Medical College of Wisconsin Microbiology & Immunology Seminars

Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Student RIP presentations take place in-person on Fridays from 12–1 p.m. Please contact the M&I Seminar Committee, microseminar@mcw.edu, for room location or other information.

September 27, 2024
Rip Kick-off

October 4, 2024
Perrin Schupbach
Advisor: N/A
p66Shc and TRPC channels: A Potential Interplay in Regulation of Renal Vascular Reactivity

October 11, 2024
Alexis Uitenbroek Knotek
Advisor: Kristich
The peptidoglycan hydrolase MltG is phosphorylated in response to cell wall stress in Enterococcus faecalis

October 18, 2024
Kelli Sommers
Advisor: Dittel
Neuronal protease activated receptor 1 (PAR1) activation induces microtubule destabilization altering axonal transport in models of neuroinflammation

October 25, 2024
Rip Event
Advisor: N/A
Chili Cook Off and Pumpkin Carving

November 15, 2024
Nathan Witman
Advisor: Wen
Divergent clonal B cell expansion in hospitalized COVID-19 patients that developed prothrombotic platelet-activating antibodies

November 22, 2024
Olaide Abiona
Advisor: Salzman
Investigating the role of tuft cells in Paneth cell secretion of antimicrobial peptides

December 6, 2024
Lexi Kazen
Advisor: Kirby
Investigating the influence of the microbiota on energy balance in C57BL/6J mice

December 13, 2024
Angela Beltrame
Advisor: Dittel
Identification of a chemotactic mechanism required for localization of IgD Low (BDL) B cell to Treg to enhance tolerance

January 10, 2025
Kathryn Taquet
Advisor: Riehle
Investigating the effects of a chromosomal inversion on the architecture of gene regulation in a major malaria vector

January 17, 2025
RIP EVENT
Advisor: NA
Student Recognition Lunch

January 24, 2025
Maria Poimenidou
Advisor: Dwinell
TBA

January 31, 2025
Lu Zhou
Advisor: Wen
Developmental Trajectory of B Cells in Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia

February 7, 2025
Ryan Brown
Advisor: Cui
TBA

February 14, 2025
Donovan Drouillard
Advisor: Dwinell
Microbiome-derived RORyT+ Tregs are recruited to mucosal tumors through CCL20-CCR6

February 21, 2025
Lauren Prochniak & Erika Johansen
Advisor: Lochhead (Lauren) & Tarakanova ( Erika)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

February 28, 2025
Dilini Kumarasinghe & Cade Rahlf
Advisor: Kristich ( Dilini) & Tarakanova ( Cade)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

March 7, 2025
Tyler Laib
Advisor: Kirby
TBA

March 14, 2025
Leonard Asare & Collin McAllister
Advisor: Salzman (Leonard) & Kirby ( Collin)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

March 21, 2025
Maya Blau & Matt Brown
Advisor: Kristich (Maya) & Tarakanova ( Matt)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

March 28, 2025
Andrew Cao & Thomas Meir
Wen ( Cao) & Meir ( Dittel)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

April 4, 2025
Eva Rodriguez
Advisor: Terhune
TBA

April 11, 2025
Sameya Aurna
Advisor: Terhune
TBA

April 18, 2025
Tanya Kozlik & Elisabeth Solis
Advisor: Zamora (Kozlik) & Dwinell ( Elisabeth)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

April 25, 2025
Rajdip Basnet & Shannon Kafura
Advisor: Yu ( Basnet) & Kroner-Milsch (Kafura)
Dual Presentation ( 30 Minutes Each Session)

Seminars are held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in a hybrid format unless otherwise noted. Please contact the M&I Seminar Committee, microseminar@mcw.edu, for room location, Zoom link, or other information.

January 14, 2025
Dr. Guangbo (Bill) Chen
A Natural Adjuvant Underlies Vaccine Response Variability in Humans
Microbiology

February 25, 2025
Dr. John Karijolich
RNA-based Mechanisms of Viral Restriction
Microbiology

March 4, 2025
Dr. Serigo Pontejo
Chemokines and anionic phospholipids: new binding partners for microbial killing and apoptotic cell clearance
Center of Immunology

March 18, 2025
Dr. Ze Zheng
TBA
Center for Microbiome

April 8, 2025
Dr. Snehal Chaudhari
Host-Microbiome Interactions and Intestinal Microbial Metabolites in Health and Disease
Center for Microbiome

April 29, 2025
Dr. Mark Jay Shlomchik
Age Associated B cells and Extrafollicular B Cell Responses: Mechanistic insights from lupus and infection
Microbiology

May 6, 2025
Dr. Drew Kiraly (Wake Forest)
Host immune-Gut Microbiome Interactions in the Pathophysiology of Mental Illness
Center for Microbiome

May 13, 2025
Dr. Damian Krysan (Distinguished Faculty Seminar in Infectious Diseases)
How Fungal Pathogens Adapt to the Host Environment
Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR)
This seminar will start at 12 p.m.

Seminars are held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in a hybrid format unless otherwise noted. Please contact the M&I Seminar Committee, microseminar@mcw.edu, for room location, Zoom link, or other information.

October 15, 2024
Dr. Yuan Chang ( Grossberg Lectureship)
Molecular Discovery of Human Tumor Viruses
Microbiology

October 29, 2024
Dr. Bruce Levine
Translational Engineering of Immunity for HIV and for Cancers in Humans
Center of Immunology

November 12, 2024
Dr. Alita Burmeister
Bacteria, Phage, and the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
Microbiology

November 19, 2024
Dr. Michael Howitt (Stanford)
The Impact of Commensal Eukaryotes on Mucosal immunity and the Bacterial Microbiome
Center for Microbiome

December 3, 2024
Dr. Pui Lam
Danionella cerebrum — a novel vertebrate model for innate immunity and neuroinflammation
Microbiology

December 10, 2024
Dr. Abby Kroken
Where’s Pseudomonas? Subcellular niches occupied during ocular surface infection
Microbiology

December 17, 2024
Dr. Yi-Guang Chen
Where’s Pseudomonas? Subcellular niches occupied during ocular surface infection
Microbiology

Seminars are held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in a hybrid format unless otherwise noted. Please contact the M&I Seminar Committee, microseminar@mcw.edu, for room location, Zoom link, or other information.

February 21, 2023
Anna Cliffe, PhD
HSV latency and reactivation in neurons
University of Virginia
Host: Dr. Vera Tarakanova

February 28, 2023
Joe Zenga, MD
Surgical site infections after head and neck surgery and the oral microbiome
Medical College of WI, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

March 7, 2023
Seemay Chou, PhD
“From Bacteria to Ticks: How Biology Keeps Us Guessing”
Arcadia Science
Host: Drs. Michelle Riehle and Jenifer Coburn
Virtual option only

March 14, 2023
Miqdad Dhariwala, PhD
Barrier tissue immunology, host response to infection, microbiome
University of California, San Francisco
Host: Center for Immunology

March 28, 2023
Karen Guillemin, PhD
Host-microbe interactions in development and disease; H. pylori pathogenesis
University of Oregon
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

April 11, 2023
Elsio Wunder, PhD, DVM
Leptospira pathogenesis, diagnostics, and vaccines
Yale University
Host: Joe Rouse (PhD candidate in Lochhead lab)

April 18, 2023
Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD
“The Human Genetic and Immunological Determinants of Life-Threatening COVID-19”
Rockefeller University
Host: Dr. Jenifer Coburn for the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship in Infectious Diseases
12-1pm seminar

May 2, 2023
Leo Luznik, MD
Graft vs. Host Diseases; Leukemia; Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Johns Hopkins
Host: Dr. Yongxia Wu

May 9, 2023
Charlotte Vines, PhD
Chemokine biology, immune responses, CCR7 signaling
University of Texas at El Paso
Host: Center for Immunology

May 15, 2023
Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD
Viral pathogenesis, novel vaccines and therapeutics, microbial co-infections
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Host: Dr. Vera Tarakanova for the Distinguished Grossberg Lectureship in Virology
Seminar is on a Monday from 11am-12pm

May 30, 2023
Celeste Allaband, PhD, DVM
Interactions between the gut microbiome, diet, and metabolism
UC- San Diego
Host: Dr. John Kirby

Seminars are held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. in a hybrid format unless otherwise noted. Please contact the M&I Seminar Committee, microseminar@mcw.edu, for room location, Zoom link, or other information.

