Thursday, October 22, 2026
9:00-9:05 AM
Welcome and Introduction
Fran Lund, PhD
9:05-9:30 AM
Symposium Session I: Microbiota
Moderator: Troy Randall, PhD
How oral streptococci respond to the antimicrobial oxidants found in saliva
Mike Gray, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology, UAB
09:30-10:00 AM
Uncovering intestinal epithelium-microbiota metabolic interactions during early life
Mariana Xavier Byndloss, DVM, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Co-director Vanderbilt Microbiome Innovation Center
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science Fellow
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
10:00-10:15 AM
Trainee Presentation I
15 min total
10:15-10:25 AM
Coffee Break
10:25-10:50 AM
Symposium Session II: Epigenetic and Transcriptional Programming
Moderator: Fran Lund, PhD
A novel bidirectional regulation of CXCR5– vs. CXCR5+ CD4+ T cell differentiation at the systemic level
Hui Hu, PhD
Professor, Microbiology, UAB
10:50-11:20 AM
Transcriptional regulation of humoral immune responses by the nuclear receptor RXRβ
Chris Scharer, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
Scientific Director, Emory Integrated Genomics Core
Emory University School of Medicine
11:20 AM-12:20 PM
The Grandpa Challenge
Explain your research to your grandpa in three minutes
12:20-12:50 PM
Lunch begins
12:50-1:50 PM
Poster Session
1:50-2:15 PM
Symposium Session III: Neuroimmunology
Moderator: Laurie Harrinton, PhD
Spatial Dynamics of CD4⁺ T Cell States Shape Glioblastoma Immunity
Jiammei Leavenworth, MD
Professor, Neurosurgery-Laboratory Research
2:15-2:45 PM
What Makes Our Immune Systems Human? The Role of Inter-Donor Variability in Shaping (Neuro)immune Responses, Disease Heterogeneity, and Precision Medicine
Dionna Williams, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Emory University School of Medicine
2:45-3:00 PM
Trainee Presentation II
15 min total
3:00-3:25 PM
The role of tissue resident macrophages in mediating neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease
Ashley Harms, PhD
Associate Professor, Neurology, UAB
3:25-3:35 PM
Coffee Break
3:35-4:35 PM
Dorothy Oliver and Drucilla Russ-Jackson Keynote Lecture
From Viral Entry to Immune Targeting: Redefining Vaccine Design for Emerging Viruses
Kizzmekia S. Corbett-Helaire, PhD
Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Assistant Professor, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health