Spring 2006

Fall 2006

Spring 2007

Fall 2007

The Microbiology and Immunology Forum (MCBI 7480) is an integral part of the graduate training program in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in which students develop their skills in presenting research findings in a standard seminar format. All students are required to give a formal seminar once each semester on a topic from current research literature or their own research. The Forum is attended by all departmental faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and research staff who participate in discussion and critical review of the presentation.

January 12, 2006: “Monocytes Are Highly Sensitive to Clostridium difficile Toxin A-Induced Apoptotic and Nonapoptotic Cell Death”
Jenifer F. Ojeda, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

January 19, 2006- Doctoral Student Poster Presentations
J. Lori Blanchfield- "Derivation and Expression of Cytokine/Antigen Fusion Proteins that Activate Encephalitogenic T cells"
Jenifer F. Ojeda- "The Effects of Notch-1 on Hoechst 33342-low Tumor Stem Cells"
Michael A. Reott- "Construction and Characterization of Non-polar Thioredoxin Mutants in Bacteroides fragilis"

February 9, 2006: "An Overview of Serine- and Tyrosine-site Specific Recombinases in Bacteroides fragilis"
Michael A. Reott, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

February 16, 2006: "Derivation and Expression of Cytokine/Antigen Fusion Proteins that Activate Encephalitogenic T cells"
J. Lori Blanchfield, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

March 9, 2006: "What is All the Fus Fho? The Bacteroides fragilis fho Gene Encodes a fusA Homolog that is Induced During Oxidative Stress"
Samantha G. Harvey, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

March 16, 2006: "Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis: Where We Came From and Where We Are Going"
Heidi V. Dalrymple, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

April 5, 2006: Dissertation Defense- "Identification and Characterization Of PqsH, a Putative Monooxygenase Required for PQS Production, and Comparison To PqsL, an Opposing Putative Monooxygenase"
Brian E. Bullman, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University Location of Seminar: Brody 2E-100

April 13, 2006: "An Inducible Model of HOXA9 Expression in Stromal Cell Dependent Acute Leukemia Cell Growth"
Jarrett T. Whelan, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

April 27, 2006: "The Effect of Tetracycline on Control of Bacteroides CTn341 mob Operon"
Lindsay A. Jacob, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

May 8, 2006:  "The Regulation of the Brucella abortus Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase Genes"
Kendra R. Hitz, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

June 8, 2006: Doctoral Student Poster Presentations
William H. Chappell, "Interactions Between the RAF/MEK/ERK, P13K/PTEN/Akt and p53 Pathways Which Alter Prostate Cancer Drug Resistance"
Jenifer F. Ojeda, "Identification of the bhuTUV Gene Locus in B. abortus"

June 13, 2006: "The Roles of Multicopper Oxidase and Copper ATPase in the Survival and Virulence of Staphylococcus aureus Strain EMRSA-16"
Michael A. Reott, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

June 29, 2006: U.W.E. Sandwich Year Student Presentations
Jenny Gooding, "Determination of the Heme Content in Bacteroides fragilis Catalase in a Multicopy OxyR Background"
Kirsty Hill, "SodA Detoxifies Endogenous Superoxide in Brucella abortus 2308

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Monday, July 24, 2006:  "Renal Specificity of Autoreactive T cell Clones in the Development of Lupus Glomerulonephritis"
J. Lori Blanchfield, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

August 17, 2006: "Constitutive Activation of the Ras/Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway Promotes Androgen Hypersensitivity in LNCaP Prostate Cancer Cells"
William H. Chappell, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

August 31, 2006: "A Putative Heme Oxygenase in Brucella abortus"
Jenifer F. Ojeda, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

September 14, 2006: "Roles of Thioredoxins in Bacteroides Metabolism and Oxidative Stress"
Michael A. Reott, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

October 5, 2006: "Lost in Translation: Does the Bacteroides fragilis fho Gene Really Encode a Functional Elongation Factor G?"
Samantha G. Harvey, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

October 12, 2006: "The Role of FoxP3 in CD4+ CD25+ Regulatory T Cell Function"
J. Lori Blanchfield, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

October 26, 2006: "The Regulation of the Brucella abortus Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase Genes"
Kendra R. Hitz, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

November 9, 2006: "MLL-PTD in Leukemia and Aberrant Hox Gene Expression"
Jarrett T. Whelan, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

November 30, 2006: "The Mobilization Region of Bacteroides CTn341 is Necessary for Transfer and Regulated by Tetracycline"
Lindsay A. Peed, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

December 7, 2006: "Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis"
Heidi V. Dalrymple, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

