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Emerging Pathogens Institute University of Florida
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EPI Research Day 2023

Feb. 16, 2023

EPI Research Day 2023

EPI Research Day 2023 took place on Feb. 16, 2023, in the UF Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. The event had over 120 abstract submissions from members and associate members in 27 departments within 8 UF colleges, as well as from EPI external affiliates. Internationally renowned researchers Drs. Amadou A. Sall and Tulio de Oliveira both gave keynote talks about their pathogenic work in Africa.

Mosquito dorsal vessel (green) infected with Dengue virus (red) that is being phagocytized by hemocytes (yellow).

Keynote Talks

Dr. Tulio de Oliveira

Dr. Tulio de Oliveira was the Director of the Genomics Program at the Wellcome Trust Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies and an Affiliate Senior Lecturer at the Division of Infection and Immunity at the University College London (UCL) from 2009 to 2016. In 2015, he was promoted to Professor at UKZN and in 2017, founded KRISP at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, South Africa. KRISP aims to create a scientific environment in Africa that delivers high level science, creates innovations and reverses the brain drain.

Dr. Amadou A. Sall

Dr. Amadou A. Sall is the CEO of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal and director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever. He has been chairman of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and a member of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI) Scientific Advisory Board. Dr Sall is a virologist with a PhD in Public health. He is an expert in epidemics response and control more specifically for arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers and high consequence pathogens.

Event Highlights

Poster Competition Honorable Mentions

Trainee Research Poster Competition

  • Maclean Bassett, Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine
    • Abstract: Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 intra-host evolution in persistently infected patient with long read sequencing and phylogenetic analysis
  • Andrea Ramirez-Mata, Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine
    • Abstract: Machine learning prediction and phyloanatomic modeling of viral neuroadaptive signatures in the macaque model of HIV-mediated neuropathology
  • Bachir Assao, Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Abstract: Shifts in the seasonality of Dengue associated with the transition to endemicity

Early-stage Investigator Poster Competition

  • Luke Trimmer-Smith, Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Abstract: Anti-Zika & Anti-Dengue antibodies among mothers and infants in Haiti

Inside the Event

A large room filled with rows of poster boards in which people walk around and look at research posters.
Attendees network and look at research posters at the EPI Research Day 2023 in the…
Hallway leading to the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. A vertical poster stands by the hallway entrance. It reads the following: "UF Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida. Understanding global emergence and the spread of infectious diseases."
Attendees check in to EPI Research Day 2023.
Attendees check in to EPI Research Day 2023.
The Emerging Pathogens Institute table at the EPI Research Day 2023 event.
An EPI affiliate presents her research to three people who view her poster.
People view poster boards, network and disucss at EPI Research Day 2023. This image shows a view of in in between two rows of poster boards.
Dr. J. Gleen Morris, Jr., Dr. Derek Cummings and Dr. Amadou Sall stand side by side for a picture.
Dr. Amadou A. Sall travels from Dakar, Senegal to present at the EPI Research Day…
Dr. Amadou A. Sall speaks at a podium on stage during his presentation. Behind him a screen projects his slides.
Dr. Amadou A. Sall gives a presentation about the emerging pathogens in Africa. His team…
EPI Research Day 2023 winners stand on stage.
(left to right: unknown, postdoctoral candidate Rui Chen, graduate student Amanda Ojeda, associate professor Daniel…
A large room filled with rows of poster boards in which people walk around and look at research posters.
Four people look at a research poster at EPI Research Day 2023.
A woman poses beside her research poster.
Photographed: Tamara Revazishvili
A man discusses his research to two women and motions toward his poster. Behind them other people mill around as they network and disucss other research posters.
A man discusses his research to another man and motions to his poster.
Dr. Morris looks at a research poster about "anti-Zika and anti-dengue antibodies among mothers and infants in Haiti."
A woman poses beside her research poster that covers "spatiotemporal investigation of Dengue in El Oro, Ecuado during 2003-2011."
Gavriella Hecht poses beside her poster at Research Day 2023. She is a graduate student…
A man ooks at a research poster that covers, "anti-Zika and anti-Dengue antibodies among mother and infants in Haiti."
Dr. Mike Lauzardo looks at a research poster that covers, “anti-Zika and anti-Dengue antibodies among…
A woman disuccesses her research to one of the judges and points to a graph on her poster.
Trainee research poster competition winner Amanda Ojeda discusses her work with Dr. Maureen Long.
A man poses beide his poster that covers the "assessment of the role of cholera index case patient to spread infection among associated household member(s) as investigated in Haiti."
Meer Alam poses beide his poster that covers the “assessment of the role of cholera…
UF Innovate hosts a booth at the EPI Research Day 2023 event. Three UF Innovate representatives talk with a visitor about the unit's services. Attendees look at posters in the first row.