New Investigator Spotlight:
An EMGS Webinar and Online Workshop
Presented by the EMGS Diversity & Inclusion Committee
When: May 24, 2021 at 6PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (U.S.)
Duration: 90 minutes
Where: Virtual (a link will be provided to all registered participants)
Cost: Free
Details: The meeting is open to EMGS members and guests. All participants must register prior to the meeting; a link to the meeting site will be provided via email following registration.
About this workshop: This New Investigator Spotlight will feature Joseph Smith Jr., a postdoctoral fellow at the University at Buffalo in the Microbiology and Immunology department. He currently studies the regulation of uridine insertion/deletion mRNA editing in Trypanosoma brucei, which is the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness in humans and nagana disease in livestock and domesticated animals in sub-Saharan Africa. He received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Biochemistry from Bowling Green State University in 2011 where he was introduced to research. At BGSU, he assisted in researching the effectiveness of plant-derived compounds on inhibiting the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory complexes in parasitic helminths. In 2018, he received his Doctor of Philosophy in biomedical science with a research emphasis on molecular parasitology from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. At Meharry, he studied mitochondrial protein import in Trypanosoma brucei. Now firmly rooted in the parasitology research community, he continues his research training in parasitic mitochondrial biology at the University at Buffalo in the lab of Dr. Laurie K. Read. Dr. Smith’s postdoctoral work was recognized this year by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and he has been awarded a three-year, $202,000 grant to continue his study of the regulation of RNA in Trypanosoma brucei. After his postdoc, he hopes to start his own laboratory to further investigate the regulation of mitochondrial biology in protozoan parasites as they transition through their life cycles.
Organizers: Dr. Kelly Harris
For questions, please contact emgshq@emgs-us.org.
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