General Sessions
Explore the full 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Microbe 2026 program and add these must-attend sessions to your itinerary to experience the science, innovation and community driving the field forward.
Discover all the sessions 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Microbe 2026 has to offer.
Join us for the Opening General Session of 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Microbe 2026, where we kick off with welcome remarks from 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ President Alexander McAdam, M.D., Ph.D., D(ABMM), and a society update from 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ CEO, Stefano Bertuzzi, Ph.D., MPH. The program includes recognition of the 2026 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Awards and Prize recipients and the American Academy of Microbiology 2026 fellows, watch a virtual presentation from Lifetime Achievement Awardee, developer of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D.
The session concludes with a featured scientific keynote highlighting cutting-edge microbiome research. Speakers representing each of the 3 co-located meetings at 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Microbe—Applied & Environmental Microbiology, Health, and Mechanism Discovery—will present diverse perspectives on microbiome science. This multidisciplinary keynote brings together leaders across microbiology to showcase the latest discoveries and their implications for human, animal and environmental microbiomes.
Don’t miss this dynamic opening session for important 91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ updates and a distinguished lineup of speakers at the forefront of microbiology.
Stefano Bertuzzi, Ph.D., MPH
CEO
American Society for Microbiology
Alexander McAdam, M.D., Ph.D., D(ABMM)
91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ President 2025-2026
Chief, Department of Laboratory Medicine; Medical Director, Infectious Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D.
91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Lifetime Achievement Awardee, Developer of CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing and 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate
Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Lawrence David, Ph.D.
91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Applied & Environmental Microbiology Meeting Keynote Speaker
Assistant Professor in Duke University’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Associate Director of the Duke Microbiome Center
Duke University
Joao Xavier, Ph.D.
91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Applied & Environmental Microbiology Meeting Keynote Speaker
Assistant Professor in Duke University’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Associate Director of the Duke Microbiome Center
Duke University
Wendy Garrett, M.D., Ph.D.
91Â鶹ÌìÃÀ Mechanism Discovery Meeting Keynote Speaker
Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Chan School of Public Health
Harvard Medical School