Virulence (Harmfulness) — A Matchless Web of Dynamic Interactions Between Microbes and Host Cells
John C. Alverdy, M.D.
Sarah and Harold Lincoln Thompson Professor
Executive Vice Chair and Vice Chair for Research
Department of Surgery
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture
Virulence (Harmfulness) — A Matchless Web of Dynamic Interactions Between Microbes and Host Cells
Room M203, 2 Riverside Circle
Date: May 6, 2025
Archived video
About this Seminar
Virulence, or harmfulness to a host, is a property of neither the infecting pathogen nor the host but rather of their interaction. Postoperative infection-related complications (e.g., wound infections, pneumonia, bacteremia, anastomotic leak, and abscess formation), be they a result of an acute process requiring emergency surgery or a result of elective surgery, involve pre-operative anxiety; a period of inanition (e.g., no food after midnight and for the first few days after the initial injury); exposure to antibiotics, general anesthetics, and opioids; and confinement in a microbially hostile environment (e.g., a hospital). In the aggregate, these exposures not only deplete the body of its microbiota and the metabolites they produce that drive a recovery-directed immune response, but also allow epithelial surfaces (e.g., skin, lung, gut, etc.) to become colonized by harm-producing pathobiota. Both the loss of the colonization resistance of the microbiota needed to competitively exclude the pathobiota and the loss of the microbiota’s metabolites that drive a recovery-directed immune response contribute to infection-related complications following acute injury. A view of the hologenome (i.e., all genomes, be they microbial or host-derived) that demonstrates how dense dynamic interactions form between the microbiota, the pathobiota and the host cells will be molecularly detailed.
Additional Details
This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series hosts clinician scientists who are exploring frontiers of medicine. These lectures are principally intended for Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine students and Virginia Tech students in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program. Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic faculty, staff, and students may also attend.
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Home Item
Is It What You Eat or When You Eat? Evidence for Time Restricted Eating in Humans , homeFeb. 27, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Lisa Chow, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Pennock Family Land Grant Chair in Diabetes Research, University of Minnesota | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Exercise Medicine Research
-
Home Item
A Nicotine-Focused Regulatory Strategy: The Science , homeMarch 13, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Forster Family Chair in Cancer Prevention, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center – Roanoke
-
Home Item
From BDNF to Rett Syndrome: Synapses, Networks, and Social Behaviors in Mecp2 Mutant Mice , homeMarch 27, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D., Mall Family Endowed Professor for Genetic Autism Research, Department of Pediatrics & Human Development, College of Medicine, Michigan State University | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research
-
Home Item
The Effects of Aging and Physical Activity on Cardiovascular Structure and Function , homeApril 10, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Ben Levine, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Cardiology, Clinical Heart and Vascular Center, Distinguished Professorship in Exercise Sciences, UT Southwestern Medical Center | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Exercise Medicine Research
-
Home Item
The Golden Age of Immunology Research , homeApril 16, 2026, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Lewis Lanier, Ph.D., J. Michael Bishop Distinguished Professor and Chair Emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco; Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
-
Home Item
New Insights into Cardiac Mechanobiology: Role of Caveolar Nanodomains in Mechano-electrochemical Signal Transduction , homeApril 17, 2026, 11:00 a.m. | Alexey Glukhov, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, UW-Madison Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, University of Wisconsin | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Vascular and Heart Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute