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