2026 Program

Session 5: Immunology, Innately

Chair: Jeff Yoder

9:00 - 9:20

Sebastian Fugmann, Chang Gung University

The Evolution of Cytokines in Echinoderm Immunity

9:20 - 9:40

9:40 - 10:00

10:00 - 10:20

10:20 - 10:40

Jacqueline Chan, Chang Gung University

Characterization of Interleukin-1 Receptor (IL1R) Homologs in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

Veronica Price, University of Alberta

The Antimicrobial Activity of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Mucus Following Immunological Challenges under Behavioural Fever Conditions

Amber Feaver, Wilfrid Laurier University

Using Genome Editing to Investigate RNA Interference-Dependent Double-Stranded RNA Responses in RTS11-GFP Cells

Coffee Break

Session 6: Evolution in Action
Chair: Helen Dooley

10:40 - 11:00

Jon Rast, Emory University

Inferring the Early Evolutionary State of Agnathan Adaptive Immunity

11:00 - 11:20

Masayuki Hirano, Emory University

Assembly Mechanism for Multimeric Lamprey VLRB Antibodies

11:20 - 11:40

Byron Au-Yeung, Emory University

Functional Evidence for ITAM-Based Signaling in the Alternative Adaptive Immune Systems of Jawless Vertebrates

11:40 - 12:00

Sabyasachi Das, Emory University

Ancient IL-6-STAT5 Signaling Orchestrates Inflammation in Jawless Vertebrates

12:00 - 13:30

Lunch

13:30 - 13:50

Nick Kraieski, Auburn University

A Comprehensive Analysis of Toll-Like Receptor Evolution within Ambulacraria

13:50 - 14:10

Christina Bowhay, University of Alberta

Beyond Haemocytes: Spatial and Cellular Origins of Toll-Like Receptor Mediated Immunity in Biomphalaria glabrata

14:10 - 14:30

Priyanka Govindarajan, Simon Fraser University

A Novel Invertebrate Cytidine Deaminase Exhibits Dual RNA and DNA Editing and Unique Specificity

14:30 - 15:00

Coffee Break

Session 7: From the past, to the future!

Chair: Robert Miller

15:00 - 15:20

Amelia Williams, Auburn University

Environmental Microbes Shape Immune Response Dynamics in Larval Sea Urchins

15:20 - 15:40

Kourtney Zimmerly, The University of New Mexico

Circadian Rhythms and Microbiomes in a Model Marsupial

15:40 - 16:00

Alison Lee You Voon, University of Alberta

Cellular Components of Fish Melanomacrophage Centres and their Structural Changes during Infection

16:00 - 16:20

Benyamin Rosental, Ben Gurion University

The use of Immunology and Stem Cell Transplantation in New Frontiers: Immunity and Stem Cell Transplantation for Corals

16:20 - 16:40

16:40 - 17:00

18:30

Ian Birchler De Allende, North Carolina State University

Leveraging Protein Structure Prediction to Characterize CD300 V-Domain Macroevolution In Cetaceans

Anthony DeTomaso, University of California, Santa Barbara

On the origins of adaptive immunity: Perspectives from a colonial ascidian

Banquet

Session 1: Welcome and NACI New Investigator Award
Chair: Brian Dixon

9:30 - 10:10

Toward an Understanding of Ectopic Hematopoiesis in Teleost Fishes

Nathan Vo, Wilfrid Laurier University

9:00 - 9:15

Opening Remarks, James Mandigo, President, University of Fraser Valley

10:10 - 10:30

Coffee Break

Session 2: Pathogen Protections
Chair: Kathy Magor

10:30 - 10:50

Tyler Smith, Auburn University

Immune Cell Development in a Larval Echinoderm

10:50 - 11:10

Jake Tatum, Auburn University

Defining virulence factors in a Vibrio infection

11:10 - 11:30

Yubing Chen, Waterloo University

Sex Dependent Differences in Antiviral Transcriptional Responses to ISAV Infection in Rainbow Trout

11:30 - 11:50

Massiel Copara Chino, University of Alberta

Quantifying Environmental Thresholds for Waterborne Transmission of Aeromonas Veronii in Fish Cohabitation Systems

12:00 - 13:30

Lunch

Session 3: Diverse Immune Mechanisms of Jawed Vertebrates

Chair: Brian Dixon

13:30 - 14:30

Keynote Speaker: Niels Bols, University of Fraser Valley

Fish Spleen Cell Line Development, Documentation, Distribution, Discoveries and the Future

15:00 - 15:20

Brenna Hay, University of Fraser Valley

Ribosome Biogenesis Mediates the Translational Increase of Non-Optimal Codon Transcripts during IFN-β Stimulation

15:20 - 15:40

Eleanore Rhodes, North Carolina State University

Natural Killers: Prospecting Natural Killer Cell Lysins for Tomorrow’s Antibiotics

