Legionnaires’ Disease – Fifty years of research – is it time to update the paradigm?”.

Dr. Howard Shuman; Principal at Gordon & Rosenblatt LLC

Abstract: In July 1976 a group of veterans attending the US Bicentennial Celebration in Philadelphia became ill and several succumbed to an undiagnosed form of pneumonia. In less than six months, intense detective work at CDC uncovered the cause of the veterans’ illness; a previously unknown species of gram-negative bacteria that was given the name, “Legionella pneumophila”. In the intervening fifty years, a tremendous amount of information has been accumulated that illustrates the novel and surprising biology and biochemistry of this and related organisms. Nevertheless, more and more people all over the world contract and die from Legionnaires’ Disease. Perhaps more effort should be focused on ways to control the exposure of people to Legionella.

What is Gordon & Rosenblatt? Gordon & Rosenblatt, LLC is a NYC-based consulting firm that specializes in protecting public health by preventing the spread of waterborne diseases including Leginonaires’ disease, and infections by non-tuberculous mycobacteria and Pseudomonas. The firm’s work includes response and recovery to outbreaks, helping clients develop and implement water management plans and multi-pathogen testing programs, and assistance in managing building water systems during the planning, design and construction phases of projects. (https://www.gordonrosenblatt.com/)

Shuman’s Bio: Howard A. Shuman joined Gordon & Rosenblatt as a Principal in 2021. He was a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Chicago and a Professor the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University. He has studied Legionella for more than 40 years. His research group was the first to determine the DNA sequence of Legionella pneumophila, made significant contributions to the identification of the Dot/Icm Type IV secretion system, completed genome sequences of 38 Legionella species and identified diverse effector-encoding genes and the sequences of the corresponding TFSS components. Dr. Shuman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served on the Editorial Boards of mBio, Infection and Immunity, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and Protist. He is a graduate of Harvard University (PhD) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (BS).