Research in Progress Seminars
Fall 2025 BMVS (RIP) Seminars (BMVS 5944)
We invite anyone from the college community to attended these lectures.
Course Director: Ansar Ahmed
Classroom: Classroom 121
Day: Fridays
Time: 9-10 a.m.
August 29, 2025
"Pursuing a Postdoc Proactively: An Overview of the Diverse Types of Postdoctoral Training and How to Leverage Them to Launch Your Career"
Chris Smith, PhD
Administrator
Postdoctoral Affairs Program
Dr. Smith earned a BS in neuroscience from Furman University and a PhD in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Smith’s postdoctoral training was at Vanderbilt University. His previous experience includes serving as the postdoctoral affairs program manager at North Carolina State University and as a member of the National Postdoctoral Association’s Board of Directors.
September 05, 2025
"Graduate School resources for your academic success."
September 12, 2025
"Structural mechanobiology of blood clots"
Oleg Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
Dr. Oleg Kim earned his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in Mechanical Engineering. He has held research appointments at the Harper Cancer Research Institute/Univ of Notre Dame, and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He applies his engineering knowledge to various biomedical and health conditions, including wound healing, blood clots and cancer, the mechanical and structural properties of biomaterials, and the role of cytoskeleton components in cellular functions, among others.
September 19, 2025
"The kinds of viruses you might like: understanding and leveraging the relationship between bacteriophages and bacteria in the gut microbiome"
Bryan Hsu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Dr. Hsu completed his BS in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Univ. of California, Berkley, MS and PhD from MIT, and a Postdoc at Harvard Medical School. His laboratory is broadly interested in using an inter-disciplinary approach (microbiology, synthetic biology, and biomaterials) towards understanding and remodeling the gut microbiota. His research team is particularly focused on discovering new phages and genetically engineering them for antibacterial and antivirulence applications.
September 26, 2025
"Resistance may be futile, but tolerance is not: host and pathogen evolution in a songbird disease system"
Dana Hawley, PhD
Professor of Biological Sciences
College of Science
Dr. Hawley’s research program investigates the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie host susceptibility, pathogen virulence, and transmission. Her laboratory’s approach to disease ecology, from a multidisciplinary perspective, aims to understand how individual physiology, pathogen virulence, social behavior, and environmental context interact to influence the dynamics of infectious diseases. Her laboratory’s current research projects involve three main areas:
- Social behavior and disease.
- Evolution of pathogen virulence in a novel host.
- Causes and consequences of phenotypic immune variation.
October 3, 2025
"Moving Body, Moving Mind: The Neuroscience of Movement for Biopsychosocial Health"
Julia Basso, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise
Dr. Basso earned her BA in Neuroscience/Dance, CYT, and PhD in Behavioral and Neural Science. She is a principal investigator in the Embodied Brain Laboratory at Virginia Tech, where she investigates how mind-body-movement practices, such as dance, affect brain function and physiology. Her research examines two main aspects:
- Errors in decision making on diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and addiction.
- Investigating the effects of exercise on brain function and physiology, and the neurobiological underpinnings of exercise motivation
October 10, 2025
"Seeing Double: Image-Based Approaches for Assessing in vivo Bone Remodeling and Mechanoregulation"
Caitlyn Collins, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. Biomedical Engineering & Mechanics
Dr. Collins earned her BS (Biomedical Engineering), MS (Mechanical Engineering), and PhD (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has won the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, FIRST award, among many other awards and fellowships. Her research interests include bone mechanobiology, personalized tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, Machine Learning, and the Integration of medical imaging with experimental and computational Biomechanics
October 17, 2025
Fall Break - No Classes
October 24, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Virology-Student Presentations
Irwin Mathew
"Efficacy of a Live Attenuated HSV-1 Vaccine Candidate for Protection against HSV-2"
Rafaela Flor
"Host-mediated Regulation of Inflammatory Signaling Via CK1α Inhibition During Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection"
October 31, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Public Health-Neuroscience-Student Presentations
Kristin Masters
"Assessing Avian Influenza Spillover Risks: A Methodological Approach to Linking Migratory Bird Flyways and Human Mobility."
