Monday, October 7, 2024
ASM 2024 Midwest Branch Meeting participants

Graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Iowa’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology were recognized for their outstanding research and science communication at the 84th annual ASM North Central Branch Meeting held in North Mankato, Minnesota, on October 4-5. 

  • Rosa Sava (Gebhardt Lab) earned Second Place in the Graduate Student Oral Presentation category for her talk on “Loss of an Lrp family-transcription regulator contributes to suppression of csrA mutants in Acinetobacter baumannii.”
  • Grace Gutzman (Wilson Lab, Graduate Mentor Natalie Jarvis) earned First Place in the Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation category with her talk on “The Impact of High-Fat and Protein-Deficient Diets on Host Inflammatory Responses & Organ-Specific Visceral Leishmaniasis Progression.
  • Madeline Broghammer (Haim Lab) earned Second Place Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation category for her talk on “Human serum albumin alters the conformational and antigenic profiles of HIV-1 Env.”
  • Bianca Sponseller (Maury Lab) earned First Place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation category for her poster on “Identifying the mechanisms of Ebola virus inhibition mediated by a novel group of small molecule inhibitors.
  • Cassian Birler (Haim Lab) earned Second Place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation category for his poster on “Surprising convergence of HIV-1 escape from a fusion inhibitor to a fitness-optimal path.”
  • Dax Kanwischer (Fischer Lab) earned Third Place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation category for his poster on “A hotspot frameshift mutation in mutL in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis.”

Microbiology graduate students Rosa Sava and Mikaela Daum highlighted their research in oral presentations at the meeting. 

Mikaela Daum’s (Gebhardt Lab) talk was titled: “Discovery of a sRNA Regulating Natural Transformation in a Multidrug-Resistant Isolate of Acinetobacter baumannii

Five additional undergraduates presented posters, showcasing the excellent mentorship of the department’s faculty. 

The following are additional undergraduate presenters with their poster titles:

  • Jack Siemering (Tan Lab): “Neuroimmune and inflammatory responses to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIVsabaeus) in the central nervous system of African green monkeys"
  • Georgia Chaffin (CURE in Gen. Micro. Lab): “Dietary Influence on the Gut Microbiome of Bean Beetles: Insights from a Course-Based Research Experience”
  • Chris Ceplecha (Butler Lab): “Expression of TET1 and TET3 regulates differentiation and signature cytokine expression in CD4 T cells and promotes protective immunity during Plasmodium infection”
  • Trinity Janecek (Beattie Lab): “Characterization of Inositol metabolism exposes potential role in cerebral pathogenesis of A. fumigatus
  • Kailey Hogaboom (Weber Lab): “ISG15 restricts the growth of Chlamydia trachomatis Serovar D during infection”

The students gained valuable experience presenting their research and networking with fellow scientists. 

Undergraduate travel to the meeting was supported by fundraising by the Microbiology Undergraduate Student Association (MUSA), Undergraduate Student Government (USG), and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.