Name: International Organization for Mycoplasmology (IOM) Records
Dates: 1898-1999 (bulk 1970-1990)
Extent: 15 cubic feet
Historical Note: The International Organization for Mycoplasmology was established in late 1974. The field of mycoplasmology began in 1898 when French scientists E. Nocard and E. R. Roux discovered that a small bacterium caused infectious pleuropneumonia of cattle. As the twentieth century progressed more researchers studied this group of microbes known as "pleuropneumonia-like organisms," or "PPLO." The 1972 Ciba Foundation "Symposium on Pathogenic Mycoplasmas" for researchers interested in human, animal, plant, and insect mollicute diseases inspired international collaboration in mycoplasmology. In 1974, the University of Bordeaux II and the Institut Nationale Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France sponsored the larger "Symposium on Pathogenic Mycoplasmas of Man, Animals, Plants, and Insects" in Bordeaux. After this symposium a group of participants met and planned committees to organize a new organization for mycoplasmologists. During the fall of 1974 the new International Organization for Mycoplasmology (IOM) accepted membership fees. The IOM in September of 1976 held its first international congress in Glasgow, Scotland, in conjunction with a meeting of the British Society for General Microbiology. In 1978, the IOM held its first autonomous international congress in Freiburg, Germany; since that date, biennial congresses have taken place in cities throughout the world. That same year the IOM took over sponsorship of the already established Program on Comparative Mycoplasmology, calling it the International Research Program on Comparative Mycoplasmology (IRPCM). In 1979, in conjunction with the University of Bordeaux II and the Institut Recherche Agronomique, the IOM held the first of a series of Mycoplasma Techniques Courses in Bordeaux, France. In honor of past members and significant contributors to the field of mycoplasmology, the IOM established four awards to recognize outstanding achievement in mycoplasmology: The Louis Dienes Award; The Derrick Edward Award; The Emmy Kleineberger-Nobel Award; and The Harry Morton Student Award. The IOM continues to stimulate interest and provide international collaboration and research in the field of mycoplasmology.
Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, pamphlets, photographs, programs, and reports from organizations and meetings that pre-date the IOM; contains abstracts, award certificates, award medals, books, bound volumes, clippings, correspondence, ephemeral items, film, newsletters, pamphlets, photographs, posters, programs, publications, reports, stationery, tax documents, videotapes, and working files from the IOM and mycoplasmology related organizations and persons
Arrangement: Organized into four series: 1. Predecessor organizations and meetings, 1967-1978; 2. International Organization for Mycoplasmology (IOM), 1974-1996; 3. IOM Members' Items, 1898-1993; 4. Photographs, Films, and Videotapes
Accession Number: M97-17
Provenance: Transferred to the UAB Archives in October 1997 from the UAB Department of Microbiology
Finding Aid: Printed descriptive guide by Donnelly F. Lancaster available in repository
Access Points:
Barile, Michael Frederick b. 1924-
Cassell, Gail Houston b. 1946-
Ciba Foundation .
Dienes, Louis b. 1885-1974.
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
International Association of Microbiological Societies.
International Organization for Mycoplasmology.
International Research Program for Comparative.
Mycoplasmology.
Kleineberger-Nobel, Emmy b. 1892-1985.
Mycoplasmology.
Mycoplasmas.
Razin, Shmuel.
Robert Koch Medal.
Tully, Joseph.
University of Alabama at Birmingham. b Department of Microbiology.
World Hunger Organization.
Document Types: Books, Bound Volumes, Clippings, Correspondence, Notes, Reports
Location: Manuscript Stacks
Related Series: PMC63, International Organization for Mycoplasmology Photograph Collection
Physical Condition: Acid free folders and acid free boxes
This page last updated on 5 August 1999.
Copyright: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.