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Welcome to the Pharmaceutical Microbiology Forum (PMF)

The Pharmaceutical Microbiology Forum (PMF) is a not-for-profit scientific and educational organization founded in 1992 to provide a forum for microbiologists involved in the pharmaceutical, medical device, personal product, biotechnology, cosmetic, and related microbiology laboratory areas to exchange information on microbiological issues. The PMF also provides an opportunity to interact with regulatory agencies internationally. The PMF website also includes a variety of other information useful to microbiologists. Sponsors are critical for the continued existence of the PMF. Please click HERE for a downloadable pdf file containing all you need to know to become a valued sponsor of the PMF, and thank you in advance!

Interactive Forum

The previous PMFList, devoted to topics of interest to microbiologists working in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and medical device industries, was formerly distributed over email via the Internet. While useful, this approach became prone to interruptions, sometimes spanning weeks, and required moderation prior to the appearance of questions and answers. Having become more cumbersome than desired, the email-based approach has been replaced with a more modern and responsive online forum (click the "Forum" navigation button). The online forum is available for anyone to read, but submitting questions/answers/comments will require that you register to the Forum. If you have any questions about the Forum, please send them to [email protected]. Thank you!

News

March 21, 2026: Tony Cundell has provided a review of "Pocket Guide to Clinical Microbiology", 5th Edition C.D. Doern and A. L. Bryson (Authors) American Society for Microbiology 2026 pp396. It is available at the Reviews page. Thank you, Tony!

March 16, 2026: The latest Regulatory Actions report has been posted. An update that includes information from the EMA, CDSCO, and FDA has been posted to the Reg. Actions page of the website. Updates are now cumulative, with the new filtering function making this feasible. For example, to look only at items pertaining sterility assurance, you could type sterility, or sterility assurance, or assurance, or portions thereof in the filtering box, and only entries containing the entry would remain in the data table.

March 13, 2026: The latest Compendial Updates report has been posted. Updates are now cumulative, with the new filtering function making this feasible. For example, to look only at items pertaining to the BP, enter BP in the filtering box. Over time, I do anticipate making improvements to the filtering feature (some have in fact already been made).

January 1, 2026:The YouTube channel for the PMF (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-HG1T9lzHXtOKJ67UMPLA) has many additional videos, These include basics of critical scientific thinking videos and a new video pertaining to the regulatory actions report, namely a sidecar video (https://youtu.be/0YeHPGOl5jU) Sidecar videos are intended to promote critical scientific thinking by presenting samples of questions that a reader of a scientific, technical, or even non-technical document, might come up with when reading with critical thinking engaged. Basics of critical scientific thinking are addressed in other videos at this channel. This first, introductory document pertaining to sidecars, presents more information pertaining to what is in, and how to use, these sidecar videos. As always, the sponsors of the PMF are greatly appreciated, and this is reflected in part by the inclusion of animations for each sponsor.

Links to all of the new PMF YouTube channel contents can be found at the PMF website Training page (https://www.microbiologyforum.org/Training.html).

July 8, 2025: A White Paper called "Critical Scientific Thinking, SOPs and Sidecars" has been posted on the Articles page. Here is the abstract from the paper:

"Critical scientific thinking should be encouraged when SOPs are written, trained in, and followed. This paper discusses some of the assumptions that can reasonably be made about SOPs, along with some basics of critical scientific thinking. The notion of 'sidecar documents' is introduced as one method of encouraging critical scientific thinking at every relevant step while minimizing disruptions to timelines related to such thinking."

It is available at the Articles page of the website.

Critical scientific thinking, and critical thinking in general, seems to be increasingly lacking in the current political climate and with the increasing prevalence of AI-generated answers. The author has also seen numerous examples of the lack of such thinking in technical environments. Critical scientific thinking is helpful when dealing with such issues as regulatory and compendial compliance.

Critical scientific thinking takes time, effort, and discipline. The author's belief is that such thinking serves not only to benefit the user of the thinkers output, but the thinker as well, making the time, effort and discipline worth the expenditures.

June 23, 2025: A new category has been added to the online forum: Events. Here, workshops, conferences, meetings, seminars, webinars, etc. can be announced. Also, the PMF home page section Sponsor News has been modified to now be Sponsor News and Events. Sponsors may provide announcements of, again, workshops, conferences, meetings, seminars, webinars, etc., along with registration information. The prinsipal requirement for posting such events by sponsors is that they contain material of educational value. Events that sponsors wish to announce via the Sponsor News and Events section and the Events page should be sent to David Porter at [email protected] who will, after a brief review and consultation with the sponsor, place them in the Events page and add an announcement posting to the online forum.

Sponsor News and Events

"Bulletins", events, or other items of current interest related to PMF sponsors can be placed here.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology Forum 2026. "Join us for the Pharmaceutical Microbiology Forum (PMF) 2026, set to take place in the vibrant city of Philadelphia, PA, September 30-October 1. This two-day event will bring together professionals, researchers, and experts from the microbiology and pharmaceutical sectors to explore pivotal topics shaping the future of the industry. PMF 2026 is thoughtfully designed to offer educational and training sessions that delve deep into the core areas of pharmaceutical microbiology, providing attendees with valuable insights and practical knowledge. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with innovative strategies and emerging trends that are crucial for maintaining excellence in microbial control and drug safety." This does not come from a current sponsor, but given the historical linkage of the Forum to previous PMF meetings, it seems appropriate to make this event announcement. Please see https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pharmaceutical-microbiology-forum-2026-tickets-1983725115220 for details.