Chen-I Hsu
"Paraspeckle Protein NONO Regulates Active Chromatin by Allosterically Stimulating NSD1"
November 7, 2025
Immunomodulation and Cancer-Student Presentations
Cassandra Poole
"Immunogenic effects of High-Frequency Irreversible Electroporation in the treatment of breast cancer."
Ny Luong
"Investigating the immunomodulatory effects of combined histiotripsy and N-dihydrogalactochistan: A novel noninvasive therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma"
November 14, 2025
Immune-Inflammatory Diseases-Student Presentations
Rana Estaleen
"Potential Mouse Model for Lupus-associated Arthritis."
Hillary Montona
"Adenosine Receptor Modulation in Lupus Disease Pathogenesis."
November 21, 2025
Public Health-Student Presentations
Md. Mahabub Chowdhury
"Advancing One Health forecasting: extreme weather and Pathogen Exposures from concentrated animal feeding operations"
Syeda Nahid Fatema
"Analyzing Healthcare Accessibility Patterns in Virginia’s New River Valley during the Covid-19 Crisis."
November 28, 2025
Thanksgiving Break - No Classes
December 5, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Somaia Abdelmegeed
"Repurposing Antibacterial Drugs and Clinical Molecules to Combat Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE)"
Brice Stolz
"Natural Compounds Derived from Antivirals as Novel Treatments of Clostridioides difficile Infections"
January 24, 2025
"10 years of Microplastic Research: What have we learned and what lies ahead"
Austin D. Gray, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Science
January 31, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Ahmed Abouelkhair
"Targeting Clostridiodes difficile: Unveiling New Therapeutics with proven in vivo efficacy"
Abdallah Abdelsattar
"Identification of novel therapeutics against gonococcal infections"
February 7, 2025
"The ecology and management of emerging wildlife disease"
Joseph Hoyt, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
February 14, 2025
"Applied Generative AI for Teaching and Learning: Responsible Principles and Practical Use Cases for Academic Generative AI"
Associate Vice Provost for Technology-Enhanced Learning and Online Strategies
February 21, 2025
"Exploring Sleep and Chronic Pain in Dogs"
Rell Parker, DVM, PhD, DACVIM–Neurology
Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
February 28, 2025
Immunology/Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Caitlin Armstrong
"Sex differences in lupus-associated monocyte exhaustion revealed by high-dimensional flow cytometry analysis"
Katie Tiller
"Auranofin Demonstrates Antiviral Effects Against Hepatitis E Virus Via the Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species"
March 7, 2025
"Finding Your Future with the Added Advantages of Interdisciplinary Skills to Advance Human and Animal Health"
Susan Meacham, PhD
Career Advisor for Health Professions Advising
Career and Professional Development
March 14, 2025
Spring Break - No Classes
March 21, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Greyson Moore
"Female sex hormones enhance HSV replication and disease severity"
Taylor Nolan
"Determining the role of viral structural genes that drive Zika virus shedding in semen"
March 28, 2025
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Abdullah Jamiu
"Exploiting virus-host interactions to develop inhibitors against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus”
Shannon Carney
"Development and Characterization of an Acute Mouse Model of EEEV Infection"
April 4, 2025
Veterinary Clinical/ Translational Research-Student Presentations
Samantha McCarter, DVM
"Comparing milk composition and puppy growth of overweight and lean bitches"
Annie Showers, DVM (Cardiology Resident)
"Understanding how mitral valve morphology impacts development of Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease in Cavalier Kong Charles Spaniels"
April 11, 2025
Public Health/Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Janice O’Brien, DVM
"Validation of a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) for use in dog nutrition research"
Nour Alkashef
"Combating Cryptococcal infections: The potent duo of Amphotercin B and Ketolide Antibiotics"
April 18, 2025
“Cranial osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) as a treatment for neuroinflammation and post traumatic headache following blast exposure.”