15:40 - 16:00

Mariam Abdulsayed, University of Waterloo

Establishment of Lophius americanus Brain Cell Line and Characterization of Spraguea americanus Infection on the Basis of Host Classification

16:00 - 16:20

Maya Jacewicz, University of Waterloo

Establishing an in vitro Model A.P. destructans Infection in a Big Brown Bat Cell Line

14:30 - 15:00

Coffee Break

Session 4: New Frontiers & Omics'R'Us
Chair: Dan Barreda

16:20 - 16:40

Courtney Smith, The George Washington University

The SpTransformer System in Sea Urchins: An Overall Hypothesis for Activation, Anti-Pathogen Function, and Resolution

16:40 - 17:00

Oriol Sunyer, University of Pennsylvania

Characterization of Neural Cell Adhesion (NCAM) Molecules and the Leukocytes Expressing them in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss)

17:00 - 19:00

Poster Session: Standard and Wacky!

Session 8: All over the Evolutionary Tree
Chair: Irene Salinas

9:00 - 9:20

Lucy Lee, University of Fraser Valley

Thirty Years of RTS11, A Monocytic/Macrophage-Like Cell Line from Rainbow Trout

9:20 - 9:40

9:40 - 10:00

10:00 - 10:30

10:30 - 10:50

10:50 - 11:10

11:10 - 11:30

11:30 - 12:00

Pierre Boudinout, INRAE

Innate and Adaptive Immune Response Induced by mRNA Vaccination in Rainbow Trout

Louise Rollins-Smith, Vanderbilt University

Mass Spectrometry Reveals Variation in the Skin Antimicrobial Peptide Signatures of California Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs

Coffee Break

Barbara Katzenback, University of Waterloo

Establishment of an Air-Liquid Interface System to Investigate Frog Epithelial Cell Responses

Tom Levy, Stanford University

Germline Stem Cell Isolation, Lineage Tracing Across Generations, and Aging in a Protochordate

Rob Miller, The University of New Mexico

Marsupial IgG: with sugars like these who needs more than one?

Business Meeting & Wrap-up

Session 1: Welcome and NACI New Investigator Award Chair: Brian Dixon

9:30 - 10:10

Nathan Vo, Wilfrid Laurier University

9:00 - 9:15

Opening Remarks, James Mandigo, President, University of Fraser Valley

10:10 - 10:30

Coffee Break

Session 2: Pathogen Protections Chair: Kathy Magor

10:30 - 10:50

Tyler Smith, Auburn University

Immune Cell Development in a Larval Echinoderm

10:50 - 11:10

Jake Tatum, Auburn University

Defining virulence factors in a Vibrio infection

11:10 - 11:30

Yubing Chen, Waterloo University

Sex Dependent Differences in Antiviral Transcriptional Responses to ISAV Infection in Rainbow Trout

11:30 - 11:50

Massiel Copara Chino, University of Alberta

Quantifying Environmental Thresholds for Waterborne Transmission of Aeromonas Veronii in Fish Cohabitation Systems

12:00 - 13:30

Lunch

Session 3: Diverse Immune Mechanisms of Jawed Vertebrates

Chair: Brian Dixon

13:30 - 14:30

Keynote Speaker: Niels Bols, University of Fraser Valley

Fish Spleen Cell Line Development, Documentation, Distribution, Discoveries and the Future

15:00 - 15:20

Brenna Hay, University of Fraser Valley

Ribosome Biogenesis Mediates the Translational Increase of Non-Optimal Codon Transcripts during IFN-β Stimulation

15:20 - 15:40

Eleanore Rhodes, North Carolina State University

Natural Killers: Prospecting Natural Killer Cell Lysins for Tomorrow’s Antibiotics

15:40 - 16:00

Mariam Abdulsayed, University of Waterloo

Establishment of Lophius americanus Brain Cell Line and Characterization of Spraguea americanus Infection on the Basis of Host Classification

16:00 - 16:20

Maya Jacewicz, University of Waterloo

Establishing an in vitro Model A.P. destructans Infection in a Big Brown Bat Cell Line

14:30 - 15:00

Coffee Break

Session 4: New Frontiers & Omics'R'Us Chair: Dan Barreda

16:20 - 16:40

Courtney Smith, The George Washington University

The SpTransformer System in Sea Urchins: An Overall Hypothesis for Activation, Anti-Pathogen Function, and Resolution

16:40 - 17:00

Oriol Sunyer, University of Pennsylvania

Characterization of Neural Cell Adhesion (NCAM) Molecules and the Leukocytes Expressing them in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss)

17:00 - 19:00

Poster Session: Standard and Wacky!

Session 1: Welcome and NACI New Investigator Award
Chair: Brian Dixon

Session 2: Pathogen Protections
Chair: Kathy Magor

Session 4: New Frontiers & Omics'R'Us
Chair: Dan Barreda