Biology Seminars from Previous Years
Spring 2022
Title: "The antibody response to food"
Lecture by: Dr. Stephanie Eisenbarth '96, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine and Professor of Medicine (Allergy and Immunology) and Pathology, Northwestern University
March 28, 2022
Fall 2021 Biology Seminar
Title: Research Opportunities in Mechanobiology
Lecture by: Dr. Annie Jeong, Associate Director, Education and Diversity of the Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Sereen Assi, PhD Student, Univ. of Pennsylvania, and Sienna Pyle, PhD Student, Univ. of Pennsylvania
September 13, 2021
Spring 2021
Title: "LRRK2 Promotes Primary Cilia Loss in Astrocytes and Neurons - Implications for Parkinson's disease"
Lecture by: Dr. Shahzad Khan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
March 15, 2021
Title: "Deciphering the role of cell tropism during early stages of Chikungunya virus infection"
Lecture by: Dr. Autumn Holmes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis
April 5, 2021
Title: "Down the hatch, but not so fast: sensorimotor integration and the coordination of oral movements during mammalian feeding"
Lecture by: Dr. Susan Williams ’94, Professor of Anatomy and Associate Dean of Faculty, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
April 12, 2021
Title: "Ground Beetles and Graduate Applications"
Lecture by: Nia "Blue" Riggins '20, Ph.D. student, Penn State University
Oct. 7, 2021
Spring 2020 Biology Seminars
All seminars are at 4 p.m. in Park 245. Refreshments will be served before the lecture.
Title: "Evolution in a Flask: Stress and Transformation"
Lecture by: Phoebe Lostroh, Ph.D., Colorado College and the National Science Foundation
Jan. 27, 2020
Title: "Salt marsh microbial communities in response to nutrient enrichment and other stressors"
Lecture by: Ashley Bulseco, Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole
March 2, 2020
Fall 2019 Biology Seminars
Title: "Within-host microbial interactions and plant parasites: from pairwise interactions to the microbiome"
Lecture by: Kayleigh O'Keefe, Ph.D., Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania
Sept. 16, 2019
Title: "Unexpected expansion of the montane tree species under climate change: The puzzling case of the red spruce in the eastern US"
Lecture by: Jane R. Foster, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont
Oct. 7, 2019
Spring 2019 Biology Seminars
Title: "Catch a wave and you can see real far."
Lecture by: Ralph Hruban, M.D., Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Jan. 28, 2019
Title: "The fungal half of the mycorrhizal equation: how fungi affect orchid population dynamics"
Lecture by: Melissa McCormick, Ph.D., Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Feb. 25, 2019
Title: "Antimicrobial peptides and intestinal homeostasis: Contributions of both host and microbe."
Lecture by: Nita H. Salzman, M.D., Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin
March 18, 2019
Title: "Green Infrastructure, Blue Carbon and Nature & Human Health: Science to Support Ecosystem Management"
Lecture by: Arianna Sutton-Grier, Ph.D., University of Maryland
March 25, 2019
Fall 2018 Biology Seminars
Title: "Molecularly-defined classes of interneurons linked to locomotor rhythm generation."
Lecture by: Kimberly J. Dougherty, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine
Sept. 17, 2018
Title: "Developing field-ready, hand-held DNA diagnostics at Biomeme."
Lecture by: Heidi Norton, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Biomeme
Oct. 8, 2018
Title: "Biodiversity and bioinvasions: marine community ecology from local latitudinal scales."
Lecture by: Amy L. Freestone, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Temple University
Oct. 29, 2018
Spring 2018 Biology Seminars
Title: "Viruses No Longer Welcome: Using bacteria to fight the spread of viruses in mosquitos."
Lecture by: John H. Connor, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology, Boston University School of Medicine
April 23, 2018
Title: "Molecular Biology to Combat a Parasite that threatens Kids around the World."
Lecture by: Boris Striepen, Ph.D., Professor, Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
Feb. 26, 2018
Title: "From the First Nine Months to the Rest of your Life: The science linking your mother's diet and environment during pregnancy to your future health."
Lecture by: Samantha F. Butts, M.D., MSCE, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Feb. 12, 2018
Fall 2017 Biology Seminars
Title: "An Evolving Understanding of the Deep Sea and Our Role in the Depths of the Ocean."
Lecture by: Erik E. Cordes, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Temple University
Sept. 25, 2017
Title: "Sexy Sperm and Competitive Caterpillars: Sexual Selection and its Consequences in the Rattlebox Moth."
Lecture by: Vikram Iyengar, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Villanova University
Oct. 23, 2017
Title: "The Use of Genomics and Cytogenetics in Clinical Care."
Lecture by: Jennifer J. D. Morrissette, Ph.D., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Nov. 13, 2017
Spring 2017 Biology Seminars
Title: “Lessons from an 80 Million Year Success Story: Army Ants as Models for Neuroecology and Thermal Physiology.”
Lecture by: Sean O'Donnell, Ph.D., Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science, Drexel University
Jan. 30, 2017
Title: “Harnessing the Inflammatory Response for Tissue Regeneration.”
Lecture by: Kara Spiller, Ph.D., School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health, Drexel University
Feb. 13, 2017
Title: “Schistosome Ion Channels as Potential Drug Targets.”
Lecture by: Robert M. Greenberg, Ph.D., School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
April 3, 2017