School of Molecular & Cellular Biology Calendar of Events

Friday, January 16, 2026

• 

  Final Exams Begin

  8:30 am

  • Ceremony/Service

Monday, January 19, 2026

• 

  Martin Luther King Jr. Day

  All Day

  • Other

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

• 

  First Day of Instruction, Spring Semester

  All Day

  • Other
• 

  Towards Mapping Inflammation in Real Time; Spatiotemporal Molecular Profiling of Inflammation with Microengineered Devices

  12:00 pm

  612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

  Csaba Forro, PhD and Daniel Wang, PhD, Group Leaders at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago "Towards Mapping Inflammation in Real Time" "Spatiotemporal Molecular Profiling of Inflammation with Microengineered Devices"

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, January 23, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Brenda Bass (University of Utah) - "Discriminationg self and nonself dsRNA during antiviral defense"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

• 

  The developing brain under pressure: How maternal infection impacts placental and fetal vascular barriers, brain macrophages, and corticogenesis

  12:00 pm

  612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

  Adrienne Antonson, PhD Department of Animal Science; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "The developing brain under pressure: How maternal infection impacts placental and fetal vascular barriers, brain macrophages, and corticogenesis"

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: New Student Presentations

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, January 29, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Matthew Cabeen, Oklahoma State University -- "Careful control for costly competition: a “two-key” mechanism for pyocin regulation in P. aeruginosa"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, January 30, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Juan Du (Northwestern) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

• 

  Cortical oscillations and neural timing: how attention enhances hearing in complex environments

  12:00 pm

  612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

  Howard Gritton, PhD Department of Comparative Biosciences; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign “Cortical oscillations and neural timing: how attention enhances hearing in complex environments”

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Student Seminars: Brooke Ebner/Slauch Lab and Jessica Hertig/Imlay Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

• 

  Yiran Zheng (Chen Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Seung Jun Lee (Shapiro Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, February 5, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Andrea Graham, Princeton University -- "Where the Wild Things Are: Naturalizing mouse models for immunology & beyond"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, February 6, 2026

• 

  Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Seminar: Donald McDonnell, Duke University, "TBD"

  12:00 pm

  B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Aniritha Ramalingam Balasubramanian/Hatoum-Aslan Lab and Sierra Bedwell/Heath Lab & Whitaker Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

• 

  Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB) Departmental Seminars: Career Development / Dr. Bing Yang / Purdue University

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Yujia Ji (Stadtmueller) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Rebecca Tang (Huang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, February 12, 2026

• 

  Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Seminar: Danielle Mai, Stanford University, "TBD"

  2:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. John Schroggins, University of Texas Southwestern -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, February 13, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Andrew Jones (Duke University) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Abigail Finn/Whitaker Lab and Yishue Jiang/Sirk Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

• 

  Qianjin Jiang (Shapiro Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, February 19, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Maria Hadjifrangiskou, Vanderbilt University -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Sunday, February 22, 2026

• 

  Science on Tap

  1:00 pm

  Riggs Beer Company, 1901 S High Cross Rd, Urbana, IL 61802

  Science on Tap is a monthly seminar series that brings scientists to the public to talk about their research in an informal setting.

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

• 

  Synthetic biology for evolutionary studies and human health

  12:00 pm

  612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

  Angad Mehta, PhD Department of Chemistry; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "Synthetic biology for evolutionary studies and human health"

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Courtney Hill/Hatoum-Aslan Lab and Suhail Chhakara/Kuzminov Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

• 

  Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Seminar: Brent Stockwell, Columbia University "TBD"

  4:00 pm

  RAL 116

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Jessica Derham - (Kalsotra Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Wenkan Liu (Wu Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, February 26, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, February 27, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Yang Hai (University of California Santa Barbara) - "Natral product discovery, biosynthesis, and biocatalysis."