Pam VandeVord, PhD
N. Waldo Harrison Professor Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Engineering
April 25, 2025
Neuroscience/Neuropathobiology-Student Presentations
Susan Pinar
"Interrogating the neuroimmune contributions to chronic neurobehavioral sequalae following Traumatic Brain Injury"
James May
"Characterizing the Glioblastoma 'Ablatosome' Treated with H-FIRE"
May 2, 2025
Inflammatory diseases/Veterinary Clinical Research-Student Presentations
Mahfuz Islam
"Early Growth Response Protein 2 (EGR2) regulation of the immune system of lupus-prone mice"
Laura Victoria Quishpe Contreras, DVM (Clinical Pathology Resident)
"Spatial transcriptomic analysis of low-grade intestinal T cell lymphoma and lymphoplasmacytic inflammatory bowel disease in cats"
August 30, 2024
"Graduate School resources for your academic success."
Bryan Hanson
VT Graduate Student Ombudsperson
September 6, 2024
"What is a ‘good’ PhD."
Steven Peolzing, PhD
Professor, Associate Vice President, Health Sciences and Technology Faculty Affairs
September 13, 2024
"DEI for BMVS Students"
Garry Morgan, MEd
Director, Equity, and Inclusion,
VMCVM
September 20, 2024
"Designing Engaging Posters"
Associate Professor, Undergraduate Research Services Coordinator
University Libraries
September 27, 2024
Clinical Pathobiology and Public Health-Student Presentations
Christina Pacholec
"Effects of Image Magnification, Type and Number on the Accuracy of an Artificial Intelligence Model"
Amir Mortazavigazar
“Integrating health, economic, and environmental trade-offs into decarbonization decision-making in New England”
October 4, 2024
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Chelsea Cereghino
"Vector competence of urban mosquitoes for recently emerged Haitian strains of Mayaro virus"
Dima Hajj
“Functional characterization of TgTKL1 kinase in Toxoplasma gondii pathogenesis.”
October 11, 2024
Fall Break - No Classes
October 18, 2024
Immunology-Student Presentations
Rana Estaleen
"Insights into Immune Dysregulation: the Role of CX3CR1 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Pathogenesis"
Caitlin Armstrong
"Phenotypic Characterization of Exhausted Monocytes in Lupus-Prone Mice."
October 25, 2024
Immunology and Oncology-Student Presentations
Tian Xu
“Application of Deep Learning Models on Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Analysis Uncovers Novel Markers of Double Negative T Cells.”
James May
“Characterization of the glioblastoma ‘Ablatosome’ treated with high-frequency irreversible electroporation”
November 1, 2024
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Yehia Elgammal
"Repurposing phospholipase A2 inhibitors to develop novel antifungals against multidrug-resistant Candida auris infections"
Nour Alkasef
"Searching for Novel Antifungal Agents combating human cryptococcal infections."
November 8, 2024
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Brittany Heath
“Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is essential for reducing Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) pathogenesis”
Morgan VanderGiessen
“Characterization of neurological sequalae of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus”
November 15, 2024
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Rafaela Machado Flor
"Characterization of Rift Valley fever virus L polymerase interaction with protein human phosphatase-1 alpha"
Jillian Green
"Inhibition Of Stress Hormone Receptors Reduces Clinical Recurrences Of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 In Guinea Pigs"
November 22, 2024
Infectious Diseases-Student Presentations
Rachel Persinger
"North American Culex mosquitoes are competent vectors for Usutu virus"
Ama Amoakoma Agyei
"Determination of the region of the latency associated transcript (LAT) responsive to the action of epinephrine in HSV 1&2 infections."
November 29, 2024
Thanksgiving Break - No Classes
December 6, 2024
Neuropathobiology-Student Presentations
Chen-I Hsu
"Molecular Basis of Euchromatin establishment and its dysregulation in Diffuse Midline Glioma"
Elizabeth Harris
"Chronic influence of PDM activity on hippocampal pathology and post-traumatic sequelae following TBI"