BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Drupal iCal API//EN X-WR-CALNAME:Events items teaser X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Toronto BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Toronto X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Toronto BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20190310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20191103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c03bd7 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260707T133000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260707T143000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/wcmr-res earch-talk-prof-david-stuart-university-alberta SUMMARY:WCMR Research Talk: Prof. David Stuart\, University of Alberta CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Tuesday July 7\, 2026\n\n1:30 pm\n\nDC 1302\n\n\"ENGINEERING MI CROBIAL CELLS FOR APPLICATION AS LIVE CELL\nTHERAPEUTICS\"\n\nThe ominous rise in the frequency of antibiotic resistant microbial\ninfections poses a global threat to human health. This threat comes in\nthe direct form of disease related to infection of humans but also\nindirectly in the form of challenges to food security through loss of\nagricultural crops and anima ls to disease. The development of\nantibiotic drugs in previous decades w as transformational\, providing\ncheap\, effective treatment for what woul d otherwise would be a lethal\ninfection. As microbial strains resistant t o our front-line antibiotic\ndrugs have emerged\, there is an urgent need  to develop new\ntherapeutic strategies and tools. Synthetic biology a nd metabolic\nengineering can be applied to generate \"weaponized\" live c ell\ntherapeutics providing new means to combat the rapidly evolving threa t\nof microbial pathogens. In this presentation\, I will highlight\nprogre ss from my laboratory in engineering probiotic microbial cells\nthat have been endowed with functionalities derived from\nbacteriophages and synthet ic nanobodies allowing them to inhibit\nmicrobial toxins\, kill microbial pathogens and deliver therapeutic\nmolecules. The potential benefits of en gineered probiotics are\nhighlighted along with the challenges that must s till be met before\nthese intriguing new therapeutic tools can be widely d eployed. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c06190 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251204T110000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251204T120000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/wcmr-tal k-evelien-adriaenssens LOCATION:DC - William G. Davis Computer Research Centre 200 University Aven ue West Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:WCMR Talk: Evelien Adriaenssens CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Join us for a WCMR special seminar given by guest speaker Evel ien\nAdriaenssens on \n\nThursday\, December 4 at\n\n11:00 am\n\nDC 1304\n \nPlease register\n[https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-researc h/form/register-for-evelien-adriaenssen]so\nwe can contact you as details are solidified.\n\nDr. Adriaenssens will talk about her work on investigat ing the virome\nin early life and on bacteriophages associated with import ant\ncommensal organisms. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c0758d DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20240423T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20240423T143000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/wcmr-mon thly-meetup-2 LOCATION:Universtity of Waterloo 200 University Avenue West B1-266 Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:WCMR Monthly Meetup CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:> SHIRLEY WONG\, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW PRESENTS:\n> \n> TO WARDS VALORIZATION OF FOOD WASTE TO BIOPLASTIC IN _PSEUDOMONAS\n>  ALLOPUTIDA_ \n> \n> ABSTRACT: \n> \n> Annually\, over a billion  tonnes of food is wasted\, where it largely\n> ends up in lan dfills and massively contributes to the emission of\n> greenhouse  gases. To improve global sustainability\, this low-value\n> carbo n resource can instead be converted into high-value bio-based\n>  products. Microbial valorization of food waste has been validated\ n> for many applications\, from biofuels to bioplastic polymers l ike\n> polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Much effort has gone into pro cessing\n> heterogenous food waste towards such applications\, such  as anaerobic\n> digestion to produce short-chain fatty acids (sc FAs)\, a group of\n> industrially-relevant fatty acids that can b e used as building\n> blocks for other bioproducts. _Pseudomonas  alloputida_ is a highly\n> promising PHA producer but its ability  to metabolize scFAs is\n> limited.\n> \n> To improve the capaci ty of PH production on scFAs and\, therefore\,\n> enable its upc ycling of food waste into high-value bioplastic\, we\n> are using  functional metagenomics to mine exogenous carbon\n> utilization p athways from the environment. Environmental microbial\n> communities  represent rich\, untapped reservoirs of novel genes and\n> metab olic pathways. Here\, we present community analyses of compost\n>  and soil microbiomes enriched for utilization of short (C2-C5)\n > versus medium chain fatty acids (C8 and C9) under conditions\n > conducive to PHA accumulation. We are furthermore constructing\n > metagenomic libraries from the enriched cultures using the\n> b road-host-range cosmid pJC8\, with an average insert size of 33  kb.\n> The metagenomic libraries will enable us to functionally s creen for\,\n> identify\, and isolate exogenous metabolic pathways  that could\n> support scFA-PHA conversion by _P. alloputida_. Ad ditionally\, we\n> further characterize the ability of engineered  _P. alloputida_ to\n> use VFAs in bioplastic production\, demonstr ating its use in food\n> waste valorization. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c08409 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20240326T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20240326T143000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/wcmr-mon thly-meetup-1 LOCATION:AL - Arts Lecture Hall 200 University Avenue West AL-113 Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:WCMR Monthly Meetup CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:> METATRANSCRIPTOMICS IDENTIFIES PATHOGENS AND HOST RESPO NSES\n> ASSOCIATED WITH ACUTE SINUSITIS IN CHILDREN\n> \n> ABSTRAC T: Acute sinusitis (AS) is a frequent cause of antibiotic\n> pre scriptions in children. Distinguishing bacterial AS from common\n>  viral upper respiratory infections is crucial to prevent unneces sary\n> antibiotic use. We performed RNA-seq of nasopharyngeal sam ples from\n> 221 children with AS to better understand the etiol ogy of AS and the\n> impact of bacterial and viral infections o n host immune responses.\n> Metatranscriptomics detected three AS-a ssociated bacterial pathogens\n> with 87%/81% sensitivity/specificity  (sens/spec) compared to\n> culture\, and 12 respiratory viruses  with 86%/92% sens/spec compared\n> to qRT-PCR. Metatranscriptomics  also detected 22 additional\n> pathogens not tested for in the c linical panel\, and facilitated\n> assembly of 205 viral genomes  including new strains of\n> coronaviruses\, respiratory syncytial v irus\, and enterovirus D68.\n> Lastly\, metatranscriptomic analysis  identified distinct host immune\n> responses in individuals with  bacterial versus viral infections. Our\n> study demonstrates the  power of metatranscriptomics for\n> comprehensive analysis of AS  etiology\, and reveals host responses\n> that could enable new  diagnostic approaches. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c08f7e DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20231024T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20231024T150000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/monthly- microbiology-meetup LOCATION:HH - J.G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities 200 University Avenue West Room HH 2107 Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Monthly Microbiology Meetup CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:In the first monthly microbiology meetup\, WCMR presents \"Anci ent\nClostridium DNA and variants of tetanus neurotoxins associated with\n human archaeological remains\" by Harold Hodgins from the Doxey lab.\n\nTU ESDAY OCTOBER 24\, 2023\n\n1-3 P.M. IN HH 2107\n\nOpen to all faculty\, st udents and postdocs who are interested. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c09a1b DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20191118T123000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20191118T123000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/environm ental-microbiology-journal-club-17 LOCATION:STC - Science Teaching Complex 200 University Ave West room 2002 W aterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Environmental Microbiology Journal Club CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:We'll be meeting for our next Env. Micro. journal club this\nco ming MONDAY\, NOV. 18TH FROM 12:30PM-1:30PM IN STC-2002. As usual\,\npizz a lunch will be generously provided by the WCMR. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c0a443 DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20191007T123000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20191007T123000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/environm ental-microbiology-journal-club-18 LOCATION:STC - Science Teaching Complex 200 University Ave West Room 2002 W aterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Environmental Microbiology Journal club CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Environmental Journal Club happens in STC from 12:30-1:30 pm\, all are\nwelcome.\n\nWe will discuss the paper: \"High proportions of bac teria are\nculturable across major biomes\n[https://www.nature.com/article s/s41396-019-0410-3] \". DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c0b00a DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20190409T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20190409T120000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/environm ental-microbiology-journal-club-12 LOCATION:STC - Science Teaching Complex 200 University Ave West Room 2002 W aterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Environmental Microbiology Journal club CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Environmental Journal Club happens in STC from 12-1 pm\, all a re\nwelcome.\n\nWe will discuss the paper by Borrel _et al_. \"Wide divers ity of\nmethane and short-chain alkane metabolisms in uncultured archaea\" . DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c0ba5b DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20190326T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20190326T120000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/environm ental-microbiology-journal-club-13 LOCATION:STC - Science Teaching Complex 200 University Ave West Room 2002 W aterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Environmental Microbiology Journal club CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Nikhil George will lead our discussion on the recent BioRxiv pr eprint\n\"Clades of huge phage from across Earth’s ecosystems\n[https:// www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/572362v1]\".\nSee you in STC 2002 at noon. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a33452c0c4be DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20190312T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20190312T120000 URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-centre-microbial-research/events/environm ental-microbiology-journal-club-14 LOCATION:STC - Science Teaching Complex 200 University Ave West Room 2002 W aterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada SUMMARY:Environmental Microbiology Journal club CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Environmental Journal Club happens in STC from 12-1 pm\, all a re\nwelcome.\n\nThis week we will discuss a paper titled \"Extensive Unexp lored Human\nMicrobiome Diversity Revealed by Over 150\,000 Genomes from M etagenomes\nSpanning Age\, Geography\, and Lifestyle\"\, and is a nice fol low-up to\nour discussion last time with metagenomes in place of 16S rRNA\ namplicon sequencing. \n\nThe paper can be found here\n[https://www.scie ncedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867419300017].\n\nNext events: Mar 26\, Apr 9. DTSTAMP:20260618T010900Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR