Precision Microbiome Engineering Research

North Carolina A&T State University Symposia
2025-06-12 - 2025-06-13
Please mark your calendars for the GRADS-4C Second Annual 2-Day Symposia June 12-13, 2025 9am-5 pm at the N.C. A&T State University Alumni Center (200 N. Benbow Rd. Greensboro, NC 27411): Topics include Cloud Computing/ Education in Data/ Science, Genomics, and Health. Details can be found here

Girl Scouts STEM Day @ Duke
2025-05-17
Durham, NC
Lots of PreMiEr participants needed to help kids with hands-on STEM activities and for event management.
Contact Holly Leddy if interested in volunteering.

PreMiEr event Societal and Ethical Implications (SEI) Day at NC State University
2025-05-13 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Please register and add to your calendars the PreMiEr Societal and Ethical Implications Core webinar on “Societal Dimensions of Built Environment Microbiome Engineering”

Workshop details: https://go.ncsu.edu/premier-sei-workshop-2025
Zoom registration: https://go.ncsu.edu/mobe-zoom
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 13, 2025, from 1:00 PM–4:30 PM
Cost: Free, all are welcome to attend

The workshop will bring together researchers, engineers, ethicists, and policymakers to examine the societal and ethical dimensions of microbiome engineering in the built environment. Through keynote talks, discussions, and interactive sessions, participants will explore governance frameworks, public perceptions,and strategies for meaningful community engagement. Click here to see the speakers and agenda.

Mentorship in Undergraduate Research training NOW VIRTUAL
2025-05-09 09:00 - 12:00
Please save the date for the upcoming professional development training “Mentorship in Undergraduate Research”
Join us for an interactive training designed for faculty, graduate students, post-docs, and staff interested in mentoring undergraduate students in research. This session will provide practical strategies for effective mentorship, fostering student engagement, and supporting academic and professional growth.
The training will be conducted by Dr. Sandra Clinton, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences at UNC-Charlotte. Dr. Clinton also serves as the Outreach Lead for PreMiEr.
The two in-person trainings originally scheduled have now moved to a virtual format on May 9th 10-11:30 am via Zoom. Please RSVP here.
This training is open to all PreMiEr affiliates with any level of mentorship experience. This training is expected of graduate students and post-docs who are working with PreMiEr REU students this summer
For programmatic questions, please contact Dr. Clinton (sandra.clinton@charlotte.edu) or for any other questions, premier_erc@duke.edu.

Mentorship in Undergraduate Research training - CHANGED TO VIRTUAL ON MAY 9th
2025-05-08 14:00 - 17:00

Student Leadership Council Journal Club
2025-05-01 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-17 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-02-06 12:00 - 13:00
Please see individual SLC Member invites from Dr. Megan Lott regarding topics for discussion at each meeting. SLC Journal Club meetings are for SLC Members and conducted by SLC Members.

