Investigations of Microbial Fitness, Virulence, and Drug Resistance
Infectious and opportunistic pathogens are a major cause of host morbidity and mortality. In this session we explore host immunity and the mechanisms by which microbes adapt to the host environment or exposure to antimicrobial agents. Better understanding host-microbe interactions and how microbes effectively respond to stress will be key to developing more effective treatments as we continue to fight pathogens both old (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and new (SARS-CoV-2).
Co-Chairs: Sally Molloy (ME) and Suegene Noh (ME)
- 9:00 am – 9:05 am
Introduction
Sally Molloy, PhD. ME-INBRE. University of Maine, Assistant Professor, Genomics, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences
Suegene Noh, PhD. ME-INBRE. Colby College, Assistant Professor, Biology - 9:05 am – 9:25 am
Evolution of antibiotic responses in complex dynamic settings.
Daniel Shultz, PhD. NH-COBRE Center for Quantitative Biology. Dartmouth College, Assistant Professor, Microbiology and Immunology. - 9:25 am – 9:45 am
The role of prophage in mycobacterial intrinsic drug resistance.
Sally Molloy, PhD. ME-INBRE. University of Maine, Assistant Professor, Genomics, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences - 9:45 am – 10:05 am
Symbiont identity impacts infection frequency and transmission rate when naive Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba hosts are infected with facultative Paraburkholderia symbionts.
Suegene Noh, PhD. ME-INBRE. Colby College, Assistant Professor, Biology - 10:05 am – 10:25 am
An essential bromodomain protein that is involved in transcriptional initiation during intracellular infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
Vicki Jeffers, PhD. NH-COBRE Center for Integrated Biomedical & Bioengineering Research. University of New Hampshire, Assistant Professor, Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences - 10:25 am – 10:45 am
Ribosomal proteins and control of virulence genes in the human pathogen Francisella tularensis.
Kathryn Ramsey, PhD. RI-INBRE. University of Rhode Island, Assistant Professor, Cell and Molecular Biology - 10:45 am – 11:05 am
Pharmacologically targeting neutrophil surface or activation-released proteins to improve the host’s ability to recognize and remove fungal pathogens.
Brian LeBlanc, PhD. RI-COBRE Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery, Miriam Hospital. Assistant Professor of Surgery R.I. Hospital and Brown University - 11:05 am – 11:10 am
Concluding Remarks
Suegene Noh, PhD. ME-INBRE. Colby College Assistant Professor, Biology