MCB 40th Anniversary Seminar Series

Location: Biology Physics Building, Room 130 | Time: 3:30PM-4:30 PM | Livestream Link

September 8

Kevin Boyd headshot KEVIN BOYD, Deep Learning Scientist, Drug Discovery, NVIDIA. GPU scientific software, molecular simulation, and AI-enabled biomolecular modeling, including BioNeMo. UConn connection: B.S. MCB ‘14 (Honors); Ph.D. MCB ‘19, Eric May lab. Seminar Details

September 15

Jamie Micciulla headshot JAMIE MICIULLA, Postdoctoral Researcher, CIRES / University of Colorado, Soil and rhizosphere microbiomes, plant-microbe interactions, nitrification, and protist ecology. UConn connection: Ph.D. MCB Microbiology ‘22, Daniel Gage lab. Seminar Details

September 22

Nicholas Silvaggi Headshot NICHOLAS R. SILVAGGI, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Structural enzymology of nonribosomal peptide synthetases and bioactive natural-product assembly. UConn connection: UConn Ph.D. ‘03; crystallography of penicillin-binding proteins and beta-lactam inhibition, Judy Kelly lab. Seminar Details

September 29

Olga Zhaxybayeva headshot OLGA ZHAXYBAYEVA, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Microbial evolution, adaptation, and horizontal gene transfer through genome and metagenome analysis. UConn connection: Ph.D. Genetics ‘04, J. Peter Gogarten lab. Seminar Details

October 6

Andrea Suria headshot ANDREA SURIA, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Ohio Wesleyan University, Beneficial microbial symbioses and antimicrobial metabolites that protect animal hosts and eggs. UConn connection: Ph.D. MCB Microbiology ‘19, Spencer Nyholm lab. Seminar Details

October 13

Sjana Surla headshot SHANA STURLA, Full Professor, ETH Zurich. 30th Annual Khairallah Symposium
Sponsored by the Drs. Edward A. Khairallah and Lamia H. Khairallah Fund dedicated to the support of scientific research and education at UConn. The Fund honors the enduring contributions MCB’s Drs. Edward A. and Lamia H. Khairallah made during their productive and influential careers. Seminar Details

October 20

Alex Meeske headshot ALEX MEESKE, Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Washington, Phage biology and CRISPR-Cas antiviral immunity, including Cas13-induced bacterial dormancy. UConn connection: B.S. MCB ‘10; Adam Zweifach lab; 2009 Goldwater Scholar. Seminar Details

October 27

Cheryl Andam headshot CHERYL ANDAM, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Scientific Director, Life Sciences Research Initiative, University at Albany, SUNY, Pathogen population genomics, recombination, strain diversity, and antimicrobial resistance. UConn connection: Ph.D. Microbiology ‘11, J. Peter Gogarten lab. Seminar Details

November 10

Michael Ward Headshot MICHAEL WARD, Scientist, Generate:Biomedicines, Molecular simulation and deep learning of protein dynamics for generative medicine design. UConn connection: B.S. MCB ‘15; M.S. MCB ‘17, Eric May Lab. Seminar Details

November 17

Gregory Fournier GREGORY FOURNIER, Associate Professor of Geobiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Evolutionary geobiology using phylogenetics, horizontal transfer, and molecular clocks. UConn connection: Ph.D. Genetics & Genomics ‘09 and MCB postdoc, J. Peter Gogarten lab. Seminar Details

December 1

Kristen Parent headshot KRISTEN PARENT, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University. Cryo-EM and biophysics of bacteriophage assembly, host recognition, and genome delivery. UConn connection: B.S. MCB ‘01; Ph.D. Biochemistry ‘07, Carol Teschke lab. Seminar Details

December 8

James Rice headshot JAMES RICE, Head of Discovery Biology, Covant Therapeutics, Covalent drug discovery spanning immunology, autoimmunity, cancer metastasis, and translational biology. UConn connection: B.S. Physiology & Neurobiology ‘02; Ph.D. MCB ‘14, Michael Lynes lab.
Seminar Details