MBID Research Retreat set for Jan. 6-7


By Roman Petrowski
December 16, 2021

Original article appeared in McGovern Medical School’s Scoop

Registration is open for the 2022 Molecular Basis of Infectious Disease (MBID) Retreat. The annual event will be held in a hybrid format Jan. 6-7, 2022.

The retreat, which began in 2008, aims to foster communication and collaboration among molecular pathogenesis researchers in Texas. Sponsors for the retreat include the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, the MBID Training Program, and the Center for the Study of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens.

Keynote speakers include Evelina Angov, MS, PhD, microbiologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; and Barbara Trautner, MD, professor of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

The Thursday, Jan. 6 session features a poster presentation from noon to 2 p.m., in the Leather Lounge at McGovern Medical School. Presentations are selected from submitted abstracts, and awards are given for exceptional graduate student and postdoctoral fellow presentations.

The second day of the retreat will be held online via Zoom and begins at 8:30 a.m. with a Career Development Panel for trainees. The panel consists of former Texas Medical Center trainees Nickolas Agathis, MD, MPHKimberly Busiek, PhDAlex Hoffmaster, PhDYi Liu, PhD; and Malik Raynor, PhD.

Registration for the MBID Retreat is free and open through Dec. 17. For more information, contact Carolyn Agurcia-Parker at [email protected].

The annual retreat was instituted in 2008 and is organized by the MBID T32 Training Grant Program directors (Theresa Koehler, PhD, director; Michael Lorenz, PhD, co-director) and current trainees. With an average attendance of 150 scientists, the retreat serves the MBID faculty and students as well as investigators and students in the Greater Houston area, including: UTHealth Houston, University of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M – College Station, UT Medical Branch at Galveston, Houston Methodist Research Institute, University of Houston – Downtown, Houston Community College, and others.