel images and make suggestions for improving foodborne disease surveillance overall•You help hospitals investigate clusters of nosocomial infections and provide rapid turn around for investigations of invasive Neisseriameningitidis clusters •You work to overcome the physical separation that impedes interaction between lab and epi •You establish an electronic communication flow of PulseNet data to epidemiology

PulseStar Award Winner:

Alison Houston

University of IowaHygienic Laboratory

Congratulations to all 9 of the nominees and to our

PulseStar Award Winners

PulseNet International Recognition Awards

Brent Gilpin

Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Ltd

Christchurch, New Zealand

In recognition of his dedication and outstanding support of PulseNet Asia Pacific and the establishment of PulseNet Aotearoa (New Zealand)

Susanna Lukinmaa

Statens Serum InstitutCopenhagen, Denmark

In recognition of her dedication and outstanding support of PulseNet International in the establishment and implementation of PulseNet Europe

Lai-King Ng

National Microbiology LaboratoryWinnipeg, Canada

In recognition of her dedication and outstanding support of PulseNet International with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between PulseNet Canada and PulseNet USA

Thanks for Coming to Miami!