Welcome to Penn Vet’s new website; now in the last phase of completion. If you are a member of the Penn Vet community and see an issue, please complete our feedback form.

    2025 Symposium

    This annual symposium, under the auspices of Penn Vet’s Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases, was held on March 19–20, 2025. This event brought together basic, translational, and clinician scientists who utilize an mRNA platform at Penn Vet to discuss the latest discoveries. This gathering was instrumental in setting Penn Vet’s future goals in this field.

    Additionally, Penn Vet hosted workshops with its faculty, in conjunction with Penn’s Institute for RNA Innovation, to drive forward practical applications of mRNA science. They encouraged an ongoing exchange of knowledge and techniques, thereby nurturing a community of Penn Vet scientists dedicated to innovation in mRNA-dependent research.

    Co-hosted by

    Annenberg Policy Center

    Peter Jay Hotez MD, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine, will present the Robert R. Marshak Public Lecture, “Vaccines and Immunizations in a Time of Global Boiling and Anti-Science,” to open the symposium.

    Peter Jay Hotez

    Thursday, March 20, 2025

    Distinguished experts from across the country showcased their latest breakthroughs in zoonotic disease research.

    Featured invited speakers included:

    • Christine Johnson, VMD, MPVM, PhD, UC Davis
      On the Frontlines: Surveillance for Emerging Infectious Diseases
    • Marc Johnson, PhD, University of Missouri
      Flush with Data, Using Wastewater Surveillance to Monitor Expected and Unexpected Pathogens
    • Erin Mordecai, PhD, Stanford University
      More Than Warming: Climate Change is Transforming the Landscape of Vector-Borne Diseases
    • Salvador Almagro Moreno, PhD, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
      Emergence and Evolution of Bacterial Pathogens: Deciphering a Complex Phenomenon
    • Bill Petri, MD, PhD, University of Virginia
      Immunologic Mechanisms of FMT for Recurrent C. difficile Infection
    • Jürgen Richt, DVM, PhD, Kansas State University
      Experimental infection of livestock with bovine H5N1
    • Mark Wilber, PhD, University of Tennessee
      Challenges and Opportunities When Identifying Pathogen Reservoirs in Wildlife Communities

    Also featured were talks by the 2024 Martin and Pamela Winter Infectious Disease Fellows:

    • Raegan Petch, Bates Lab
      Mutations That Positively Affect Bandavirus Glycoprotein Function on VSV
    • Daana Roach, Hamilton Lab
      LCN2 Contributes to an Altered Secretory Environment in the Intestinal Epithelium in Crohn’s Disease
    • Helen Stillwater, Weiss Lab
      Clade C MERS Coronaviruses Circulating in Northern Africa Differentially Activate the Innate Immune Response

    Questions about the event?

    Questions about the event? Contact Lisa Mattei, PhD, Senior Research Investigator.

    Symposium Audience