August 31, 2023
Rebekah Evans, Georgetown University
Assistant Professor
Department of Neuroscience
Talk Title: “Midbrain circuity connecting exercise to motor learning.”
Host: Haiyan He
Seminar Series 2023/2024
The Department invites scholars in Biology to present their research on most Thursdays throughout the academic year. The seminars are followed by a Q&A session.
Join us Thursdays 12:30-1:45 PM, at Regents 239.
Fall 2023
September 7, 2023
Karl Thompson, Howard University
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology
Talk Title: “Small protein effectors of an alternative sigma factor in S. aureus.”
Host: Shaun Brinsmade
September 14th
Christopher Krupenye, Johns Hopkins University
Assistant Professor
Talk Title: Social knowledge and decision-making in chimpanzees and bonobos
Host: Janet Mann
October 5, 2023
José Lemos, University of Florida
Associate Professor
Department of Oral Biology
Talk Title: “Overcoming Nutritional Immunity is a Key Aspect of Enterococcus faecalis Pathogenesis and a Promising Target for Enterococcal Vaccine Development.”
Host: Shaun Brinsmade
October 12, 2023
Seth S. Margolis, Johns Hopkins University
Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry
Talk Title: The Neuronal Membrane Proteasome (NMP): A Modulator of Nervous System Signaling
Host: Haiyan He
October 26, 2023
Sreejith Nair, Georgetown University Medical Center
Assistant Professor
Talk Title: “Spatial Gene Regulation by Nuclear Organelles.”
Host: Ronda Rolfes
November 2nd, 2023
Jeffrey Allen Farrell, NICHD/DIR
Stadtman Investigator
Unit on Cell Specification and Differentiation
Talk Title: “Cell states and cell fates during zebrafish development”
Host: Ronda Rolfes
November 9, 2023
Anna Phan, University of Alberta
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Science – Biological Sciences
Talk Title: “Studying memory suppressors reveal regulation of synaptic vesicle pool sizes.”
Host: Isaac Cervantes Sandoval
November 30, 2023
Denise Akob, USGS
Research Microbiologist
Talk Title: “Microbial Heroes: Working with Microbes to Solve & Respond to Anthropogenic Impacts”
Host: Isaac Cervantes Sandoval
Spring 2024
January 18, 2024
Mayra Vidal, UMass Boston
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Talk Title: “Using experimental evolution with budding yeast to explore coevolution and persistence of mutualistic interactions”
Host: Gina Wimp
January 25, 2024
Heather Watts, Washington State University
Associate Professor
Talk Title: “How do birds time “unpredictable” migrations?”
Host: BOGS
February 1st, 2024
Satish Ghimire, Georgetown University
Assistant Research Professor
Talk Title: “SEMA5A regulates spontaneous neural activity in developing cochlea.”
Host: Thomas Coate
February 15, 2024
Dr. Megan McNamara, Ph.D., Georgetown University
Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Talk Title: “Methylation Patterns of Cell-Free DNA in the Circulation Reveal Tissue-Specific Cellular Damage.”
Host: Heidi Elmendorf
February 22, 2024
Dr. Katherine Rogers, Ph.D., NIH NICHD
Principal Investigator
Unit on Developmental Signaling
Talk Title: “Decoding developmental signaling with molecular optogenetics in zebrafish.”
Host: Elena Silva
February 29, 2024
Dr. Elizabeth Shank, Ph.D., UMass Chan Medical School
Principal Investigator
Unit on Developmental Signaling
Talk Title: “Metabolic interactions in the soil microbiome.”
Host: Tiffany Zarrella
March 21, 2024
Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Wesleyan University
Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Talk Title: “Cysteine Rich Protein 2 is a copper-responsive regulator of skeletal muscle differentiation.”
Host: Isaac Cervantes-Sandoval
April 4, 2024
Michael Johnson, University of Arizona
Associate Professor, Immunobiology
Member, BIO5 Institute
Member, Valley Fever Center for Excellence
Member, Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center
Director of Graduate Studies, Industrial Microbiology Track, Applied Bioscience Program
Director of the National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP)
Talk Title: “Using Copper Toxicity to Exploit a Microbial Achilles Heel.”
Host: Shaun Brinsmade
April 11, 2024
Vanessa Ezenwa, Yale
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Talk Title: “Exploring links between parasites, host immune aging, and fitness in the wild.”
Host: Shweta Bansal
April 25, 2024
Christine Jacobs-Wagner, Stanford University
Dennis Cunningham Professor, Professor of Biology and of Microbiology and Immunology
Talk Title: “The unusual biology of the Lyme disease agent.”
Host: Shaun Brinsmade