Seminars

Fall 2019 Seminars

For a comprehensive schedule of all MBS seminars and Data Club meetings, please see the calendar here.

Friday, September 6th, 2019

Title: "Contribution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Extracellular Polysaccharides to Chronic Cystic Fibrosis Airway Infections"
Speaker: Laura Jennings, PhD - Research Professor
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, September 16th, 2019

Title: Research Update Seminar (MBS Graduate Student Seminar/Data Club)
Speaker: Beth Cole, Toxicology
Host: Yoon Hee Cho, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, September 20th, 2019

Title: "How Characterization of a Novel Adherence Function Led to New Insight in Complement Resistance for Borrelia burgdorferi"
Speaker: Jon Skare, PhD - Texas A&M
Host: D. Scott Samuels, PhD/CBSD Sponsored CMMB Seminar
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, September 23rd, 2019

Title: TBD (MBS Graduate Student Seminar/Data Club)
Speaker: Elizabeth Arrigali 
Host: Monica Serban, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, September 27th, 2019

Title: "Genomics and Comparative Genomics of HIV-1 for Vaccine Evaluation"
Speaker: Paul Edlefsen, PhD - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Host: Travis Wheeler, PhD/CBSD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, October 4th, 2019

Title: “Investigating Protein Dynamics Using Computational Methods”
Speaker: Dave Holley, PhD 
Host: BMED
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 1st, 2019

Title: "Drug Development for Enteric Infections: Lessons Learned from Preclinical and Clinical Studies"
Speaker: Sam Arnold, PhD - Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, University of Washington
Host: Erica Woodahl, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 8th, 2019

Title: TBD
Speaker: John Froehlich, PhD - Harvard Medical School
Host: Oliver Serang, PhD/CBSD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 15th, 2019

Title: TBD
Speaker: Moriah Szpara, PhD -  Penn State University
Host: Brent Ryckman, PhD/CMMB 
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 22nd, 2019

Title: "Precision Medicine Under the Big Sky"
Speaker: Erica Woodahl, PhD 
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, December 6th, 2019

Title: "What I Did on Sabbatical"
Speaker: Sarah Certel, PhD 
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, December 13th, 2019

Title: TBD
Speaker: Blake Wiedenheft, PhD - MSU
Host: John McCutcheon, PhD and Patrick Secor, PhD/CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Spring 2019 Seminars

Monday, January 14th, 2019

Title: "Structural Mechanisms of Biased Signalling in PPARγ" (MBS Graduate Student Seminar)
Speaker: Michelle Nemetchek, BCBP
Host: Travis Hughes, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 12:25 PM

Tuesday, January 15th, 2019

Title: "Characterization of the c-MYC Promoter Quadruplex and Investigation of Anthracenyl Isoxazole Amides (AIMs) Antitumor Activity" (Dissertation Seminar)
Speaker: Sascha Stump, PhD Candidate, Toxicology
Host: Howard Beall, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM

Friday, January 18th, 2019

Title: "The Structure and History of Populations in a Geographic Mosaic of Predator-Prey Coevolution"
Speaker: Mike Hague, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow, Cooper Laboratory, CMMB
Host: Brandon Cooper
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, January 18th, 2019

Title: "Induction of Natural Product Production and Caspase-3-Ligand Crystallography" (Masters Seminar)
Speaker: Kelly McGrath, Masters Candidate, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Design
Host: Andrea Stierle, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM

Friday, January 25th, 2019

Title: "Cytokines and Beyond: Regulation of Type 2 Inflammation During Intestinal Helminth Infection"
Speaker: Elia Tait Wojno, PhD - Assistant Professor, Cornell University
Host: Jay Evans, PhD and Celine Beamer, PhD 
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, February 1st, 2019

Title: "The Causes of Balancing Selection on Immunity Genes: From Populations to Molecular Interactions"
Speaker: Robert Unckless, PhD - University of Kansas
Host: MBS/Brandon Cooper 
Location: Skaggs Building #114
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, February 4th, 2019

Title: “Calcium and Transport Modulators in ER-to-Golgi Trafficking” (MBS Graduate Student Seminar)
Speaker: John Sargeant, Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology
Host: Jesse Hay, PhD 
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Friday, February 8th, 2019

Title: "Leveraging MS-based Metabolomics for Natural Products Drug Discovery"
Speaker:  Tim Bugni, PhD - University of Wisconsin - Madison
Host: Andrea Stierle, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, February 22nd, 2019

Title: "Coactivator-nuclear Receptor Interaction is Synergistically Modulated by Ligand and DNA"
Speaker: Ian de Vera, PhD - Saint Louis University, School of Medicine
Host: Travis Hughes, PhD (Faculty), Michelle Nemetchek (Graduate Student)
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Title: "How Does Cytomegalovirus Cause Hearing Loss?"
Speaker: Albert Park, MD - University of Utah
Host: Monica Serban, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, March 15th, 2019

