Agenda 2026

 

                     Herpesvirus Symposium Agenda 2026

8:00 am   REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST
8:25 am  Erle Robertson Ph.D., Vice Chair of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Professor of Microbiology Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA. 
♦ Opening Remarks 
First Session  Moderator:  Dr. Italo Tempera, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
 8:30 – 9:00 am  Dr. Robert Yarchoan, Ph.D., Chief, HIV & AIDS Malignancy Branch, CCR & Director, Office of HIV & AIDS Malignancy, NCI, Bethesda, M.D
♦ “Studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of KSHV-multicentric Castleman disease and KSHV-inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS)”.
9:00 – 9:20 am  Dr. Yanming Du, Ph.D., Professor, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Doylestown, PA.
♦ ““A Liver-Targeted, Orally Bioavailable, Dihydroquinolizinone Bis-acid with In Vivo Efficacy Against Hepatitis A and B Viruses”. 
9:20 – 9:40 am  Dr. Rebecca Satterwhite, Ph.D., Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kathy Shair lab, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA
♦ “Enhancing nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk assessment by integrating Epstein–Barr Virus genotyping and serology”.
9:40 – 10:00 am  Dr.  Lauren Hook, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Harvey Friedman Lab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
♦ “HSV2 gC2/gD2/gE2 mRNA vaccine generates epitope-specific antibody responses to gC2 and gD2 that correlate with protection from genital lesions and latent infection”.
10:00 – 10:20 am  COFFEE BREAK
Second session  Moderator: Dr. Harvey Friedman, M.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
10:20 – 11:10 am  Dr.  David M. Knipe, Ph.D., Higgins Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Dept. of Microbiology, Blavatnik Institute Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.  
♦  Gertrude and Werner Henle Lectureship Keynote Speaker  ♦ “Sensing of Viral and Host DNA in Virus-Infected Cells:  A New Mechanism for Activating the cGAS Pathway”.
11:10 – 11:30 am  Dr. Alexander Price, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
♦ “RNA Splicing Inhibition is a Novel Therapeutic for EBV-Driven Cancer”.
11:30 – 11:50 pm  Dr. Julia Sutter, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Ahmed Diab Lab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
♦ "Therapeutically targeting genomic instability in HPV+ head and neck squamous cell carcinoma". 
11:50 – 12:10 pm  Dr. Dipanwita Mitra, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow, Laurie T. Krug, Ph.D., lab, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD
♦ "Vaccination with Replication and Latency Dead Murine Gammaherpesvirus Protects against Wild-Type Infection and Reactivation in Mice”.
12:10 – 12:20 pm  ♦ In Memoriam of Bernard Roizman – Personal comments, slides, short stories welcome
 12:20 – 01:20 pm   LUNCH
Third session  Moderator: Dr. Ahmed Diab, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
1:20 – 1:50 pm  Dr. Micah Luftig, PhD, Professor, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.
♦ “Heterogeneous Outcomes of EBV Infection”.
1:50 – 2:10 pm  Dr. Michael McIntosh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, FL.
♦ “Effects of the EBV Lytic Phase on the Host Cell Proteome”.
2:10 – 2:30 pm  Ms. Mei-Ling Liber, Graduate Research Assistant, Prof Moriah L. Szpara Lab, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
♦ “Comparative genomics of acyclovir resistance genotypes in longitudinal samples from adults with drug-resistant and drug-susceptible herpes simplex virus 1 infections”.
2:30 – 2:50 pm  Dr. Reuben Onwe, Graduate Student, Jennifer Moffat Lab, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY.
♦ “Fixed nonsynonymous vaccine Oka mutations in IE62 drive varicella-zoster virus attenuation in human skin”.
2:50 – 3:10 pm Dr.  Krystal Lum, Ph.D., Associate Research Scholar, Dr. Ileana M. Cristea lab, Princeton University, NJ.
♦ ““Integrative Organoid Proteomics to Decode Tumor Vulnerabilities to Viruses and Cell-Cell Responses in the Infection Microenvironment".
3:10 – 3:30 pm   AFTERNOON BREAK
Final Session  Moderator: Dr. Laurie T. Krug, Ph.D., Stadtman Investigator, NCI CCR HAMB, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
3:30 – 4:00 pm  Dr. Jinhong Chang, M.D., Ph.D., Harvey Alter Chair Professor, Baruch S Blumberg Institute, Doylestown, PA
♦ “Translational Virology Driving Innovation in Yellow Fever Antiviral Therapeutics”.
4:00 – 4:20 pm  Dr. Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, FL.
♦ “Harnessing the ubiquitin-proteasomal system to kill EBV+ lymphomas”. 
4:20 – 4:40 pm  Dr. Peace Park, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Italo Tempera Lab, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
♦ “Mapping B Cell Vulnerability to EBV using CITE-seq”.
4:40 – 5:00 pm  Dr. Tina Cairns, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, Dr. Gary Cohen Lab, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
♦ “Antibody Responses over Time to Key Epitopes in HSV-2 gC, gD and gE Differ in Persons with Frequent vs Infrequent Genital Herpes Recurrences”.
5:00 pm   RECEPTION

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