We invite you to register for the 2025 Midwest Virology Symposium (MVS) — a three-day gathering of virology researchers, clinicians, and trainees from across the Midwest. This year’s symposium will be held at the University of Kentucky, with Day 1 sessions hosted in the state-of-the-art Jacobs Science Building, and Day 2 & 3 sessions hosted in the Gatton Student Center.

📅 Dates: Sept. 26–28, 2025
📍 Location: Day 1 - Jacobs Science Building (Sep 26) and Day 2 & 3 - Gatton Student Center (Sep 27-28), University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
💬 Format: In-person event featuring keynote addresses, scientific sessions, trainee talks, and a poster networking session

MVS 2025 Organizing Committee 

Special thanks to the MVS Organizing Committee. Their cross-college leadership and collaboration have been instrumental in bringing the 2025 symposium to life.

Faculty - Saurabh Chattopadhyay, PhD (Medicine) | Rebecca Dutch, PhD (Medicine) | Krystal Kuhs, PhD (Public Health) | Feng Li, PhD (Agriculture, Food and Environment) | Vince Venditto, PhD (Pharmacy) 

Trainees - Chase Heim (Medicine), Kripa Giri (Agriculture, Food and Environment)

Registration is CLOSED

Thank you to everyone who registered for the Midwest Virology Symposium. Online registration is now closed and we are not accepting additional registrations. Registered attendees have been notified of registration confirmation. Please see the attachment below for a full itinerary. 

Midwest Virology Symposium Itinerary
 

Abstract Submission is CLOSED

Thank you to everyone who submitted an abstract. The MVS Organizing Committee selected and notified attendees for short oral presentations. Poster session assignments and time slots were emailed on Sept. 12. The listing is also available for download below. If you submitted an abstract but do not see your name on the list, please contact curekyidc@uky.edu as soon as possible. 

Poster and Abstract Assignments
 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the organizing committee at curekyidc@uky.edu, or Dr. Saurabh Chattopadhyay (Event Chair) at saurabh.chattopadhyay@uky.edu 

We’re honored to welcome Dr. Stanley Perlman, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa, as our keynote speaker for the 2025 Midwest Virology Symposium.

Dr. Perlman is a renowned expert in coronavirus biology and host immune responses, with groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. His decades of work have shaped global responses to viral outbreaks and informed major public health strategies.

Date and Time: Friday, Sept. 26 at 5:45 p.m. ET
Location: Jacobs Science Building Lecture Hall 121
Title: Neurological PASC in humans and mice

Gatton Student Center - Worsham Cinema

Virology and Emerging Threats     |     Session I     |     8:30 - 11 a.m.

Richard Kuhn, PhD (Purdue University) - Structural studies focused on Alphaviruses and Flaviviruses in Complex with Antibodies

Natasha Tilston-Lunel, PhD (Indiana University) - Bunyavirus Reassortment: Compatibility, Constraint, and Consequence

Jae Jung, PhD (Cleveland Clinic) - Inhibitor Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp14-Nsp10 Exonuclease

Mike Berg, PhD (Abbott Laboratories) - THE ABBOTT PANDEMIC DEFENSE COALITION: Diagnostic preparedness through pathogen surveillance and discovery

Siyuan Ding, PhD (WashU Medicine) - Molecular Determinants of Rotavirus Host Range

Immunity and Pathogenesis     |     Session II     |     2:00 - 4:15 p.m.

Amy Hartman, PhD (University of Pittsburgh) - Factors controlling entry, tropism, and disease outcome in response to Rift Valley fever virus

Jacob Yount, PhD (Ohio State University) - Modeling and Mitigating Cardiac Complications of Influenza Virus Infection

Pranav Danthi, PhD (Indiana University) - Antagonism of the innate immunity by reovirus

Bethany Moore, PhD (University of Michigan) - The role of TLR9 in influenza-MRSA co-infection

Megan Freeman, PhD (University of Pittsburgh) - Enterovirus D68 isolates that circulated in 2022 has altered neurotropism (selected from the abstracts)

Gatton Student Center - Worsham Cinema

Models and Therapeutics     |     Session III     |     8:30 - 10 a.m.

Salvatore Simmini, PhD (StemCell Technologies) - Tissue-derived organoid models for in vitro viral infection and antiviral screening (Virtual)

John Williams, MD (University of Wisconsin) - The Nose Knows: Upper Airway Immunity to Human Metapneumovirus

Kerry Empey, PharmD, PhD (University of Pittsburgh) - Development of an intranasal RSV vaccine for young children

Persistence and Oncology     |     Session IV     |     10:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Li Wu, PhD (University of Iowa) - Deciphering the Role of m6A Modifications in HIV-1 Latency and Persistence

Sharmila Nair, PhD (University of Louisville) - Leveraging Zika virus and the immune system to treat GBM

Amanda Panfil, PhD (Ohio State University) - SRPK1 interacts with the HTLV-1 hbz RNAand influences cellular proliferation (selected from the abstracts)

Nathan Ungerleider, PhD (Saint Louis University) - EBV broadly disrupts host microRNA maturation in Burkitt’s lymphoma

Krystle Kuhs, PhD (University of Kentucky) - New methods of early detection for HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancer