Grand Challenges: Microbiome Sciences

February 4, 2025
Microbiome Social
4:00 pm, ESJ 2204
To kick off our spring activities, the Microbiome initiative is hosting a social gathering where microsocial spring seminars will take place. Snacks will be provided. Hope you can attend and meet other microbiome enthusiasts.

February 18, 2025
Microbiome Invited Speaker Series
4:00–5:00 p.m. Location: ESJ 2204
Speaker: Suzanne E. Dorsey, Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of the Environment
Suzanne Dorsey will share her experience of over 30 years working towards conservation as a scientist and within a governmental agency. Dorsey will reflect back on how regulators might receive ideas that are generated by scientists. She is looking forward to having an open discussion with the audience. Zoom Link

March 4, 2025
MicroSocial Seminar Series
4:00 pm, ESJ 2204
Speaker: Darby Steinman, Ph.D. student, Bioengineering
Speaker: Taiwo Bankole, Ph.D. student, Nutrition and Food Science
The MicroSocial Seminar Series aims to facilitate scientific exchange and community building across the University of Maryland's microbiome research community. Seminars feature short talks by students and faculty, followed by 30 minutes of informal socializing over coffee and snacks.

March 21, 2025
Microbiome Symposium: Innovation and Translation in Microbiome Research
The Microbiome Sciences initiative is holding its second annual one-day Symposium and Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meet-up at the University of Maryland, Baltimore on 'Innovation and Translation in Microbiome Research.' Discover the latest advancements in microbiome research & innovation. Connect with leading experts, share your research, & explore new collaborations. Faculty, staff, students are invited to register and submit abstracts and register.
Submit your abstract by Friday, February 14, 2025
Register by Saturday, March 1, 2025
Learn more at Innovation and Translation in Microbiome Research | M3: Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meet-up.
Please contact Gabi Steinbach for more information.

April 15, 2025
MicroSocial Seminar Series, 4:00 p.m, ESJ 2204
This series aims to facilitate scientific exchange and community building across the University of Maryland's microbiome research community. Seminars feature short talks by students and faculty, followed by 30 minutes of informal socializing over coffee and snacks.
Speaker: Qingyue Zeng, Ph.D. student, Food Science
Talk: "Microbial Dynamic in Food Waste Compost"
Speaker: Dhiraj Chundru, Ph.D. student, Veterinary Medicine
Talk: "Optimizing Metagenomic Approaches for Enhanced Food Safety in Poultry Production Environment"

April 29, 2025
Microbiome Sciences Initiative: Invited Speaker Series
Speaker: Jotham Suez, Feinstone Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Talk: "Personalized Nutrition and the Microbiome"
4–5 p.m. Location: ESJ 2204
Can gut bacteria decode your ideal diet? Surprisingly, identical meals can trigger vastly different post-prandial fluctuations in blood glucose among various individuals. While probiotic supplements may offer health benefits to certain individuals, they remain ineffective for others. Similarly, the impact of artificial sweeteners on metabolic health is heavily contested, with some studies revealing harm and others indicating advantages. The intricate and divergent effects of dietary elements on human health pose a challenge in crafting overarching dietary guidelines for the public. Person-to-person variability in the makeup of the intestinal microbiome may underlie the discrepancies in human responses to diet. In this talk, we will discuss the potential and limitations of harnessing the microbiome to tailor personalized nutritional advice and explore the mechanisms through which the microbiome contributes to heterogeneity in responses to diet.

May 13, 2025
MicroSocial Seminar Series aims to facilitate scientific exchange and community building across UMD's microbiome research community. Seminars feature short talks by students and faculty, followed by 30 minutes of informal socializing over coffee and snacks.
4:00 p.m. Location: ESJ 2204
Speaker: Yuzhu Mao, Ph.D. student, Environmental Engineering
Talk: "Flushed with Data: Tracking COVID-19 to Candida Auris in Community Sewage" Speaker: Aishwarya Pradeep Rao, Ph.D. student, Food Science

Complex microbial communities (known as microbiomes) inhabit virtually every part of our planet—from ocean depths to mountaintops, across vegetation surfaces, within agricultural soil, and both on and within all living creatures. The Microbiome Sciences initiative joins faculty, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students from across the University of Maryland in pursuit of a deeper understanding of complex microbial communities, and how those microbiomes interact with each other and with our ecosystem.

The initiative will conduct transformative research, develop new technologies, advance microbiome science, and translate microbiome science into innovative interventions and economic growth. Its three-part mission includes:

Advancing cutting-edge and transformative interdisciplinary research in microbiome sciences.
Training future generations of scientists and helping develop a regional workforce with strong expertise in microbiome sciences.
Supporting the development of a regional innovation ecosystem that contributes to economic growth in microbiome-related industries within Maryland.

University of Maryland Microbiome Initiative

Team Members:

PI: Mihai Pop (CMNS), Professor and Director, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies	Mostafa Ghanem (AGNR), Assistant Professor, Veterinary Medicine	Birthe Kjellerup (ENGR), Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering	Shirley Micallef (AGNR), Professor, Plant Science and Center for Food Safety and Security Systems	Brantley Hall (CMNS), Assistant Professor, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
William Bentley (ENGR), Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Professor, Director, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, and Director, Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute	Reza Ghodssi (ENGR), Professor, Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering	Katharina Maisel (ENGR), Assistant Professor, Bioengineering	Stephanie Yarwood (AGNR), Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Technology	Ryan Blaustein (AGNR), Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Food Science
Hannah Zierden (ENGR), Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering	Margaret Slavin (AGNR), Associate Professor, Nutrition and Food Science	Diana Obanda (AGNR), Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Food Science	Gabi Steinbach (CMNS), Program Coordinator and Associate Research Scientist
Monika Proszkowiec Weglarz, Molecular Biologist, USDA	Jude Maul, Research Ecologist, USDA

Partnerships:

Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meet-up (M3) Consortium