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January 11, 2007: Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student Poster Presentations
William H. Chappell- "Interactions Between the Raf/MEK/ERK, PI3K/PTEN/Akt, and p53 Pathways that Alter Prostate Cancer Chemo-resistance"
Ossie F. Dyson- "For Your Eyes Only: Cell Surface Changes During KSHV Reactivation"
Melissa L. Midgett- "Effects of Pre-Clinical Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt Inhibitors on Growth and Signal Transduction Pathways"
Jenifer F. Ojeda- "Construction of a B. abortus Heme Oxygenase Mutant"

January 18, 2007: "Killing Two Birds with One Stone: A View of a Promising Anti-tumor Treatment"
Ossie F. Dyson, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

January 25, 2007: “Inhibition of Either Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt or the Mitogen/extracellular-regulated Kinase, MEK/ERK, Signaling Pathways Suppress Growth of Breast Cancer Cell Lines, but MEK/ERK Signaling is Critical for Cell Survival”
Melissa L. Midgett, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

February 1, 2007: "What Role Does the Heme Oxygenase (BhuO) of Brucella abortus Play in Heme Metabolism and Virulence?"
Jenifer F. Ojeda, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

February 22, 2007: "Discoidin Domain Receptors: A Look at an Emerging Family of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases"
William H. Chappell, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

March 8, 2007: "To Be Seventeen: Th17 Cells, a New T-cell Subset Characterized in the Pathogenesis of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis"
J. Lori Blanchfield, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

March 22, 2007: "The Roles of Thioredoxins in Redox Maintenance
and Survival During Oxidative Stress in Bacteroides fragilis"
Michael A. Reott, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

March 29, 2007: "Activin A and PPARγ – FRIEND OR FOE?"
Heidi V. Dalrymple, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

April 19, 2007: "HoxA9 Induces Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) Expression in B-Lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"
Jarrett T. Whelan, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

April 26, 2007: "Understanding How Brucella abortus 2308 Regulates ahpCD Expression in Response to Hydrogen Peroxide Stress"
Kendra R. Hitz, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

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September 6, 2007:  "A Transforming Mutation in the Pleckstrin Homology Domain of AKT1 in Cancer"
Melissa L. Sokolosky, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

**Special Seminar-  Dissertation Defense**
Wednesday, September 12, 2007: "Production Of BhuA By Brucella Abortus Is Required For Hemin Utilization And Virulence And Is Dependent On The Transcriptional Regulators RirA AndChrA"
James T. Paulley, Doctoral Candidate, Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology, East Carolina University School of Medicine
Seminar will be held in Brody Burgundy Auditorium at 1:00pm

September 13, 2007: "The Poxvirus A35R Gene Product Regulates Host Adaptive Immunity"
Krissy Rehm, Interdisciplinary Program in Biological Sciences Doctoral Student

September 20, 2007:  "An Alternative Mechanism in the Treatment of Adult T-Cell Leukemia"
Ossie Dyson, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

September 27, 2007:  "The Function of the Tax-HDAC Interaction: Do HDACs Deacetylate and Mediate Dephosphorylation of the HTLV-1 Viral Protein Tax?"
Pamela Cook, Interdisciplinary Program in Biological Sciences Doctoral Student

Wednesday, October 3, 2007:  "TssM is a Necessary Effector Molecule of the Type VI Secretion System of Burkholderia mallei"
Jenifer F. Ojeda, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student
Biotech Conference Room 110, 1:00 pm

October 4, 2007:  "Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin: A Potential Role in Tumor Survival and Progression" 
William H. Chappell, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Student

October 11, 2007: "Pulmonary Lipid Metabolism: The Role of PPARγ"
Anna Armstrong, Interdisciplinary Program in Biological Sciences Doctoral Student

October 18, 2007: "Thioredoxins in Redox Maintenance and Survival During Oxidative Stress in Bacteroides fragilis"
Michael A. Reott, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

October 25, 2007: "Targeting Myelin Basic Protein to Antigen Presenting Cell Subsets Via Cytokine Receptors"
J. Lori Blanchfield, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

November 1, 2007: "In Brucella abortus 2308, OxyR and "RegX" Regulate Expression of the ahpCD Operon Differently in Response to Hydrogen Peroxide Exposure"
Kendra Hitz, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

November 8, 2007: "HoxA9 Regulation of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) in Acute Leukemia"
Jarrett Whelan, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

November 29, 2007: "MACROPHAGES: LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE?"
Heidi Dalrymple, Microbiology & Immunology Doctoral Candidate

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