Research Seminar Series
The Institute for Molecular Medicine & Infectious Disease supports seminars for faculty, invited speakers and graduate students. For more information about upcoming seminars in the current schedule or in future schedules, contact Christine Kinsinger at ck53@drexel.edu. Seminars take place on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. (or as noted), in the New College Building or on the Queen Lane Campus (room/hall indicated below), unless otherwise indicated.
Immune response in Lyme Disease
Speaker/Institution: John N. Aucott
Host: Mary Ann Comunale
February 28, 2024
Bacteriology/Pathogenesis
The pathogen hypothesis for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease
Speaker/Institution: Brian J. Balin, PhD, PCOM
Host: Garth Ehrlich
March 27, 2024
Eukaryotic Pathogens
Topic T.B.A.
Speaker/Institution: Michael Mitchell, PhD, UPenn
Host: Abigail Onufer/MIIM Students
January 25, 2023: Unexpected Roles of Toll-Like Receptor Adaptors TRIF and Mal/MyD88 in Microglia Responses to Neurotropic Murine Betacoronaviruses
Speaker/Institution: Elijah Davis, Drexel University
Host: Sonia Navas-Martin
February 22, 2023: Antimalarial Drug Discovery: An Academic/Industrial Collaboration from Orphan Screening hit to Robust Dual Targeting Leads
Speaker/Institution: David B. Olsen, PhD, Merck Research Laboratories
Host: Akhil Vaidya / Jim Burns
March 29, 2023: t.b.d.
Speaker/Institution: Gabriela Canziani, PhD, Drexel University
Host: Irwin Chaiken / Jim Burns
April 26, 2023: t.b.d.
Speaker/Institution: Mackenzie Collins, Drexel University
Host: Michael Nonnemacher
August 30, 2023: T.B.A.
Immunology
Speaker/Institution: Christopher Rodell, PhD, Drexel University
Host: Jim Burns/Mike Nonnemacher
September 27, 2023: T.B.A.
Virology
Speaker/Institution: Mudhit Tyagi, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Host: Mike Nonnemacher
October 25, 2023: T.B.A.
Virology
Speaker/Institution: Tricia Burdo, PhD, Temple University
Host: Abigail Onufer/MIIM Students
November 29, 2023: T.B.A.
Speaker/Institution: Brenna Duffy, Drexel University (tentative)
Host: Sandhya Kortagere
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January 26, 2022: Why are babies at risk for sepsis? A systems biology approach to understanding neonatal sepsis
Speaker/Institution: Amy HY Lee, PhD, Simon Fraser University
Host: Josh Mell
February 23, 2022: T.B.A.
Speaker/Institution: Dennis Cvitkovitch, PhD, University of Toronto
Host: Garth Ehrlich
March 30, 2022: Structural vaccinology for malaria and COVID-19
Speaker/Institution: Niraj H. Tolia, PhD, NIAID
Host: Akhil Vaidya
April 27, 2022: T.B.A.
Speaker/Institution: B. Meena Bansal, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Host: Mike Nonnemacher
August 31, 2022: Regulation of synaptic/extrasynaptic NMDA Receptor Balance: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities
Speaker/Institution: Antonio Sanz-Clemente, PhD, Drexel University
Host: Sonia Navas-Martin
September 28, 2022: An HSV-2 Trivalent vaccine protects against HSV-1 infection in mice
Speaker/Institution: Kevin Egan, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Hosts: Jim Burns and Steve Jennings
October 26, 2022: T.B.D.
Speaker/Institution: Alumni Fellow
November 30, 2022: Defining the role of liver macrophages in HIV/HBV coinfection and development of HCC
Speaker/Institution: Alexis Brantly, Drexel University
Host: Michael Nonnemacher
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January 27, 2021: Topic: T.B.D.
Speaker/Institution: Heather Pinkett, PhD, Northwestern University
Host: Joshua Mell, PhD
February 24, 2021: Moving lipids inside cells
Speaker/Institution: Anant K. Menon, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College
Host: Akhil Vaidya, PhD
Postponed March 31, 2021
Postponed: Biological Parallels of the HIV and SARS-CoV2 Pandemics: Discovering Vulnerabilities for Intervention
Speaker/Institution: Lishomwa Ndhlovu, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine
Host: Pooja Jain, PhD
April 28, 2021: Topic: T.B.D.
Speaker/Institution: Dominique Soldati-Farve, PhD, University of Geneva
Host: Hangjun Ke, PhD
September 1, 2021
Topic: pH regulation in malaria parasites
Speaker/Institution: Hangjun Ke, PhD, Drexel University
Hosts: Akhil Vaidya and Jim Burns
September 29, 2021
Topic: Antiviral therapy: Towards the personal and the precise
Speaker/Institution: Craig E. Cameron, PhD, UNC Chapel Hill
Hosts: Brian Wigdahl and Michael Nonnemacher
October 27, 2021
Topic: Understanding the role BTLA, exosomal and cellular, has in T-cell dysfunction associated with HTLV-1 chronic diseases
Speaker/Institution: Julie Joseph, Drexel University
Host: Pooja Jain
December 1, 2021
Topic: Osteopontin (SPP1): Regulation of Neuroinflammation and HIV Persistence in Tissues
Speaker/Institution: Amanda Brown, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Host: Pooja Jain
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Oct. 28, 2020: Immunology
Speaker/Institution: T.B.D.
