Room 1224, Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center (Building #226) University of Maryland, College Park
4131 Campus Dr, College Park, MD 20742
(Link to campus map: HERE)
Preliminary Schedule for 2026
Day 1, May 27th |
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| 8:30 – 9:00 am | Registration; light breakfast, set up presentations for Session I |
| 9:00 – 9:02 am | Welcome Remarks: Dr. Daniel Rodríguez-Leal |
| 9:02 – 9:05 am | Keynote speaker introduction: Dr. Yiping Qi |
| 9:05 – 9:55 am | Keynote address – Dr. Sarah Assmann (Pennsylvania State University) Adventures in abiotic stress resistance |
| 9:55 – 10:10 am | Coffee Break |
| 10:10 – 11:45 am | Session I: Plant Genetics and Genomics (Session chairs: Drs. Shunyuan Xiao and Parva Sharma) |
| 10:10 – 10:35 am | Dr. Eric Lam: Rutgers University. Metacaspases as an emerging family of plant mediators for biotic stress management |
| 10:35 – 11:00 am | Dr. Purushothaman Natarajan: University of Maryland, Eastern shore. 3D Genome Architecture and Transcriptomic Regulation of Powdery Mildew Response in Susceptible, Tolerant, and Resistant Vitis Species |
| 11:00 – 11:25 am | Dr. Umesh Reddy: West Virginia State University. From Genome to Function: Multi-Omics Insights into Capsaicin Biology and its Agricultural and Biomedical Implications |
| 11:25 – 11:35 am | Dr. Parva Sharma: University of Maryland, College Park. Dissecting Stripe Rust Resistance in Wheat Using Multi-Strain Phenotyping and Reference-Free k-mer GWAS in Einkorn wheat |
| 11:35 – 11:45 am | Dr. Nayara Sabrina Freitas-Alves: University of Maryland, College Park. Optimization of CRISPR sgRNA Length Enhances Base Editing Efficiency in Plants |
| 11:45 – 12:00 pm | Meet our ASPB-MAS sponsors! ANSA, AmpSeq, OPS, VWR |
| 12:00 – 12:40 pm | Lunch for all registered attendees |
| 12:40 – 1:40 pm | Poster Session: Odd numbers (Set up presentations for Session II) |
| 1:40 – 3:45 pm | Session II: Biotic Stress (Session chairs: Drs. Pierre Jacob and Pai Li) |
| 1:40 – 2:05 pm | Dr. Kiran Mysore: Oklahoma State University. Functional genomics approaches identify novel genes involved in plant innate immunity |
| 2:05 – 2:30 pm | Dr. Allie Igwe: Virginia Tech University. Distinct Taxa, Shared Functions: Microbial Community Stability Across Serpentine and Nonserpentine Soils |
| 2:30 – 2:55 pm | Dr. Harsh Bais: University of Delaware. From Soil to Space: How Root Microbes Supercharge Plant Health |
| 2:55 – 3:05 pm | Dr. Pai Li: University of Maryland, College Park. Questing the MLO mystery: why loss of host proteins results in complete resistance to powdery mildew |
| 3:05 – 3:15 pm | Dr. Prem Kumar: University of Maryland, College Park. Wheat Pore-Forming Toxin-like gene provides broad spectrum resistance to fungal pathogens in transgenic tomato and strawberry plants |
| 3:15 – 3:25 pm | Ms. Leah Vrydagh: University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Structural and Functional Analysis of the KH-Domain Protein FLK in Regulating Arabidopsis Defense and Development. |
| 3:25 – 3:40 pm | Coffee Break, Set up presentations for Session III |
| 3:40 – 4:50 pm | Session III: Abiotic Stress (Session chairs: Dr. Xingyun Qi and Ms. Moonia Ammari) |
| 3:40 – 4:05 pm | Dr. Aziz Eida: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Fighting drought from the roots: dissecting mechanisms of rhizobacteria-mediated drought rescue in Arabidopsis |
| 4:05 – 4:30 pm | Dr. Pierre Jacob: University of Maryland, College Park. Genetic requirements for NLR signaling, implications for biotic and abiotic stress responses |
