Today there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“Chasing Ghosts: Race, Racism, and the Future of Microbiome Research”

Dr. Travis J. De Wolfe, PhD; Dr. Mohammed Rafi Arefin, PhD; Dr. Maria Rebolleda-Gomez, PhD; and Dr. Amber Benezra, PhD

March 9, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speakers: This special seminar will feature a collaborative talk from Dr. Travis J. De Wolfe, PhD; Dr. Mohammed Rafi Arefin, PhD; Dr. Maria Rebolleda-Gomez, PhD; and Dr. Amber Benezra, PhD. This team recently published a transformative piece, “Chasing Ghosts: Race, Racism, and the Future of Microbiome Research“, and will be each discuss aspects of that.

Travis J. De Wolfe

Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Travis J. De Wolfe is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research-funded Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital. His research interests include Clostridioides difficile infection, colonization resistance, inflammatory bowel diseases, host-microbe interactions, and ecology of the gut microbiome.

Mohammed Rafi Arefin

Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mohammed Rafi Arefin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. His research and teaching are focused on urban environmental politics with a particular focus on sanitation, health, and environmental justice in the Middle East and North America.

Amber Benezra

Department of Science and Technology Studies, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Amber Benezra is an Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Stevens Institute of Technology. She is a sociocultural anthropologist researching how studies of the human microbiome intersect with biomedical ethics, public health/technological infrastructures, and care. In partnership with human microbial ecologists, she is developing an “anthropology of microbes” to address global health problems across disciplines.

María Rebolleda Gómez

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA

María Rebolleda Gómez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research explores ecological and evolutionary dynamics in model microbial communities. She is also interested in Environmental History, Philosophy, and History of Science. María was born in Mexico City.

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This Wednesday there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“Chasing Ghosts: Race, Racism, and the Future of Microbiome Research”

Dr. Travis J. De Wolfe, PhD; Dr. Mohammed Rafi Arefin, PhD; Dr. Maria Rebolleda-Gomez, PhD; and Dr. Amber Benezra, PhD

March 9, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speakers: This special seminar will feature a collaborative talk from Dr. Travis J. De Wolfe, PhD; Dr. Mohammed Rafi Arefin, PhD; Dr. Maria Rebolleda-Gomez, PhD; and Dr. Amber Benezra, PhD. This team recently published a transformative piece, “Chasing Ghosts: Race, Racism, and the Future of Microbiome Research“, and will be each discuss aspects of that.

Travis J. De Wolfe

Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Travis J. De Wolfe is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research-funded Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital. His research interests include Clostridioides difficile infection, colonization resistance, inflammatory bowel diseases, host-microbe interactions, and ecology of the gut microbiome.

Mohammed Rafi Arefin

Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mohammed Rafi Arefin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. His research and teaching are focused on urban environmental politics with a particular focus on sanitation, health, and environmental justice in the Middle East and North America.

Amber Benezra

Department of Science and Technology Studies, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Amber Benezra is an Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Stevens Institute of Technology. She is a sociocultural anthropologist researching how studies of the human microbiome intersect with biomedical ethics, public health/technological infrastructures, and care. In partnership with human microbial ecologists, she is developing an “anthropology of microbes” to address global health problems across disciplines.

María Rebolleda Gómez

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA

María Rebolleda Gómez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research explores ecological and evolutionary dynamics in model microbial communities. She is also interested in Environmental History, Philosophy, and History of Science. María was born in Mexico City.

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Today there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“Antimicrobial Resistance: Our Next Epidemic of Inequality?”

Dr. Maya Nadimpalli, MS, PhD

March 2, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speaker: Dr. Maya Nadimpalli is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tufts University, and a core faculty member at Tufts’ Stuart B. Levy Center for the Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance. She received her B.A. & Sc. in Environment from McGill University, Canada, and her M.S. and Ph.D. at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She uses genomic and epidemiological approaches to understand how exposures to food, animals, and the environment can impact human colonization and infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly in low-resource settings. She has led research studies in rural North Carolina and in Southeast Asia, and is currently leading two studies focused on children’s health in urban informal settlements of Lima, Peru. She will be joining Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor this May.

Institutional profile page.

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This Wednesday there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“Antimicrobial Resistance: Our Next Epidemic of Inequality?”

Dr. Maya Nadimpalli, MS, PhD

March 2, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speaker: Dr. Maya Nadimpalli is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tufts University, and a core faculty member at Tufts’ Stuart B. Levy Center for the Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance. She received her B.A. & Sc. in Environment from McGill University, Canada, and her M.S. and Ph.D. at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She uses genomic and epidemiological approaches to understand how exposures to food, animals, and the environment can impact human colonization and infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly in low-resource settings. She has led research studies in rural North Carolina and in Southeast Asia, and is currently leading two studies focused on children’s health in urban informal settlements of Lima, Peru. She will be joining Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor this May.

Institutional profile page.

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Today there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“20 important questions in microbial exposure and social equity + recent work on urban greenspace microbiomes”

Dr. Jake Robinson, PhD

Feb 23rd, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speaker: Dr. Jake Robinson is an ecologist and researcher. He recently completed a PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK. His academic interests lie at the intersection of microbial ecology, ecosystem restoration and social research. He will soon be publishing a book called Invisible Friends, which is all about our extraordinary relationship with microbes, and how they shape our lives and the world around us. 

Professional page.

This Wednesday there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“20 important questions in microbial exposure and social equity + recent work on urban greenspace microbiomes”

Dr. Jake Robinson, PhD

Feb 23rd, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speaker: Dr. Jake Robinson is an ecologist and researcher. He recently completed a PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK. His academic interests lie at the intersection of microbial ecology, ecosystem restoration and social research. He will soon be publishing a book called Invisible Friends, which is all about our extraordinary relationship with microbes, and how they shape our lives and the world around us. 

Professional page.

Today there is another installment in the spring 2022 Microbes and Social Equity speaker series! Each week, we’ll hear from a researcher who will share their work and perspective on how microbes are involved in all aspects of our lives, and how those microbes can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

This series will run from Jan 19 – May 4, Wednesdays at 12:00 – 13:00 EST. These are presented over Zoom, and open to researchers, practitioners, students, and the public. Registration is free, and required for each individual seminar you would like to attend. You can find the full speaker list, details, and registration links for each seminar in the series here.

“Diet, Microbial Metabolites, and Cancer Disparities”.

Dr. Patricia Wolf, PhD, RD

February 9, 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 EST. Register for this free talk.

About the speaker: Dr. Wolf completed her PhD in Nutritional Sciences with a focus on microbial sulfur metabolism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in December 2018. During her graduate training, she simultaneously completed the Didactic Program in Dietetics and became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Since that time, she has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Cancer Education and Career Development Program NCI T32 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research investigates microbial mechanisms of cancer health disparities related to inequitable food access and quality. To do so, she uses techniques in molecular microbiology and novel enzyme characterization to understand the metabolic capacity of the human gut microbiome. With her expertise in nutrition and dietetics, she then examines whether dietary intake shifts microbial ecology and function toward the formation of deleterious microbial metabolites contributing to cancer risk. Given that dietary behaviors are shaped by the social and structural environment, her future work will explore relationships between the neighborhood food environment and microbial metabolism in order to mitigate the inequitable burden of cancer in certain groups.

Professional Profile Page.

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