Fall 2026 Seminars
8/18/2026 Melissa Kendall, PhD
Melissa Kendall, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
University of Virginia
Host: Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
8/25/2026 Isabelle Derre, PhD “Molecular Hijackers: How Chlamydia Rewires Host Cells for Intracellular Survival”
Isabelle Derre, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
University of Virginia
Host: Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
9/1/2026 Anna Cliffe, PhD “Layered Awakening: Stress Signaling, Epigenetics, and Innate Immune Control of HSV-1 Reactivation”
Anna Cliffe, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
University of Virginia
Host: Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
9/15/2026 Benjamin R. Morehouse, PhD “Evolution of cyclic nucleotide signaling in immunity”
Benjamin R. Morehouse, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
& Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Host: Uday Tak, PhD
Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
9/22/2026 David M. Virshup, MD “Crypts, Telocytes and Cancer – the Journey of Wnts”
David M. Virshup, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Professor in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Professor in Cell Biology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Duke University School of Medicine
Host: Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
9/29/2026 Anny Xiaobo Zhou, PhD
Anny Xiaobo Zhou, PhD
Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Virginia
Host: Qiwei Wang, PhD
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
10/06/2026
Host:
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
10/23/2026 Kadner Symposium
Pinn Hall Conference Center
David Russell, Ph.D. (Host: Isabelle Derre)
Professor
Dept of Microbiology and Immunology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University
Andreas Bäumler, Ph.D. (Host: Melissa Kendall)
Professor
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
Nina Salama, Ph.D. (Host: Brady Spencer)
Professor
Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch
Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch
Dr. Penny E. Petersen Memorial Chair for Lymphoma Research
Asma Hatoum-Aslan, PhD (Host: Uday Tak)
Associate Professor
Microbiology
Helen Corley Petit Scholar
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
11/17/2026 Jay Hesselberth, PhD “Nanopore analysis of transfer RNA forms and functions”
Jay Hesselberth, PhD
Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of Colorado Anschutz
Host: Sarah Dremel, PhD
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014
12/1/2026
Host:
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Pinn Hall 1014