2026 North Carolina Microbiome Symposium

Agenda

8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m. | Trainee Networking with Keynote

8:30 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.  | Registration, coffee, and breakfast for attendees

8:50 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. | Welcome (Neil Surana and Jason Arnold)

9:00 a.m. – 10:29 a.m. | Session 1: “Microbiome Methodological Advances”

9:00 a.m. – 9:25 a.m.  |  "Deciphering the language of human gut bacteria in host healthy aging," featuring Shuo Han, Assistant Professor, Duke University

9:25 a.m. – 9:32 a.m. |  Flash talk: "A Deep Learning Framework for Studying Single-Cell Bacterial Dynamics" with Bukola Akindipe, NCA&T

9:32 a.m. – 9:57 a.m.  | Title TBA, featuring Indriati Hood-Pischany, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

9:57 a.m. – 10:04 a.m. | Flash Talk: "Leveraging PacBio Revio Platform to Characterize both Microbiome and Mycobiome in a Single Run with Species-Level Resolution," featuring Eva Kim, Duke University

10:04 a.m. – 10:29 a.m. | "Advancing metaproteomic approaches to investigate microbiome function," featuring Manuel Kleiner, Associate Professor, North Carolina State University

10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. |  Talk Session 2: "Microbial Ecology and Systems Biology"

10:45 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. |  Title TBA, featuring Ophelia Venturelli, Associate Professor, Duke University

11:10 a.m. – 11:17 a.m. | Flash talk: "Impact of Amaranthus tricolor-derived Antimicrobial Peptides on a Simplified Human Microbiota Model," featuring Paiton Motley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

11:17 a.m. – 11:42 a.m. | "From Randomness to Selection: What Honey Bees Reveal About Microbiome Assembly," featuring Kasie Raymann, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University

11:42 a.m. – 11:49 a.m. | Flash talk: "Intersection of genotype and environment on the dynamics of the virome and microbiome of an estuarine cnidaran," featuring Sydney Birch, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

11:50 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | "A Shared Microbial Heritage: Co-Diversifying Gut Symbionts Across Mammalian Hosts,"  featuring Daniel Sprockett, Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University

12:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Lunch, poster session, sponsor networking

2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Talk Session 3: "Translational Microbiome Science"

2:00 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. | Title TBA, featuring Sam Lai, Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

2:25 p.m. – 2:32 p.m. | "Partnering for Innovation in Microbiome Research: Strategic Opportunities with the MISM Center, featuring Keith Reeves, Multiscale Immune System Modeling Center (NIAID)

2:32 p.m. – 2:39 p.m. | Flash talk: "Structural insights into substrate processing by diverse gut microbial bile salt hydrolases, featuring McKenzie Gehris, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

2:39 p.m. – 3:04 p.m. | "Blood bacterial DNA signatures link ‘microbial translocation’ to outcomes in critical illness", featuring Mara Serbanescu, Assistant Professor, Duke University

3:04 p.m. – 3:11 p.m. | Flash talk: "Utilization of phages for targeted depletion of Akkermansia from the gut microbiota", featuring Elizabeth Hughes, Duke University

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | Break

3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. | Award announcements and closing remarks

3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. | Keynote talk: “The Microbiome Field Through an Editor’s Lens," featuring
Lakshmi Goyal, founding editor in chief, Cell Host and Microbe

4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Cleanup and exit