Title: "Digital Technology in 21st Century Course Design: Friend or Foe?"
Speaker:  Laurie Minns, PhD
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, March 22nd, 2019

Title: "It's All Fun and Games: Research at a Primarily Undergraduate Institute"
Speaker: Joel Graff, PhD - Montana Tech
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, April 5th, 2019

Title: “Friend or Foe: The Dual Nature of Tick-borne Pathogens"
Speaker: Seemay Chou, PhD - University of California San Francisco
Host: CBSD Sponsored CMMB Seminar
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, April 19th, 2019

Title: "Rare Conformations Involving Proline"
Speaker: Gautam Basu, PhD - Bose Institute
Host: CBSD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, April 26th, 2019

Title: "Human Glucose Metabolism From Cell Biology to Evolution"
Speaker: Frances Brodsky, PhD - University College London
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, May 13th, 2019

Title: "Avoiding Adverse Effects: New Idea in Drug Discovery for Targeting PPARgamma" (Master's Seminar)
Speaker: Trey Patton - Masters Student of Pharamcy Science and Drug Design
Host: Travis Hughes, PhD and Philippe Diaz, PhD
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM

Fall 2018 Seminars

Friday, September 14, 2018

Title: "Finding Genetic Sequence Rearrangements in Evolution and Disease"
Speaker: Martin Frith, Ph.D., University of Tokyo
Host: CBSD/Travis Wheeler
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, September 21, 2018

Title: "Viral Replication Mechanisms through the Lens of Genetic Diversity: A Molecular Microbiologist’s Journey into the Unknown"
Speaker: Brent Ryckman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Montana
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, September 28, 2018

Title:  "Filamentous Bacteriophage as Pathogenic Factors in Human Infections"
Speaker: Paul Bollyky, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, October 5, 2018

Title:  "Incorporating Disease Data and Interlocus Gene Conversion into Evolutionary Inference"
Speaker: Jeff Thorne, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics and Statistics, North Carolina State University
Host: CMMB/Computer Science
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, October 19, 2018

Title:  "The Evolution of Seasonal Camouflage"
Speaker: Jeff Good, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, October 26, 2018

Title:  "Activation of Neuroimmune Responses Mediate Anxiety-Related and Depressive-like Behaviors Following Acute Colitis"
Speaker: Vicinius De Maria Gadotti, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
Host: Philippe Diaz
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 2, 2018

Title: "Early existence and biochemical evolution characterize acutely synaptotoxic misfolded prion protein species."
Speaker: Simote Foliaki, MSD, Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne 
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, November 30, 2018

Title: "Deciphering Dissemination of Human Cytomegalovirus"
Speaker: Andrew Yurochko, Ph.D., Carroll Feist Endowed Chair of Viral Oncology, LSU Health - Shreveport
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Spring 2018 Seminars

Monday, January 22, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Structural Studies of Quadruplex DNA and Membrane Proteins”
Speaker: Sascha Stump, Toxicology Ph.D. Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Monday, January 29, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: "Sex and Disease" 
Speaker: Jessica Ray, Toxicology Ph.D. Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, February 2, 2018

Title:  "A Phage-encoded Integrase Promotes Virulence Factor Production in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa"
Speaker: Patrick Secor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #117 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Monday, February 5, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Helical Disruption and Inverse Agonism in Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor Gamma"
Speaker: Ian Chrisman, Biochemistry Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Monday, February 12, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Investigations of Ligand Binding to Neurotransmitter Receptors” 
Speaker: Janet Bobango, Neuroscience Ph.D. Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, February 23, 2018

Title: “Using Protein Phosphorylation, Acetylation, and Methylation to Outline Lung Cancer Signaling Networks”
Speaker: Mark Grimes, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Title: "Volume Electron Microscopy of Neural Circuits"
Speaker: Davi Bock, Group Leader, HHMI - Janelia Research Campus
Host: CMMB/BMED/CSFN
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 2:00-3:00 PM

Friday, March 2, 2018

Title: "Why Would a Virus Encode a Protein that Compartmentalizes the Endoplasmic Reticulum?"
Speaker: Jeremy Kamil, Ph.D., Associate Professor, LSU Health Shreveport
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, March 5, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Boundary function method in biological models”
Speaker: Denis Shchepakin, Neuroscience Ph.D. Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, March 9, 2018

Title: "Chimeritope Technology: Next Generation Vaccines for Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases" 
Speaker: Richard Marconi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, VCU
Host: Scott Samuels, CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, March 12, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series

Double Research Presentation

Title: "Of Minigenes and N: Rift Valley Fever Virus, Alternative Splicing, and snoRNA"
Speaker: Luke White, CMMB Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM


Title: "Innate lymphoid cells: The new frontier" 
Speaker:  Valery Roman-Cruz, CMMB Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Friday, March 16, 2018

Title: "Yeast: A Model System for Retrotransposition and Undergraduate Education"
Speaker: Jill Keeney, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Biology, Juniata College
Host: Scott Samuels, CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, March 19, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series

Double Research Presentation

Title: “Role of IP3 Receptors in ER-to-Golgi Secretory Trafficking”  
Speaker: Aaron Held, CMMB Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM


Title:  “Regulation of Neuron Communication and Development by Drosophila CCN"
Speaker: Lizzie Catudio-Garrett, CMMB Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Friday, March 23, 2018

Title: "Role of Non-methylating C/D box snoRNAs in Prader-Willi Syndrome: Old Dogs Show New Tricks" 
Speaker: Stefan Stamm, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 pm

Thursday April 5, 2018

Title: “Introduction to NanoString’s Multi-Omic Technology" 
Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Schneider, Ph.D., NanoString Technologies, Inc. 
Host: Yoo Hee Cho, CEHS
Location: Skaggs Building #275
Time: 1:30 - 3:00 pm

Friday, April 6, 2018

Title: "Coxiella burnetii - A Kiwi’s Story"
Speaker: Paul Beare, Rocky Mountain Laboratory
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Friday, April 13, 2018

Title: "Applications of Multi-omics Methods to Aid in Understanding Protein Function"
Speaker: Dr. Josh Adkins, Team Lead Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Host: CMMB
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, April 16, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series

Double Research Presentation

Title:  “A Hypothetical Mechanism to Regulate GLD-1 in C. elegans”  
Speaker: Miyuki Hayashi, Biochemistry Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM


Title: “Targeting the Mode of Action for a Novel Methyl Nonactate Derivative 31G12- a Bioinformatics Approach” 
Speaker: Larissa Walker, CMMB Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Friday, April 20, 2018

Title: "3D Printing Functional Materials & Devices"
Speaker: Michael C. McAlpine, Ph. D., Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
Host: Philippe Diaz, BMED
Location: Skaggs Building #169 
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, April 23, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Friends or Foes? Innate Lymphoid Cells & the Gut"
Speaker: Laura Berg, Toxicology Graduate Student
Location: Skaggs 169
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, April 27, 2018

Title: "Environmental Toxicants Affect Vaccine Efficacy: Is There a Value in Altering the Route of Immunization"
Speaker: Pavan Muttil, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of New Mexico
Host: Celine Beamer, BMED
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Monday, April 30, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: TBA
Speaker: Maria Ferrini, Toxicology Ph.D. Student
Location: Chemistry Building #212
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Friday, May 4, 2018

Title: "Beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors and the Impact on Nonclinical Safety Assessment"
Speaker: Rod Prell, Ph.D.,  Principal Scientist/Toxicologist Therapeutic Area Lead: Cancer Immunotherapy Safety Assessment, Genentech
Host: David Shepherd, BMED
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Monday May 7, 2018

Experimental Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology/Data Club Seminar Series
Title: “Skin Barrier Modifications by Retinoid-related Compounds in Reconstructed Human Epidermis”
Speaker: Joachim Veit, Ph.D. Student
Location: Chemistry Building #212
Time: 12:00 - 12:50 PM

Monday, May 14, 2018

Title: "Rebirth of Bone Mineral in Biomedicine: From Cell Reprogramming to Targeted Anticancer Therapies"
Speaker: Vuk Uskokovic, Ph.D., Assistant Professor,  Dept. of Bioengineering, College of Medicine & Engineering, The University of Illinois at Chicago 
Host: Dr. Andrij Holian, CEHS
Location: Skaggs Building #117
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Friday, May 18, 2018

Title: “Nuclear receptor targets for modulating neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease”
Speaker: Ron Tjalkens, Ph.D.,  Professor and Toxicology Section Head, Colorado State University
Host: Chuck Thompson, BMED
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 PM

Monday, July 23, 2018

Title: "Cell Type- and Human Allele-Specific Expression of IL-10 Family Cytokines Controls Disease Susceptibility"
Speaker: Jay Bream, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg, School of Public Health
Host: Dave Shepherd, BMED & Center for Translational Medicine - Joint Seminar
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 pm

Friday July 27, 2018

Title: "To DO or not to DO. That is the question"
Speaker: K. Michael Pollard, PhD, Associate Professor
Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute
Host: CEHS
Location: Skaggs Building #169
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm