Chemical Biology Symposium 2025

The 4th annual Chemical Biology Symposium was held Oct. 10-11, 2025 in Lawrence, Kansas. Friday's program included lightning talks by Interface of Chemical Biology trainees and a keynote address by Bryan Dickinson from the University of Chicago. Saturday included a keynote by Chris Kevil from Louisiana State University, as well as oral presentations by other speakers and poster sessions.

Symposium Information

Symposium Schedule

Friday, Oct. 10 | Jayhawk Welcome Center

Schedule for Friday, Oct. 10
Time	Session Title	Room
4 – 4:45 p.m.	Welcome Session Check-in, drinks + light refreshments General greeting from symposium organizers	Glorious to View Room
4:45 – 6 p.m.	Keynote Presentation: Dr. Bryan Dickinson Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago \| "Disorder-driven Molecular Glues" Session Chair: Matthew Russolillo	Berkley Presentation Room
6 – 7 p.m.	Dinner
7 – 8 p.m.	Lighting Talks by Graduate Trainees Session Chair: Erick McCloskey Tristian Sprague, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences, Wolfe Lab \| “Reduced Cholesterol Slows Catalysis by γ-secretase via Stalled Enzyme-substrate Complexes: Implications for the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease” Ashten Gentry, KU Department of Chemistry, Whelan Lab \| “Optimized Methods for Large-volume Sample Preparation in Clinical Proteomics” Anam Shaikh, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences, Orozco Lab \| “PEP-R619W Distinctly Modulates Type-I Interferon Signaling to Enhance DC and CD8 T Cell Function” Saeideh Nasiri, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences, Antunes Lab \| “Gut-Microbiome-Derived Metabolites Modulate Vibrio Cholerae Interactions with Host Cells” Shelby Innes, K-State Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Huang Lab \| “Mechanisms of Lifespan and Healthspan Benefits by Neuromodulating Drugs on Aging and Age-Related Diseases”

Saturday, Oct. 11 | School of Pharmacy

Schedule for Saturday, Oct. 11
Time	Session Title	Room
8:30 – 9:15 a.m.	Morning Social Session Check-in + light refreshments	Atrium
9:15 – 10 a.m.	Session 1 15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions Session Chair: Alec Bevis Symposium Organizers \| Welcome + Brief Opening Comments Hans Dalton, Assistant Professor, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences \| “A Drug Repurposing Screen Reveals Potential Therapies for the Rare Glycosylation Disease, DPAGT1-CDG” Justin Douglas, Director, KU Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core Lab \| “NMR Spectroscopic Characterization of the Surface Chemistry and Morphology of mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccines”	Room 2020
10 – 10:45 a.m.	Poster Session 1 Odd-numbered posters	Atrium
10:45 – 11 a.m.	Break
11 a.m. – noon	Keynote Presentation: Chris Kevil Director of the Center for Redox Biology & Cardiovascular Disease, Louisiana State \| "Reactive Sulfur Species: The 'Missing Link' in Redox Pathophysiology" Session Chair: Andrew Daufel	Room 2020
Noon – 1 p.m.	Lunch Box lunches	Mortar & Pestle, Basement
1 – 2 p.m.	Session 2 15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions Session Chair: Anna Marstall Shijiao Huang, Assistant Professor, K-State Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics \| “Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Targeting of Aging and Age-related Diseases” Chad Slawson, Professor, KUMC Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology \| “Sex-Specific Impact of O-GlcNAcase Inhibition on Brain Metabolism” Erick McCloskey, T32 Graduate Trainee, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences \| “HSV-1 ICP0 Dimer Mutants Impair Viral Replication and Protein Activities”	Room 2020
2 – 2:15 p.m.	Break
2:15 – 3:15 p.m.	Session 3 15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions Session Chair: Andrew Daufel Matthew Russolillo, T32 Graduate Trainee, KU Department of Medicinal Chemistry \| “New Chemical Tools to Study Carbohydrate-Protein Interactions” Emily Beck, Assistant Professor, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences \| "The Role of Mitochondrial-Microbial Interactions in Regulating Brain-Gut Health" Prajna Dar, Professor, KU Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering \| "How Alterations in the Chemical Composition of Repaired Myelin Impacts its Biophysical Properties"	Room 2020
3:15 – 4 p.m.	Poster Session 2 Even-numbered posters	Atrium
4 – 4:15 p.m.	Break
4:15 – 5 p.m.	Session 4 15-minute presentations followed by ~3 minutes of questions Session Chair: Eric Ebert Carlo Barnaba, Assistant Professor, KU Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry \| "Redefining the Role of AMPK in Autophagy Regulation" Andrew Daufel, T32 Graduate Trainee, KU Department of Molecular Biosciences \| "Folding Outer Membrane Proteins into Catanionic Detergent Vehicles"	Room 2020
5 – 5:20 p.m.	Poster + Flash Talk Award Ceremony	Atrium

This symposium is possible through support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences CoBRE in Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease (P20GM113117) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Graduate Training in Chemical Biology (T32GM132061).