The Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity (MI&I) is pleased to sponsor and co-sponsor seminars on campus that are of interest to individuals studying microbiology and immunology.
Of note is the MI&I Seminar Series (MIISS) which features distinguished national and international scientists in the field. Certain events in the seminar series may be a collaboration with various departments, centers, and/or institutes in order to enhance the seminar appeal and breadth. The MIISS is directed by Dr. Haitao Wen.
Links to seminars and events of affiliated programs:
- Department of Microbiology Seminar Series
- College of Pharmacy Event Calendar
- Infectious Diseases Institute Events Calendar
2021-2022 Seminars:
June 13, 2022: MIISS. Chrystal Paulos, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine; Director, Translational Research for Cutaneous Malignancies, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Seminar Topic: "Instilling T cells with potent antitumor activity via a novel mitochondrial target"
June 9, 2022: Dario Vignali, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh
Seminar Topic: “Immune Inhibitory Mechanisms in Cancer”
June 1, 2022: MIISS. Joseph G. Sodroski, MD, Researcher, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Professor, Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School
Seminar Topic: "Conformational States of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Envelope Glycoproteins"
May 16, 2022: MIISS. Andrea Schietinger, PhD, Associate Member, Immunology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute
Seminar Topic: "T cell differentiation and fate choice in cancer and autoimmunity"
May 4, 2022: MIISS. Mehul Suthar, PhD, Assistant Professor, Emory Vaccine Center, Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine
Seminar Topic: “Vaccine and Infection-induced immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection”
May 2, 2022: MIISS. Irene Salinas, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico
Seminar Topic: "Neuroimmune communication in the olfactory-brain axis of teleost fish"
Seminar Topic: "Dissecting the virulence strategies of Acinetobacter baumannii"
April 6, 2022: MIISS. John Lukens, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, University of Virginia
Seminar Topic: "Innate immunity at the crossroads of neurological health and disease"
March 23, 2022: MIISS. Donna Farber, PhD, George H. Humphreys II Professor of Surgical Sciences (in Surgery); Chief, Division of Surgical Sciences and Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University
Seminar Topic: "Tissue compartmentalization of Human Immune Responses"
March 9, 2022: MIISS. Judy Lieberman, MD, PhD, Chair, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Seminar Topic: "Lighting a Fire: Pyroptosis in Immune Defense and Immune Pathology"
February 23, 2022: MIISS. Joseph Qualls, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Seminar Topic: "L-arginine promotes immune cell function and anti-microbial activity"
February 9, 2022: MIISS. Gordon Brown, PhD, FRS, Professor, University of Exeter
Seminar Topic: "C-type lectins in immunity: Why you should take notice"
January 26, 2022: MIISS. Lee-Ann Allen, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, George Trimble Endowed Chair for Excellence in Medicine, University of Missouri
Seminar Topic: "Francisella tularensis reprograms human neutrophil metabolism to delay apoptosis"
January 12, 2022: MIISS. Alessandro Sette, Dr.Biol.Sci., Professor, Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Seminar Topic: "Immune responses to SARS CoV2 vaccination and Variants of concerns"
December 15, 2021: MIISS. Alison Criss, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, University of Virginia
Seminar Topic: "Manipulation of human innate immunity by Neisseria gonorrhoeae"
December 1, 2021: MIISS. Joyce Wu, PhD, Professor and Ronald L. Whisler Endowed Chair, Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Seminar Topic: "Gut microbiota-induced c-Maf converts Th17 cells to a unique Tfh cell type that potently promotes autoimmune arthritis"
November 17, 2021: MIISS. David Andes, MD, Division Chief, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine
Seminar Topic: "Construction and Destruction of the Candida Biofilm Matrix"
November 3, 2021: MIISS. Jeffery Schorey, PhD, George B. Craig Jr. Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
Seminar Topic: "Host RNA sensors as regulators of an immune response to mycobacterial infections"
October 20, 2021: MIISS. Benjamin tenOever, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Seminar Topic: "A molecular basis for Long COVID"
October 6, 2021: MIISS. Mark K. Jenkins, PhD, Regents and Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Minnesota
Seminar Topic: "A modular view of helper T cell differentiation during infection"
September 22, 2021: MIISS. Sunny Shin, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Seminar Topic: "Innate immune defense against intracellular bacterial pathogens”
September 8, 2021: MIISS. Douglas R. Green, PhD, Peter C. Doherty Endowed Chair, Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Seminar Topic: "LAP and LANDO: Noncanonical function of autophagy proteins in inflammation, anti-cancer immunity, and Alzheimer’s Disease"
2020-2021 Seminars:
June 2, 2021: MIISS. Mercedes Gonzelez-Juarrero, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology, Colorado State University
Seminar Topic: "Preclinical development of Aerosol therapy against Tuberculosis"
May 19, 2021: MIISS. Alexander Horswill, PhD, Professor, Department of Immunology & Microbiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Seminar Topic: "Regulation of Staphylococcus aureus colonization and disease"
May 5, 2021: MIISS. Ping-Chih Ho, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne
Seminar Topic: "Metabolic hurdle and reprogramming orchestrate T cell anti-tumor responses"
