2018 Retreat
The Biology department headed north to Portsmouth, NH for its 2018 annual scientific retreat. This year, the program featured two guest speakers. On the first day, featured guest speaker was Walther H. Mothes, Ph.D., Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Mothes' laboratory is interested in various aspects of viral spread and pathogenesis of HIV-1 and other retroviruses. A current interest of the laboratory is to monitor viral spread and aspects of retroviral pathogenesis directly in living animals using multi-photon laser scanning microscopy. The laboratory is also applying single molecule imaging to understand how conformational events in the HIV-1 envelope protein lead to fusion between viral and cellular membranes. A detailed understanding of these processes will permit the rational design of vaccines and antiviral therapies that prevent virus spreading and the infection of new cells.
After scientific talks sessions and a poster session, the first day鈥檚 activities wrapped up with the department splitting into small groups for dinners around Portsmouth.
During the second day, we welcomed alumni guest speaker, Ozge Ceyhan Birsoy, Phd. Dr. Birsoy is Assistant Attending Molecul