Events will be hosted January – December in 2026, on the last Wednesday of every month, 11:00 – 13:00 pm ET. Presented over Zoom.
After each talk, we will continue the discussions in an informal social meeting with MSE. All speakers and members of the audience are welcome to join the social meeting.
Hosted by: Sue Ishaq, MSE, and finacially supported by the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and Applied Microbiology International.
Registration to the seminar and social hour is free, but required. New this year: the live session will be available free, but the on-demand video-recording will only be available to MSE members for the first year (and available to the public afterwards).
Summary:
Microorganisms are critical to many aspects of biological life, including human health. The human body is a veritable universe for microorganisms: some pass through but once, some are frequent tourists, and some spend their entire existence in the confines of our body tissues. The collective microbial community, our microbiome, can be impacted by the details of our lifestyle, including diet, hygiene, health status, and more, but many are driven by social, economic we, medical, or political constraints that restrict available choices that may impact our health. Access to resources is the basis for creating and resolving social equity—access to healthcare, healthy foods, a suitable living environment, and to beneficial microorganisms, but also access to personal and occupational protection to avoid exposure to infectious disease. This speaker series explores the way that microbes connect public policy, social disparities, and human health, as well as the ongoing research, education, policy, and innovation in this field.
You can find recordings from previous series here.
“Mystery at the Membrane: Discovering Copper’s Entry Route into Bacteria and Other Copper Tales”
Dr. Michael Johnson, PhD
Jan 28, 2026, 11:00 – 13:00 ET.
Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson received an A.B. in Music from Duke University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed two postdoctoral fellowships in Infectious Diseases and Immunology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Currently, Dr. Johnson is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona in the Department of Immunobiology, where he studies mechanisms of metal toxicity in bacteria. He was the 2020 NIGMS Director’s Early Career Investigator Lecturer and the 2022 American Society for Microbiology William A. Hinton Award winner for Advancement of a Diverse Community of Microbiologists. Dr. Johnson is active in trainee professional development through developing the National Summer Undergraduate Research Project, The BIO5 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, and as the Associate Dean for Basic Science Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Medicine Tucson. His faculty page is here.
The Ishaq Lab 