The 2nd Medical Mycology Training Network (MMTN) meeting

2nd MMTN focused on clinical and laboratory expertise

 

The success of the 1st Medical Mycology Training Network (MMTN) meeting held the previous year in Taiwan inspired the Asia Fungal Working Group (AFWG) to further develop the format. The 2nd regional MMTN was a 3-day event – held November 30 to December 02, 2010 in Singapore – that featured key presentations and parallel laboratory and clinical sessions, which helped achieve a more focused learning experience for participants.

Hosted by the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore), headed by Dr Lee Cheng Chuan, and supported by an independent educational grant from Pfizer, the 2nd MMTN boasted a faculty of global experts to support an agenda with joint sessions on main mycology topics, sharing of clinical cases from regional experts, and parallel sessions, where the group of 26 participants was broken up for laboratory and clinical sessions held at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore. The participants were from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

The invited international speakers/facilitators included Dr Deanna Sutton (USA), Dr Annette Fothergill (USA), Dr Thomas Patterson (USA), Dr Monica Slavin (Australia), Dr Tania Sorrell (Australia) and Dr Cheah Foong Koon (Singapore). Dr Brian Dzwonek of the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School and Haran Schlamm of Pfizer Global also spoke at the event. The AFWG Board members who were part of the faculty included Dr Tan Ban Hock (Singapore), Professor Arunaloke Chakrabarti (India), Dr Tan Ai Ling (Singapore), Dr Atul Patel (India), Dr Pei-Lun Sun (Taiwan), Dr Ariya Chindamporn (Thailand), Dr Siriorn Watcharananan (Thailand), Professor Zhengyin Liu (China) and Professor Ruoyu Li (China).

 

Some of the joint session topics included:

 

• The laboratory-clinical interface: Perspectives from a clinician and a mycologist
• Zygomycosis and identification of zygomycetes
• Rapid diagnostics
• Radiology and imaging in the diagnosis of fungal infections
• Therapeutic drug monitoring
• Diagnostic strategies and clinical approaches to fungal infections
• Uncommon difficult infections caused by Scedosporium, Fusarium, Trichosporon, and Paecilomyces      
• Diagnosis and management of cryptococcosis
• Dimorphic mycoses in Asia

 

As timely and accurate diagnoses of mycoses depend on good teamwork of clinicians and laboratory staff, providing training courses simultaneously for both groups, such as in the 2nd MMTN, is a beneficial activity. According to one of the trainees, “[The MMTN meeting was a] fantastic course. [It was] wonderful to have experts available to share knowledge and experience.” 

 

The MMTN series was established by the AFWG to provide essential knowledge and practical experience in medical mycoses, ultimately helping to improve patient outcomes across the Asia-Pacific region.