Sep. 30, 2020: Antibiotic discovery by means of computers
Speaker/Institution: Cesar de la Fuente, University of Pennsylvania
Host: Sonia Navas-Martin, PhD
Sep. 2, 2020: Biased Dopamine D3 receptors: From Neuronal Signaling to Behavior
Speaker/Institution: Sandhya Kortagere, PhD, Drexel University
Host: Akhil Vaidya, PhD
July 29, 2020: Successful Development of a Chimeric Epitope-based Vaccine for Lyme Disease
Speaker/Institution: Richard Marconi, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
July 21, 2020: Transcending a self-imposed barrier: PTEX function in transport across the malaria parasite vacuole membrane
Speaker/Institution: Joshua Beck, Iowa State University
Canceled-COVID-19: April 29, 2020
Phenotypic Characterization of Essential Mitochondrial Proteins with Unknown Function in Plasmodium falciparum
Speaker/Institution: Ian Lamb, Drexel University
Host: Akhil Vaidya
Canceled-COVID-19: March 25, 2020
The MitoNEET Family: Novel 2Fe-25 Proteins That Mediate Cluster Tansfer in a Redox and TZD Dependent Manner
Speaker/Institution: Patricia Jennings, UCSD
Host: Hangjun Ke
February 26, 2020: CryoEM Structures of Endogenous Protein Complexes Enriched Directly from Malaria Parasites Eukaryotic Pathogens
Speaker/Institution: Chi-Min Ho, Columbia University
Host: Akhil Vaidya
January 29, 2020: Immunoglobulin A as an Anchor for Gut Bacteria Bacteriology/Pathogenesis
Speaker/Institution: Gregory Donaldson, Rockefeller University
Host: Garth Ehrlich
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October 30, 2019: The Effect of HIV-1 Tat Genetic Variation on Neuropathogenesis Associated with Cognitive Impairment
Speaker/Institution: Cassandra Spector, Drexel
Host: Mike Nonnemacher
October 23, 2019: Novel Approaches to Control and Eliminate Malaria (View Agenda)
October 22, 2019: Applications of Artificial Intelligence to Microbial Genomics in Health and Disease (View Agenda)
October 15, 2019: HIV Disease, Vaccines, and Therapies Working Toward a Cure (View Agenda)
August 28, 2019: Identifying Predictive Patterns in Microbiome and Genomic Data Using Discrete Classification Mathematics
Speaker/Institution: Jeffrey Lapides, Drexel
Host: Garth Ehrlich
February 27, 2019: The MitoNEET Family: Novel 2Fe-2S Proteins That Mediate Cluster Transfer in a Redox and TZD-dependent Manner
Speaker/Institution: Patricia Jennings, University of California at San Diego
Host: Hangjun Ke
January 30, 2019: Molecular Dissection of Horizontal Gene Transfer by Natural Transformation in Vibrio cholerae
Speaker/Institution: Ankur Dalia, Indiana University Bloomington
Host: Josh Mell
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November 28, 2018: Analyzing B Cell Responses to Vaccines, One Cell at a Time
Speaker/Institution: Adrian McDermott, NIAD, NIH
Host: Elias Haddad
October 31, 2018: Mechanisms of T Follicular Helper (Tfh) Impairment in Chronic HIV Infection
Speaker/Institution: Marita Chakhtoura, Drexel University College of Medicine
Host: Elias Haddad
September 26, 2018:
A Fatal Case of Chronic Dengue Encephalitis
Speaker/Institution: Tory Johnson, Johns Hopkins University
Host: Michael Nonnemacher
August 29, 2018:
Hepatitis B Virus Replication: An Xquisite Balancing Act
Speaker/Institution: Michael Bouchard, Drexel University College of Medicine
Host: Michael Nonnemacher4
April 25, 2018: Towards Translational Evolutionary Biology Using the Lens of Genomics
Speaker/Institution: Vaughn Cooper, University of Pittsburgh
Host: Josh Mell
March 28, 2018: Infectious Complications Following Prostate Needle Biopsy: An Increasing Problem With Need for Novel Solutions
Speaker/Institution: Jay Raman, Penn State University
Host: Brian Wigdahl
February 28, 2018: Defining HIV-1 Integration Architecture and Impact on Treatment/Cure Strategies
Speaker/Institution: Alexander Allen, Drexel University
Host: Mike Nonnemacher
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October 25, 2017: Integration of the Bacterial Cell Cycle and Biofilm Formation
Speaker/Institution: Jason Heindl, University of the Sciences
Host: A. Ma
September 27, 2017: B Cell Activation Versus Rabies Virus: A Race Against Time
Speaker/Institution: James McGettigan, Thomas Jefferson University
Host: J. Burns
August 30, 2017: Unique Applications of Molecular Diagnostics for the Control of High Consequence and Transboundary Pathogens
Speaker/Institution: Jessie Trujillo, Kansas State University
Host: G. Ehrlich
May 10, 2017: Corrinoid Production and Utilization in Bacteria and Eukaryotes
Speaker/Institution: Amy Ma, Drexel
Host: G. Ehrlich
April 26, 2017: Tackling the Tsunami of Drug Resistance
Speaker/Institution: David Fidock, Columbia
Host: A. Vaidya
March 29, 2017
Speaker/Institution: Sean Brady, Howard Hughes Medical Center
Host: J. Beld
March 1, 2017: Applying 'Omics in the Discovery of Diagnosis and Prevention Strategies
Speaker/Institution: Mark Shirtliff, U of Maryland
Host: G. Ehrlich
January 25, 2017: Identifying Key Temporal and Taxonomic Bacterial Clusters in the Aging Microbiome
Speaker/Institution: Rob Beiko, Dalhousie U
Host: J. Mell
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