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    Microbiology & Cell Science

    Microbiology & Cell Science

    a banner reading

    Graduate Symposium Fall 2025

    Monday, August 18 and Tuesday, August 19

    at Touchdown Terrace in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

    • Day 1 Schedule
    • Day 1 Schedule
    • Day 2 Schedule
    • Day 2 Schedule
    • Poster Schedule
    • Poster Schedule
    • Location Details
    • Location Details


    Day 1 - August 18 Schedule: EMERSON ALUMNI HALL (President's Ballroom)

    8:15am – Check-in and breakfast

    8:45am – Opening Remarks and Introduction of New Graduate Students

    • Dr. Julie Maupin-Furlow

    Moderated by: Dr. Melissa Jones

    9:00am – MCS: Mass-spec Catalyzed Science in graduate research

    • Dr. Xin Wang, Adam Mearig (Triplett Lab), Alex Schultz (Ferraro Lab), Chetna Sharma (X. Wang Lab), and Katy Weber (Maupin Lab)

    9:30am – The Stellaris has landed: a survey of confocal use cases in the MCS department

    • Dr. Tyler Square

    9:50am – Non-canonical Activation of ESCRT Machinery is Required for Division of Leishmania donovani Parasitophorous Vacuoles and Persistence

    • Javier Rosero – Kima Lab

    10:05am – At the Interface of Antimicrobial Resistance and Gut-Brain Axis

    • Dr. Daniel Czyz

    10:25am – Break

    Moderated by: Dr. Luiz Passalacqua

    10:35am – A game of telephone - "messages" from small extracellular vesicles to antigen presenting cells mount mucosal immunity against Salmonella

    • Sam Enslow – Ferraro Lab

    10:50am – Insights into Lysine Acetylation in Haloferax volcanii

    • Sebastian Guerra – Maupin Lab

    11:05am – A computational investigation into the role of tRNAs encoded by Shigella phage Sf14

    • Nykki Ross – Doore Lab

    11:20am – Scaling Protein Functional Annotation Using Multimodal Embeddings

    • Nick Sexson – Dias Lab

    11:35am – The Microbial Response to Mangrove Range Expansion

    • Dr. Jose Rolando

    11:55am – Lunch

    Moderated by: TBD

    1:20pm – Determination of Genetic and Epigenetic Regulation of Meiotic Recombination under Domestication in Maize

    • Akwasi Yeboah – Zhao Lab

    1:35pm – Structure-function of nucleic acids

    • Dr. Luiz Passalacqua

    1:55pm – The Games of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle

    • Nowshin Islam – X. Wang Lab

    2:10pm – Engineering Citrus Tolerance/Resistance against HLB, a Pathogen Triggered Immune Disease, Via CRISPR

    • Dr. Daniel Czyz

    2:30pm – Title TBD

    • Shannon Brown – Martens-Habbena Lab

    2:45pm – Break

    2:50pm – Poster Presentation Session 1

    3:35pm – Break

    Moderated by: TBD

    3:45pm – Deciphering the role of R-bodies: a killer microbial mechanism

    • Lorena Ona-Yanez – Gonzalez Lab

    4:00pm – Title TBD

    • Rachel White – Rice Lab

    4:15pm – Investigating the Role of bEVs and their Sphingolipids in MNV infection

    • Joe Sullivan - Jones

    4:30pm – Modeled Microgravity Disrupts the Normal Host Innate Immune Cell Response to Symbiotic Colonization

    • Joey Emhof – Foster Lab

    4:45pm – End of Day 1


    Day 2 - August 19 Schedule: EMERSON ALUMNI HALL (President's Ballroom)

    8:00am – Breakfast

    Moderated by: TBD

    8:30am – Phosphorus and Nitrogen Limit Arctic Stream Microbial Metabolism: Composition, Chlorophyll-a, and Respiration Across Seasons and In-Stream Additions

    • Justin Ellena – Christner Lab

    8:45am – Mucus Barrier Dysfunction and Solutions for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Astronaut Health

    • Jessica Xhumari – Roesch Lab

    9:00am – Accurate prediction of protein function: from comparative genomics to machine learning

    • Dr. Valérie de Crécy-Lagard

    9:20am – Use of Intron-Spliced Hairpin RNA Interference to Enhance Defense Gene Expression in Citrus

    • Ben Merritt – Mou Lab

    9:35am – Microbial Cell Factories for Space and Earth

    • Dr. Nils Averesch

    9:55am – Break

    10:00am – Poster Presentation Session 2

    10:45am – Break

    Moderated by: Dr. Jamie Foster

    3-Minute Thesis Presentations

    10:55am – Investigating the Role of Cofactor F420-Mediated Electron Transfer in the Redox Stress Adaptation of Haloferax volcanii

    • Macie Binda – Maupin Lab

    11:00am – Engineering Citrus Tolerance to HLB Through a Multifaceted Genetic Approach

    • Andrea Gatmaitan – N. Wang Lab

    11:05am – Engineering Bacterial Membrane Vesicles for On-Demand Biomanufacturing in Spaceflight

    • Rachel Ivester – Foster Lab

    11:10am – Biopolymers as Microbiome Regulators in the Lower Reproductive Tract

    • Amanda Ojeda – Roesch Lab

    11:15am – Title TBD

    • Connor Meenan – Rice Lab

    11:20am – Title TBD

    • Anan Hafez – Czyz Lab

    11:25am – Title TBD

    • Kelley McKinley – Triplett Lab

    11:30am – Title TBD

    • KO Irving – Christner Lab

    11:35am – Interpretable AI for Early Detection of Celiac Disease

    • Brandon Pate – Dias Lab

    11:40am – Interference of host cell processes via Salmonella induces changes in sEV antigen trafficking and cargo loading