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Zachary Davis/Brooke Lab and Will Wightkin/Blanke Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

• 

  Madhusree Seal (Stadtmueller Lab)

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Abigail Spaulding (Shapiro Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, March 5, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Keegan Schoeller/Hatoum-Aslan Lab and Gabriela Shipman/Brooke Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

• 

  Ashley Holahan (Shapiro Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Alex Mortenson (Tajkhorshid Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, March 12, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Anthony Vecchiarelli, University of Michigan -- "Yes! Bacteria have organelles! How are they organized?"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Saturday, March 14, 2026

• 

  Spring Vacation Begins

  1:00 pm

  • Other

Monday, March 23, 2026

• 

  Instruction resumes

  7:00 am

  • Other

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Rodrigo Arana Garrido/Mera Lab and Gracious Donkor/Slauch Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

• 

  Andy Briercheck (Y. Zhang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Abhinav Masih (Huang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, March 26, 2026

• 

  Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Seminar: Amy Rosenzweig, Northwestern, "TBD"

  4:00 pm

  RAL 116

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Chen Chen, Louisiana State University -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, March 27, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Dianne Newman (CalTech) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Student Seminar: Abbi Long/Mera Lab and Lance Pollitz/Hatoum-Aslan Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Ceremony/Service

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

• 

  Hossein Omidi Ardali (Tajkhorshid Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, April 2, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Lanying Zeng, Texas A & M University -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Postdoc Seminar: Yumi Iwadate/Slauch Lab and Thomas Cowell/Whitaker Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

• 

  Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB) Departmental Seminars: Dr. Long Cai / Caltech

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Brooke Bouwens (Hergenrother Lab)- "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Amna Mehfooz (K. Zhang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, April 9, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Alison Kell, University of New Mexico -- "Understanding hantavirus pathogenesis through innate immune activation"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, April 10, 2026

• 

  Dr. Tamas Balla (NIH) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Postdoc Seminar: Caroline Oldstone-Jackson/Heath Lab and Changyi Zhang/Whitaker Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

• 

  Hao Fan (Y. Zhang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Minsoo Kim (Stadtmueller Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, April 16, 2026

• 

  Final Defense: Alex Shuppara (Sanfilippo Lab) - "TBA"

  10:00 am

  419 RAL (Rose Room)

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Adam Deutschbauer, University of California - Berkeley -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Postdoc Seminar: Elizabeth Rowland/Brooke Lab

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

• 

  Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB) Departmental Seminars: Dr. Anne Carpenter / Broad Institute

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Piyush Sharma (Sanfilippo Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Pelham Kogut (van der Donk Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, April 23, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Mauricio Pontes, Penn State University -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

• 

  Zixiao Li (K. Zhang Lab) - "TBA"

  4:00 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium
• 

  Katrine Dailey (Wu Lab) - "TBA"

  4:30 pm

  116 RAL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Thursday, April 30, 2026

• 

  Microbiology Seminar: Dr. Courtney Ellison, University of Georgia -- "TBA"

  4:00 pm   5:00 pm

  Charles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory

  • Seminar/Symposium

Friday, May 1, 2026

• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Parisa Hosseinzadeh (University of Oregon) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

• 

  Instruction Ends

  All Day

  • Other

Thursday, May 7, 2026

• 

  Reading Day/IT No Change Period in effect

  All Day

  • Other

Friday, May 8, 2026

• 

  Final Exams Begin

  All Day

  • Other
• 

  Biochemistry Seminar: Dr. Juan Guan (University of Texas) - "TBA"

  12:00 pm

  Charles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL

  • Seminar/Symposium

Saturday, May 16, 2026

• 

  Commencement

  8:30 am

  Memorial Stadium

  • Ceremony/Service

Monday, May 18, 2026

• 

  First Day of Instruction, Summer Term 1

  All Day

  • Other

Monday, May 25, 2026

• 

  Memorial Day Holiday

  All Day

  • Other

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

• 

  First Day of Instruction, Summer Term 2

  All Day

  • Other

Friday, June 19, 2026

• 

  Juneteenth

  All Day

  • Ceremony/Service

Friday, July 3, 2026

• 

  Independence Day (observed)

  All Day

  • Other