Departmental Seminar Series Archives
SPRING 2024
January 9, 2024“Defining Key Mediators of the Progression of Pneumonic Plague”
Dr. Roger Pechous, University of Arkansas Medical School
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
January 30, 2024
“Moderna’s mRNA vaccine development programs for Infectious Diseases”
Dr. Andrea Carfi, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Infectious Disease Research at Moderna
Faculty Host :Dr. Rachel Roper
February 6, 2024
“Understanding antibiotic treatment failure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic airway infection”
Dr. Matthew Wolfgang, Associate Professor, Marsico Lung Institute University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Faculty Host: Dr. Everett Pesci
February 13, 2024
“Branching out: branched-chain amino acids as key metabolites in Staphylococcus aureus physiology and virulence.“
Dr. Shaun Brinsmade, PhD, Associate Professor, Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
March 12, 2024
“The roles of secondary lymphoid organ fibroblastic reticular cells in HIV-1 spread and latency”
Tomoyuki Murakami, Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Medical School
Faculty Host; Isabelle Lemasson
March 19, 2024
“The strategic inundation of microprocessor in EBV-associated lymphoma”
Nathan Ungerleider, Assistant Professor, Tulane School of Medicine
April 9, 2024
“Life in Mucus: Vaginal Colonization by Group B Streptococcus”
Dr. Kelly Doran, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
April 23, 2024
“Organization of a Multipartite Bacterial Genome”
Dr. Xindan Wang, University of Indiana
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
Fall 2023
August 29, 2023“Where am I and what should I do?
Insights on how the Lyme disease spirochete controls production of virulence proteins”
Dr. Brian Stevenson, Ph.D University of Kentucky
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
September 12, 2023
“Cellular acquisition of inflammatory traits in Obesity”
Dr. Senad Divanovic, Cincinatti Children’s Hospital
Faculty Host: Akshaya Meher
September 14, 2023
“Sugar-coated, multidrug-resistant bacteria as targets for new antimicrobial therapeutics”
Dr. Laura Jennings , University of Montana
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
September 26, 2023.
“Organization of a Multipartite Bacterial Genome” Rescheduled for Spring
Dr. Xindan Wang, Indiana University
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
October 3, 2023
“Up in Smoke: Immunosuppression by cigarettes”
Dr. Jordan Metcalf, MD ,College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma
Faculty Host: Dr. Michelle Ratliff
October 5, 2023
“Mechanisms Underlying Evolvability and Adaptation to Stress”
Dr. Alexandra Deaconescu, Brown University
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
October 10, 2023
“How does this start?:Regulation, evasion, and therapeutic targeting of complement initiating proteases”
Dr.Brandon Garcia, East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine
October 17, 2023“Barcoding to Study Crohn’s Disease-Associated Microbial Interactions in Complex Community”
Dr. Rachel Bleich, Appalachian State University
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
October 24 , 2023
“Innate immune defense against intracellular bacterial pathogens and bacterial evasion strategies”
Dr. Sunny Shinn, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
November 14, 2023
“Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans Trans-Kingdom Interactions”
Dr. Danielle Garsin, University of Texas Health Science Center
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
November 28, 2023
“Next Generation mRNA Vaccines”
Dr. Heath Damron, West Virginia University
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
December 12, 2023“Scents of Danger – What infections reveal about olfactory immunity and CNS barriers”
Dr. Ashley Moseman, Duke University
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
SPRING 2023
March 7, 2023‘Navigating sticky situations: Unipolar adhesin production and control in a model pathogen’Dr. Clay Fuqua , Indiana University
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
March 28th, 2023“Induction of protective interferon-β responses in murine osteoblasts following Staphylococcus aureus infection.“Dr. M. Brittany Johnson , UNC-Charlotte
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
April 11th, 2023“Secreted proteases have a biphasic impact on S aureus pathogenesis ”Dr. Les Shaw ,University of South Florida
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
April 18th, 2023
“A Role for Adolescent Binge Alcohol Consumption in Pulmonary Inflammation: Alcohol and the Lung”
Dr. Vijay Sivaraman, North Carolina Central University
Faculty Host: Dr. Rachel Roper
May 2nd, 2023
“Response of Salmonella to Host-Specific Environmental Signals”
Dr. Craig Altier, Cornell University
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
May 9th, 2023“Chlamydial Inc proteins, the Yes, And Effector”Dr. Elizabeth Rucks ,University of Nebraska Medical Center
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
Individuals with disabilities, requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), should contact the Department for Disability Support Services at 252-328-6799 (V) or 252-328-0899 (TTY).
