NCTC celebrates centenary symposium

The National Collection of Type Cultures is one of the longest established collections of microorganisms in the world. Its cultures reflect the history of clinical bacterial infections from the end of the nineteenth century to the present day.

NCTC will be marking its 100-year history throughout 2020. To start the celebrations NCTC will be holding a one-day symposium on 2 March 2020, to highlight the history of the collection, its curators and depositors.

The symposium will provide a forum for scientists to gain a better understanding of the historical importance of NCTC as a biological resource centre and its current role in supporting and promoting global health.

Aims and objectives

• create a forum for PHE and academic experts to present their NCTC-associated work
• promote and enable knowledge sharing and development of best practice in bacteriology
• raise the profile of the collection’s diverse isolates (Murray collection of pre-antibiotic era Enterobacteriaceae isolates, a wealth of strains with known antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, reference and outbreak strains, and pathogenic strains with unusual morphologies/characteristics)
• highlight the use of data from historical cultures in better understanding the phylodynamics of bacterial pathogens
• provide an opportunity for users of NCTC strains and genomic data to present and discuss their own work

Costs

The cost of attending the symposium is £35. Places for this symposium are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

For the full programme and how to register for this event, see the NCTC website.