Microbiology and Immunology Trainee Seminar Series
The Department of Virology, Immunology & Microbiology (VIM) and Immunology Training Program (ITP) Trainee Seminar/Journal Club sessions are held on Mondays at 12:00 in the X222 Microbiology conference room. While in person attendance is preferred, all seminars will also be livestreamed via Zoom. Email reminders containing the zoom link will be sent prior to each seminar.
Please email kfurness@bu.edu if you want to be added to the email listserv.
Click here for previous seminars.
| Spring 2025 VIM and ITP Trainee Seminar and Journal Club Series | |
| January 27 | STUDENT SEMINARS “CD40 Roles in Driving Lung Resident Memory B Cell Development after Pneumonia” Michael Vannini, Mizgerd Lab |
| February 3 | STUDENT SEMINARS “Developing Reverse Genetic Systems for Studying Novel Henipaviruses” Jarod Herrera, Mühlberger Lab and “Mapping Drug Resistance to Pyridopyrimidinones in Orthopoxviruses” Joelle Johnson, Connor Lab |
| February 10 | STUDENT SEMINARS “Intragenic Transcriptional Element Active in HIV-1 Subtypes” Julia Huynh, Henderson Lab and “Transcriptomic Analysis of CD4+ T cells in People with HIV” Thomas Murphy, Sagar Lab |
| February 17 | NO SEMINAR |
| Friday, February 21, 1:00 pm in L110 |
DISSERTATION DEFENSE SEMINAR “Leveraging Marburg Virus Model Systems to Elucidate Filovirus Gene Expression Illuminates VP30 Interplay with Genomic Regulatory Sequences” Ellen Suder |
| February 24 | JOURNAL CLUB Wec, A.Z. et al. 2016. A “Trojan horse” bispecific-antibody strategy for broad protection against ebolaviruses. Science 354(6310):350-354. PMID: 27608664 Presenter: Emil Mah |
| March 3 | JOURNAL CLUB Wyatt-Johnson, S.K et al. 2023. Control of the temporal development of Alzheimer’s disease pathology by the MR1/MAIT cell axis. J Neuroinflammation 20(1):78. PMID: 36944969 Presenter: Laura Polanco |
| Wednesday, March 5, 1:30 pm in L110 |
DISSERTATION DEFENSE SEMINAR Animal Models of Coronavirus Heterotypic Immunity Nathan Sanders |
| March 10 | JOURNAL CLUB Biffi, G. et al. 2014. Visualization and Selective Chemical Targeting of RNA G-quadruplex Structures in the Cytoplasm of Human Cells. Nat Chem 6(1):75-80. PMID: 24345950 Presenter: Jillian Grassia |
| March 17 | JOURNAL CLUB Tran, K.A. et al. 2024. BCG Immunization Induces CX3CR1hi Effector Memory T Cells to Provide Cross-protection via IFN-γ-mediated Trained Immunity. Nat Immunol 25(3):418-431. PMID: 38225437 Presenter: Brittny Garcia |
| Tuesday, March 18, 1:00 pm in Heibert L14 |
DISSERTATION DEFENSE SEMINAR “Elucidating Mechanisms of HIV – 1 Intron Containing RNA – Mediated Inflammatory Response in Immune Cells” Sita Ramaswamy |
| March 24 | JOURNAL CLUB Blakqori, G. et al. 2009. Bunyamwera Orthobunyavirus S-Segment Untranslated Regions Mediate Poly(A) Tail-Independent Translation. J Virol. 83(8):3637-46. PMID: 19193790 Presenter: Annie Wen |
| March 31 | STUDENT SEMINAR |
| April 7 | STUDENT SEMINAR “Nuclear Localization and Transcriptional Modulation of the Ebola Virus Matrix Protein VP40” Elias Nafziger, Davey Lab and “Liver Let Die: Dissecting Hepatic Inflammatory Immune Responses and their Contribution to Liver Dysfunction in Ebola Virus Disease” Anna Tseng, Crossland and Douam Labs |
| April 14 | POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW/RESEARCH SCIENTIST SEMINARS “Deciphering the Role of Defective Viral Genomes in Ebola Virus Infection” Pan Hu, Mühlberger and Sullivan Labs and “Assessing the Antiviral Efficacy of RIG-I Agonist SLR14 Against Filovirus Infection” Kristina Meier, Mühlberger Lab |
| April 21 | NO SEMINAR |
| April 28 | POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW/RESEARCH SCIENTIST SEMINARS “Decoding Flavivirus Entry and Signaling Through Ezrin” Giulia Unali, Douam Lab |
| Monday, June 2, 12:00 pm |
QUALIFYING EXAM SEMINARS “Characterizing Novel Functional Interactions between Host Proteins and Filovirus RNA Synthesis” Jillian Grassia and “Mechanisms Driving Poly(A)-independent mRNA Stability and Translation in Arenaviruses” Annie Wen |
| Wednesday, June 4, 12:00 pm |
QUALFIYING EXAM SEMINARS “Heterologous Protection against Bacterial Pneumonia” Brittny Garcia and “Genetically Barcoded Ebola Virus to Study Intrahost Viral Population Dynamics” Emil Mah and “Clarifying the role of Herpesvirus Reactivation in the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease” Laura Polanco |
| Thursday, June 5, 12:00 pm in L110 |
DISSERTATION DEFENSE SEMINAR “Novel Insights into Gamma Delta T Cell Heterogeneity Revealed via Investigation of Inflammatory States Driven by Chronic Viral Infections and Aging using Next Generation Tools” Erika Smith-Mahoney |
| Friday, June 6, 2:00 pm in L110 |
DISSERTATION DEFENSE SEMINAR “Investigating the Role of Opioid Signaling on HIV-1 Infection in Microglia” Chelsey Skeete |