Past Events

Seminar Series

2025 Seminars
- February 4th, 2025 – Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope
  - “SEVEN O’Clock: Time for a New Method to Characterize Individual Extracellular Particles”
- March 4th, 2025 – Lucia Languino, Ph.D., Professor, Thomas Jefferson University
  - “Integrin Regulation of Pro-Tumorigenic Small Extracellular Vesicle Functions and Cargo”
- November 18, 2025 – Hayden Pagendarm, Graduate Student, Wilson Lab *Works in Progress Seminar
  - "Antigen-Loaded Extracellular Vesicles to Regulate Adaptive Immune Resonses and Drive Immunological Tolerance"
2024 Seminars
- January 8, 2024 – APEX Lecture co-sponsored by Center for EV Research – Monica Driscoll, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University
  - “Neurons put out the trash: Modeling aggregate and organelle transfer in a living nervous system”
- January 30, 2024 – Bong Hwan Sung, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
  - “How to Utilize the ONI Nanoimager in the EV Center”
- February 27, 2024 – Wei Guo, Ph.D., Hirsch Family Distinguished Professor of Biology, University of Pennsylvania
  - “Exosomes: Biogenesis and roles in tumor immune suppression”
- March 19, 2024 – Huiping Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Northwestern University
  - “Transmembrane Proteins of Extracellular Vesicles in Promoting Cancer Stemness and Antiviral Neutralization”
- April 23, 2024 – Elena Aikawa, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  - “Novel Insights into Cardiovascular Calcification”
- November 19th, 2024 – Monet Roberts, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics (BEAM), Virginia Tech
  - “How Microvesicles Are “Budding” into the Cancer Conversation”
- December 3rd, 2024 – Edna Cukierman, Ph.D., Professor, Fox Chase Cancer Center
  - “Unraveling Pancreatic Tumor Defenses: Inside the Stromal Orchestra with the HOST-Factor”
2023 Seminars
- January 17th, 2023 – Randy Schekman, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology; 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Dept of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California: Berkeley
  - “Extracellular Vesicles and Tubular Connections in Membrane Repair and Intracellular Traffic”
- February 21, 2023 – Hannah Nelson, PhD Candidate, Patton Lab
  - "The Role of mi-R100 and miR-125b in Cetuximab Resistant Colorectal Cells"
- March 14, 2023 – Crislyn D’Souza-Schorey, Ph.D., Pollard Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
  - "Tumor Microvesicles: Multifunctional Entities in the Tumor Microenvironment"
- April 11, 2023 – Takahisa Nakamura, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Endocrinology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
  - "Inflammatory RISK and RISC in Obesity: RNA Mediated Immunometabolic Regulation"
- May 9th, 2023 – Phyllis Hanson, M.D., Ph.D., Minor J. Coon Collegiate Professor and Chair, Department of Biological Chemistry University of Michigan Medical School
  - “Leaky lysosomes: repair, reuse or release?”
- November 7, 2023 – Zachary Sanchez, Graduate Student, Burnette Lab
  - “Blebbisomes: Organelle-rich extracellular vesicles with cell-like properties that take up and secrete extracellular vesicles”
2022 Seminars
- January 18th, 2022 – Lizandra Jimenez, Ph.D., Research Instructor, Weaver Lab
  - “Evaluation of Culture Conditions on the Presence of RNA Binding Proteins and miRNAs in Small Extracellular Vesicles”
- March 22nd, 2022 – Todd R. Graham, Ph.D., Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
  - “The Flip Side of Membrane Biology”
- April 5th, 2022 – Justus C. Ndukaife, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University
  - “Nanotweezer diagnostics for rapid EV liquid biopsy analysis”
- April 19th, 2022 – Samie R. Jaffrey, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College
  - “Understanding the meaning of the methyl codes in mRNA”
- May 3rd, 2022 – Kaitlyn Bunn, Graduate student, Pua Laboratory
  - “T cell Extracellular Vesicles in Allergic Airway Inflammation”
- August 28th, 2022 – Chulhee Choi, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, KAIST
  - “Intracellular Delivery of NF-kappa B inhibitor via Optogenetic Engineering of Extracellular Vesicles, from Bench to Clinic”
- November 15th, 2022 – Avital Rodal, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, Brandeis University
  - “Local Control of Extracellular Vesicle Cargo Traffic at Presynaptic Terminals”
- November 29th, 2022 – Pascale Zimmermann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Human Genetics, KU Leuven
  - “Molecular Mechanisms Supporting Exosomal Exchanges: The Syndecan-Syntenin Paradigm”
- December 13th, 2022 – Ariana von Lersner, PhD Candidate, Weaver Lab
  - “EV Fingerprinting: Resolving extracellular vesicle heterogeneity using multi-parametric flow cytometry”
2021 Seminars
- February 2, 2021 - John Nolan Ph.D., Scintillon Institute
  - “Revelation of Extracellular Vesicle Diversity by Single Vesicle Analysis”
- March 9, 2021 - Anna Krichevsky, Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School
  - “Revealing the diversity and regulatory potential of glioblastoma-derived extracellular RNA”
- March 30, 2021 - Xandra Breakefield, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital
  - “Extracellular RNAs and EVs in Glioblastoma”
- May 25, 2021 - Scott Estes, Ph.D., Vice President, Process Sciences, Codiak BioSciences
  - “Moving Exosomes From The Bench To The Bedside”
- August 24th, 2021 - Susmita Sahoo Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Cardiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
  - “Exosome and Epitranscriptome in Heart Failure: from Mechanisms to Therapeutics”
- September 14th, 2021 – Rossella Crescitelli, Ph.D., Researcher, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
  - “Optimization of extracellular vesicle isolation directly from tissue”
- October 12th, 2021 – Derrick Gibbings, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Member of the Parkinson’s Research Consortium, University of Ottawa, Canada
  - “Learning from biology to use small extracellular vesicles for drug delivery”
- November 9th, 2021 – Jon Huibregtse, Ph.D., Benjamin Clayton Centennial Professor of Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin
- December 7th, 2021 – Nihal Altan-Bonnet, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Dynamics, NIH
2020 Seminars
- February 25, 2020 - Travis Thomson Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School
  - “Transposons using EVs for good?: The discovery of a retro-element regulating synaptic plasticity”
- September 14, 2020 - Maureen Barr Ph.D., Rutgers University
  - “The Fundamental Biology of Ciliary Extracellular Vesicles: Biogenesis, Cargo, Function, Targets”

EV Center Annual Retreats

2025 Center Retreat
Extracellular Vesicle Biology and Applications: From Plants to Humans
Thank you for attending the 2025 Center for EV Research Retreat!
Photos from the 2025 Retreat can be found at the link BELOW –
View photos HERE: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RToXBRUweeN336wK6
Keynote Speakers
Brian Eliceiri, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Surgery and Dermatology, University of California, San Diego
Seminar: “Development of Engineered Extracellular Vesicle Therapeutics that Deliver Specific Payloads in Tissue Repair”
Hailing Jin, Ph.D., Professor & Cy Mouradick Chair, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside
Seminar: “Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Cross-Kingdom RNA Communication”
Ke Cheng, Ph.D., Alan L. Kaganov Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Seminar: “Extracellular Vesicles for Lung Repair and Drug Delivery”
Schedule
2024 Center Retreat

EV Cargoes: Functions and Biomarker Applications
Thank you for attending the 2024 Center for EV Research Retreat!
Photos from the 2024 Retreat can be found at the link BELOW – https://photos.app.goo.gl/R2f58KCe1G18s7Gz5
Keynote Speakers
Saumya Das, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Seminar: “EV-RNAs: A Window Into Cellular Disease Pathways”
Honami Naora, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Seminar: “Identification of Cancer-Derived, miRNA-Enriched EVs: Implications for Liquid Biopsy”
Dolores Di Vizio, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Surgery, Pathology, and Biomedical Sciences, Director, Cancer Biology Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Seminar: “Extracellular Vesicle Heterogeneity Through the Lens of Multiomics”
Schedule
2023 Center Retreat

