Past Seminar Speakers

Spring 2009

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Christopher A. Pennell University of Minnesota	Stress proteins and immune responses
Dara W. Frank Medical College of Wisconsin	Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExoU: Killing from the inside-out
Jeffrey A. Gralnick Dept of Microbiology & BioTechnology Institute University of Minnesota	Extracellular respiration of insoluble substrates by Shewanella
John M. Logsdon Jr. Biology Dept University of Iowa	Evolution of flagellar genes in Salmonella
Carin Vanderpool Dept of Microbiology University of Illinois	Beyond Base Pairing: New Functions for "non-coding" RNAs
Gregory J. Phillips Vet Microbiology & Preventive Medicine Iowa State University	Persistence pays off: Understanding the mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance in Salmonella
Rebecca E. Dutch Dept of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry University of Kentucky	Novel roles for the endocytic pathway in the life cycle of recently identified paramyxoviruses
Thomas J. Inzana Dept of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology Virginia Tech	Francisella tularensis surface antigens: their role in virulence and as potential vaccine candidates
Joseph Mougous Dept of Microbiology University of Washington	Regulation of Type VI secretion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Amiya K. Banerjee Dept of Molecular Genetics Lerner Research Institute Cleveland Clinic Case Western Reserve University	Multiple functions of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase of vesicular stomatitis virus
Harold D. May Dept of Microbiology & Immunology Medical Univ of South Carolina	Bioelectrochemical applications for bioremediation and bioenergy
Martin F. Flajnik Dept of Microbiology & Immunology University of Maryland	Immunoglobulins versus Gamma/Delta T cell receptors: How do we decide?
Ronald N. Harty Dept of Pathobiology University of Pennsylvania	Virus-Host Interactions that Modulate Budding of Ebola Virus
Michael Emerman Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute	Evidence for ancient infections: The evolution of human intrinsic immunity to retroviruses
Igor B. Zhulin Computational Sciences Oak Ridge National Lab University of Tennessee	Molecular Evolution of a Complex Signal Transduction System in Prokaryotes
Eric P. Skaar Dept of Microbiology & Immunology Vanderbilt University	The battle for metal between Staphylococcus aureus and its host

Fall 2008

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Damian Purcell University of Melbourne	RNA-mediated control of HIV Env expression
Steven M. Varga Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	Contributions of CD8 T cells and Eosinophils to the Development of RSV Vaccine-Enhanced Disease
Ann Roman Dept of Microbiology & Immunology Indiana University	Human Papillomavirus Pathogenesis: Effects on Keratinocytes and Endothelial Cells
Carl Ware La Jolla Inst for Allergy & Immunology	Regulation of Immunity by the TNF Superfamily: the LIGHT-HVEM-BTLA Triad
Lee-Ann H. Allen Depts of Medicine, Microbiology & Inflammation Program The University of Iowa	The fascinating fate of Fransicella tularensis in phagocytes
Moncef Zouali Directer of Research, Inserm University of Paris	Molecular pathways leading to autoimmune pathogenesis
Nicole Bernard Centre for the Study of Host Resistance McGill University	Role for innate immunity mediated by NK cells in protection from HIV infection
Abigail Salyers Dept of Microbiology University of Illinois	The human intestinal tract - a hotbed of resistance gene transfer
Barry R. Bochner President, CEO & CSO Biolog, Inc., Hayward, CA	Phenotype microarrays: high-resolution, high-throughput biology of microbial cells
Ralph A. Tripp Infectious Diseases University of Georgia	Mechanisms of immune modulation and disease pathogenesis associated with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection
Eric O. Freed Retroviral Replication Lab National Cancer Institute	HIV assembly, release, and maturation
Carol A. Gross Dept of Microbiology & Immunology Univ of California San Francisco (CRAWFORD LECTURE)	Dissecting genetic circuits and intercompartmental communication in bacteria
Linda McCarter Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	To swim, swarm, or stick? Decision-making circuits in Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Kathleen Ryan Univ of California Berkeley	Regulated proteolysis of CtrA during the Caulobacter cell cycle
J. Stacey Klutts VA Medical Center Clinical Laboratories	Where'd You Get That "Sweet" Coat? Dissecting Mechanisms of Surface Polysaccharide Synthesis in Cryptococcus and Aspergillus
Daniel Kearns Dept of Biology Indiana University	Swarming motility and cell division in Bacillus subtilis

Spring 2008

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Jeffery Meier, MD Dept of Internal Medicine The University of Iowa	Modeling CMV Reactivation: Two Paths for Return
Wes Dunnick University of Michigan	Enhancing correctly regulated antibody switch recombination by transcriptional regulatory elements
Susan M. Egan, PhD Kansas University	AraC Family Transcription Activators as Anti-Bacterial Targets
Cathy L. Miller, PhD Vet Micro & Preventive Med Iowa State University	Mammalian orthoreovirus interferes with stress granules to disrupt the cellular stress response
John Kirby, PhD Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	Chemosensory Regulation of Biofilm Formation by Myxococcus xanthus
Jared R. Leadbetter, PhD Environ Sci & Engineering California Inst of Technology	New insight into lignocellulose conversion by termite gut microbes
Piers Nash, PhD Ben May Inst for Cancer Research University of Chicago	Context and Non-Permissive Factors Determine Physiological Ligand Selectivity of Protein Interaction Domains
Stephen Stohlman, PhD Dept of Neurosciences; Lerner Research Inst; Cleveland Clinic Fdn	Immunity to Viral Encephalitis
Donna Paulnock, PhD Medical Microbiology & Immunol University of Wisconsin, Madison	Modulation of Host Innate Immunity During Trypanosome Infection: Receptors, Responses and Regulation
Alexander H. Lucas, PhD Children's Hospital Oakland Research Inst	Molecular Basis of Humoral Immunity to Encapsulated Pathogens
Kenneth W. Bayles, PhD Pathology & Microbiology Univ of Nebraska Medical Center	The molecular control of bacterial programmed cell death
Frank E. Loeffler, PhD School of Civil & Environ Engr and School of Biology; Georgia Inst of Technology	Exploiting Nature's Blueprint for Biotechnological Applications
Lynn W. Enquist, PhD Molecular Biology Princeton University	Spread of alpha herpesvirus infection in the nervous system

