Upcoming Center Seminars
December 2025
Date:
Monday, December 8, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Online: Zoom Meeting
Password: 688948
Speaker:
Howard Hang, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Departments of Immunology & Microbiology and Chemistry
Scripps Research
La Jolla, CA
Title: Chemical dissection of microbiota mechanisms in health and disease
Speaker’s Research Interests: Dr. Hang’s laboratory investigates how chemical signals derived from host metabolism, diet, or the microbiota shape host-microbe interactions in health and disease. His team has developed methods to define metabolite–protein interactions, revealing unexpected roles in cell biology, immunity, and pathogen virulence. More recently, they have identified protective factors from specific microbiota species using chemical approaches and key animal models.
In his seminar, Dr. Hang will present recent advances in uncovering and translating microbiota-driven mechanisms relevant to infection and immunotherapy, highlighting new opportunities for diagnostics and therapeutics.
January 2026
Date:
Monday, January 26, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Carolina Tropini, Ph.D., P. L. Eng.
Assistant Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering & Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Title: Environmental perturbations in the gut: from pathogen susceptibility to engineered biosensors
Speaker’s Research Interests: The Tropini Lab investigates how disruptions to the physical intestinal environment, whether caused by altered nutrition or underlying diseases, affect the microbiota and host across multiple scales. Their cross-disciplinary team integrates approaches from microbiology, bioengineering, and biophysics to develop highly parallel assays and study how bacteria and microbial communities function, with the ultimate goal of translating these insights to improve human health.
March 2026
Date:
Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 7:30 – 8:30 am, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: TBD
Speaker:
Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu, MD
Professor of Medicine
Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
April 2026
Date:
Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Samar H. Ibrahim, M.B.Ch.B, NASPGHAN-F, AASLD-F
Consultant, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology
Director, C-SiG Pilot and Feasibility Program
Medical Director, Pediatric Liver Transplant Program
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
May 2026
Date:
Monday, May 18, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Declan F. McCole, Ph.D., AGAF
Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Biomedical Sciences Department
School of Medicine
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
June 2026
Date:
Monday, June 29, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
M. Maya Kaelberer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
July 2026
Date:
Monday, June 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker: TBD
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
August 2026
Date:
Monday, August 31, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Scott T. Magness, Ph.D.
Professor
University of North Carolina Departments of Medicine, Cell Biology & Physiology
North Carolina State University Joint Departments of Biomedical Engineering
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
September 2026
Date:
Monday, September 28, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: TBD
Speaker: TBD
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
October 2026
Date:
Monday, October 26, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Takeshi Saito, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and Pathology
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Los Angeles CA
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
November 2026
Date:
Monday, November 30, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Lee A. Denson, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Schubert-Martin IBD Center
Director, Digestive Health Center
Research Director, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD
December 2026
Date:
Monday, December 14, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting
Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)
Speaker:
Stephen A. Duncan, DPhil
Professor and Chair
Department: Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology
Programs: Cell Injury, End Organ Disease
Cell Models Core
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
Charleston, SC
Title: TBD
Speaker’s Research Interests: TBD