Microbiomics, Inflammation and Pathogenicity

This seminar will address the interface between the human microbiome and the host immune system which contributes to health or disease.  Presentations will describe bacterial recognition and signaling responses, the role of bacterial metabolites in the maintenance of epithelial barriers, microbial control by professional phagocytes and bacterial immune evasion mechanisms.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gaya Amarasinghe

Dr. Amarasinghe is the Professor of Pathology & Immunology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Molecular Microbiology, at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Lecture: Filoviral infections lead to rare, but often lethal outbreaks.  Viral immune evasion, coupled with uncontrolled viral replication results in disease.  Molecular mechanisms and host-viral interactions that contribute to infection and diseases, as well as recent developments in therapeutics will be discussed.

Following the keynote address (15-minute presentations) by: 

Dr. Venkatakrishna Jala, Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

Dr. Matt Lawrenz, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Center for Predictive Medicine

Dr. Juhi Bagaitkar, Assistant Professor of Oral Immunology & Infectious Diseases, School of Dentistry