Fall 2022
September 6, 2022
“Soaking up Microbes in Sponge-Microbe Symbioses”
Dr. Cara Fiore, Appalachian State University
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
October 4, 2022
“Mechanism of Transcriptional Silencing and Anti-silencing in the bacterial pathogen, Shigella“
Dr. Helen Wing, University of Las Vegas
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
October 11, 2022
“Tales of post-transcriptional control in Pseudomonas aeruginosa”
Dr. Simon Dove, Harvard Medical School
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
October 18, 2022
“Infection-induced autoimmunity in Lyme disease”
Dr. Robert Lochhead, Medical College of Wisconsin
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
November 1, 2022
“In vivo expression technology identifies a novel lipase important for Borrelia burgdorferi survival in the mammalian host”
Dr. Mollie Jewett, University of Central Florida
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
November 8, 2022 Virtual Only
“Driving forces for meta-inflammation; adiposity, sex, and myelopoiesis”
Dr. Durga Singer , University of Michigan Medical School
Faculty Host: Dr Akshaya. Meher
November 15, 2022
“Using a scaffold to build a virus”
Dr. Caroline Teschke, University of Connecticut
Faculty Host: Dr. Rachel Roper
December 6, 2022
“B Cells and Antibodies in Lung Injury and Repair: Lessons from COVID and Beyond”
Dr. Jeffrey M. Sturek, MD, PhD, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Faculty Host: Dr. Akshaya Meher
Spring 2022
March 1, 2022
“Genomic editing of the oncogenic retrovirus HTLV-1”
Dr. Amanda Panfil, The Ohio State University
Faculty Host: Dr. Isabelle Lemasson
March 8, 2022
“Brucella small RNAs: From discovery to function”
Dr. Clay Caswell, Virginia Tech
Faculty Host: Dr. Martin Roop
April 5, 2022
“Exploiting the unusual features of the Borrelia burgdorferi cell wall to understand the pathogenesis of Lyme disease”
Dr. Brandon Jutras, Virginia Tech University
Faculty Host: Dr. Md Motaleb
May 10, 2022
“Probiotics & Pathogens: the role of the coral microbiome and disease”
Dr. Blake Ushijima, University of North Carolina-Wilmington
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
May 24, 2022
“Bone appétit: Host-pathogen interactions during osteomyelitis”
Dr. Jim Cassat, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
Student Host: CJ Booth
Fall 2021
October 5, 2021
“Klebsiella pneumoniae’s Colistin Resistance is a Double-Edged Sword”
Ammar Zafar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Wake Forrest University, Winston-Salem, NC
Faculty Host: Dr. Marty Roop
October 26, 2021
“Meta-analysis of microbiome studies to predict preterm birth risk”
Benjamin Callahan, PhD, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
November 2, 2021
“A twist in the tales of Borrelia on two different continents“
Ryan Rego, PhD, Research Scientist, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
November 9, 2021
“Interferon lambda controls viral infection at anatomic barriers”
Helen Lazear, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
November 16, 2021
“Macrophages are “Stressed Out” in Tumors”
Stanley Huang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology,Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Faculty Host: Dr. Akshaya Meher
November 30, 2021
“Harnessing host-parasite interactions to understand mechanisms of immune function”
Sarah Ewald,PhD, Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Faculty Host: Dr. Brandon Garcia
Spring 2021
February 16, 2021
“Complement activation in Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia”
Sanjay Khandelwal, PhD, Assistant Professor, Duke University, Durham, NC
March 9, 2021
“Differential Regulation of Innate Antiviral Immunity”
Kislay Parvatiyar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
March 23, 2021
“Role of Regulator T Cells in the Host Response to Borrelia burgdorfen”
Dean T. Nardelli, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
April 13, 2021
“The Vibrio-Squid Symbiosis as a Model System for Studying Interbacterial Competition”
Alecia Septer, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
April 27, 2021 (CANCELED)
“Antibacterial Combinations Discovery”
John Pace, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, NC
May 11, 2021
”Scavenging for sulfur: Understanding the bacterial quest for alternative sulfur sources”
Holly Ellis, PhD, Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ECU, Greenville, NC
Fall 2020
October 20, 2020
“Effects of moderate malnutrition on mucosal immunity and development of protective memory cells during malaria infection”
Michael Opata, PhD, Assistant Professor, Appalachian State, Boone, NC
November 3, 2020
“Regulated protein degradation in bacteria development and stress responses”
Peter Chien, PhD, Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
November 10, 2020
“Obesity and B cell immunosenescence”
Daniela Frasca, PhD, Research Associate Professor, University of Miami SOM, Miami, FL
Spring 2020
January 28, 2020
“Regulation of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Depolymerase Synthesis in Streptomyces sp. SFB5A”
Stephen F. Baron, PhD, Professor, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA
February 18, 2020
“Complement evasion strategies of viruses”
Elisa Crisci, DVM MSc PhD, Assistant Professor, NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, NC
February 25, 2020 (RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 7)
“Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing, cooperation and conflict-mechanisms behind the math”
E. Peter Greenberg, PhD, Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
March 17, 2020 CANCELED
“AAA+ Proteases Control Bacterial Growth and Stress Responses”
Peter Chien, Phd, Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
March 24, 2020 CANCELED
“Natural IgM: Heparin- induced thrombocytopenia and beyond”
Sanjay Khandelwal, PhD, Assistant Professor, Duke University, Durham, NC
April 7, 2020 CANCELED
“Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing, cooperation and conflict-mechanisms behind the math”
E. Peter Greenberg, PhD, Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
April 28, 2020 CANCELED
“TBA”
Brandon Jutras, PhD, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA