The 2023 MSE speaker series is open for registration!

The Microbes and Social Equity Speaker Series is back for its third year, starting in just two weeks! We are still finalizing the speaker lineup and the details, but registration is open!

In 2023, we’ll be mixing up the lineup by featuring speakers on a related theme for a few weeks in a row, then inviting them back for a panel discussion. Please note, the talks may be recorded but the panel discussions will not be.

Spring 2023; January 18 – May, Wednesdays from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST.

Presented over Zoom. Registration is free!

You can register for any or all of the events from the same link here.

Hosting Organizations: MSE and the University of Maine Institute of Medicine.


These seminars are in development, and you can find up to date details on the event page.


Gut microbiome, nutrition, and food security

Theme organized by Sue Ishaq

“Broccoli Sprout Bioactives and Gut Microbiota: A Dietary Approach for Prevention and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease”

Dr. Yanyan Li, PhD

January 18, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Headshot of Dr. Yanyan Li

Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maine. She received her PhD degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Ohio State University. She has been dedicating herself to studying the mechanisms of diet-derived bioactives in protecting against disease process and harnessing the gained knowledge to develop dietary approaches for disease prevention and management for more than a decade. Since 2016, she has been focusing on the interactions between dietary components, in particular glucosinolates from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and broccoli sprouts, and gut microbiota, aiming to develop a combined approach for inflammatory bowel disease. Her current research projects are funded by NIH/NIDDK, USDA/NIFA AFRI Foundational Program, and nutrition research programs of private foundations.

Added by Sue: For the past few years, Yanyan and her colleagues have also included the Ishaq Lab, and has led to a rewarding and productive collaboration which has resulted in several recent and forthcoming publications, funding awards, and students trained.

Dr. Dany Fanfan, Ph.D., MSN, RN

January 25, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

“Personalized nutrition and the human gut microbiome”

Dr. Sean Gibbons, PhD

February 1, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Headshot of Dr. Sean Gibbons.

Dr. Sean Gibbons is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, a non-profit research consortium. His lab develops computational and experimental tools for exploring and manipulating host-microbe systems.

Added by Sue: The work from Sean’s group and collaborators has been reshaping the way that host microbial researchers approach their work, by revealing trends through large metanalyses and novel perspectives on using data. Their most recent work has evaluated host-microbial interactions, metabolites, and health.

For the last three years, Sean’s lab has hosted the ISB Virtual Microbiome Series, which is freely available and attracts several thousand participants. The series includes a two day workshop that teaches data analysis skills, and a day-long symposium featuring discussions of current discoveries and conceptualizes the future of microbiome research.

Finally, Sean and his research group have been making science a more welcoming and inclusive place.

Panel discussion on Gut microbiome, nutrition, and food security

February 8, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

This week, we’ll be bringing all of our Theme 1 speakers back to engage in a panel discussion together on the gut microbiome. Panel will be hosted by Sue Ishaq.

Please note, this session will only be featured live in real-time and will not be recorded.



Prenatal to early-life microbes and health

Theme organized by Emily Wissel.

Speaker confirmed but time TBD:

Dr. Eldin Jašarević, Magee-Womens Research Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Speaker 4 TBD

February 15, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Speaker 5 TBD

February 22, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Speaker 6 TBD

March 1, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Panel discussion on Prenatal to early-life microbes and health

March 8, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

This week, we’ll be bringing all of our Theme 2 speakers back to engage in a panel discussion together on the microbiome in early life. Panel will be hosted by Emily Wissel.

Please note, this session will only be featured live in real-time and will not be recorded.



The environment, microbes, and us

Anthropology Theme organized by Katherine Daiy and Kieran O’Doherty, and Environmental Theme organized by Mallory Choudoir, Mustafa Saifuddin, and Hannah Holland-Moritz.

Speakers confirmed by time TBD:

  • Dr. Stephanie Schnorr, University of Vienna, “The human-valued interest in microbiome science is the distillation of human-environmental interactions”
  • Dr. Aminah Al-Attas Bradford, North Carolina State University, “Religion, Race and the Microbe: Theological Analysis of Public Health Resistance in the Pandemicine”
  • David Good, University of Guelph

Speaker 7 TBD

March 22, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Speaker 8 TBD

March 29, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Speaker 9 TBD

April 5, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

“Anthropology, Microbiomes, and Antimicrobial Resistance”

Dr. Cecil Lewis, PhD.

April 12, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Dr. Cecil Lewis is a Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Title TBD

Dr. Anna Krzywoszynska, PhD.

April 19, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Dr. Anna Krzywoszynska is starting a position as an Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Human-Environment Relations, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, Finland.

Speaker 12 TBD

April 26, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

Panel Discussion on the environment, microbes, and us

May 3, 2023; Wednesday,11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST. Register for the Zoom link here.

This week, we’ll be bringing all of our Theme 3 speakers back to engage in a panel discussion together on the importance of environmental microbiomes and our place in ecosystems, and then will continue talking about soil health. Panel will be hosted by Katherine Daiy, Kieran O’Doherty, Mallory Choudoir, Mustafa Saifuddin, and Hannah Holland-Moritz.

Please note, this session will only be featured live in real-time and will not be recorded.


Logo designed by Alex Guillen

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