September 26, 2024
2-7 p.m.

McQuinn Atrium & Monsanto Auditorium at Bond LSC

Bond Life Sciences Center turns 20 this year. Our mission to connect and innovate has partnered engineers with cancer biologists, biomedical researchers with plant scientists and united many others to tackle humanity’s most pressing challenges. With world-class laboratories and a collaborative spirit, our scientists continue to find solutions and follow their curiosity while teaching the next generation of scientists.

To celebrate the occasion, we will host three prominent scientists September 26, including two that were formerly part of the Bond LSC community. These speakers will be followed by a reception open to the public and an art exhibition titled “Visions of Discovery: The Art of Research” co-sponsored by Columbia Art League.

Schedule

2:15-4:45 p.m. – Speaker Presentations in Monsanto Auditorium
2:15-2:30 – Opening Remarks, Dr. Walter Gassmann
2:30-3:05 – Dr. Melissa Mitchum 
‘New Insights into the Genetics of Soybean-Soybean Cyst Nematode Interactions‘
3:10 – 3:45 – Dr. Kinjal Majumder 
‘Location, location, location: Navigation of the nuclear compartment by DNA viruses to
improve gene therapies and target cancer‘
3:45-4 – BREAK
4 – 4:50pm – Dr. Sheng Yang He 
‘Environmental Impact on Plant-Pathogen Interactions‘
5-7 p.m. – Reception in McQuinn Atrium
Award winners announced for Visions of Discovery: The Art of Research art exhibition
Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages to be served

Speakers

Dr. Kinjal Majumder

Dr. Majumder completed his undergraduate studies at Drury University, majoring in biology, chemistry and mathematics. His PhD dissertation focused on the epigenetic regulation of T cell receptor gene assembly at Washington University in Saint Louis in the lab of Dr. Eugene Oltz. Majumder performed his post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. David Pintel in Bond LSC at Mizzou, focusing on the mechanisms of parvovirus interactions with the host genome and cellular DNA damage response pathways. He established his independent research program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute for Molecular Virology in 2020.

The Majumder lab focuses on dissecting the mechanisms of parvovirus-host nucleome interactions and determining how these interactions can be leveraged to engineer novel gene therapy vehicles and oncolytic virotherapies. The Majumder lab is building on their discoveries with parvovirus-DNA damage interactions to understand how oncogenic viruses like HBV and HPV cause cancer.  

Dr. Sheng-Yang He

Dr. He is the Benjamin E. Powell Distinguished Professor of Biology at Duke University and also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. His lab is interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying plant-microbe interactions. Results from his lab have led to foundational insights into processes that govern bacterial pathogenesis, plant immunity, plant hormone signaling and the immune function of plant stomata. Recent research in his lab begins to shed light on how climate conditions influence infectious diseases and how plants regulate microbiota to prevent dysbiosis.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Zhejiang University (Agricultural campus), China, and a PhD from Cornell University. He is a Thomson Reuters highly-cited researcher, a past-president of the International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, an editorial board member of Current Biology and PNAS, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. 

Dr. Melissa Mitchum

Melissa Mitchum is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) at the University of Georgia. She is also a member of The Plant Center and The Center for Applied Genetic Technologies. Her lab’s research focuses on plant-parasitic nematodes, . These nematodes establish a permanent feeding site within the roots, which they use as their sole source of nutrition throughout their life cycle. Her lab aims to elucidate the molecular interactions between nematodes and plants, including the mechanisms nematodes use to parasitize their hosts and how certain plants resist infection. Her team’s research has led to significant advances in understanding nematode effector proteins, plant peptide hormone mimicry, plant resistance to nematodes, and nematode virulence.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound, her master’s degree from the University of Nebraska, and her PhD from North Carolina State University. She completed her postdoctoral research at Duke University before joining the University of Missouri. There, she spent 15 years as a faculty member at the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.