EXTERNAL SPEAKERS

Andrew Gewirtz, PhD
Professor, Georgia State University

For nearly 25 years, Dr. Gewirtz’s major professional effort has focused on investigating host-microbial interactions in intestinal disease. His more recent goal has been to understand the enormous influence of microbiota on enteric viral infection. When Dr. Gewirtz first began to study rotavirus over 10 years ago, he sought out the collaboration of Dr. Mary Estes, who he has formally joined forces with and will serve as an advisor on their efforts on a multi-PI proposal.

Niki Moutsopoulos, DDS, PhD
Senior Investigator, NIH/NIDCR

Dr. Moutsopoulos’ research has been focused on oral mucosal immunity with an emphasis on aberrant inflammatory conditions of the oral cavity. Her studies are focused on host/microbe interactions preserving health and mediating inflammatory disease in the oral cavity. Ultimately, she aims to define key pathways involved in susceptibility and progression of aggressive forms of periodontitis with the goal of identifying therapeutic targets.

Michael Koob, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota

Dr. Koob’s laboratory develops novel tools for engineering the genomes of laboratory animals to learn how genes that cause mitochondrial and neurodegenerative diseases function. These tools allow researchers to transfer lengthy human DNA sequences of disease-causing genes into mice and track their function. His team has also engineered specific mutations in the Alzheimer’s gene that are reproducible through successive generations of laboratory mice, allowing them to control the “noise” of genetic variation.

Mark Sundrud, PhD
Professor, Dartmouth College

Dr. Sundrud’s lab develops genetic, chemical and biochemical tools, and applies them to mouse and human immunology systems, with the goal of identifying and modulating mechanisms that underpin T cell-driven inflammatory diseases. The lab has been consistently funded by the NIH and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation; his current efforts center on novel mechanisms by which xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptors and transporters mediate crosstalk between T cells and bile acids in the intestine.

Mariana Xavier Byndloss, DVM, PhD
Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Byndloss’ research proposes establishing novel molecular mechanisms responsible for the imbalance in the microbial community, which connects significant players in chronic inflammatory diseases’ pathogenesis. Her research program also focuses on how intestinal inflammation caused by the bacterial pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium induces changes in host physiology and how these changes can cause disruption of the microbial ecosystem in our large intestine to promote pathogen colonization and disease.

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Laurence M. Morel, PhD
Professor & Chair of the Dept. of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics

Dr. Morel’s research is centered on the mechanisms of lupus pathogenesis using mouse models as well as patients’ samples. She has been continuously funded by the NIH, as well as by the Lupus Research Alliance and the Lupus Foundation for America. Her current research focuses on the genetic and metabolic determinants of lupus phenotypes in CD4+ T cells, as well as the role of the microbiome in lupus pathogenesis. Her long-term goal is to identify and validate therapeutic targets using a combination of genetic, metabolic, and microbial/metabolomics approaches.

Mansour M. Zadeh, PhD
Director, The Center for Mucosal & Microbiome Biology at UT Health San Antonio

Dr. Zadeh is a cellular and molecular immunologist focusing his laboratory’s work on the interaction of gut microbiome and the associated metabolites with the hosts during steady states and proinflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. His goal is to robustly establish an advanced scientific platform in cellular and molecular mucosal immunology and microbiome research by supporting the education of both basic and clinical scientists.

Georgios Kotsakis, DDS, MS
Associate Professor, UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry

Dr. Kotsakis is a Dentist Scientist with a long-standing interest in host microbiome interactions in the oral mucosal barrier. His lab’s translational research program encompasses all levels of the translational research spectrum from T1-T4. Dr. Kotsakis has led multi-center clinical studies as PI, and has extensive experience with periodontal outcome assessment, training and calibration and sample collection in humans. Since the completion of his graduate studies in 2015, he has published 70 peer reviewed manuscripts in high impact disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals and has received 9,359 citations with an h-index=26.

Yong Ge, PhD
Assistant Professor, UT Health San Antonio

Dr. Ge is very interested in investigating the molecular mechanisms by which this critical vitamin produced by gut commensals, particularly P. UF1, contributes to the host protection against intestinal infections. Preliminary data suggest that VB12 regulated the frequency of ileum-resident macrophages (iMacs). Dr. Ge’s goal is to combine his microbiology, molecular biology, and immunology background to study how the gut microbiota shapes the host immune systems.