Basic Science Academic Department Seminars

January 2026

The basic science academic departments invite the Northwestern community to join us for upcoming events. 

Click on the event times for updates and details.

For even more opportunities, explore our events page to find events hosted by our campus partners.

Wednesday, January 7

Noon | HIV Infection of Mast Cells and Senescence-Associated Marker Expression 

Kameron Walker
PhD Candidate - DGP
Hope Lab, Cell and Developmental Biology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Host: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

Thursday, January 15

10:00 a.m. | Predicting and Controlling Microbial Community Dynamics

Lingchong You, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Engineering 
Duke University 

Host: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Friday, January 16

Noon | Dopaminergic Modulation of Basal Ganglia Circuits in Learning and Performance

Xiaoxi Zhuang, PhD
Professor of Neurobiology
The University of Chicago

Host: Department of Neuroscience

3:00 p.m. | Engineering Synthetic Phosphorylation Signaling Networks in Human Cells

Sarah Quillin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow 
Prindle Lab, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Host: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Wednesday, January 21

Noon | What Sets the Tempo of Development? Oscillatory Dynamics and Signaling Pathways in Embryonic Patterning

Angad Chandel Singh
DGP Student
Özbudak Lab, Cell and Developmental Biology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Host: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

Thursday, January 22

10:00 a.m. | Targeting Metabolism: From Iron to Replication and Back Again

Richard Possemato, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology
New York University

Host: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

2:00 p.m. | Boundaries Between Rare and Common Disease

Alexandre Reymond, PhD
Professor, Center for Integrative Genomics
University of Lausanne

Host: Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment

3:30 p.m. | Leveraging the Genome to Diagnose and Treat the Epilepsies

Gemma Carvill, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Host: Center for Genetic Medicine

Friday, January 23

Noon | Inaugural ChicagoLand Chromatin Club Symposium

Host: ChicagoLand Chromatin Club - Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

Thursday, January 29

10:00 a.m. | BMG Seminar

Prashant Mali, PhD
Professor of Bioengineering 
University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Host: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Friday, January 30

3:00 p.m. | BMG Journal Club

An RNA Splicing System That Excises DNA Transposons From Animal mRNAs

Andrew Loiacono
Research Technician 
Huang Lab, Cell and Developmental Biology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Single-Cell Transcriptomic and Genomic Changes in the Ageing Human Brain

Omar Payan Parra, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
IRIS Lab, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Host: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics