The II International Conference on Antimicrobial Research (ICAR2012) will be a forum for the presentation, exchange and dissemination of information and experiences on anti-microbe strategies, in biotic or abiotic environments, in planktonic or adhered states, in biologically specific or unespecific ways, in vitro or in vivo, in a general context marked by the threat posed by the increasing antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic microorganisms. “Anti” is here taken in a wide sense as “against cell cycle, adhesion, or communication”, when harmful for the human health, industry or economy (infectious diseases, chemotherapy, food, biomedicine, agriculture, livestock, biotechnology, water systems...). It will cover topics on antimicrobial resistance, (early) microbial and resistance detection, enhancement of innate defences against pathogens, as well as methods & techniques.TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED (SEE FULL LIST AT THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE)Antimicrobial chemistry (experimental and computational). Analytical detection of antibiotics in complex samples. Synthesis and screening of novel chemical compounds for antimicrobial action. Natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic antibiotics. Analogs. Structural determination. In-silico/ab-initio/de-novo antimicrobials discovery. New targets for antimicrobials. Rational design of antimicrobials. Bioinformatics and comparative genomics for the identification of antimicrobial targets… Antimicrobials mechanisms of action. Methods and Techniques. Antimicrobial resistance. Superbugs. Multi-resistant strains. Emerging and re-emerging pathogens. Microbial resistance to antibiotics and biocides. Molecular mechanisms. Resistance genes. Prevention of resistance. Surveillance & statistics. Genetics and Proteomics. Emerging and re-emerging bacteria and fungi in humans, animals, and plants. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin Intermediate/Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA/VRSA), Clostridium difficile, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE), Cryptosporidium, Plasmodium parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania species, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Cryptococcus, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Helicobacter spp., Enterobacter sakazakii, Serratia spp., Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (FQRP)...Strengthening of innate immune system as antimicrobial strategy. Immunotherapy, immunomodulating agents, cytokines (interleukins, colony-stimulating factors, interferons…), hormones… Novel vaccines for preventing or treating disease…