2025 North Carolina Microbiome Symposium

We are pleased to announce that the 2025 NCBC Microbiome Symposium will take place in person on Friday, May 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, located at 15 T.W. Alexander Drive, Durham, NC.

We have a truly exciting day of presentations planned, including by keynote speaker Dr. Ami Bhatt, MD, PhD. Dr. Bhatt is a Professor of Medicine and Genetics and the Director for Global Oncology (Center for Innovation in Global Health) at Stanford University.

The symposium will also feature poster sessions, networking time for trainees and the keynote speaker, companies, as well as breakfast and lunch. This will be a great opportunity for researchers to reconnect with fellow academia and industry scientists

All attendees must register and purchase a ticket by May 20, 2025. If you would like to present a poster please submit an abstract by April 15, 2025. Space is limited so we recommend registering and submitting your abstract as soon as possible!

Ticket Pricing:

Not a PI or Senior Scientist (including undergrad, grad, and postdoc at trainee) - $40

PI/Senior Scientist/Industry - $100

Agenda

8-8:45 AM Trainee Event: Meet the keynote speaker for breakfast

8:30 AM Registration, coffee, and breakfast for attendees

8:50 AM Welcome – Tessa Andermann and Adam Rosenthal, Assistant Professors, UNC at Chapel Hill; Co-chairs of the NC Microbiome Consortium Organizing Committee

9:00 AM – 10:40 AM Session 1: Microbiome science in human and animal health

Moderator: Neil Surana, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University

The human microbiome: from metagenomes to therapeutics
Julia Oh, Professor, Duke University

Feline bile and low biomass microbiome measurements

Ben Callahan, Associate Professor, NC State University

Diet mediates protean pathologies: pathogen-microbiota interactions in the malnourished gut

Luther Bartelt, Associate Professor, UNC at Chapel Hill

Molecular mechanisms of plant microbiome assembly: from bacterial genes to host specificity

Russ Dor, Postdoctoral Researcher, UNC Chapel Hill

10:40 AM Refreshment Break

11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Lightning Talks

Moderator: Adam Rosenthal, Assistant Professor, UNC at Chapel Hill

Abstracts selected from trainees and industry

11:45 AM – 1:30 PM Lunch / Discussion Tables / Posters

1:30 PM – 2:55 PM Session 2: Microbiome science in agriculture and environmental health

Moderator: Jason Arnold, Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University

Microbiomes and the transmission of infectious diseases in low-income country settings

Angela Harris, Associate Professor, NC State University

Understanding plant-microbiota interactions in the phyllosphere

Sheng-Yang He, Professor, Duke University

Microbial ecology, cell-cell signaling, and implications for biofilm treatment

Jeseth Delgado Vela, Assistant Professor, Duke University

Industry talk: Safety, efficacy pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cohort 2 of a phase 1b study of an investigational live biotherapeutic, SER-155, in adults undergoing allo-HCT

Bina Tejura, Senior Medical Director, Seres Therapeutics

2:55 PM Refreshment Break

3:15 PM- 4:00 PM Session 3: Keynote Speaker Session

Moderator: Tessa Andermann, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UNC Chapel

From precise microbiome genomics to precision medicine

Ami Bhatt, Professor, Stanford University

4:05 PM Closing and Adjournment

4:05 PM- 5:00 PM Happy Hour and Networking | Beverages and food