THE JOHN R. LAMONTAGNE LECTURE SERIES

ANDREW PEKOSZ, PhD

Andrew Pekosz2024 - Professor and Vice Chair at the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Lecture Title: Virus Surveillance and the Identification of Novel Genetic Mutations that Facilitate Virus Circulation

When: March 26, 2024; 3:00 pm

Where: Connally Ballroom, Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on UT-Austin Main Campus and via Livestream.


PETER J. HOTEZ, MD, PhD

Peter Hotez2023 - Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, and University Professor at Baylor College of Medicine

Lecture Title: Global Vaccinations and "The Antipoverty Vaccines:" Science vs. Antiscience

When: March 21, 2023; 3:00 pm

Where: Connally Ballroom, Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on UT-Austin Main Campus and via Livestream.

Link to Recorded Lecture: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/132664507

 

JASON MCLELLAN, PhD

Jason McLellan2022 - Welch Chair in Chemistry and Professor of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin. 

Dr. McLellan has worked to understand how viral protein structures operate. Viral protein structure and function are important for the development of vaccines and potential treatments for deadly viruses that have impacted the lives of billions of people. Dr. McLellan and his collaborators have engineered a key protein of coronaviruses for use in vaccines. His team has developed technology found in many leading vaccines against COVID-19 (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and Novavax). This discovery led to his selection as Texas Inventor of the Year by the State Bar of Texas’s Intellectual Property Section, which annually recognizes individuals and their inventions that have “significantly impacted the Texas economy.” McLellan and his colleagues also designed key proteins that form the basis of several vaccines.  These vaccines are directed against coronaviruses as well as respiratory syncytial virus, a virus especially dangerous for young children and seniors. He is the winner of multiple scientific awards, and his research and expertise have been featured in multiple media outlets.

Lecture Title:  "CORONAVIRUS VACCINES: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going"
When:  March 22, 2022; 3:00 pm
Where:  Connally Ballroom, Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on UT-Austin Main Campus and via Livestream.

Link to Recorded Lecture: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/131521908

MARY K. ESTES, PhD

Mary K. Estes2020 - Distinguished Professor of Virology and Microbiology Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Estes and her research group study viruses that infect distinct types of cells (enterocytes, crypt cells, M cells) in the GI tract as probes to learn about the biology, host response and gene expression of these cells, using multidisciplinary approaches to probe the structure and molecular biology of GI viruses to understand the basic mechanisms that control virus replication, morphogenesis, virus-host interactions, and pathogenesis. 

Lecture Title:  "HUMAN INTESTINAL ORGANOIDS: Transformative Tools to Study Gastrointestinal Infection"
When:  March 23rd, 2021; 3:00 pm
Where:  Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on UT-Austin Main Campus

DR. JOHN MEKALANOS

John Mekalanos2019 - Adele Lehman Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Mekalanos and his lab study multiple facets of bacterial pathogenesis with emphasis on using genetic and functional genomic approaches to explore virulence gene regulation and host-pathogen interactions. Dr. Mekalanos has been at the forefront of cholera research from his graduate studies at UCLA in the 1970s to the present. His lecture will focus on cholera biology and how the pathogen affects its host's metabolism.

Lecture Title:  "Vibrio Cholerae In Vivo Biology:  Microbial Antagonism, cGAS-like Enzymes, and Toxin-Mediate Remodeling of Host Metabolism"
When:  April 4th, 2019; 1:30 pm
Where:  Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on UT-Austin Main Campus

 

DR. BEATRICE HAHN

Beatrice Hahn2017 - Dr. Beatrice Hahn, Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Hahn's talk entitled “Out of Africa: Tracing the Ape Origins of Human AIDS and Malaria” described the work that she and her group have done to characterize and track the evolution and transmission of AIDS and Malaria from non-human primate species in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Hahn’s research has established the foundation for our fundamental understanding of how Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was originally introduced into the human population. Through both geographical and epidemiological studies she determined that the virus HIV-1, which has afflicted more than 70 million people and caused more than 30 million deaths worldwide, was transmitted to humans in the first third of the 20th century.

 

DR. PENNY HEATON

Penny Heaton, Gates Foundation2016 - Dr. Penny Heaton, Director of Vaccine Development for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Heaton’s talk entitled "Reducing Childhood Mortality Through Vaccination: progress, challenges and the future," focused on the progress that Gates Foundation researchers are making to address and reduce mortality in neonates, infants and children, particularly in developing countries where diseases such as malaria and even polio are still important concerns.

Childhood mortality rates have dropped dramatically since 1960. Worldwide, mortality rates in children have dropped from 20 million per year in 1960 to 6.6 million in 2012. Such an amazing decline in such short time is attributed to the development and use of vaccines like the polio vaccine and application of interventions such as malaria control and improved prenatal care. Dr. Heaton and the research teams that she works with are dedicated to bringing mortality rates even lower.

Dr. Heaton’s talk including an in-depth discussion of the Gates Foundation’s work to eradicate poliovirus worldwide can be seen here.

 

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI

Anthony Fauci at 2015 LaMontagne Lecture2015 - The inaugural LaMontagne Lecture in 2015, “The Ebola Outbreak: A Perfect Storm,” was presented by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

To watch a video of the 2015 lecture with Dr. Fauci, click here.

 

 

ABOUT THE LAMONTAGNE LECTURE SERIES

Dr. John LaMontagneThe LaMontagne Lecture is made possible by the continuing generosity of the LaMontagne family and friends and through distributions from the John Ring LaMontagne Memorial Chair in Infectious Diseases and Global Health, established in loving memory of Dr. John R. LaMontagne by family, friends and colleagues in 2006.

The John R. LaMontagne Lecture Series continues the tradition of infectious disease research in which Dr. LaMontagne himself was a leader.