Upcoming Plenary Seminars
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
Plenary Seminar
Wednesday April 2nd, 2025
12:30pm – 1:30pm
School of Medicine, Room 132A
Craig McCormick, Ph.D
Distinguished Research Professor
Graduate Coordinator & CO-OP Program Advisor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Dalhousie University
Sterol responses and viral infection
Craig McCormick is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Dalhousie University, where he holds a 5-year Distinguished Research Professorship in recognition of his research achievements. He also received a Rosemary Gill Award for outstanding service to students. Dr. McCormick co-founded the Canadian Society for Virology (CSV) in 2015 with Dr. Nathalie Grandvaux. CSV now boasts ~300 members, a vibrant symposium series and a variety of supports for the Canadian virology research community. Dr. McCormick also provided strategic research leadership in the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, co-founding and serving as Director for the Infection, Immunity, Inflammation & Vaccinology (I3V) Wave. Dr. McCormick is an expert on host antiviral responses and viral evasion mechanisms. This work, which focuses on emerging and re-emerging viruses with pandemic potential like influenza viruses and coronaviruses, has revealed new opportunities for host-targeted antivirals with broad specificity that are not so easily subverted by rapid viral evolution. He has authored >50 peer-reviewed publications including papers in Science, Nature Genetics, Cell Host & Microbe, Cell Reports, PNAS and PLoS Pathogens.
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
The Robert B Carson Speaker Series Visiting Lecturer
Plenary Seminar
Wednesday April 9th, 2025
12:30pm – 1:30pm
School of Medicine, Room 132A
Michael A. Cianfrocco, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry
Associate Professor, Department of Biophysics
Research Associate Professor, Life Sciences Institute
Director, Perrigo Undergraduate Research Fellowship
University of Michigan
Viral hijacking of motor proteins: HIV-1 hitches a ride with dynein
HIV-1 uses the microtubule cytoskeleton to reach the host cell nucleus during replication, yet the molecular basis for microtubule-dependent HIV-1 motility is poorly understood. Using in vitro reconstitution biochemistry and single-molecule imaging, we found that HIV-1 binds to the retrograde microtubule-associated motor, dynein, directly and not via a cargo adaptor, as has been previously suggested. The HIV-1 capsid lattice binds to accessory chains on dynein’s tail domain. Further, we demonstrate that multiple dynein motors tethered to rigid cargoes, like HIV-1 capsids, display reduced motility, distinct from the behavior of multiple motors on membranous cargoes. Our results provide a new model of HIV-1 trafficking wherein HIV-1 binds to dynein directly to ‘hijack’ the dynein transport machinery for microtubule motility.
Dr. Christophe Altier
12:30 - 1:30pm
April 23rd, 2025
School of Medicine, Room 132A
Host: Dr. Nader Ghasemlou
Title: TBA
Dr. Shuaiqi Guo
12:30 - 1:30pm
April 30th, 2025
School of Medicine, Room 132A
Host: Dr. Peter Davies
Title: TBA
Dr. Neeloffer Mookhergee
12:30 - 1:30pm
May 7th, 2025
School of Medicine, Room 132A
Host: Dr. Eva Kaufmann
Title: TBA