PVMS 2023 SCHEDULE

PVMS 2023 Schedule

Pioneer Valley Microbiology Symposium Agenda
University of Massachusetts, Amherst – March 25, 2023

Integrative Sciences Building, UMass Amherst campus, Amherst, MA

Link to PVMS Program

Link to PVMS Abstract Book

9:00 – 9:40 am    Registration and Coffee

9:40 – 9:45 am    Opening Remarks: James F. Holden, Professor and Department Head, Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst 

9:45 – 10:55 am  Session 1

  • 9:45 – 10:15 am    Invited Keynote Speaker: Mistranslation of the genetic code by a novel class of bacterial transfer RNAs
    Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health
  • 10:15 – 10:35 am    Molecular determinants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Gram-negative bacteria outer membrane impermeability
    Irene Lepori, Microbiology, UMass Amherst
  • 10:35 – 10:55 am    Developing a robust system for genetic detection of RNA-binding protein
    Suxuan Wang, Program in Biochemistry, Mount Holyoke College

10:55 – 11:50 am   Poster Session 1 and Coffee Break – Poster # 1-28

11:50 – 1:00 pm    Session 2

  • 11:50 – 12:20 pm    Invited Keynote Speaker: Microbiomes help marine animals adapt to a changing world
    Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn, Biological Sciences, UMass Lowell
  • 12:20 – 12:40 pm  Phage influence on hydrothermal vent bacterial symbionts in the Lau Basin
    Michelle Hauer, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island
  • 12:40 – 1:00 pm    Junonia coenia Densovirus Infections of Euphydryas Phaeton larvae, the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
    Billi Kozak, Eastern Connecticut State University

1:00 – 1:55 pm   Lunch

1:55 – 3:05 pm   Session 3

  • 1:55 – 2:25 pm       Invited Keynote Speaker: Effective application of machine learning to microbiome-based classification problems
    Begüm Topçuoğlu, Bristol Myers Squibb
  • 2:25 – 2:45 pm       Microbial nanowires with genetically modified peptide ligands to sustainably fabricate electronic sensing devices
    Yassir Lekbach, Microbiology, UMass Amherst
  • 2:45 – 3:05 pm      Genetic and lipidomic identification of tuberculostearic acid as a controller of mycobacterial membrane compartmentalization
    Malavika Prithviraj, Microbiology, UMass Amherst

3:05 – 4:00 pm   Poster Sessions 2 and Coffee Break – Poster # 29-56

4:00 – 5:00 pm   Session 4

  • 4:00 – 4:20 pm      Towards programmable interspecies cell-cell communication in bacterial consortia: synthetic homoserine lactone-based quorum sensors for gram-positive B. subtilis
    Min Zeng, Chemical Engineering, UMass Amherst
  • 4:20 – 4:40 pm       Bent Out of SHAPE: Using Structural Probing and Mutational Profiling to Explore RNA That Resist Viral Decay
    Jacob Miles, Microbiology, UMass Amherst
  • 4:40 – 5:00 pm      Evaluation of Caenorhabditis elegans for enrichment of and as an in vivo infectivity model for noroviruses*
    Anand Soorneedi, Food Science, UMass Amherst
    *tentatively not presenting*

5:00 – 5:25 pm  Closing Remarks and Prizes

5:25 – 7:15 pm   Evening Refreshments