Paul Fey, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska
Link to Paul Fey’s Website

“Clinical Microbiology in the Times of COVID-19”

This presentation will focus on the process involved in test development for SARS CoV-2.  Discussion will include some of the unforeseen challenges that we continue to experience during this pandemic.  Further discussions will involve how one might enter a career in clinical microbiology and how you can create an infrastructure to perform both basic science research and clinical microbiology at an academic medical center.

Due to public health concerns, the lecture was conducted live via Zoom.

Unfortunately, our guest speaker will not be able to speak at our March meeting so we are cancelling this monthly meeting. We hope to reschedule Dr Mekalanos for a future meeting.

John J Mekalanos, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Link to the Mekalanos Laboratory

Colon Cancer and “Bug” Impacts: Microbes and Communities

Cynthia L. Sears, MD
Professor of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Link to the Sears Laboratory

Colon cancer is a cancer that equally impacts men and women and is rising in incidence in younger individuals and around the globe.  Intense investigations are seeking to identify which microbes and communities may contribute to colon cancer initiation and progression. This talk will summarize aspects of the evidence base, the areas of controversy and provide some insight into experimental data that may provide guidance for development of new prevention and therapeutic strategies for colon cancer.

“Medicines Based on Define Bacterial Consortia“
Bernat Olle, PhD
Chief Executive Officer, Vendanta Biosciences

Dr. Olle is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Biosciences. He has been a member of the founding teams of several companies of the PureTech portfolio and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Vedanta Biosciences and Follica Biosciences.

In 2013 Dr. Olle was named “Innovator of the Year” in MIT Technology Review Spain’s “Innovators under 35” awards. He completed his doctoral work at the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT, where he developed a novel method for large-scale bacterial culture. During his graduate work, Dr. Olle was awarded the “la Caixa” fellowship. Dr. Olle received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, in the Republic of Catalonia, his M.S. and PhD. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT, and his M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has published his work in journals including Nature and Nature Biotechnology.

5pm, free reception
6pm, seminar

Thomas Jefferson University
Bluemle Life Sciences Building
233 S. 10th Street (10th an Locust), Philadelphia 19104

Discounted parking at the garage on 11th and Locust (entrance on 11th Street under the Hamilton Bldg)