| 4:30 – 4:40 pm | Ms. Sanchari Kundu: Virginia Tech. Studying Cell-Type Specific Transcriptional Responses To Salt Stress In Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) Roots Using Single Nuclei Transcriptomics |
| 4:40 – 4:50 pm | Mr. Ajagbe Nathaniel: University of Maryland, College Park. Deciphering the Molecular Mechanisms of Abscisic Acid-dependent Gene Regulation in Plants |
| 4:50 – 5:05 pm | Presentation by ASPB Ambassadors and Immediate Past-President President Dr. Hong Ma. |
| 5:05 – 6:20 pm | Grant Development Workshop (convener: Dr. Vijay Tiwari and Dr. Pierre Jacob ) Panelists: POs from Federal Funding agencies |
| 6:30 – 9:00 pm | Reception dinner at Mulligan’s Grill and Pub for all registered attendees 3800 Golf Course Road, College Park, MD 20742 |
Day 2, May 28th |
|
| 8:30 – 9:00 am | Registration; light breakfast, set up presentations for Session IV |
| 9:00 – 9:05 am | Keynote speaker introduction: Dr. Shunyuan Xiao |
| 9:05 – 9:55 am | Keynote address – Dr. Roger Innes (Indiana University Bloomington) Leaf Surface RNA: How does it get there and what does it do? |
| 9:55 – 10:10 am | Coffee Break |
| 10:10 – 11:45 am | Session IV: Plant Development and Cell Biology (Session chairs: Drs. Jose Feijo and Evan Littleton) |
| 10:10 – 10:35 am | Dr. Wendy Ann Peer: University of Maryland, College Park. Title: Cytosolic- and membrane-localized oxidized indole-3-acetic acid formation regulates developmental auxin transients |
| 10:35 – 11:00 am | Dr. Gwonjin Lee: West Virginia State University. Adaptive Divergence of Meiotic Recombination Patterns in Maize Lineages from Distinct Climatic Origins |
| 11:00 – 11:25 am | Dr. Rakesh K Upadhyay: Bowie State University. Polyamine Metabolic Plasticity in Plants: A Key Player in Growth, Development and Stress |
| 11:25 – 11:35 am | Ms. Anmol Kajla: University of Maryland, College Park. Molecular Characterization of the Wheat C-locus Controlling Spike Architecture |
| 11:35 – 11:45 am | Ms. Eeshita Ghosh: University of Maryland, College Park. CorNIchon Homologue proteins regulate calcium signaling and root development in Arabidopsis thaliana |
| 11:45 – 12:30 pm | Lunch for all registered attendees |
| 12:30 – 1:50 pm | Poster Session: Even numbers (Set up presentations for Session V) |
| 1:50 – 3:00 pm | Career Development Workshop (convener: Dr. Daniel Rodriguez-Leal) Panelists: invited speakers and Dr. Murli Manohar and Dr. Derick Jiwan. |
| 3:00 – 5:20 pm | Session V: Botany, Ecology and Evolution (Session chairs: Dr. Caren Chang and Ms. Anmol Kajla) |
| 3:00 – 3:25 pm | Dr. Daniel Buonaiuto: University of Maryland. Sex-specific flowering responses to environmental cues: implications for plant fitness in a changing climate |
| 3:25 – 3:50 pm | Dr. Meghan Blumstein: University of Virginia. Eastern Temperate Forests’ Potential For Climate Adaptation |
| 3:50 – 4:15 pm | Dr. Eloisa Vendemiatti: West Virginia State University. Dissecting the Genetic Basis of Trichome-Mediated Defense in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) |
| 4:15 – 4:25 pm | Ms. Cindy Wang: University of Maryland, College Park. Identifying the genetic mechanisms controlling stomatal CO2 responses in the strawberry plant Fragaria vesca |
| 4:25 – 4:35 pm | Dr. Megha Sampangiramaiah: Indiana University. Extracellular RNA in and on Maize Leaves: A Hidden Layer Contributing to Microbiome Assembly |
| 4:35 – 4:50 pm | Coffee Break |
| 4:50 – 5:30 pm | Poster and Oral Presentation Awards (Ferdows Awards) |
| 5:30 PM | Concluding Remarks; Poster take-down and Departure |