EVs in Health and Disease
Thank you for attending the 2023 Center for EV Research Retreat!
Photos from the 2023 EV Center Retreat can be found at the link BELOW!
View Photos HERE: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dvk7b39rKWdiWeW58
Keynote Speakers
Jayanta Debnath, M.D., Distinguished Professor and Chair, Pathology, University of California, San Francisco
Seminar: “Secretory autophagy via extracellular vesicles and particles”
Ronald Kahn, M.D., Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; Senior Investigator and head of Section of Integrative Physiology, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School
Seminar: “Multilevel regulation of exosomal miRNA secretion in obesity and diabetes”
Emily Wang, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, University of California, San Diego
Seminar: “Systemic effects of cancer-derived extracellular vesicles”
Schedule
2022 Center Retreat

EV Therapeutics and Biotechnology
Thank you for attending the 2022 Center for EV Research Retreat!
Photos from the 2022 EV Center Retreat can be found at the link BELOW!
PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MpG2cxvtw4XpRgU46
Keynote Speakers
Juliane Nguyen, Ph.D., Vice Chair and Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Seminar: “Developing Materials to Modulate and Track Cellular Chatter”
Aaron Noyes, Ph.D., Vice President, Integrated Drug Substance Development, Codiak BioSciences
Seminar: “From µL to kL: Addressing Scale-up Challenges in the Production of Exosomes”
Kenneth W. Witwer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Departments of Molecular and Comparative Pathology and Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Seminar: “Unsolved Mysteries and Current Opportunities in Extracellular Vesicle Research“
Schedule
2021 Fall Center Retreat

The Fall Retreat took place on October 1st, 2021 in virtual format via Zoom, with keynote speaker:
Richard Cerione, Ph.D., Goldwin Smith Professor, Cornell University, presented “Extracellular vesicles: our journey through cancer to embryonic stem cell biology and senescence”
2021 Spring Program Retreat

The virtual retreat took place on April 13, 2021.
Schedule:
8:45-9:00 Welcome and Introduction – Alissa Weaver
9:00-9:45 Keynote I – Janusz Rak, McGill University, “Extracellular vesicles and oncogenic drivers in cancer associated vascular pathology”
9:45-10:00 Questions
Session 1: Extracellular Vesicle Biology, Jeff Franklin chair
10:00-10:15 Kaitlyn Bunn (Pua lab), “T cell-derived extracellular vesicles in the allergic airway”
10:15-10:20 Discussion
10:20-10:35 Greg Berumen (Rafat lab), “Radiation-Induced Extracellular Vesicle Secretion Drives Cellular Changes in Breast Cancer”
10:35-10:40 Discussion
10:40-10:55 Sydni Smith (Ogden Lab), “Released reovirus co-fractionates with large extracellular vesicles”
10:55-11:00 Discussion
11:00 -11:15 Break
Session 2: Extracellular Vesicle Technology, Heather Pua chair
11:15-11:30 Justus Ndukaife (faculty, Electrical Engineering), “On-chip nano-optical tweezing and analysis device (NOTAD): towards rapid isolation and analysis of extracellular vesicles”
11:30-11:35 Discussion
11:35-11:50 Ariana von Lersner (Weaver/Zijlstra labs), “EV Fingerprinting: Resolving the heterogeneity of extracellular vesicles with multi-parametric flow cytometry data”
11:50-11:55 Discussion
12-12:50 Lunch break
Session 3: Extracellular RNA P01 group presentations: “Extracellular RNA (exRNA) in colorectal carcinoma: biogenesis and function”
12:50-1:00 EAC Self-Introductions
1:00-1:15 Overview of the Program Project: Alissa Weaver
1:15-1:45 Project 1: “ER-membrane contacts in exRNA biogenesis and function in Colorectal Carcinoma” – Alissa Weaver
1:45-2:00 Discussion
2:00-2:30 Project 2: “Mechanisms and functional consequences of selective miRNA transfer via extracellular vesicles” – James Patton
2:30-2:45 Discussion
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-3:30 Project 3: “Role of WNT-EGFR crosstalk by EVs and exomeres in normal colon and colon cancer” – Robert Coffey
3:30-3:45 Discussion
3:45-4:05 Core 1: “RNA Sequencing and Data Analysis Core” – Qi Liu and Kasey Vickers
4:05-4:15 Discussion
4:15-4:35 Core 2: “EV Purification and Analysis Core” – Alissa Weaver, Jim Higginbotham and Jeff Franklin
4:35-4:45 Discussion
4:45-5:00 Concluding Remarks: Alissa Weaver