Day 1 (Joyce Cummings Center, Tufts University, Medford)
8:30-8:45 Welcome from Tufts University President Sunil Kumar and introductions
8:45-10:00 Lightning talks:
- Microbiology, Session chairs: Jenifer Coburn (Medical College of WI); Nick Takacs (Northeastern University)
Speakers: (Nick Takacs, Northeastern University; Philip Adams, National Institutes of Health; Wolfram Zueckert, University of Kansas; Alvaro Toledo, Rutgers University; Trever Smith, Tufts University; Yuko Nakajima, Brandeis University; Christopher Zinck, Northeastern University)
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:00 Microbiology Lightning talks (continued)
Speakers: (Alexi Savchenco, University of Calgary; Amanda Brinkworth, University of Nebraska; Vanessa Ante, Kansas State University; Melissa Caimano, University of Connecticut)
11:00-12:15 Shark Tank, Session chair: Philip Adams (NIH)
- Presenters: Jacob Lemieux, Harvard University; Monica Embers (Tulane University) and Sue Faber (Lyme Hope) and Jenny Wachter (University of Saskatchewan)
- Sharks: Nadine Bowden (NIH), Wendy Adams, (Bay Area Lyme Foundation), Tim Sellati (the Global Lyme Alliance)
12:15-1:30 Lunch Break
1:30-3:00 Lightning talks
- Ticks, Ecology and Epidemiology, Session chairs: Nicholas Ogden (Public Health Agency, Canada) and Yi-Pin Lin (Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine)
Speakers: (Nicholas Ogden, Public Health Agency, Canada; Vipin Rana, University of Maryland; Philip Stewart, NIH; Heidi Goethert, Tufts University; Weigang Qiu, Hunter College; Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, Downstate University; Jeff Bourgeois, Tufts University School of Medicine; Monika Guilia-Nuss, University of Nevada)
3:00-3:30 Break
3:30-4:00 Ticks, Ecology and Epidemiology continued
Speakers (Sam Telford, Tufts University; Sukanya Narasimhan, Yale University; Joe Pedra, University of Maryland)
4:00-5:30 Speed networking for collaborations. Session chairs: Catherine Brissette (University of North Dakota), Wolf Zuckert (University of Kansas)
6:00-8:00 Opening Reception, Remis Sculpture Courtyard, Tufts University (sponsored by Bay Area Lyme Foundation)
Day 2
8:30-10:30 Lightning talks
- Immunology, Session chairs: Janis Weis (University of Utah); Mikki Tal (MIT)
Speakers: (Tanja Petnicki-Ocwieja, Tufts University; Klemen Strle, Tufts University; Mikki Tal, MIT; Nicole Baumgarth, Johns Hopkins University; Brian Stevenson, University of Kentucky; John Leong, Tufts University; Amanda Zalud, Creighton University, Suman Kundu, University of Tennessee; Catherine Brissette, University of North Dakota; Robert Lochhead, Medical College of Wisconsin; James Carroll, NIH)
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00 Navigating Industry-Academic collaborations, Session chair: Maria Gomes-Solecki (University of TN); Panelists: Li Hao (Pfizer), Michel Ledizet (L2 Diagnostics), Sesha Neervannan (Tarsus)
Learn about STTR/SBIR grants, how to start your own company to pursue your ideas, how to partner with industry.
12:00-1:30 Lunch Break
1:30-2:30 Lightning Talks
- Diagnosis and Treatment, Session chairs: Joao Pedra (University of MD), Peter Gwynne (Tufts University)
Speakers: (Peter Gwynne; Tufts University; Yi-Pin Lin, Tufts University; Robert Colautti, Queens University; Travis Bourret, Creighton University; Natalie Rudenko, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Republic; John Branda, Harvard University)
2:30-3:45 Lightning Talks
- Clinical care and research, Session chairs: Alvaro Toledo (Rutgers University), Robert Smith (Maine Health)
Speakers: (Elizabeth Horn, Bay Area Lyme Foundation; Li Hao, Pfizer; Nikhat Parveen, Rutgers University; Raj Priya (Indiana University); Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Mara Kuvaldina, Columbia University, Joseph Beyene, Brigham and Women’s Hospital).
3:45-4:15 Break
4:15-5:30 Updates in the NIH review process
- Overview of NIH grant reviews; Priti Mehrotra, Chief, Microbiology Review Branch (NIH)
- Mock study section, Panelists: Sukanya Narasimhan (Yale University), Utpal Pal (University of Maryland), Justin Radolf (University of CT), Brian Stevenson (University of Kentucky), Mark Wooten (University of Toledo)
- Open panel discussion: Discussion leader, Nicole Baumgarth (Johns Hopkins University)