Bi-weekly Virology Seminar Series
It is essential for researchers to keep abreast of the work being done by colleagues in a variety of disciplines. To facilitate this, the UCLA-CDU CFAR and the UCLA AIDS Institute sponsors a bi-monthly conference featuring presentations made by researchers working in both basic and translational sciences, clinical therapeutics and biomedical prevention. The topics covered include, among many others, host-virus interactions, novel therapeutics, vaccines, stem-cell research, aging, and viral pathogenesis. The Bi-monthly Multidisciplinary Virology Seminar Series is an in-person meeting from 9:00am to 10:00am in the Biomedical Science Research Building (BSRB) 154 every other Tuesday (see schedule below). A light breakfast will be available during the meeting.
Whether you’re a long-time attendee or joining us for the first time, we can’t wait to dive back into the latest breakthroughs and discussions in the field of virology.
Date | Presenter 1 | Title | Presenter 2 | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9/23/2025 | Shallu Tomer | "A novel glia-immune humanized mouse model for investigating neuroimmune mechanisms in CNS HIV infection and diverse neurological disorders" | Anne Zaiss | "Heartland Virus (HRTV) and Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV): Immunopathogenic Mechanism and Vaccine Development” |
10/7/2025 | Nandita Kedia | “HSCs-derived CAR-M for Alzheimer’s disease” | Tong Qi | "Targeted Nanoparticle Delivery to Lymph Nodes: A Strategy for Next-Generation Vaccines" |
10/21/2025 | William Mu | "Urolithin A Rejuvenates Hematopoiesis and Improves CAR T Cell Function in Chronic HIV Infection" | Dylan Smock | "Developing an HSC-Targeting Particle for Efficient Transduction of Cas9 RNPs and Other Editors" |
11/4/2025 | Jeffery Harding | "Effects of Cannabis on Immune Aging" | Greg Whitehill | "HIV-specific Humoral Responses in Therapeutic Vaccination with PENNVAX" |
11/18/2025 | Ana Luisa Durán Meza | "Plant-Derived Virus-Like Particles as Platforms to Deliver Therapeutic RNA to Mammalian Cells" | Erin Kim | "TRIMming Away Viruses: Elucidating TRIM25 Ubiquitination-Mediated Antiviral Mechanism Against Alphaviruses." |
12/2/2025 | Jian Zhang | "Modeling HSPC based anti-HIV-1 gene therapy with safety switch in NHP" | ||
12/16/2025 | Ayub Ali | "Engineering bispecific CAR targeting HCMV and HIV-1: Harnessing HCMV immunity to sustain HIV immunity" | Koki Morizono | "B Cell Receptor’s function in virus entry: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 B cell receptors can mediate viral entry in an ACE2-independent mechanism” |
12/30/2025 | NO MEETING * HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! | |||
1/13/2026 | Anjali Sharma | "Role of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma development and pathogenesis" | Balamurugan Arumugam | "Bi-Specific Tandem Chimeric Antigen Receptor (TanCAR) design against HIV-1 and hCMV" |
1/27/2026 | Declan Winters | "A systems biology approach to dissect alphavirus infection" | Belal Hossain | "In vivo lentiviral transduction of human B cells via B cell Receptors specific to pseudotyping envelope proteins" |
2/10/2026 | Izra Abbaali | "Meth-Induced Integrated Stress Response Suppresses HIV Latency Reversal" | Zi Wang | "Enhancement of engineered cellular anti-HIV immunity in vivo through metabolic modulators." |
2/24/2026 | Martin Ruvalcaba | "Defining the RNA Architecture that Governs ZAP Recognition of and Binding to Alphavirus Genomes." | ||
3/10/2026 | Lenka Milojevic | "CryoET Exploration of Mammarenavirus Molecular Architecture" | Yennifer Delgado | "Phosphorylation toggles CoV-2 M function between assembly and innate immune antagonism." |
3/24/2026 | Renata Stripecke | *Special Speaker* "All-in-one CRISPR/Cas9 multiply-edited CAR-T cells against cancer and infections" | ||
4/7/2026 | Javier Ibarrondo | "Bi-Specific Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies for Enhanced Potency and Breadth Against HIV" | ||
4/21/2026 | Yan Wang | "Salivary Biomarkers and Oral Microbiome Profiles in Children Living with HIV” | Sophie Blanc | "Vpr-driven macrophage secretomes induce schwann cell toxicity in a model of peripheral neuropathy” |
5/5/2026 | Mayra Carrillo | "HIV-Mediated Immune Dysfunction Impairs Endogenous and Engineered Antitumor Immunity" | Hongxu Peng | "Exploring HIV-1 CNS Compartmentalization and its Impact on Neurodevelopment in Infants" |
5/19/2026 | Anne K. Zaiss | "Hantavirus and SFTSV: Experimental Models and Therapeutic Strategies" | Pablo Alvarez | "A stem cell derived blood-brain barrier model highlights PCDH10 as critical for Sindbis virus neuroinvasion” |
6/2/2026 | Dr. Upal Roy | *Special Speaker* “Targeted Antiretroviral Nanoformulations for HIV Treatment in Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue and Co-Infection Management” | ||
6/16/2026 | Juan Silva | Olivier Pernet | ||