2024-2025 Schedule

The Department of Microbial Pathogens and Immunity holds regular seminars with invited speakers from outside the institution, as well as researchers from RUSH University.

2024-2025 academic year seminars schedule

Seminars are held in Cohn Research Building Auditorium Room 160 (1735 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60612), unless noted otherwise.

Date and Time	Speaker	Title/Topic
September 18, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Rebecca Pompano, PhD Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering University of Virginia (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	“Lymphoid tissue models”
September 25, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Chu Chen, PhD Professor, Cellular and Integrative Physiology University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Host: Xiu-Ti Hu, MD, PhD)	“Alzheimer's disease”
October 2, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Mary Duckett, MA, CHES Rush University The Center for Clinical Wellness (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	“How to manage uncertainty”
October 9, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Jonathan Karn, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University (Host: Ryan Ross, PhD)	“HIV viral reservoirs”
October 16, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Brian Cobb, PhD Michael E. Lamm Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University (Host: Jeff Schneider, PhD)	“Antibody effector function and tissue resident macrophages”
October 23, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Ashwanth Francis, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Science Florida State University (Host: João Mamede, PhD)	“Nuclear trafficking of HIV”
October 30, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Sumit Chanda, PhD Professor, Department of Immunology and Microbiology The Scripps Research Institute (Host: João Mamede, PhD)	“Virus-host interface and innate immunity”
November 13, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Oliver Fregoso, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics University of California Los Angeles (Host: Charia McKee)	“HIV-1 VpR”
November 20, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Jesse Williams, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology University of Minnesota (Host: Jeff Schneider, PhD)	“Macrophages”
December 4, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Irini Sereti MD, MHS Chief of Laboratory of Immunoregulation National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Bethesda, MD (Host: Lena Al-Harthi, PhD)	“The Persistent Perils of Advanced HIV Disease: From Bedside to Bench”
December 11, 2024 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Rong Tian, MD, PhD Professor of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, and Bioengineering Adjunct Professor, Biochemistry and Pathology University of Washington School of Medicine Director of Mitochondria and Metabolism Center UW Medicine Seattle, WA (Host: Jennillee Wallace, PhD)	“Mitochondria meet inflammation in heart disease”
January 8, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Emily Mace, PhD Associate Professor of Pediatric Immunology Columbia University New York, NY (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	“Cell Dynamics in Human NK Cell Maturation and Function”
January 15, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Stephanie Langel, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Pathology Case Western School of Medicine Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Jeff Schneider, PhD)	“H5N1 and the Mammary Gland: Developing Models to Study an Emerging Avian Influenza Virus”
January 22, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Peng Jiang, PhD Associate Professor Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ (Host: Jennillee Wallace, PhD)	“Exploring Resilience to Alzheimer's Disease through the Lens of Down Syndrome”
February 12, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Angela Wahl, PhD Associate Professor of Microbiology Co-Director of Advanced Technology Core \| Center for AIDS Research University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL (Host: Lena Al-Harthi, PhD)	“The Role of Resident Microbiota in HIV Acquisition and Replication”
February 19, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Xiao-Di Tan, MD Professor of Pediatrics in Research and Teaching Director of Center of Pediatric Translational Research and Education Department of Pediatrics University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago Chicago, IL (Host: Xian-Ming Chen, PhD)	“Microbiota Colonization and Gut Mucosal Disease Tolerance in Early Life”
March 19, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Yong-Hui Zheng, PhD Professor Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine Chicago, IL (Host: Xiu-Ti Hu, MD, PhD)	“NPCl Mediates SARS-CoV-2 Endocytic Entry”
April 2, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Jason M. Schenkel, MD, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, Division of Pathology/Lab Medicine The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (Host: Lena Al-Harthi, PhD)	“Winding Back the Clock - Tracking T Cell Migration in Cancer and Inflammation”
April 9, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Paolo Casali, MD Professor Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Department University of Texas Health: Long School of Medicine San Antonio. TX (Host: Jennillee Wallace, PhD)	“Humanized Mouse - Human Immune System”
April 23, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Elena Martinelli, PhD, MPH, MHSc Professor Department of Medicine (Infectious Disease) Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University Chicago, IL (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	"Metabolic Reprogramming of CD4+ T Cells by SIV, ART, and TGF-β Blockade Shapes the SIV Reservoir"
April 30, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Urko del Castillo Rojo, PhD Instructor Department of Cancer Biology in Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College New York, NY	"From Cytoskeleton to Malignancy: Microtubule-Associated RTK Fusions Driving Oncogenic Signaling"
May 14, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Charles Daniel Murin, PhD Assistant Professor Innate Immunity & Viral Pathogenesis San Diego Biomedical Research Institute San Diego, CA (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	"The structural and molecular basis of NK cell ADCC"
May 21, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Sandro Matosevic, PhD Associate Professor Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics Purdue University West Lafayette, IN (Host: Edward Barker, PhD)	"Engineered iPSC-NK Cell Immunotherapy of Cancer"
May 23, 2025 Friday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Yanling Wang, MD, PhD Associate Professor Department of Neurological Sciences Rush University Medical Center Chicago, IL	"The Applications of Multi-Omics and Human Cell Modeling in Human Alzheimer's Disease"
June 11, 2025 Wednesday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.	Shan-Lu Liu, MD, PhD Professor and Co-director Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	"Understanding Virus–Host Interactions Through the Lens of Emerging and Re-emerging Viruses"

Please contact the department at (312) 942-6383 or our seminar coordinator, Edward Barker, PhD, for additional information.