Seminar with Adam MacLean, PhD
2025-09-18 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In-person only | Hosted by Tarek Zikry

Talk Title: Gene regulatory network dynamics and the fate of single cells
Abstract:
Cells make decisions to enable multicellular life. Cell fate decision-making underlies development and homeostasis, and goes awry as we age. Despite great promise, we have yet to harness the high-resolution information on cell states and fates that single-cell genomics data offer to understand cell fate decisions in development and aging. Nor do we know how these fate decisions are controlled by gene regulatory networks. I will describe our recent work constructing models of cell fate decisions and their control by gene regulatory networks using single-cell genomics. In application to the human lifetime, we have discovered how early-life events — mutational, transcriptional, and epigenetic — shape and change stem cell function as we age in a manner that could be harnessed to ameliorate diseases of aging.

About the speaker:
Adam MacLean develops theory to understand cell fate decision-making in stem cells and cancer. He has developed models of cell-cell communication, and the gene regulatory networks that control cell fate decisions via single-cell multi-omics data analysis and statistical inference. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, at the University of Southern California. He studied mathematical physics (BSc) at the University of Edinburgh and completed a PhD in systems biology from Imperial College London. He worked as a postdoc at the University of Oxford and the University of California Irvine, before joining USC in 2019. Recent awards for his work include an NSF CAREER award (2022) and an NIH R35 MIRA award (2022).

Research in Progress | Dirk Dittmer, PhD
2025-09-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

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Topic: Research in Progress | Dirk Dittmer, PhD
Time: Sep 19, 2025 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Research in Progress | Ran Zhang, PhD
2025-10-03 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

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Research in Progress | Tarek Zikry, PhD
2025-10-10 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

Seminar with Nagarajan Vaidehi, PhD
2025-10-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In-person only | Hosted by Miao Lab

About the Speaker
Nagarajan Vaidehi, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the Department of Computational and Quantitative Medicine within Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. Dr. Vaidehi also oversees the Computational Therapeutics Core.

Dr. Vaidehi received her Ph.D. in quantum chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology in India, where she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. Following her postdoctoral studies on protein dynamics simulation methods with Nobel Laureate Arieh Warshel, Ph.D., at University of Southern California, and William A Goddard III, Ph.D., at Caltech, she became the director of biomolecular simulations at the Materials and Process Simulation Center, Beckman Institute at Caltech.

Dr. Vaidehi joined City of Hope in 2006 as a professor and has since advanced the use of computational methods to meet the challenges of designing therapeutics. She is an internationally recognized biophysicist for her contributions in developing constrained molecular dynamics simulation methods with emphasis on application to G-protein coupled receptors and drug design.

Research in Progress | Yash Neeraj Agrawal, MD, Perou Lab
2025-11-07 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Research in Progress | Amartya Banerjee, Moosmueller and Lee Labs
2025-11-14 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Seminar with Ehsan Semai, PhD
2025-11-20 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In-person only | Hosted by Purvis Lab

About the Speaker:
Ehsan Samei is the Rice Distinguished Professor at Duke University, holding five departmental affiliations. He directs the NIH-sponsored Center for Virtual Imaging Trials (CVIT) and co-directs the FDA-sponsored Triangle Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (Triangle-CERSI). His expertise encompasses clinical physics, quantitative imaging, and the care-relevant use of AI. His passion is to position medical physics and in silico methods to generate and accelerate patient-centric care through innovative design and compassionate practice. Authored over 400 refereed papers and four books, he is a fellow of five professional societies, the recipient of the 2022 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award by the International Organization of Medical Physics, and ranked 11th among over 56,000 medical physicists worldwide for his lifetime contribution to medical physics.

Research in Progress | Nathan Smyers, Elston Lab
2025-11-21 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Research in Progress | Garrett Sessions (Purvis Lab)
2025-12-05 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

Topic: Research in Progress | Garrett Sessions (Purvis Lab)
Time: Dec 5, 2025 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Research in Progress | Adediwura Victor, Miao Lab
2025-12-12 10:00 - 11:00 | NC
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
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Topic: Research in Progress | Adediwura Victor (BCB) MIAO LAB
Time: Dec 12, 2025 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Seminar with Nick Buchler, PhD
2025-12-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In person only

HOSTED BY PALMER LAB

About the speaker:
Dr. Nicolas Buchler joined NC State in July 2018 as a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in Modeling the Living Embryo. He is biophysicist and geneticist by training with expertise in biological oscillations (e.g., cell cycle, metabolic rhythms), fungal genomics and evolution, single-cell gene expression, and mathematical modeling of gene regulatory dynamics. His research is focused on understanding how the cell cycle interacts with metabolic rhythms, and how changes in these interactions lead to disease or new functions. The lab primarily works with early-diverging Fungi and yeasts, but they collaborate with others to study these same questions in other regulatory systems (e.g. circadian clocks) and organisms (e.g. animals and plants).
Dr. Buchler received a B.S. in Physics from the University of California at San Diego, before working on protein structure and evolution while obtaining a Ph.D. in Biophysics at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. During his post-doc, first at the University of California at San Diego and then at the Center for Studies in Physics & Biology at Rockefeller University, he combined mathematical modeling and experiments to understand how networks of genes sense and respond to multiple signals, store memories of past events, and schedule periodic events (e.g. cell cycle).

