The Keck Seminar Series, begun in 1990, focuses on contemporary interdisciplinary science involving quantitative or computational, biomedical informatics and data science, bioinformatics, chemical, and/or physical approaches to biological and biomedical problems. The speakers, selected by a committee of GCC-supported trainees, are drawn from GCC institutions, and institutions nationwide. Everyone is welcome to attend. You can find recordings from certain past seminars on our YouTube page.
The Keck Seminar Series is also a 1-credit graduate course at Rice University, BIOS 592 Topics in Quantitative Biology & Biomedical Informatics. Seminars are also offered online via Zoom; however, trainees affiliated with GCC training programs are required to attend the seminars in person, except those at UT Medical Branch at Galveston.
Spring 2026 Keck Seminars will begin on January 23, and the final seminar will be on April 24. Seminars take place from 4:00-5:15 pm Fridays in Rice University’s BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) room 280. Rice map.
Those not on the Keck Seminar listserv are to please contact Elizabeth Lawrence for the Zoom login information for a particular seminar; it is not the same every week.
If you would like to receive the Keck Seminar listserv weekly reminders, please email Elizabeth Lawrence.
For questions, speaker suggestions, or to join our trainee Keck Seminar planning committee, email Elizabeth Lawrence or Jim Briggs.
Keck Seminar Series - Spring 2026
January 23, 2026 Jennifer Walker, PhD
Assistant Professor, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
UTHealth Houston
Seminar Title: Staphylococcus aureus Adaptation During Long-Term Colonization of Urinary Catheters Impacts Persistence and Pathogenic Potential
Host: Alex Kang
January 30, 2026 Julio Cordero-Morales, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UTHealth Houston
Seminar Title: Functional and Structural Basis of TRPC3-Mediated Cerebellar Ataxia
Host: Christina van Hal
February 6, 2026 Olivier Lichtarge, MD, PhD
Cullen Chair and Professor, Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Seminar Title: The Thermodynamics of Evolution: Statistical Mechanics and Evolutionary Action in Alzheimer’s Genomes
Host: Lindsay Altidor
February 13, 2026 – No Keck Seminar
February 20, 2026 Rajender Aparasu, PhD
Chair and Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy, Director, P-HOPER Center
College of Pharmacy, University of Houston
Seminar Title: Are We Ready for a Big Leap in Pharmacoepidemiology?
Host: Jacob McPherson
February 27, 2026 Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD
Chair, Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Professor, Biomedical Informatics and Bioengineering; Associate Vice President, Medical AI
UTHealth Houston
Seminar Title: Navigating Frontiers in AI for Health
Host: Christina van Hal
March 6, 2026 2025 Keck Annual Research Conference Poster Winners:
Lindsay Altidor, Predoc, Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine: “Decoding Neural Network Dynamics in Brain Organoids: Intelligence-on-a-dish for Precision Medicine and High-Throughput Drug Development”
Peyton High, Predoc, Institute of Molecular Medicine, UTHealth Houston, “Evaluation of EGFR and LGR5 Antibody-Drug Conjugate-Based Dual-Targeting Therapeutic Strategies for the Improved Treatment of Colorectal Cancer”
Amanda Alexander, PhD, Mathematics, University of Houston: “Mathematical Approaches to Understanding the Dynamics and Organization of Synthetic Multicellular Systems”
Saleh Ramezani, PhD, Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center: “Deep Learning Classification of Inflammatory Breast Cancer Using Multiparametric MRI: A Multi-Sequence Analysis”
Host: Melissa Glueck
March 13, 2026 Michael Tisza, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Virology and Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Seminar Title: Complete Genomics for Human-Associated Microbes
Host: Ryan Doughty
March 20, 2026 – No Keck Seminar
March 27, 2026 Amy C. Moreno, MD – Innovation and Careers in Biomedical Science Talk
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology,
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Seminar Title: TBD
Host: Saleh Ramezani
April 3, 2026 – No Keck Seminar
April 10, 2026 M. Cindy Farach-Carson, PhD
Associate Dean for Research, Professor, Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences, Director of Clinical and Translational Research
School of Dentistry, UTHealth Houston
Title: Stepping Stones: Building Your Scientific Career One Step at A Time
Host: Saleh Ramezani
April 17, 2026 Kathleen Schoch, PhD – ZOOM ONLY
Assistant Professor, Neurology
Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Seminar Title: How Science Communication Has Shaped My Academic Career
Host: Ryan Valdez
April 24, 2026 Susan Parkhurst, PhD – ZOOM ONLY
Professor, Basic Sciences
Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Seattle, WA
Seminar Title: Actin, Calcium, and the Rapid Repair of Cell Wounds
Host: Ellen Thompson
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