Infection and Immunity Research Conference (IIRC)
IIRC is a great way to learn more about current research and progress within the division. Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesdays (12 pm CST, MRF 1-101 and on Zoom) and the 4th Thursdays (8 am CST, Mayo A-420 and on Zoom) of each month.
Please contact [email protected] to be added to the mailing list, or to sign up to be an upcoming Infection and Immunity Research Conference speaker.
2025-2026 Schedule
Upcoming Meetings
September 25, 2025: TBD
October 14, 2025: A new study to evaluate for CMV central nervous system pathology, Meghan Swanson, PhD. New and novel approaches to CMV vaccine development, Mark Schleiss, MD.
October 30, 2025: Topic TBD, Elizabeth Schwartz. CSF hypo-inflammation drives mortality in HIV-associated tuberculous meningitis, Annie Wilt.
November 11, 2025: Immune tolerance to interferons, Kris Hogquist, PhD.
December 9, 2025: Topic TBD, Bruce Walcheck, PhD.
January 13, 2026: Topic TBD, Kristina Burrack, PhD.
January 22, 2026: Topics TBD, Rinat Nuriev, MD & Molly Lindstrom, MD.
February 10, 2026: TriKEs mediated NK cell function to target HIV, Ross T. Cromarty, PhD.
February 26, 2026: Topic TBD, Nathan Bahr, MD.
March 10, 2026: Topic TBD, Jennifer Tisoncik-Go, BA, PhD.
March 26, 2026: Topics TBD, Johnathone Yang, DO & Edith Nyangoma, MBBCh.
April 14, 2026: Topics TBD, Craig Bierle, PhD & Elizabeth Gulleen, MD.
April 30, 2026: Topics TBD, Zachary Hartnady, MD & Kelly Hallowell, MD.
May 12, 2026: Topics TBD, Subahana Aboobucker, MBBS & Mary Lopez-Perez, PhD.
May 28, 2026: Topics TBD, Rinat Nuriev, MD & Alex Rivero, MD.
Past Meetings
September 9, 2025: Natural killer cells role in malaria infection: friend or foe? Geoffrey Hart, PhD.
Past Years
2024-2025
May 22, 2025: Chronic infection screening in immigrant patients newly diagnosed with cancer undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy, Kelly Hallowell. Community engagement to inform syphilis and congenital syphilis prevention among American Indian populations in northern Minnesota, Alice Lehman
May 13, 2025: Oral beta lactams in the treatment of bone and joint infections, Tom Schmidt. The impact of viral genetics on emergence and disease for Powassan virus, Matthew Aliota
April 24, 2025: Antimalarial stocking practices, Zach Hartnady. A systematic review of outpatient antimicrobial stewardship strategies and outcomes, Jonathan Byrd
March 27, 2025: Determinants of cellular toxicity for targeting HIV-1, Tanvi Mathur. Evaluating factors on hepatitis B referrals among recently resettled US refugees, Johnathone Yang
March 11, 2025: Cryoimaging virus cell-to-cell transmission, Luiza Mendonca
February 27, 2025: The ongoing quest to correctly diagnose TB meningitis, Nate Bahr
February 11, 2025: Engineering immune cells to treat HIV infections, Pamela Skinner
January 23, 2025: Biofilm Heterogeneity Across Clinical Isolates of Enterococcus faecalis, Julia Willett
January 14, 2025: IL-15 enhances immunity to Plasmodium vaccination, Kristina Burrack
December 10, 2024: RNA epigenetic modification: a winning strategy by HIV-1 to bypass host mTOR regulation, Katheleen Boris-Lawrie
November 12, 2024: HIV-1 vaccine development, Shamim Ahmed
October 24, 2024: Investigating memory CD8+ T cell mediated immunopathology and dysregulation in response to heterologous infections, Sarah Wall
October 8, 2024: Development of Arenavirus-based prevention and treatment against infectious diseases and cancers, Yuying Liang
September 26, 2024: Infections in kidney and/or pancreas transplant recipients who are also receiving belatacept, Karam Obeid
September 10, 2024: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) over the lifecourse: How CMV exerts a permanent impact on human health, Mark Schleiss and Caleb Skipper.