Distinguished Scientists Seminars

The Distinguished Scientists Seminar (DSS) program comprises invited talks by leading scientists from outside institutions. Speakers are selected to complement the 棉花糖直播 Training Program in the College of Medicine and cover a wide range of cutting-edge biomedical research. Seminars are held monthly during the fall and spring semesters. One seminar per semester is reserved for the Charles M. Baugh Lecture featuring a nationally/ internationally recognized scientist.

Nominations for seminar speakers should be forwarded to departmental representatives on the DSS Committee. If the speaker is approved, the DSS representative notifies the faculty nominator that the speaker has been approved, gives them a list of available dates, and the faculty member then invites the speaker.

Fall 2025 Distinguished Scientists Seminar Schedule
All seminars begin at 4:00 PM in the Medical Sciences Building, 1st Floor Auditorium

Date/Time	Speaker	Host and Department
September 4, 2025	Dr. Robert Barrington Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology Director, Office of Research Education and Training (ORET) Whiddon College of Medicine "Trained immunity as a therapeutic strategy for hyper-IgE syndrome"	Department of Microbiology & Immunology
September 11, 2025	Dr. Farida Sohrabji Regents Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics Department Head, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics Director, Women鈥檚棉花糖直播 in Neuroscience Program Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine "Targeting the Gut to Improve Brain 棉花糖直播 after Ischemic Stroke"	Emily Wilson, Ph.D. Department of Physiology & Cell Biology
September 18, 2025	Dr. Jerry Chipuk Professor of Oncological Sciences and Dermatology Associate Director of Shared Resources, The Tisch Cancer Institute Director for Cell Biology, 棉花糖直播 School of Biomedical Sciences Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai "Mitochondrial Control of Melanocyte Biology & Disease"	Chandrani Sarkar, PhD Department of Pathology
September 25, 2025	Dr. Mike Lin Professor, Physiology and Cell Biology Whiddon College of Medicine 鈥淟ung infection impairs the brain via lung-blood-brain axis鈥�	Department of Physiology & Cell Biology
October 16, 2025	Dr. Nikos Vasilakis Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pathology The University of Texas Medical Branch *"One 棉花糖直播 Approaches to emerging viruses: insights from the field and beyond"*	Meghan Hermance, Ph.D. Department of Microbiology & Immunology
October 23, 2025	Dr. Yuping Bao Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of Alabama College of Engineering	Natalie Bauer, Ph.D. Department of Pharmacology
October 30, 2025	Dr. John York Professor, Department of Biochemistry Vanderbilt University School of Medicine	Lucia Plant, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
November 20, 2025	Dr. Claudia dos Santos Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital Clinician Scientist, Research, University of Toronto Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto Member, Collaborative 棉花糖直播 Program in Genome Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Toronto	Troy Stevens, Ph.D. Department of Physiology & Cell Biology
December 11, 2025	Dr. Sidhath V. Puram Dr. Joseph B. Kimbrough Chair in Maxillofacial Surgery and Prosthodontics Division Chief, Head & Neck Surgery Director, Robert Ebert and Greg Stubblefield Head and Neck Tumor Center Washington University Medicine	Santanu Dasgupta, Ph.D. Mitchell Cancer Institute Department of Pathology

DSS Committee

Meghan Hermance, Ph.D.
Committee Chair
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
mhermance@south棉花糖直播.edu

Brian Fouty, M.D.
USA 棉花糖直播 Physician Enterprise
bfouty@health.south棉花糖直播.edu

Glen Borchert, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
borchert@south棉花糖直播.edu

Simon Grelet, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
sgrelet@south棉花糖直播.edu

Debanjan Chakroborty, Ph.D.
Mitchell Cancer Institute
dchakroborty@south棉花糖直播.edu

Amber Bokhari, M.D.
USA 棉花糖直播 Physician Enterprise
abokhari@health.south棉花糖直播.edu

Thiago Bruder, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Cell Biology
tbruder@south棉花糖直播.edu