Advances in Immunology and Microbiology Seminar Series
About the event
Featuring research in the areas of:
Epidemiology | Infectious Disease | Disease Ecology | Drug Discovery | Virology |
Global Health | Vector-Borne Disease | Pathology
The Advances in Immunology & Microbiology seminar series is a weekly forum that brings together scientists from diverse fields and disciplines across the College of Veterinary Medicine to discuss research advances in the broad areas of immunology, microbiology, infectious diseases, and global health. Seminars feature student speakers from the Immunology & Infectious Disease (IID) doctoral program, IID-affiliated postdoctoral researchers and faculty, intramural speakers from across the university, and extramural speakers.
INTRAMURAL TRAINEE DOUBLE-HEADER
Dr. Brianna Steiert, Department of Veterinary Microbiology & Pathology; (Advisor: Dr. Dana Shaw )
TITLE: TBA
Dr. Chelsea Osbron, PhD; Postdoctoral Research Associate; Shaw lab; Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology; (Advisor: Dr. Dana Shaw)
TITLE: Dissecting the role of IKKε in tick immunity and vector competence
ABSTRACT: Tick species such as Ixodes scapularis are major vectors of bacterial pathogens. Nevertheless, strategies for controlling tick-borne disease are extremely limited and do not address vector competence, or the ability for ticks to harbor and transmit these pathogens. One major factor controlling vector competence is the tick immune response to infection, of which mechanistic knowledge is profoundly lacking. To develop effective, targeted methods to prevent tick-borne disease before patients become sick, a greater understanding of tick immune pathways is necessary. We recently discovered that the non-canonical IκB kinase IKKε restricts tick bacterial burden by stimulating the IMD pathway, a vital arthropod innate immune response. However, many tick orthologs of canonical phosphorylation targets of IKKε are lacking conserved motifs, rendering the mechanisms of IKKε immune induction unclear. The goal of my research is to characterize how signaling through IKKε controls tick immunity.