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 85^th annual ASM North Central Branch Meeting held in Cedar Falls, Iowa Nov. 7-8^th.

Award-Winning Presentations 

• Mikaela Daum (Gebhardt Lab) earned First Place in the Graduate Student Oral Presentation category for her talk on “Small RNA s0372 regulates natural transformation in A. baumannii 5075.”
• Beck Fitzpatrick (Wu Lab, Mentor Dr. Stacia Philips) earned Second Place in the Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation category with his talk on “Investigating the Effect of Site Specific N6- methyladenosine Modifications on HIV-1 Infection.”

Additionally, Jonathan Featherston from Grandview University earned Second Place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation category with his poster “Investigating CsrA Regulation of Candidate RNA Targets in Acinetobacter baumannii.” This poster focused on work that he completed this summer as part of the NSF-REU in Microbiology at the Host-Pathogen Interface. He worked in the Gebhardt Lab and was mentored by microbiology graduate student Rosa Sava. 

Research Highlights 

Microbiology graduate students Rosa Sava and Marla Shaffer also highlighted their research in oral presentations at the meeting. 

• Marla Shaffer’s (Roller Lab) talk was titled: “Structure-Function Analysis of ICP22 in HSV-1.
• Rosa Sava’s (Gebhardt Lab) talk was titled: “Uncovering the RNA interactome of CsrA in Acinetobacter baumannii.”

Twenty-one additional undergraduates presented oral presentations or posters, showcasing the excellent mentorship of the department’s faculty. 

Undergraduate Oral Presentation Titles:

• Georgia Chaffin (Roller lab): “The Functional Analysis of Immediate Early Viral Protein, ICP22, in HSV-1”
• Morgan Kremer (Butler lab): “Adenosine and IL-12 promote TFH1 Differentiation During Plasmodium Infection”
• Allie Stolte (Maury lab): “Investigating Novel Entry Inhibitor Efficacy During Filovirus glycoprotein-mediated infection”
• Omar Aristizabal (Tan lab): “Neuropathogenesis of Ebola”

Undergraduate Poster Presentation Titles:

• Willis Barr (Potter lab): “Lactate inhibits neutrophil function during infection with Neisseria gonorrhoaea”
• Madeline M Broghammer (Haim lab): “Depp mutational scanning of the HIV-1 capsid protein”
• Yang Chen (formerly Zander lab): “NFIC regulates the transition of progenitor CD8* T cells towards a more terminally differentiated state during chronic viral infection”
• Ethan Chodur (Bosch lab): “Secretion of DNAse Effectors Confers a Competitive Advantage to Bacillota in the Gut Microbiome”
• Graham Crippen, Ella Morgan, Kathit Patel (General Microbiology Lab): “Post-Mortem Gut Microbiome Succession in Bean Beetles: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)”
• Grace Gutzman (Wilson lab): “Dietary intake is a determinant of the course of disease and the inflammatory response in a murine model of visceral leishmaniasis”
• Gavin Johnson (Gurung lab): Elucidating the role of the NOD1/2/RIPK2 signaling axis and immune protection following Listeria (Lm) infection”
• Josefina Frisina, Lindsey Huang, Radhika Khanna (General Microbiology Lab): “Lifestyle Stage Shapes the Bean Beetle Micro biome in a Course-Based Research Experience”
• Taylor Lawrence (Kehl-Fie lab): “Identifying regulators of the Staphylococcus aureus superoxide dismutases”
• Shay Pechter (Gurung lab): “Examining red blood cells of CD45 and D47 knockout mice under radiation”
• Emily Roberts (Johnson lab): “Calprotectin Mediated Growth Inhibition of Campylobacter jejuni and Detection as a Marker of Inflammatory Disease”
• McKinley K Sanders (Stapleton lab): “Human Pegivirus Reduces Low-Level HIV Replication and Viral Blips”
• Grace Schroeder (Gebhardt lab): “Determining the Regulatory Effects of sRNA-50 in Acinetobacter baumannii”

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

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology Chair and Department Executive Officer,  Dr. Li Wu, was an invited speaker at the conference and presented “Understanding the Role of RNA Modifications in HIV-1 Latency and Persistence” and served on a panel.

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Microbiology Undergraduate Student Association (MUSA), undergraduate students were able to attend and present at the ASM North Central Branch Meeting.

Additional funding was generously provided by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the Carver College of Medicine Office of Education Support.