BMI Weekly News - November 24, 2025
November 24, 2025
This Week’s Events
- Journal Club: Monday, November 24, 2025, 12:30pm, 2268 Scott Hall
Presented by: BMB PhD Student, Shichao Wu
Title: “Targeting Inflammation Driven by FBN1 Mutation Attenuates Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Progression in a Novel Marfan Mouse Model”
Mentor: Dr. Li Li
- No BMI Seminar scheduled Thanksgiving Week: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Upcoming Events
- No Journal Club scheduled for Monday, December 1, 2024.
- Next IFG Seminar: In-Person, Tuesday, December 02, 2025, 11:45am - 12:45pm, 2268 Scott Hall
Lunch will be served at 11:30am.
Speaker: Penghua Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Connecticut
Dr. Wang’s research focuses on viral RNA/DNA recognition receptors and inflammasome
signaling pathways. Specifically, he is interested in identifying cellular regulators of these flaviviral/alphaviral diseases, inflammation and sepsis. Dr. Wang has published more than 110 research articles in prestigious journals, including the seminal discovery on NLRP6 as a viral RNA sensor essential for innate antiviral immune response to enteric viruses. He has pioneered the study of ubiquitin regulatory X domain-containing protein family (UBXN). He will speak about the diverse functions of UBXNs in immunity, with a focus on how UBXN1 promotes non-canonical inflammasome activation and sepsis pathogenesis.
Title: “UBX Proteins – X Factors in Immunity”
Hosted by: Dr. Kang Chen, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, C. S. Mott Center for Human growth and Development, Wayne State University kchen@wayne.edu
Sponsored by: Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health & Wayne State University
- Thesis Defense Presentation: Master of Science in Immunology and Microbiology
On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 12:00PM, 7364 Scott Hall
Presented by: IMM MS Student, Himani Karunathilake
“The Silent Influencers - Prevotella bivia and Prevotella disiens Impact on Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis”
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Theis
- Next Journal Club: Monday, December 8, 2025, 12:30pm, 2268 Scott Hall
Presented by: IM BMB Student, Bhavita Bhaya
Title: “TBA”
Mentor: Dr. Jeff Withey
- Next BMI Seminar: Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 11:30am, 2268 Scott Hall
Speaker: Dr. Christina Espinosa-Diaz, Assistant Professor – Research Educator, Center Molecular Medicine/Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Title: “LncRNAs in Vascular Homeostasis & Stress Adaptation”
Host: Dr. Bharati Mitra bmitra@wayne.edu
- BMI Department Holiday Party: Friday, December 12, 2025, from 12:00-4:00 p.m., in room 7370 Scott Hall. To donate, please contact Nkosingivile Sibandze at hv3167@wayne.edu. See flyer attachment for complete details.
Campus News
- Campus Health Center: Campus Health Center - Wayne State University
- Office of President: 2025-26 Campus health and safety resources