Department Retreat
Monday, August 17, 2026
Great Hall, Fourth Floor, Memorial Union
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
The Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology holds an annual all-department retreat! The day features research talks from our labs, a poster session, an afternoon reception, all meals, and a beautiful view of Lake Mendota.
Retreat Schedule
| 8:30 – 9:00 | Breakfast Buffet breakfast offered prior to event start. |
| 9:00 – 9:10 | Opening Remarks State of the Department Report Vanessa Sperandio |
| 9:10-10:30 | Sessions |
| 9:10 – 9:30 | Shai Bel |
| 9:30 – 9:50 | Ebru Guver, Sperandio Lab |
| 9:50 – 10:10 | Elebeoba (Chi Chi) May |
| 10:10 – 10:30 | Rodrigo Montoro, Knoll Lab |
| 10:30 – 11:15 | Poster Session Part I Refreshments and snacks provided. |
| 11:15 – 12:15 | Sessions |
| 11:15 – 11:35 | Ananya Vanbakkam, Williams Lab |
| 11:35 – 11:55 | JD Sauer |
| 11:55 – 12:15 | Avery Imes, Mandel Lab |
| 12:15 – 1:15 | Lunch Buffet lunch provided. |
| 1:15 – 2:15 | Sessions |
| 1:15 – 1:35 | Andrew Hryckowian |
| 1:35 – 1:55 | Ben Haefner, Keller Lab |
| 1:55 – 2:15 | Andrew Mehle |
| 2:15 – 3:00 | Poster Session Part II |
| 3:00 – 3:40 | Sessions |
| 3:00 – 3:20 | Bethany Korwin-Mihavics, Alexander Lab |
| 3:20 – 3:40 | Margaret Sleeth, Caballero-Flores Lab |
| 3:40-5:00 | Reception Bar service and hors d’oeuvres provided. |
Poster Session Information
| # | Name | Poster Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sehrish | Afsheen | Determining Sex-Differences in Spore-Mediated Cryptococcosis Using a Mouse Model |
| 2 | Alyssa | Brokaw | Identification of Listeria monocytogenes virulence factors associated with adverse outcomes during perinatal infection |
| 3 | Abigail | DeBrine | Listeria monocytogenes Requires Phosphotransferase System-Mediated Fructose Utilization for Full Virulence |
| 4 | Anna | Dickfoss | Less is more: Surprising activation of bacterial biofilm with a truncated regulator |
| 5 | Alex | Dobrila | Exogenous butyrate induces Clostridioides difficile toxin release and sporulation |
| 6 | Heather | Emery | Identification of genetic and environmental drivers for bacterial anaerobic purine utilization |
| 7 | Cynthia | Feng | Investigating how strain-specific sequence variation impacts activity of the influenza A virus endoribonuclease PA-X |
| 8 | Nicholas | Garcia | Keratinocyte Migration Informs Chronicity of Immune Response in Larval Zebrafish Burn Wound Model |
| 9 | Nicholas | Garcia | Keratinocyte Migration Informs Long-Term Tissue Response to Wounding |
| 10 | Seth | Greengo | Identifying Cryptococcus spore-enriched proteins and their roles in spore coat restructuring during germination |
| 11 | Marienela | Heredia | Defining antibody-driven mechanisms of pathogen clearance in a murine model of infectious diarrhea |
| 12 | Charles | Hesser | The influenza ribonuclease PA-X differentiates between host and viral RNAs and downregulates host transcription |
| 13 | Yiran | Hou | MYDGF disrupts myeloid metabolism in wound responses |
| 14 | Gillian | Hughes | A microbiota-derived metabolite mediates ketogenic diet protection in autoimmunity |
| 15 | Rodrigo | Ibarra | Development of next-generation polymerase activity assays for forecasting spillover potential |
| 16 | Bethany | Korwin-Mihavic | Malnutrition-associated microbiota influence immune responses to Cryptosporidium infection |
| 17 | Joie | Ling | Microbial factors impacting Group B Streptococcus adult gastrointestinal colonization |
| 18 | Colin | Macdiarmid | ZEST, a new zinc homeostastic factor from pathogenic fungi |
| 19 | Samantha | McKechnie | Determining the Sex Differences in Spore-Mediated Cryptococcosis Using a Mouse Model |
| 20 | Gabe | Messina | Adaption to Cold: Immunometabolism of Bats and Humans |
| 21 | Madeline | Michaelis | The C2-domain protein SppA contributes to virulence during A. fumigatus infection and is required for tolerance of FksA targeting antifungals |
| 22 | Thomas | Nipper | A host tripwire restricts influenza virus replication via self-sensing and is antagonized by viral nucleoprotein |
| 23 | Andrew | Norton | Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) Infections Cause Variable Changes in Lung Innate Lymphoid Cell Populations |
| 24 | Nicholas | Pereira | Determining the kinetics and consequences of germination in Cryptococcus spore-mediated disease |
| 25 | Rubaya | Rashid | Effects of Radiation-Induced Oxidative Stress on Macrophages proliferation |
| 26 | Viola | Rintoul | Identifying and Characterizing E. coli Stress Responses |
| 27 | Livia | Romanov | Better Together: iNKT Cells Enhance Dendritic Cell Antigen Uptake |
| 28 | Kira | Ruiz-Houston | Listeria monocytogenes Requires Phosphate Acetyltransferase (Pta) to Facilitate Virulence ex vivo and in vivo. |
| 29 | Aidan | Schmidt | Host-age and niche-specific role of O-antigen in a mouse model of enteric infection |
| 30 | Marina | Slawinski | Defining and Modeling Structure-Function Relationships in Immune Response to Mycobacteria |
| 31 | Nathan | Smith | Defining how phage mediated enzymatic capsule depolymerization frees bioavailable sugars for E. coli |
| 32 | Jackie | Spieles | Cryptococcus spore germination can occur in the absence of oxygen |
| 33 | Kate | Stack | Ketogenic Diet Responsive Microbial and Host Metabolites Mediate Th17 Inhibition in a Multiple Sclerosis Model |
| 34 | Corinne | Thomas | The influenza A virus RNAse PA-X disrupts MHC-I antigen presentation |
| 35 | Hollie | Wierschke | Role of gut microbial derived indole in sucrose preference and spatial memory in male mice |
| 36 | Shenyan | Zhang | Investigating the mechanism of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli virulence repression by the QseE histidine kinase |
| 37 | Zhenyu | Zhang | Global Remodeling of ADP-ribosylation by PARP1 Suppresses Influenza A Virus Infection |