Keck Seminar
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.
The Keck Seminar Series is also a 1-credit graduate course at Rice University, BIOC 592 Topics in Quantitative Biology & Biomedical Informatics. Trainees supported by the GCC are required to attend the seminars in person.
Keck Seminars are held every Friday during the academic year and begin promptly at 4pm in the BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) building, located at 6500 Main St. @ University Blvd.
For questions, speaker suggestions, or to join our Keck Seminar planning committee email Vanessa Herrera or Jim Briggs. If you would like to receive the Keck Seminar weekly reminder please email Dawn Koob. View a collection of past Keck Seminars here.
Live webcasting
Fall 2019 Schedule
Sept. 6
BRC Rm 280
Dr. Marcia O’Malley, Stanley Moore
Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Rice University
Enhancing Human Performance
with Wearable Haptics
Sept. 13
BRC Rm 280
Dr. Vasanthi Jayaraman, Professor,
Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, University of Texas
Health Science Center at Houston
Allostery at the Single Molecule
Level
Sept. 20
BRC Rm 280
Dr. Yubin Zhou, Associate Professor,
Center for Translational Cancer
Research, Institute of Biosciences and
Technology, Texas A&M University
OptogenetIc Engineering for
Biomedical Applications
Sept. 27
BRC Rm 280
Dr. Dan Frigo, Associate Professor,
Dept. of Cancer Systems Imaging, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
From Bench to Business: Forcing
Your Foot through the Door
Dr. Leah DiMascio, Chief Operating
Officer, MAIA Biotechnology, Inc.
Getting Comfortable with Being
Uncomfortable in Science
Oct. 4
NO KECK SEMINAR
Oct. 11
BRC, Auditorium
29th Keck Annual Research Conf.
Speakers include Andrea Bacarelli,
Columbia University; James Eberwine,
UPenn; Elizabeth Winzeler, UC San
Diego and Debra Laskin, Rutgers Univ
Precision Environmental Health:
Integrating Environmental Sciences,
Genomics, and Data Science to
Advance Human Health
Oct. 18
BRC Rm 282
Dr. Amy Franklin, Associate
Professor, School of Biomedical
Informatics, UT Health Science Center
Cognitive Informatics: Usability,
Work-flow, and Decision Support
Oct. 25
BRC Rm 280
Dr. Timothy Palzkill, Professor and
Dept. of Pharmacology and Chemical
Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Molecular Basis of β-Lactam
Antibiotic Resistance
Nov. 1
BRC Rm 280
Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum, Malcolm Gillis University Professor
Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University
Designing and Scaling New Technologies to Improve Newborn Health in Sub-Saharan Africa
Nov. 8
BRC
Auditorium
Dr. Hans S. Keirstead, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer, AIVITA Biomedical
Clinical and Commercial Application of
Scaled Human Stem Cell Derivatives
(Keynote Lecture, GCC – Regenerative
Medicine Conference)
Nov. 15
BRC Rm 280
Dr. H. Courtney Hodges, Assistant
Professor, Dept. of Molecular and Cell
Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
Regulation of Chromatin State
in 3D Tissue
Nov. 22
BRC Rm 280
Preethi Gunaratne, Director, University of Houston-Sequencing & Gene Editing Core
Moores Professor, Biology & Biochemistry
Remote Sensing Precancerous Lesions and Metastatic Progression through Early Detection using Single Cell Sequencing
Nov. 29
NO KECK SEMINAR – Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec. 6
BRC, Auditorium
Dr. Gordon Hager, Center for
Cancer Research, National Cancer
Institute
TBD
(Keynote Lecture, Protein-DNA workshop)
Spring 2019 Schedule
Jan. 25
George Phillips, Professor BioSciences, Rice University
Beyond Static Snapshots of Proteins in Action
Feb. 1
Surya Ganguli, Assistant Professor Applied Physics, Stanford University
Emergent Elasticity in the Neural Code for Space
Feb. 8
No Seminar
Feb. 15
David Mayerich, Assistant Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston
Towards Large-scale Cellular-level 3D Tissue Models
Feb. 22
Yu Shen, Professor Biostatistics, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Statistical Challenge and Promise: “Trial or No-trial”?
March 1
Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Professor Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State Univ.
Mental Health Conference Keynote
Lovesick: How Couples’ Relationships Influence Health
March 8
Irina Serysheva, Associate Professor Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UT Health Science Center at Houston
Structural Insights into the Gating of IP3R Channels
March 15
No Seminar
March 22
Devika Subramanian, Professor Computer Science, Rice University
Statistical Learning Models for Real-world Problems: Opportunities and Challenges
March 29
ARC poster winners: Postdocs Dr. Amit Gupta, UTHSC; Dr. Willie Hsu, UTMB PhD students Elin Shaddox, Rice U; Joe Young, Rice Univ.
