UT Public Health Coalition Seminar Series

Shelley M. Payne, Ph.D. | Director, LaMontagne Center for Infectious Disease, Dept. of Molecular Biosciences at UT Austin | Dr. Shelley Payne is the director of the LaMontagne Center for Infectious Disease with UT Austin’s Department of Molecular Biosciences.  Her lab is examining genetics and regulation of iron acquisition systems and other virulence factors of Shigella and Vibrio species. These iron transport systems are of interest because the ability of potential pathogens to acquire iron from the host is an important determinant of microbial virulence. Iron is required for growth of bacteria, but little free iron is available in mammalian hosts. Many bacteria have been found to secrete high affinity iron-binding compounds, or siderophores, which may function to remove iron from host proteins and make it available to the microorganism for growth in vivo.

J. Mark Eddy, Ph.D. | Departments of Educational Psychology and Kinesiology & Health Education within the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin | Professor J. Mark Eddy is a prevention scientist, developing and rigorously testing prevention and intervention programs intended to benefit children and families, and particularly those who are living in stressful circumstances. His recent work centers on the conduct of randomized controlled trials of multimodal interventions in partnership with school systems, the juvenile justice system, the adult corrections system, the child welfare system, and the military, as well as with nonprofits that work with these and related systems. His research has focused on communities in the U.S. and in Central America. Eddy is a licensed psychologist.