May 3, 2021: MIISS. Joseph P. Zackular, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Seminar Topic: “Pathogen-microbiota cooperation during Clostridioides difficile infection"
Seminar Topic: "Metabolic crosstalk between Staphylococcus aureus biofilm and innate immunity influences infection persistence"
March 24, 2021: MIISS. Matthew Welch, Professor, PhD, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Seminar Topic: “Mobilization of the cytoskeleton by microbial pathogens”
March 10, 2021: MIISS. M. Stephen Trent, PhD, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia
Seminar Topic: "“Pushing the Envelope: Building and Maintaining the Gram negative Outer Membrane”
February 24, 2021: MIISS. Karin Sauer, PhD, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University
Seminar Topic: "Bacterial Biofilms: Development, Regulation, Dispersal, and Therapeutic Strategies"
February 10, 2021: MIISS. John Boothroyd, PhD, Burt and Marion Avery Professor of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Seminar Topic: “How one single celled eukaryote invades and coopts the cells of so many others: the story of the remarkable generalist, Toxoplasma gondii"
January 27, 2021: MIISS. Pamela Schwartzberg, MD, PhD, Chief, Cell Signaling and Immunity Section, NIAID, NIH
Seminar Topic: “Integrating T cell signals: Lessons from Primary Immunodeficiencies"
January 13, 2021: MIISS. Tobias Hohl, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Seminar Topic: “Foiling Fungal Invasion: Lessons from the Mycobiome and from Pulmonary Antifungal Immunity”
December 16, 2020: MIISS. Jennifer Martinez, PhD, Principal Investigator, Inflammation and Autoimmunity Group, NIH/NIEHS
Seminar Topic: "Non-canonical autophagy: a double-edged sword"
November 18, 2020: MIISS. Michael Niederweiss, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Seminar Topic: “The Tuberculosis Necrotizing Toxin”
October 21, 2020: MIISS. Leah Cowen, PhD, Professor, Department Of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto
Seminar Topic: “Identifying Vulnerabilities in Fungal Pathogens Through Functional and Chemical Genomic Analysis”
October 07, 2020: MIISS. Kingston Mills, PhD, Professor, Experimental Immunology, School of Biochemistry & Immunology, Trinity College Dublin
Seminar Topic: “The two faces of IL-17: protective immunity to infection and disease pathology in autoimmunity”
September 09, 2020: MIISS. Keith Reeves, PhD, Associate Professor; Director, CFAR Advanced Technologies Core, Harvard
Seminar Topic: "Adaptive NK Cells Responses Against Viruses and Virus Vaccines"
August 26, 2020: MIISS. Hai Qi, PhD, Professor, Institute for Immunology, Tsinghua University
Seminar Topic: “Controlling the B cell immunity: from germinal center dynamics to neural circuits and behaviors”
August 31, 2020: MIISS. Barney Graham, PhD, Deputy Director, Vaccine Research Center, NIH/NIAID
Seminar Topic: “Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Development Enabled by Prototype Pathogen Preparedness"
2019-2020 Seminars:
February 26, 2020: MIISS. Janet Lee, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Seminar Topic: Heme metabolism and host defense: cross signals during macrophage activation”
February 19, 2020: MIISS. Kirsten Nielsen, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Minnesota
Seminar Topic: "Cell wars: The fight between Cryptococcus and the immune system"
February 12, 2020: Takeshi Egawa, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Seminar Topic: "Lymphocyte proliferation during the development, immune response and oncogenesis"
January 29, 2020: MIISS. Tod Merkel, PhD, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US Food & Drug Administration
Seminar Topic: "The host response to Pertussis infection and vaccination"
December 16, 2019: Ali Ellebedy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Seminar Topic: "B cell responses to influenza viruses in humans: Looking deeper into their origin, specificity, and fate"
December 12, 2019: Jacqueline Payton, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Seminar Topic: "Discoveries in epigenomics drive precision medicine approaches in lymphoma and beyond"
December 4, 2019: MIISS. Emanuela Bruscia, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics (respiratory) Yale School of Medicine
Seminar Topic: "Macrophages and innate immune dysregulation in Cystic Fibrosis"
November 20, 2019: MIISS. Jennifer Bomberger, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
Seminar Topic: "Complex communities: Decoding microbial interactions in the respiratory tract"
November 6, 2019: MIISS. Sing Sing Way, MD, PhD, Pauline and Lawson Reed Chair, Division of Infectious Diseases; Associate Professor, University of Cincinnati, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Seminar Topic: "Immune pathogenesis of prenatal infection"
October 23, 2019: MIISS. Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, Chair, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology; Professor, Departments of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Medicine, and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Duke University School of Medicine
Seminar Topic: "Insights into the Cryptococcus pathogenic species complex through comparative genomics"
October 16, 2019: MIISS. Gaya K. Amarasinghe, PhD, Professor, Departments of Pathology & Immunology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Seminar Topic: "Viral Immune Evasion Mechanisms"
October 2, 2019: MIISS. Paul G. Thomas, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital
Seminar Topic: "How the host determines disease outcome after influenza virus infection"
September 18, 2019: MIISS. Edward A. Miao, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University
Seminar Topic: "Infectious models reveal unique role for caspase-7 after cytotoxic lymphocyte attack"