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series- Dr. Colin Worby, Broad Institute
2025-04-10 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to another installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on April 10th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Dr. Colin Worby, Computational Scientist from the Broad Institute: Challenges and opportunities in bacterial genomic epidemiology
Infectious disease dynamics can be better understood using pathogen genomic epidemiology, allowing insights into transmission routes and pathogen reservoirs. This field has risen to prominence in recent years due to falling sequencing costs and improved methodology, as well as the urgent need for epidemiological insights during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, bacterial studies are considerably underrepresented in the field relative to viral studies, due in part to greater sequencing costs, genome complexity, and common asymptomatic, long-term carriage. In this talk, Dr. Worby will discuss many of the challenges associated with inferring transmission dynamics from bacterial sequence data, and outline strategies to tackle some particularly challenging scenarios, including within-host pathogen diversity, long-term endemic circulation and plasmid-mediated dissemination of drug-resistance. Dr. Worby will also highlight new efforts to characterize bacterial strain sharing using complex samples, including strain mixes and metagenomes.
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series- Dr. Kieran O'Doherty, University of Guelph
2025-03-27 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to another installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on March 27th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Dr. Kieran O’Doherty from the University of Guelph Applied Social Psychology department will be presenting: Microbiome Stewardship as a Conceptual Foundation for Policies
Human microbiomes, to a large degree, are shaped by the environments in which we live. We rely on microbial exposures from other people, animals, and plants. Our microbiomes are also shaped by the consequences of human activities like pesticide use, air and water pollution, the condition of our soils, and widespread use of antibiotics. In modern industrialized societies, the environment in which we live for much of our life is a built environment. This means that a very large proportion of the features of the environments in which we live are the result of human decisions. In theory, it makes sense to be strategic about such decisions, such that our built environments support human health and mental health, including considerations of their effects on microbiomes. In practice, there are many challenges to realizing ideals of making society level decisions that lead to healthy microbiomes. First, decisions about our collective built environments are distributed across actors and stakeholders, and so it is difficult to pinpoint exact political entry points where policies to ensure healthy microbiomes could be advanced. Second, awareness of the importance of fostering healthy microbiomes through considered crafting of built environments is low. Thus, what is needed is a conceptual foundation that would support the strategic development of built environments that foster healthy microbiomes. The notion of microbiome stewardship offers to be such a foundation. In this presentation, Dr. O’Doherty will introduce the concept of microbiome stewardship and explain a pathway for elaborating the idea, and how it might be useful in guiding policy across diverse domains
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series- Intellectual Property and Invention Disclosure
2025-02-27 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to another installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on February 27th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
A panel of experts will be discussing Intellectual Property and Invention Disclosure:
Developing cutting-edge technologies and effectively transitioning them into society are key success metrics for PreMiEr. A critical component of this process is understanding intellectual property (IP) and the invention disclosure process. Properly handling IP ensures that innovations emerging from our research community are protected, commercialized, and leveraged for societal impact. This seminar aims to equip faculty, researchers, and graduate students with foundational knowledge about IP, its protection, and best practices for invention disclosure. We hope it will provide valuable insights and practical guidance on how researchers can successfully navigate the IP landscape and contribute to the commercialization of their innovations. We look forward to an engaging and informative discussion!
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

Student Leadership Council Journal Club
2025-02-20 12:00 - 13:00
Please see individual SLC Member invites from Dr. Megan Lott regarding topics for discussion at each meeting.

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series Dr. Whitney Austin Gray, IWBI
2025-02-13 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to another installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on February 13th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Dr. Whitney Austin Gray from the International WELL Building Institute: Translating Research to Practice: The WELL Building Standard
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series- Dr. Ameet Pinto, Georgia Institute of Technology
2025-01-28 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to the second installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on January 28th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom (note this is a Tuesday seminar, not our normal Thursday slot):
Dr. Ameet Pinto
Carlton S. Wilder Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
From Pathogen-centric to Microbiome-Inclusive Approaches to Enhance Water Safety
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

Student Leadership Council Journal Club
2025-01-23 12:00 - 13:00
Please see individual SLC Member invites from Dr. Megan Lott regarding topics for discussion at each meeting

PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series- Dr. Amy Mathers, University of Virginia
2025-01-16 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to the first installment of the PreMiEr Spring 2025 Seminar Series on January 16th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Dr. Amy J. Mathers from the Medicine Division (Infectious Diseases) at the University of Virginia will be presenting a seminar entitled “Down the Drain: Uncovering Antimicrobial Resistance in Healthcare Plumbing”.
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYbQe8UIyZcOXHg

Fall 2024 DCI Book Club
2024-12-03 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-19 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-05 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-10-22 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-10-08 12:00 - 13:00
The PreMiEr Diversity and Inclusion leadership presents the Fall 2024 Book Club selection: We’re All Neurodiverse by Sonny Jane Wise.
Meeting biweekly during the semester, each meeting will discuss 1-2 chapters of the book.

September 10: Chapters 1 & 2
September 24: Chapters 3 & 4
October 8: Chapter 5
October 22: Chapter 6
November 5: Chapter 7
November 19: Chapter 8
December 3: Chapter 9
Additional dates TBD

Those who registered should have a Zoom link on their calendars.
Sign Up Link: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eD60jWqOsEQRczA

PreMiEr SLC Journal Club
2024-11-21 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-10-24 12:00 - 13:00
The PreMiEr Scholar’s Leadership Council invites all scholars in the ERC (undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and research staff) to join in a spirited discussion and analysis of a published manuscript of relevance to the center’s vision and mission. Please check your emails or contact Megan Lott (melott@unc.edu) with any questions or for the Zoom link.

PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series | David Frenze, PS&S
2024-11-14 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to the next installment of the PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series on November 14th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
David Frenze
PE, LEED AP
Senior Director, PS&S

Indoor air quality (IAQ) threats and commercially available and emerging technologies employed to mitigate IAQ threats

Indoor air quality(IAQ) is a hot topic affecting building design and construction practices, current and emerging building codes, reference standards, and federally regulated environmental standards globally. We will summarize known biological, chemical, and ultra-fine airborne particulate (PM2.5) IAQ threats that impact the built indoor environment and the human microbiome. Next, we will provide an overview of currently available and emerging mitigation technologies together with how each technology is applied, tested, monitored, and ultimately qualified and verified as accepted practice in the current building design world.
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
Register at https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0Pzn6Zv6XjNwKlE

Girl Scouts Technoquest
2024-11-09
Raleigh, NC
5-10 PreMiEr participants needed to help kids with hands-on STEM activities.
Contact Holly Leddy if interested in volunteering.

Microbiome of the Built Environment (MoBE) Industry Summit - Day 2
2024-11-07 08:30 - 11:30
PreMiEr is pleased to invite you to this inaugural symposium in Fall 2024. This event that we are calling an “Industry Summit” is focused on bringing together stakeholders from Industry, non-profits, the public, and regulatory agencies working in the field of the Microbiome of Built-Environment (MoBE). The focus of this inaugural symposium will be to discuss a Roadmap to standard-setting in MoBE.
Why attend this PreMiEr Industry Summit?
* Participants engage in networking with PreMiEr faculty, students, and each other
* Understand current PreMiEr research efforts and potentially help shape future work
* Workshop participation: A white paper compiling the discussion on microbiome sampling and characterization techniques for low-biomass built-environments
See this page for more information: https://premier-microbiome.org/2024-premier-industry-summit/

Microbiome of the Built Environment (MoBE) Industry Summit
2024-11-06

PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series | Speaker Dr. Paul Turner
2024-10-31 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to the next installment of the PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series on October 31st from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Speaker: Dr. Paul Turner

Leveraging evolutionary trade-offs in the development of phage therapy

The rise of antibiotic resistance warrants exploration of novel approaches to target and kill bacterial pathogens. Phage therapy offers a possible alternative, but a downside is the ability for target bacteria to evolve phage resistance. I develop phages that steer evolutionary ‘trade-offs’: these viruses bind to virulence factors of target bacteria to select for phage-resistance that compromises the function of structures responsible for bacterial pathogenicity. This approach is demonstrated in personalized medicine, where phage ‘steering’ in patients provides clinical benefits, such as changing the infecting bacteria to become re-sensitized to chemical antibiotics and decreasing their ability to cause tissue inflammation.
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
Register at https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0Pzn6Zv6XjNwKlE

PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series | Dr. Caitlin Proctor
2024-10-10 12:00 - 13:00
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) invites you to the next installment of the PreMiEr Fall 2024 Seminar Series on October 10th from Noon to 1pm on Zoom:
Dr. Caitlin Proctor

Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering & Environmental and Ecological Engineering
Purdue University
Holistic Considerations for Stagnation in Plumbing

Stagnation in plumbing has been linked to a myriad of physicochemical and microbial water quality issues. While many studies on plumbing stagnation were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to assess real-time risk associated with building closures, these lacked control, knowledge of plumbing materials, and appropriate controls. This talk will highlight a study that used a fully controlled plumbing testing facility with four identical systems operated with daily, weekly, biweekly, and monthly flushing to assess the role of building operation in water quality changes holistically. Stagnation played a major role in scale formation, chemical leaching, and microbial community changes, with clear implications for sulfate metabolisms. By understanding these reactions mechanistically at-scale, we create a better context for controlling this sensitive ecosystem.
This series is open to the public, but non-PreMiEr members must register to receive the Zoom link. You need register only once for the entire series.
Register at https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0Pzn6Zv6XjNwKlE

Fall Workshop Series - Overview of microbiome informatics
2024-10-07 14:30 - 17:00
For PreMiEr members and affiliates – check your emails and newsletter for instructions to register.

Virtual (Zoom) | 2:30 – 5 pm.
Taught by Dr. Anthony Fodor of UNC Charlotte, this workshop is intended to give an overview of topics related to analyzing bioinformatic data sets related to microbiomes of the built environment.
Registration closes: September 30th
