Interview with Patrick R. Murray, PhD, F(AAM), F(IDSA)

Why did you feel that it was important to write a book on this topic? What does your publication add to the field? 

Medical microbiology can be an overwhelming challenge for the student, with new pathogens and diseases constantly described. Basic Medical Microbiology is a concise summary of the most important pathogens and the diseases they cause, presented with a focus on what the students needs to know and not what would be nice to know. I believe the uniqueness of this book is that it is written by a clinical microbiologist with more than 45 years of successfully practicing in this field and educating medical and graduate students.

What is the most exciting aspect of your new publication? What chapter or topic covered in the new edition are you most excited about? 

The major difference between this edition and the first edition is the introduction of 8 chapters focused on clinical syndromes and the pathogens responsible for these diseases. For these chapters, the lessons are presented as clinical case studies of patients described in the scientific literature. I view these chapters as the clinical link to the 28 preceding organism-based chapters.

Who will find the greatest value from Murray’s Basic Medical Microbiology and why? 

I feel my original textbook, Medical Microbiology, provides a comprehensive discussion of this important field. But I also realize students need a fact-based summary of the field that can be used as either an introduction to microbiology or a review guide.

What new ideas, practices, or procedures do you hope your readers take away from your text? 

Ultimately (and I pardon if this is an over-simplification), the medical students wants to know “why” an organism causes a disease and the graduate student wants to know “how” the organism causes a disease. I believe both these questions are addressed in Basic Medical Microbiology by linking together the biology of the pathogens with the diseases that produce.

What problem do you hope the future generation of your specialty will be able to solve? 

I believe we are at the cusp of redefining infectious disease. Historically, we have primarily thought of disease from the perspective of one pathogen – one disease (based on Koch’s postulates). Knowledge gained from the study of the microbiome has introduced the concept that both health and disease can be caused by a community of organisms. As knowledge of the microbiome is refined, the student and teacher must understand how disease and our approach to treatment impacts of the microbiome.

Is there anything else about the Murray’s Basic Medical Microbiology you’d like to say? 

One of my greatest pleasures is having former students tell me how much they appreciated my efforts to make microbiology interesting for them. I hope I will have the same success with this second edition of Basic Medical Microbiology.

About the Author

Patrick R. Murray, PhD, is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He earned a BS from Saint Mary’s College and a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from UCLA. He also completed a clinical microbiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and is board certified in clinical microbiology. Dr. Murray has directed clinical microbiology laboratories at Washington University in Saint Louis, the University of Maryland Medical Center, and the National Institutes of Health. He previously served as the Worldwide Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs for Becton Dickinson.

Purchase your copy of Murray’s Basic Medical Microbiology here!