August 30, 2022
Matthew Kudek, MD
T cell exhaustion and dysfunction
Versiti Blood Research Institute
Host: Dr. Mike Dwinell

October 4, 2022
Brian Stevenson, PhD
Borrelia burgdorferi gene expression
University of Kentucky
Host: Dr. Rob Lochhead

October 11, 2022
Robert Jenq, MD
The impact of the microbiome on cancer treatment
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Host: Dr. Xue-Zong Yu

October 18, 2022
Joe Valdez, PhD
Optofluidic technology and cell-based products
Berkeley Lights
Host: Center for Immunology

November 1, 2022
Richard Gallo, MD, PhD
The skin microbiome, antimicrobial defense, and tissue glycosaminoglycans
University of California- San Diego
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

November 8, 2022
Dana Shaw, PhD
Tick-transmitted diseases
Washington State University
Hosts: Dr. Jenifer Coburn and Dr. Michelle Riehle

November 15, 2022
Anna Cliffe, PhD
Herpes Simplex Virus infection of neurons
University of Virginia
Host: Dr. Vera Tarakanova

December 6, 2022
Vanessa Leone, PhD
Microbes & microbially-derived metabolites
University of Wisconsin- Madison
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

Seminars are held on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. Please contact Stephanie Kellogg, skellogg@mcw.edu, for Zoom link or other information.

January 11, 2022
Dr. Jenny Wachter
Rocky Mountain Labs NIAID, NIH
Host: Christa Fierros

February 1, 2022
Dr. Yasmine Belkaid
NIAID Laboratory of Host Immunity
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

February 15, 2022
Dr. Andreas Baumler
University of California Davis
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

March 22, 2022
Dr. Brandon Garcia
Eastern Carolina University
Host: Dr. Jenifer Coburn

April 26, 2022
Dr. June Round
University of Utah
Host: Center for Microbiome Research

May 3, 2022
Dr. David Hansen
Brigham Young University
Host: Dr. Rob Lochhead

May 17, 2022
Grossberg Lectureship
Dr. Mary Estes
Baylor College of Medicine
Host: Dr. Scott Terhune

June 14, 2022
Distinguished Faculty in ID Lectureship
Dr. Tobias Hohl
Memorial Sloan Kettering
Host: Dr. Jenifer Coburn

Peggy Cotter, PhD
Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Host: Adam Pickrum, Frank Lab
Title: Bordetella filamentous hemagglutinin: adhesin, immunomodulator, and toxin deliverer

September 21, 2021
Michael D. L. Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona
Host: Dusanka Djoric, PhD
Title: Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Copper II
Topic: A look into how copper toxicity affects Streptococcus pneumoniae and what we can do about it

September 28, 2021
Gretchen Diehl, PhD
Lab Head, Sloan Kettering Institute
Host: Kevin Jennings, Salzman
Research Area: Intestinal homeostasis and molecular and cellular pathways regulated by the microbiota.

October 12, 2021
Victor Torres, PhD
Professor, New York University
Host: Adam Pickrum, Frank Lab
Research Area: Dissecting Complex interactions between pathogenic bacteria and the mammalian host.

October 19, 2021
Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD
Professor, University of California, Davis
Host: Lochhead Lab
Research Areas: Immunological mechanisms that regulate and control immunity to pathogens

November 2, 2021
Kamal Khanna, PhD
Associate Professor, NYU Langone Health
Host: Preeti Garai, PhD
Research Areas: Complex dynamics of host-pathogen interactions during innate and adaptive immune response following infection

November 16, 2021
Gabriel Nuñez, MD
Professor, University of Michigan
Host: Center for Microbiome Research and Center for Immunology
Research Areas: Nod=like receptor and Toll-like receptor families in immune responses against microbial pathogens and disease

December 7, 2021
Regina Joice Cordy, PhD
Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University
Host: Riehle Lab
Research Areas: Host-malaria parasite interactions, plasma metabolome and gut microbiome during malaria infection

December 14, 2021
Yasmine Belkaid, PhD
Chief, NIAID, NIH
Host: Center for Microbiome Research
Research Areas: Mechanisms controlling host microbe interactions at barrier sites such as the skin and the gut.