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San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center SDDRC

Upcoming Center Seminars


June 2026

Date:
Monday, June 29, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: Leichtag - 107 (Lecture Room)

Online: Zoom Meeting
Password: 912175

Speaker: 
M. Maya Kaelberer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona


Title:
 A gut sense for microbes

Speaker’s Research Interests: The Kaelberer laboratory focuses on how our gut and brain communicate. Their goal is to understand the implications of our gut sense in fundamental processes such as our emotional states, development, and food choice. Using cutting-edge interdisciplinary approaches, including advanced molecular tools, in vitro/in vivo calcium imaging and electrophysiology, and behavioral analysis, they aim to dissect the neural circuits of gut-brain sensory transduction. Their research focuses on identifying and manipulating specialized gut sensory cells, known as neuropod cells, and the neurons they directly synapse with to communicate bidirectionally with the brain.


August 2026

Date:
Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 7:30 – 8:30 am, Pacific Time, Hybrid Meeting

Location: TBD

Speaker: 
Marina Serper, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine
Transplant Hepatologist
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


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