Fall 2007

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Alice Erwin Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Ind	Do Haemophilus influenzae Isolates Differ in Virulence? Genetic and Genomic Approaches
Rancy Sacco Iowa State Univ/USDA	Cytokine signaling pathways in macrophage populations: examining the response to TLR agonists and respiratory viruses
Gary Whittaker Cornell University	Priming and activation of viral fusion proteins: Implications for pathogenesis and host range
Kelly Hughes University of Utah	Reducing the irreducible complexity of the bacterial flagellum
H. Rex Gaskins Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	On the contributions of sulfate-reducing bacteria to chronic intestinal disorders
Charles Abbas ADM, Decatur, IL	Case for Cellulosics: A different value proposition
Robert Duda Dept of Biological Sciences University of Pittsburgh	New insights into Bacteriophage P1 Capsid Structure
Jason Johnston Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	Regulation of sialic acid uptake and quorum sensing: Critical factors in nontypeable Haemophilus influenzaebiofilm formation and virulence
David Sibley Dept of Molecular Microbiology Washington University, St Louis	Mapping virulence genes in Toxoplasma
Lawrence P. Kane Dept of Immunology University of Pittsburgh	Signaling by TIM family proteins
Laurel Lenz Dept of Immunology National Jewish Hospital	Bacterial subversion of innate interferon gamma
Marcia A. Blackman Trudeau Institute	Age-associated decline in cellular immunity to influenza virus
Alex Horswill Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	New Insights on Quorum-Sensing in Staphylococcus aureus
Jon Houtman Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	Mechanism and Kinetics of Proximal T Cell Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways

Spring 2007

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Robert Webster St. Jude's Hospital (IDA BEAM LECTURE)	H5N1 Influenza: Will it Achieve Pandemic Status?
Paul Freimuth Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY	Assembly of adenovirus fiber knob trimers: cargo for hepatocyte coxsackie-adenovirus receptors
Charlene Kahler Univ of Western Australia	The protein oxidation pathway of Neisseria meningitidis: a paradigm for substrate specificity of oxidoreductases
Randy Brutkiewicz Dept of Microbiology & Immunol Indiana University	Regulation of CD1d-mediated antigen presentation by signal transduction pathways
Joseph S. Pagano, MD Dept of Microbiology & Immunol Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	Tumor Viruses Dysregulate the Ubiquitin System
Marian Carlson Columbia University	Snf1/AMPK pathways and metabolic stress: insights from yeast
Daniel Wozniak Wake Forest University	The matrix of Pseudomonas biofilms
Victor J. DiRita University of Michigan	Transcription control mechanisms regulating virulence in Vibrio cholerae
Stuart Hill Northern Illinois University	Pilin gene variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: reassessing the old paradigms
Joseph Vogel Washington University	Legionella pneumophila and Coxiella burnetii: The Dot connection
Walter Fast University of Texas, Austin	Bacterial quorum-quenching: Enzymology of a metallo-lactonase
Karla Kirkegaard Stanford University	New lessons from poliovirus: Dominant drug targets and novel routes for viral spread

Fall 2006

Speaker	Seminar Topic
Simon Graham Internatl Livestock Research Inst Nairobi, Kenya	Exploiting host immunity and parasite genomics to develop a sub-unit vaccine against East Coast fever: the Malaria of cattle
Kevin Young Dept of Microbiology & Immunol University of North Dakota	Shape shifting: cell wall synthesis, shape and septation in Escherichia coli
Karen Beemon Chair, Department of Biology Johns Hopkins University	How retroviruses process RNA and induce tumors
John P. Atkinson Washington University	Not enough regulation in innate immunity
Paula Pitha-Rowe Sidney Kimmel Comp Cancer Ctr Johns Hopkins School of Medicine	Cell defense against viral offense; molecular mechanism of the antiviral response
Daniel Portnoy Dept of Molecular & Cell Biology; School of Public Health Univ of California, Berkeley	How Listeria monocytogenes exploits innate immunity to promote infection
Lyric Bartholomay Dept of Medical Entomology Iowa State University	Reassessing innate immunity in mosquito vectors: Functional genomic explorations of mosquito blood
Brian Martin Dept of Microbiology University of Iowa	Complement in neuroinflammation and age-related macular degeneration
Fidel Zavala Molecular Microbiology & Immunol Bloomberg School of Public Health Johns Hopkins University	Effector and memory CD8+ T cells against malaria parasites
Bruce Chesebro Chief, Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases Rocky Mountain Laboratories/NIAID	Mad-cows and wasted deer: roles of prion protein membrane anchoring in prion disease pathogenesis
Steve Bunnell Dept of Pathology-Medicine Tufts University	The cellular context of T cell costimulation: VLA-4 influences the intracellular trafficking of signaling complexes
W. Allen Miller Plant Pathology Department Iowa State University	What a plant virus can tell us about the complexities of positive strand RNA virus gene expression
Stanley Perlman Dept of Microbiology The University of Iowa	Development of novel murine models for study of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom (SARS)
Donald M. Cannon Department of Chemistry The University of Iowa	Interrogating the Synergy between neurons and glia: Nanoscale sensors for investigating reactive oxygen dynamics at the single-cell level

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