Seminars & Events
The weekly colloquium is generally held on Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. in K-207 Auditorium (2-6408). Unless otherwise noted, our departmental colloquia program is supported by the Alejandro Zaffaroni Endowment Fund and the John R. Murlin Fund. For outside guests, contact Dr. Cesare Orlandi. For graduate student colloquia, contact Dr. John Onukwufor.
Ph.D. Thesis Proposal: "Characterizing the Role of Pentose Phosphate Pathway (PPP) in Osteoblasts"
Xingyu Jing - Laboratory of Dr. Roman Eliseev
Jun 01, 2026 @ 10:00 a.m.
Medical Center | K-207, 2-6408
Ph.D. Thesis Proposal: "A Novel Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm for Investigating Rapid Antidepressant Efficacy on Context-dependent Reward Memory and Motivation"
Erik Ingebretsen - Laboratory of Dr. Manoela Fogaça
May 28, 2026 @ 10:00 a.m.
Medical Center | K-307, 3-6408
Ph.D. Defense Seminar: "Impact of Cav1.1 Conductance on Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1) Myopathy: Have You Tried Turning the Channel Off and On Again?
Sakura Hamazaki, Biology Ph.D. Candidate - Dr. John Lueck, Ph.D. Advisor
May 14, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Adolf Auditorium, 1-7619
Ph.D. Defense Seminar: "Impact of Cav1.1 Conductance on Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1) Myopathy: Have You Tried Turning the Channel Off and On Again?"
Sakura Hamazaki - Dr. John Lueck, Ph.D. Advisor
May 14, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Adolf Aud., 1-7619
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "An Investigation of Acetylsalicylic Acid's Effect on Localized Provoked Vulvodynia (LPV)"
Morgan Singleton - Laboratory of Dr. Megan Falsetta
May 12, 2026 @ 12:30 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Super Resolution Imaging Reveals NOX2 and TRPML1 Localization in Endolysosomes"
Ava Schneider - Laboratory of Dr. Scott Earley
May 12, 2026 @ 12:30 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Establishing an in Vitro Model to Test T Cell Therapy for Influenza Infection"
Mya Soto - Laboratory of Dr. Minsoo Kim
Apr 30, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Porcupine (PORCN) and AMPA Receptor Trafficking: Investigating a Potential Functional Relationship"
Maria Claudia Peroto - Laboratory of Dr. David MacLean
Apr 30, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Development and Validation of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Caregiving Reported-Health Indices (SMACR-HIs): Two Novel, Disease-Specific, Observer-Reported Outcome Measures"
Anika Varma - Laboratory of Dr. Chad Heatwole
Apr 23, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Investigating Opioid Receptor Signaling through Gustducin"
Ireland Little - Laboratory of Dr. Jean Bidlack
Apr 23, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
M.S. Thesis Defense: "TCA Cycle Metabolons in Cardiac Mitochondria"
Xinyi Qian - Advisor: George A. Porter, M.D., Ph.D.
Apr 21, 2026 @ 10:00 a.m.
Medical Center | K-207, 2-6408
"Prefrontal GABAergic Circuit Mechanisms of Emotional Memory Regulation"
Kirstie Cummings, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Apr 16, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Large Aud., 2-6424
Host: David MacLean, Ph.D., Manoela Fogaca, Ph.D., and the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Targeted Capture and Isolation of Expanded Repeat DNA Using Click Chemistry"
Laura Kelly - Laboratory of Dr. Samuel Mackenzie
Apr 02, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
First-Year Ph.D. 20-Minute Rotation Talk: "Use of Catalytically Inactive EcoRI to Facilitate Nuclear Import of DNA"
Quaid Guarino - Laboratory of Dr. John Lueck
Apr 02, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-minute Research Talk: "Autoregulation of Cerebral Micro Circulation in Response to Rising ICP"
Qinwen Huang - Laboratory of Dr. Maiken Nedergaard
Mar 26, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-Minute Research Talk: "Investigating Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Function in a Novel Mouse Model of Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1"
Stefania Poli - Laboratory of Drs. John Lueck and Robert Dirksen
Mar 19, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-Minute Research Talk: "Understanding the Metabolic Link Between Plasma Cell Survival and Function in Synovial Tissues"
Ankita Pohnerkar - Laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Anolik
Mar 19, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-Minute Research Talk: "Roles of Marrow Macrophages in Regulating HSC Division and Potency"
Ryan Adapathya - Laboratory of Dr. Shu-Chi (Allison) Yeh
Mar 12, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-Minute Research Talk: "Streamlining Production of ASIC Interacting Peptides"
Morgan Clay - Laboratory of Dr. David MacLean
Mar 12, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-minute Research Talk: "A Novel Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm for Investigating on Context Dependent Reward Memory”
Erik Ingebretsen - Laboratory of Dr. Manoela Fogaca
Mar 05, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Second-Year Ph.D. 25-minute Research Talk: "Functional and Expression Insights into Novel GPCR “GPR214"
Alex Pfeffer - Laboratory of Dr. Cesare Orlandi
Mar 05, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Ph.D. Research Talk: "Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Localized Provoked Vulvodynia"
Chrysilla Chrysilla - Laboratory of Dr. Megan Falsetta
Feb 26, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Ph.D. Research Talk: "Alternate Routes of Differentiation Contribute to Megakaryocyte Localization and Function"
Michael Malloy - Laboratory of Dr. Craig Morrell
Feb 19, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Class of '62, G-9425
Ph.D. Research Talk: "Uncovering the Mechanism Behind Phosto-Tau Pathology in a Viral Model of Alzheimer's Disease"
Tiwalade Oni - Laboratory of Drs. Kuan Hong Wang and M. Kerry O'Banion
Feb 12, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Adolph, 1-7619
Ph.D. Research Talk: "Adapting to Channel Topology: Engineering Tags for the Study of ASIC Trafficking"
Alireza Mousaei - Laboratory of Dr. David MacLean
Feb 05, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619
Ph.D. Research Talk: "“Determining the Exercise-Induced Cardioprotective Benefits of the Nrf2-Mediated Oxidative Stress Response in Cardiac Fibroblasts”"
Kate Boudreau - Laboratory of Dr. Eric Small
Jan 22, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.
Medical Center | Upper Aud., 3-7619