April 5
Mark Sansom, Professor Biochemistry, U. of Oxford, UK
Membrane Protein Interactions with Lipids: GPCRs and Ion Channels
April 12
Linda Watkins, Professor Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado at Boulder Joint speaker GCC Translational Pain Research Conference
“Listening” and “Talking” to Neurons: Non-neuronal Cells Amplify Pain and Drug Reward
Fall 2018 Schedule
September 7
Margaret Cheung, Professor Physics, University of Houston Molecular Underpinnings of Postsynaptic Calmodulin-dependent Calcium Signaling
September 14
Pratip Bhattacharya, Associate Professor Cancer Systems Imaging, MD Anderson Cancer Center Real-time Molecular Imaging of Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer
September 21
Gang Bao, Professor Chemistry, Rice University NanoX Symposium Speaker
Nanomedicine and Genome Editing Approaches for Disease Therapies
September 28
Magnus Höök, Professor and Director Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute for Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center The Wonderful World of MSCRAMMs
October 5
John P. Cooke, Professor and Chair Cardiovascular Sciences, Houston Methodist Research Institute
Cellular Transitions in Regeneration
George Muschler Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Understanding and using Native Stem and Progenitor Cell Source
GCC Regenerative Medicine Conference Speakers
October 12
GCC Neuroengineering Conference Speaker 
Huda Yahya Zoghbi, Professor Baylor College of Medicine Genetic and Neurophysiological Approaches to Tackle Neurodevelopmental Disorders
October 19
No Seminar
October 26
Lucila Ohno-Machado, Professor of Medicine and Chair Department of Biomedical Informatics, UC San Diego GCC Keck Center Annual Research Conference Responsible Biomedical Data Sharing: Individual Privacy and Societal Benefit Trade-offs
November 2
Deborah Rodrigues, Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston Health and Safety of Nanomaterials and Antimicrobial Properties
November 9
B. Montgomery Pettitt, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry in Pharmacology and Toxicology Director of the Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics Orderly Signaling from Disordered Proteins
November 16
John Mendelson, Ria Health Can Tech Treat Alcoholism – The Ria Technologically Enabled AUD Treatment Solution GCC Alcohol and Addiction Research Conference Speaker
November 23
No Keck Seminar
November 30
Meng Wang, Professor Baylor College of Medicine Messenger Metabolites in the Longevity Regulation
Buck Samuel, Assistant Professor Baylor College of Medicine Cultivating Relationships: Genetic Landscapes that Shape Microbiome Form and Function
Spring 2018 Schedule
January 26
Stuart Geman, Professor Applied Mathematics, Brown University (GCC Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Conference)
February 2
Dorit Donoviel, Director Translational Research Institute for Space Health Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine What going to Space will do for your Health
February 9 No Seminar
February 16
David Reiner, Associate Professor Center for Translational Cancer Research, Texas A&M Health Science Center-IBT Non-canonical Ras Output: RalGEF⟶ Ral and Segregating Signals
February 23
Gordon Mills, Co-Director Zayed Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy Professor and Chair, Systems Biology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Systems Approach to Rational Combination Therapy
March 2 
Min P. Kim, Chief Division of Thoracic Surgery, Associate Professor, Surgery, Institute for Academic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital Bioengineered Model to Study Interaction Between Cancer and Immune Cells
March 9 
Kathleen Matthews, Stewart Memorial Professor BioSciences, Rice University Preparing for the Long and Accelerating Arc of a Career: A Lifetime of Learning
March 16 No Seminar
March 23
Theresa Koehler, Professor and Chair Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, UT Health Science Center at Houston Virulence of the Anthrax Bacterium and the Role of a Unique Regulator in Host-Pathogen Signaling
March 30 No Seminar
April 6
Alyssa Brewer, Associate Professor Cognitive Sciences for Hearing Research, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, UC Irvine Translational Pain Research Conference Speaker Quantitative Neuroimaging Approaches to Measure Pain Representations in Human Cortex and Subcortex
April 13
Yu Liu, Assistant Professor Biology & Biochemistry, University of Houston H19X Regulates Growth and Metabolism in Striated Muscles
April 20
Marc Morais, Associate Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UT Medical Branch at Galveston Looking Under the Hood of a Viral dsDNA Packaging Motor
Fall 2017 Schedule
September 8
The Sept. 8 Keck Seminar has been canceled.
September 15
Deqiang Sun, Assistant Professor Center for Epigenetics & Disease Prevention, Texas A&M Health Science Center, IBT Model Based Analysis of Bisulfite Sequencing and its Application in Liquid Biopsy
BRC room 280
September 22
Susan Galloway Hilsenbeck, Professor Smith Breast Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine Top 10 3 Pet Peeves: What NOT to do With Data
BRC Room 280
September 29
Jordan Miller, Assistant Professor Bioengineering, Rice University 3D Printing of Engineered Tissues with Vascular Networks BRC Room 280
October 6
Stanley Watowich
, Associate Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UT Medical Branch at Galveston Translating Novel NNMT Inhibitors into New Mechanism-of-action Therapeutics to Combat Obesity and its Comorbidities
BRC Room 280
October 13
Olivier Lichtarge, Professor Molecular & Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine Towards a New Evolutionary Paradigm for Biology, Solving Genotype-Phenotype, and Personalizing Treatments
BRC, Room 280
October 20
No Keck Seminar this week
October 27
27th Annual Keck Center Research Conference
November 3
Robert Balster, Professor Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University Addicted to Addiction Research and Training (Keynote Lecture, GCC’s 1st Annual Advances in Translational Addiction Research Conference) BRC Auditorium
November 10
Junghae Suh, Associate Professor Bioengineering, Rice University Synthetic Virology: Reprogramming Viruses into Controllable Nanodevices
BRC Room 280
November 17
Elebeoba E. May, Associate Professor Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston Modeling the Host-Pathogen Interface -A Multiscale Perspective on Infection and Disease
BRC Room 280
November 24
No Keck Seminar this week
December 1
Alison Bertuch, Associate Professor Pediatrics-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine Incorporating Principles of Rigor and Reproducibility in Biomedical Research
BRC Auditorium