Distinguished Scientists Seminars

DSS Logo The Distinguished Scientists Seminar (DSS) program comprises invited talks by leading scientists from outside institutions. Speakers are selected to complement the Graduate Training Program in the College of Medicine and cover a wide range of cutting-edge biomedical research. Seminars are held monthly during the fall and spring semesters. One seminar per semester is reserved for the Charles M. Baugh Lecture featuring a nationally/ internationally recognized scientist.

Nominations for seminar speakers should be forwarded to departmental representatives on the DSS Committee. If the speaker is approved, the DSS representative notifies the faculty nominator that the speaker has been approved, gives them a list of available dates, and the faculty member then invites the speaker.

Spring 2026 Distinguished Scientists Seminar Schedule
All seminars begin at 4:00 PM in the Medical Sciences Building, 1st Floor Auditorium

Date	Speaker	Host and Department
January 22, 2026	Dr. Jon Brestoff Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Immunology Laboratory and Genomic Medicine Washington University School of Medicine "Mitochondria transfer in metabolic diseases"	Simon Grelet, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
February 5, 2026	Dr. Laurie Sanders Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology and Pathology Divisions of Movement Disorders and Translational Brain Sciences Center for Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics Duke University School of Medicine	Aishwarya Prakash, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
March 5, 2026	Dr. Marie Migaud Professor, Department of Pharmacology Director, Mass Spectrometry Core Facility Whiddon College of Medicine	Department of Pharmacology
March 12, 2026	Dr. Nicole Baumgarth Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Director, Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute	Timothy Casselli, Ph.D. Department of Microbiology & Immunology
March 26, 2026	Dr. Jon Audia Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology SAMSF-Locke Endowed Comparative Medicine Professor Whiddon College of Medicine	Department of Microbiology & Immunology
April 2, 2026	Dr. Mirella Meyer-Ficca Associate Professor, Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine Utah State University *"Low NAD Induces Phenotypic Changes Reminiscent of Aging"*	Ray Langley, Ph.D. Department of Pharmacology
April 9, 2026	Dr. Philip Howe Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine Charles M. Baugh Lecture	Simon Grelet, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
April 16, 2026	Naeem Islam, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology & Cell Biology Whiddon College of Medicine	Department of Physiology & Cell Biology

DSS Committee

Meghan Hermance, Ph.D.
Committee Chair
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
mhermance@southalabama.edu

Brian Fouty, M.D.
USA Health Physician Enterprise
bfouty@health.southalabama.edu

Glen Borchert, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
borchert@southalabama.edu

Simon Grelet, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
sgrelet@southalabama.edu

Debanjan Chakroborty, Ph.D.
Mitchell Cancer Institute
dchakroborty@southalabama.edu

Amber Bokhari, M.D.
USA Health Physician Enterprise
abokhari@health.southalabama.edu

Thiago Bruder, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Cell Biology
tbruder@southalabama.edu