For the past seven years, Louisiana Tech University’s New Frontiers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series has hosted world renowned speakers from areas of biomedical research, medicine, and communication.

Gathering limits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced series founders, Dr. Jamie Newman and Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore, to reframe the eagerly anticipated, year-long event that engages, students, faculty, and staff from across disciplines to learn about cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research and discovery.

For the 2020-21 academic year, New Frontiers will offer an online series of seminars. Each of the six events is focused on the impact and outcomes of COVID-19 and will feature a panel presentation and discussion.  Each event will offer a moderator, special guests, and expert panelists in order to create an online event that is more engaging for all participants.

“As we enter the new academic year, an uncharted landscape for higher education, we are modifying the way we host a number of activities, including how we engage with our University community in this yearly biomedical research seminar series,” Caldorera-Moore said. “Although it will look different, it is important for the series to continue to provide a forum that engages our community in a discussion of medicine, science, and research.”

The new online seminars offer Louisiana Tech the chance to bring greater numbers of people together to share and learn. The platform creates larger opportunities for collaboration. Speakers from different parts of the country can gather simultaneously to speak on topics of disease, patient care, and communication during a global pandemic.

“Where in the past we have been limited by proximity and the ability for people to make it to campus, both as invited speakers and members of the audience, this year we are able to expand our guest list,” Newman said. “We also invite our colleagues at universities across the country to join in viewing these events, to submit questions for our guests, or to share the recorded event with their classes at a later date.”

The series was designed to bring experts to Louisiana Tech who will help build research programs, expand collaborative networks, introduce students to opportunities in various areas of biomedical research and share knowledge with the community.

“The New Frontiers series has had increasing impacts each year and despite the tremendous obstacles imposed by the pandemic, Dr. Newman and Dr. Caldorera-Moore have planned a series that brings superb experts to our campus in innovative ways,” said Tech President Dr. Les Guice. “These prominent researchers will bring diverse research perspectives of different biological aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic to our campus community at the same time we are in the midst of this pandemic. I am confident that this will inform and inspire our people in many ways.”

The first seminar of the year will be held at 3:30 p.m. CDT Sept. 21. It will focus on The Biology and Pathology of SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19 and feature Newman and Dr. Patrick Hindmarsh, of the School of Biological Sciences, as moderators.

Dr. Barbara Osborne, Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at UMass Amherst will share research on the immune system and its response to SARS-CoV2 and Dr. Gordon Love (Louisiana Tech, ‘73), Professor of Pathology at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans will share his findings related to COVID-19 pathology and the tissue damage sustained by those suffering from the disease.

Following two brief presentations, Osborne and Love will answer questions from the audience and offer conversation on what has been learned about COVID-19, on-going research that strives to learn more, and the path forward in research, medicine, and being better prepared for pandemics in the future.

To attend the seminar events live, please register online. Registration is free. You may also access the recorded events following the seminar

Schedule

Monday, Sept. 21 – 3:30 p.m. CDT

• The Biology and Pathology of SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19
• Moderators: Dr. Jamie Newman (Associate Professor of Biology) and Dr. Patrick Hindmarsh (Associate Professor of Biology)
• Guests: Dr. Barbara Osborne, Professor Veterinary and Animal Sciences, UMass Amherst and Dr. Gordon Love ’73, Jack Perry Strong Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology at Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans

Monday, Nov. 2 – 3:30 p.m. CST

• Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Treatments for COVID-19
• Moderator: Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore (Biomedical Engineering)
• Guests: Dr. Krishnendu Roy, Robert A. Milton Endowed Chair, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Director, NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT), Director, Center for ImmunoEngineering at Georgia Tech, Director, Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing, Dr. Byron Crawfor ’74, Chair of Pathology LSU School of Medicine, Shreveport, Dr. Rodney Rhode, Professor and Chair of Clinical Laboratory Science,Texas State University

Monday, Jan. 11 – 3:30 p.m. CST

• Healthcare and Patient Care during COVID-19 Pandemic
• Moderators: Dr. Donna Hood (Professor of Nursing) and Mr. Sam Speed (Dean of Student Engagement and Undergraduate Recruitment)
• Guests: Dr. Alex Billoux, Assistant Secretary of Louisiana Department of Health and Dr. Ghali Ghali, Chancellor of LSU School of Medicine, Shreveport

Monday, Jan. 25 – 3:30 p.m. CST

• Patient Data and Health Care Disparities during COVID-19 Pandemic
• Moderators: Dr. Jeremy Mhire (Assocaite Professor of Political Science) and Ms. Devonia Love-Vaughn (Dean of Inclusive Initiatives and Student Success)
• Guests: TBD

Monday, March 22 – 3:30 p.m. CDT

• Health Communication during COVID-19 Pandemic
• Moderator: Dr. Kirk St. Amant (Professor of English)
• Guests: TBD

Monday, May 3 – 3:30 p.m. CDT

• What’s Next: Where do we go from here?
• Moderators: Dr. Jamie Newman and Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore
• Guests: TBD