Speakers

Ethan Bier

Ethan Bier received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has received the Sloan Foundation Award, the McKnight Award for Neuroscience, the Basil O'Connor Award, and the American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Award.

Rodrigo Almeida

Dr. Almeida's research focuses on the biology, ecology, evolution, and management of insect-borne plant pathogens. Research topics range from insect-microbe interactions to disease ecology and pathogen genomics. He also works on translating research into disease management practices. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley (2002), an M.S. in Entomology from Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (1999), and a B.Sc. in Agronomy from Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (1997).

Dr. Hailing Jin

Dr. Jin's lab studies the molecular mechanisms of plant immunity and pathogen virulence, with an overall goal to develop effective and environmentally friendly strategies to control plant diseases and to ensure sufficient food production. Their research projects include: Small RNAs and Cross-Kingdom RNAi in Plant-Pathogen Interactions, Regulatory mechanisms of RNAi machinery in plant-pathogen interactions, and Epigenetic regulation of plant immune responses.

Allison Hansen

Dr. Hansen's lab is interested in ecological and evolutionary genomics of insect-microbe interactions. Their lab teases apart the molecular mechanisms that underpin insect-microbe co-evolution using comparative and functional genomics in an evolutionary framework. Broad objectives our lab explores are:

1) Determine how microbes affect eukaryotic metabolisms, and how their individual metabolisms mechanistically interact together.

2) Identify which microbe genes and small RNAs are responsible for producing the extended insect host phenotype that may increase insect fitness in certain environments. Their lab uses insect and microbe genomics together with field and laboratory trials to provide novel insights into the complexity and dynamics of insect-microbe symbioses.

Tibo Duran

Dr. Duran's research integrates artificial intelligence, machine learning (AI/ML), and nano-scale molecular modeling to investigate disease mechanisms and advance bioinformatics analyses. By combining computational modeling with large-scale biological data, his work aims to improve disease prediction, classification, and therapeutic discovery and delivery.