Founder and Honorable President

Dr. Mark Shirtliff (1969–2018)

Dr. Mark Shirtliff was a professor at University of Maryland-Baltimore, where he held a primary appointment in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis in the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and a secondary appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Mark was also the lead inventor and co-founder of the vaccine company Serenta Biotechnology, LLC that was established in 2017. The license is based on a multivalent vaccine strategy against infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Further development of the vaccine is continued by Dr. Jan Harro in the Shirtliff-Harro Lab at UMSOD and by Birthe Kjellerup-Shirtliff as Chief Scientific Officer in Serenta LLC.

Mark Shirtliff was a leading expert in the field of biofilm in the US and internationally. His childhood in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains lead him to University of Alberta, where he graduated with a bachelor in Geo-microbiology. After this, he moved to Texas, US to continue his education. Originally Mark wanted to pursue medical school to become a medical doctor, but he quickly learned that he over time would be able to help more people by performing research thus his goal became to develop diagnostics and vaccines to prevent biofilm infections. Mark graduated with his Ph.D. in 2001 from University of Texas Medical Branch, Galvaston TX in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. His thesis was titled “Staphylococcus aureus: Roles in Osteomyelitis.”

During graduate school Mark was introduced to a fellow Canadian biofilm researcher Dr. Bill Costerton, who at that time was the Director of Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE) at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. This was the beginning of an inspirational work relationship and friendship between Mark and Bill and a very prolific career in Staphylococcus aureus biofilm research for Mark – but it was way too short!

Bill convinced Mark that she should move to Bozeman, Montana and the CBE in 2001 to continue working on biofilms and was initially funded to work on drinking water biofilms in Dr. Anne Camper’s lab. He quickly obtained his own funding and returned to S. aureus research that was so important for him. The years at the CBE were instrumental in developing molecular tools, having important biofilm centered discussions and to get out in the wilderness to get great ideas. In 2003, Mark moved to Maryland and entered a tenure track position at UMB- Baltimore.

Mark was actively involved in leading the biofilm field forward. His engaging and very energetic way of behaving made him easy to talk to both about biofilms, science and completely other topics. He was very interested in listening to the junior scientists and to connect with the next generation in science. Therefore, mentoring and training of the next generation of biofilm scientists was a mission that he took seriously. Over the years, Mark trained many scientists in his lab – both graduate students, post docs and visiting scientists from around the world. He also initiated many collaborations globally and many of these excellent scientists are present at ChinaBiofilms 2019. He also organized numerous biofilm workshops at international conferences such as ASM Biofilms (American Society of Microbiology), ECCMID (European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases), EuroBiofilms and of course ChinaBiofilms 2017. Over the years, Mark was the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters on pathogenic microorganisms. He explored the biofilm mode of growth and the chronic diseases they cause.

Mark never forgot his Canadian roots and was a proud and energetic hockey (i.e. ice hockey) fan, who would travel far distances to cheer on his favorite team Edmonton Oilers. He also loved to take his family back to the Canadian Rockies to climb on glaciers and to tell great stories from his childhood and about interesting tree-ring counting studies and field trips as a geology major in college. He also kept in touch with colleagues at the CBE, which allowed him (and his family) to spend time in Montana during the summers. This would recharge his batteries with lots of fly fishing, floats on majestic rivers and good times with friends and family.

In Mark’s honor, we have started the “Mark Shirtliff Memorial Biofilm Foundation” (https://markshirtliffbiofilmfoundation.org/). Donations can be made via the website. The goal of the foundation is to support and encourage junior biofilm researchers to travel and initiate collaborations with other biofilm groups on a global scale.

The Board of Trustees include several members, who are present at ChinaBiofilms 2019: Birthe V. Kjellerup, Chair (Mark’s wife), Garth D. Ehrlich, Secretary and Treasurer, Kendra Rumbaugh, Vice President, James Kaper, Zhenbo Xu and Annette Moter. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions or would like to share a good story or memory about Mark.

We hope that you will participate in making ChinaBiofilms 2019 a successful follow-up to the ChinaBiofilms 2017 that Mark was an important organizer for.