Diagnostic and therapeutics in S. aureus

Organised by the ISAC Working Groups on
Rapid Diagnostics and Biomarkers / S. aureus

11 June 2026 at 12.00 - 13.30 UK / 13.00 - 14.30 CET

This webinar explores the rapidly evolving landscape of Staphylococcus aureus diagnostics and therapeutics, bringing together three complementary perspectives that span cutting-edge treatment strategies, real-time genomic technologies, and emerging diagnostic approaches for complex infections.

Programme

1. Phage therapy for prosthetic joint infections: results from clinical practice and future developments
   Pascal Birman, Phagenix
2. Nanopore bacterial whole genome sequencing: applications in MRSA analysis and hospital outbreak investigation
   Dr Steve Green, Southampton Univeritsy Hospital, UK
3. Evaluating outbreaks of Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
   Dr Anne Voor in ‘t holt, ErasmusMC, Netherlands

Moderators:

Prof. Kordo Saeed, Chair of ISAC's Rapid Diagnostics & Biomarkers Working Group, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust / University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Dr Michael David, Secretary General of ISAC's S. aureus Working Group, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Speaker bios

Pascal Birman MD, has 30 years of experience in medical research and pharmaceutical development, particularly in endocrinology and metabolic diseases. After a career as a physician at the AP-HP (1981-1990), he joined the Servier Group as Head of International Projects, and then held the executive positions of Director of Therapeutic Research and Clinical Operations Director for Europe and Asia. In 2004, Dr. Birman joined the pharmaceutical company Ipsen where he worked for 13 years in several key positions until becoming Vice President of Global Clinical Development Programs.

Dr Steve Green is a Clinical Scientist and NHS microbiologist at University Hospital Southampton (UHS). With over 30 years of experience in molecular microbiology, his scientific interests are in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of healthcare-acquired bacterial infections including S.aureus. He is the lead for applying bacterial typing to outbreak investigation for the trust infection prevention team and previously headed the Public Health England C.difficile Ribotyping Network regional service for the South East.

He is a member of the Wessex Infection Network for Genomics (WING) and the scientific lead for an R&D group that is implementing nanopore-based metagenomic sequencing into microbial diagnostics as part of the NHS Genomic Network of Excellence: Severe Presentation of Infectious Disease.

As a member of the Association for Laboratory Medicine he has been secretary and chair of their Microbiology Professional Committee. He is currently chair of the UHS Microbiology Laboratory Development Group.

Dr Anne Voor in ’t holt is a clinical epidemiologist at Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam. She obtained her PhD in 2018 on in-hospital transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens and is currently an assistant professor in infection prevention and control research. Her work focuses on microbial-safe healthcare environments, pathogen transmission dynamics, smart surveillance strategies, and outbreak management.