    • Alex Schultz – Ferraro Lab

    11:45am – Closing Remarks: Dr. Eric Triplett

     


    Poster Session 1

    Poster Presentation Session 1: August 18 at 2:50pm

    When more is less: Post-translational truncation of overexpressed glutathione peroxidase 8 disrupts redox balance in citrus

    • Shannon Barry – N. Wang Lab

    Microbial Deconstruction and Upcycling of Polylactic Acid into Polyhydroxyalkanoates Containing Lactic Acid

    • Jackson Bland, Allie Gao, Camila Hernandez Pedraza – Averesch Lab

    Title TBD

    • Julia Carey – Larkin Lab

    Deciphering Epigenetic and Genetic Alterations in mop1 Mutant through Successive Generations of Self-fertilization in Maize

    • Xi Cheng – Zhao Lab

    Gene editing of sweet orange immune related genes to explore their roles in Huanglongbing disease development

    • Javier Dalmendray – N. Wang Lab

    A structure-based inquiry of tRNAs encoded by Shigella flexneri and its phage Sf14 

    • Dr. Sarah Doore

    Developing HLB-Tolerant Citrus Plants through Overexpression of  Flavodoxin (Fld) to Mitigate Reactive Oxygen Species

    • Yu Feng – N.Wang Lab

    Oligotrophy in Soil Ammonia-oxidizing Archaea

    • Brigitte Gaudreault – Martens-Habbena Lab

    Transgene-free genome editing of the uORFs of antioxident enzyme genes in citrus to improve HLB resistance

    • Zhuyuan Hu – N.Wang Lab

    Tooth and Taste Bud Epithelium Arise from Shared Precursor Cells

    • Peter Huynh – Square Lab

    Investigating Tritrophic Interactions between Rice, the Rice Microbiome, and Magnaporthe oryzae

    • Tim Johnson – Fernandez Lab

    B-SURE: Impact of spaceflight and partial gravity on physiology of engineered Vibrio fischeri and the implications for space biomanufacturing

    • Adrien Kellens – Foster Lab

    Identification of Citrus Protein Interactors of the CLas Secretory Prophage Protein AGH17470 by Yeast Two-Hybrid Library Screening​

    • Florencia Ortiz Roca – N. Wang Lab

    Naïve macrophages treated with sEVs from Salmonella-infected macrophages demonstrate functional changes in an SseL-dependent manner

    • Neha Sahu – Ferraro Lab

    Poster Session 2

    Poster Presentation Session 2: August 19 at 10:00am

    Title TBD

    • Philip Babbi – Maupin Lab

    sEVs from Salmonella-infected macrophages confer antigen-specific adaptive immunity in vivo

    • Saloni Bhimani – Ferraro Lab

    The E. coli radical SAM enzyme YhcC is an MnmL ortholog required for 5-methylaminomethyl-2-thiouridine synthesis in anaerobic conditions

    • Kaleb Boswinkle – de Crécy-Lagard Lab

    Mining 7-Deazapurine Gene Clusters for Novel Secondary Metabolites

    • José Cediel-Becerra – Dias Lab

    Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages from Local Wastewater: A Novel Approach to Combat Enteric Pathogens

    • Keith Gill – Czyz Lab

    Multi-Omics Evidence for Microbial Drivers Behind SOC Degradation in Everglades Agricultural Area Peat Soils

    • Nina Infantado – Martens-Habbena Lab

    Bacterial Extracellular Vesicle Induced Differential Expression of miRNA Potentially Modulates Norovirus Infection

    • Casey Jacobi – Jones Lab

    Enhancing photosynthesis under salt stress via directed evolution in cyanobacteria

    • Shaun Jiang – X. Wang Lab

    A Work of ART: Characterizing secreted protein ART12 as a putative effector in rice blast pathogenesis

    • Rachel Kalicharan – Fernandez Lab

    Evaluation of soil bacterial isolates for the biocontrol against Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast disease

    • Lainey Kemmerer – Fernandez Lab

    The structure of Shigella phage Sf14: two decoration proteins and two long tail fibers

    • Hailey Kerns – Doore Lab

    Salts alter radiation effects on microbial biosignatures in Ocean World ices

    • Katelyn Palmer – Christner Lab

    Assessing the Contribution of Bacterial Nitric Oxide Synthase to Intracellular Survival of Staphylococcus aureus

    • Alex Pinkham – Rice Lab

    Engineering Outer Membrane Vesicles: a Novel Vaccination Strategy against Norovirus

    • Brooke Ritchie – Jones Lab

    Lactobacillus johnsonii extracellular vesicles as therapeutic effectors: Manipulation of the SH3b effector molecules as antivirals

    • Asra Sharjeel – Lorca Lab

    Title TBD

    • Marissa Veeravagu – Roesch Lab

    Location Details for Touchdown Terrace at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

    Address:

    121 GALE LEMERAND DR
    GAINESVILLE, FL 32611
    Bldg #: 0159
    196,184 GSF

    Located in the North Endzone of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (the Endzone closest to University Ave)

    Campus Map:

    https://campusmap.ufl.edu/#/index/0159 

    Transportation:

    Campus Connector Live Track Map 

    RTS Bus system-  RST Trip Planner

    Parking:

    Symposium attendees/participants can park at the O’Connell Center lot in the northeast corner. There are 100 spots available. 

    Parking Map:

    UF TAPS Parking Map: https://taps.ufl.edu/parking-info/parking-map/

    WiFi: https://getonline.ufl.edu/

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    1355 Museum Dr. Gainesville, FL, 32611 Building 981 P.O. Box 110700 Gainesville, FL 32611-0180
    (352) 392-1906

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