Microbiology Seminar Schedule
Spring 2026
Seminars will be held on Wednesdays at 4:10 p.m to 5:05 p.m. Unless marked as "Zoom meeting", seminars will be in person in Jennings 001. In-person seminars will not be available via Zoom. Please reach out to Karna Gowda for information regarding links to Zoom seminars.
Please contact the Graduate Coordinator (micro.grad@osu.edu) for additional information and changes to the schedule.
January 21:
Jerrin George, Ph.D., Montana State University
"Transposon Domestication and Molecular Exaptation in Bacterial Antiphage Defense"
Host: Stephen Bell
January 28:
Zhangfei Shen, Ph.D., The Ohio State University
"Novel bacterial Argonaute systems respond to invading nucleic acids"
Host: Stephen Bell
February 4:
Matthew Doran, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
"From Structure to Motility: A Systematic Analysis of Flagella in the Protozoan Parasite Leishmania"
Host: Stephen Bell
February 11:
Yaxi Wang, Ph.D., Yale University
"Decoding the Interactions Between Ultrasmall Epibiotic Bacteria and Their Hosts"
Host: Stephen Bell
February 18:
Kyle Crocker, Ph.D., The University of Chicago
“Dynamic structure in the topsoil microbiome"
Host: Darryl Wesener
Co-organized with the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
February 25:
Menghan Liu, Ph.D., Columbia University
"From Petabase-Scale Data to Single Genomes: Discovering Conserved Genetic Principles in Microbial Systems"
Host: Darryl Wesener
Co-organized with the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
March 4:
Veronika Kivenson, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
"The Hidden Flexibility of the Genetic Code and its Untapped Potential"
Host: Karna Gowda
Co-organized with the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
March 11:
Xindan Wang, Ph.D., Indiana University
TBA
Host: Stephen Bell
March 25:
Jan Burian, Ph.D., The Rockefeller University
TBA
Host: Karna Gowda
Co-organized with the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
April 15th:
SAM Professional Development Seminar*
Qirui Zhang, Ph.D., Ohio Department of Agriculture
TBA
Host: Students for the Advancement of Microbiology (SAM)
*attendance is optional
April 22:
Sven van Teeffelen, Ph.D., University of Montreal
TBA
Host: Felix Barber
May 6: Kendrick Memorial Seminar
Andreas Bäumler, Ph.D., University of California Davis, School of Medicine
Host: Microbiology Graduate Students