Research in Progress | Ryan Videgar-Laird, Hoadley Lab
2026-01-09 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

Topic: Research in Progress | Ryan Videgar-Laird, Hoadley Lab
Time: Jan 9, 2026 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Seminar with Jingyi Jessica Li, PhD
2026-01-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In-person only | Hosted by Tarek Zikry, PhD
About the speaker:
Jingyi Jessica Li is a statistician and computational biologist whose work bridges data science and biomedical research. She develops reliable and interpretable methods to analyze complex biological data, with a focus on understanding how genes function and are regulated in health and disease. Her research has helped uncover hidden patterns in gene expression and emphasized the importance of statistical rigor—ensuring that scientific discoveries are trustworthy, even when working with noisy or low-quality data. She strongly believes that statistics is not just a supporting tool but a core driver of progress in biology and medicine.
Dr. Li is Professor and Program Head of Biostatistics at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where she holds the Donald and Janet K. Guthrie Endowed Chair in Statistics, and Affiliate Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Washington. Previously, she was Professor of Statistics and Data Science at UCLA, with joint appointments in Biostatistics, Computational Medicine, and Human Genetics. She earned her Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Tsinghua University. Her contributions have been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, ISCB Overton Prize, COPSS Emerging Leaders Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Mortimer Spiegelman Award.

Research in Progress | Naim Rashid, PhD (Biostatistics)
2026-01-16 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | ZOOM Passcode | RESEARCH

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Topic: Research in Progress | Naim Rashid, PhD (Biostatistics)
Time: Jan 16, 2026 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Research in Progress | Amber Young, Rashid Lab
2026-01-23 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | via ZOOM 380 044 6913 Passcode | RESEARCH

Research in Progress | Nolan Hamilton, Furey Lab
2026-02-06 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Research in Progress | Yukun Niu, Tamir Lab
2026-02-13 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Seminar with Nicholas Klemen, MD (Duke University School of Medicine)
2026-02-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In person only | Hosted by Alex Rubinsteyn, PhD
About the Speaker:
Nicholas Klemen, M.D., is a surgical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, particularly those of the colon, pancreas, and liver. His work focused on advancing immunotherapy for patients with difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal cancers, which typically do not respond to FDA-approved immunotherapy regimens.

Research in Progress| Jun Li, PhD (UNC, School of Data Science and Society)
2026-02-20 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | via ZOOM 380 044 6913 Passcode | RESEARCH

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Coming soon!

Research in Progress | Alec Plotkin (Stanley and Milner Labs)
2026-03-06 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Research in Progress | Keshav Patel, PhD (Leiderman Lab)
2026-03-13 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | via ZOOM 380 044 6913 Passcode | RESEARCH

(Coming soon)

the NUT Symposium
2026-03-18 08:00 - 2026-03-19 17:00 | the Rizzo Center, 150 Dubose Home Ln, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27517, United States
(coming soon)

Research in Progress | Harris Davis (Dohlman, Kuhlman Labs)
2026-04-03 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
In-person | Mary Ellen Jones Room 3116
Virtual | via ZOOM 380 044 6913 Passcode | RESEARCH

Coming soon!

Research in Progress | Tyler Thompson (Miao Lab)
2026-04-10 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Seminar with Irina Kufareva, PhD (UC San Diego)
2026-04-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Bioinformatics Building, Room 1131, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In person only | Hosted by Dr.Yinglong Miao
Research Summary: The Kufareva lab studies structural, molecular, and architectural principles of cell responses to stimuli and drugs via computational approaches. Our work is mostly focused on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We use conventional and AI-powered molecular modeling to unlock the therapeutic potential of orphan and understudied GPCRs.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Irina Kufareva, PhD, Professor
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
UC San Diego
Education: S.c. laude M.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science (1994) from Tomsk State University, Russia; Ph.D. in Computer Science (2000) from Tomsk State University, Russia
Postdoctoral training: Computational Structural Biology (2004-2009), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
Selected Professional Experiences: Editorial Board member, npj Drug Discovery (2024-present), NIH DMPB study section standing member and alternate chair (2023-2025); NIH DDNS study section, standing member (2022); NIH BPNS study section, standing member (2021); co-organizer, community-wide GPCR Dock assessments (2010, 2013, 2021); ad hoc reviewer for NSF CLP PSD panel (2019) and NIH NCF study section (2017).
Selected Honors

Recipient of the UC San Diego VCHS Excellence Award in Mentorship, Service and Research
Invited presentations at the CHI Discovery On Target Conference, Boston, MA (2022), Gordon Research Conference on Mol. Pharmacology, Ventura, CA (2019), 256th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA (2018), 5th Hawaiian GPCR workshop, Kona, Hawaii (2017), ASCEPT-MPGPCR Joint Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, Australia (2016), and others.
Work featured in Nature News & Views (2016), Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports (2016), Science Perspectives (2015), Biopolymers (2014), and UC San Diego HS Newsroom (on several occasions).

Research in Progress | Luvna Dhawka (Stanley Lab)
2026-04-17 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
Coming soon

Research in Progress | Aamir Mehmood, PhD (Miao Lab)
2026-05-08 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States

Research in Progress | Brooke Felsheim (Perou Lab)
2026-05-29 10:00 - 11:00 | Mary Ellen Jones 3116, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States
Coming soon!
