Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting
Learn more about our annual meeting and ways you can get involved.
Annual Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting
Our growing appreciation of glycoscience and the role of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates in various biological processes and biomedical applications is quickly changing our research fields. The complexity and fast-moving nature of the field make it necessary for glycoscientists to come together and share new developments in the field, as well as to help introduce researchers to the field who have come across questions of glycoscience in their research.
The Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting is dedicated to bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines across the Mid-South region and beyond to discuss issues in glycoscience, foster collaborations, and learn new techniques and technologies. Featuring research highlights from regional researchers, distinguished external speakers, and experts in the field, the event is designed to be an accessible venue for researchers and trainees to share their work, network, and foster collaborations.
The meeting is sponsored by the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence (GlyCORE), the only dedicated glycoscience research center in the Mid-South region. Established in 2020, GlyCORE seeks to support and foster glycoscience within the Mid-South region, providing specialized instrumentation and expertise to support both dedicated glycoscientists and biomedical researchers whose research happens to intersect with glycoscience.
2025 Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting
Dr. Jarrod Barnes
Associate Professor of Medicine
Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Melanie Higgins
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
Dr. Jessica Amber Jennings
R. Eugene Smith Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Memphis
Dr. Carlito Lebrilla
Associate Professor of Medicine
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
UC Davis Health – School of Medicine
Meeting Venue: The registration desk opens at 7:45 a.m. CST in the Thad Cochran Research Center's atrium. All presentations will be in Room 1000.
Hotels: The Inn at Ole Miss is a short walk across the Grove from the meeting venue, and Visit Oxford, Mississippi has an extensive list of local hotels.
2025 Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting
8:00 a.m.
Welcome - Thomas Werfel
Session 1: Glycobiology in Health and Disease
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Jarrod Barnes
The Glycobiology of Pulmonary Disease: Convergent Mechanisms in Chronic Lung Disease
Pathogenesis
9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.
Emily Sekera
Exploring N-Linked Glycan Variations in Health and Disease Through Mass Spectrometry Imaging
9:20 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.
Hannah MacIntire-Ray
NEU3 as a Therapeutic Target against the Aberrant Mucus Defect in Muco-Obstructive Disease
9:40 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Saumya Digraskar
Heparan sulfate sulfation mediates α-synuclein pathology progression
10:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Break
Session 2: Chemical Glycobiology
10:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Melanie Higgins
Carbohydrate-active enzyme discovery
11:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
Nathan Williams
Isolation of Novel Sphingolipid Producers From the Order Sphingomonadales Using a PCR Screen
11:20 a.m. - 11:40 a.m.
Joelle Saad
Unveiling the role of ST6Gal1 mediated α2,6 sialylation in regulating metabolic shifts in glioblastoma: Insights into GLUT3 dynamics
11:40 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Eslam Elhanafy
Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms of Gating Regulation of N-Glycosylation on Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
12:00 p.m.
Lunch
12:40 p.m. - 1:40 p.m.
Poster Session
1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Carlito Lebrilla
Characterizing and Modulating Cell Membrane Glycosylation: Impacts on Cellular Function
Session 3: Glycomaterials and Analytical Techniques
2:45 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Amber Jennings
Modified Chitosan Biomaterials for Biofilm-based Infection Prevention and Treatment
3:30 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
Andie Tubbs
Berberine-Loaded Electrospun Chitosan Membranes Sustain Therapeutic Drug Release for hEDS Wound Care
3:50 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.
Quadrat Yusuph
Trifluoromethyl Carbohydrate Footprinting for Probing Protein Binding Components of Oligosaccharides Mixture
4:10 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Ajay Sharma
Inline Liquid Chromatography-Flash Oxidation for Structural Analysis of Dynamic Protein Ligand Complexes
4:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks - Thomas Werfel
Welcome,
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, Prof. Josh Sharp, the investigators, and the Core Directors of the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence, I look forward to welcoming you to the annual Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting at the University of Mississippi, scheduled for Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oxford, Mississippi. This conference will offer both in-person and virtual attendance options.
The Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting is intended to bring together glycoscientists from across the region to share their work, learn more about our broad and rapidly growing field, and start new ties and collaborations across disciplines. The Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting features research from investigators across our region and brings exciting scientists from across the country to share their work and insights. This meeting is hosted and sponsored by the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence (GlyCORE), the region’s only dedicated glycoscience research center. Established in 2020, GlyCORE houses staffed Research Cores with specialized instrumentation to support our group of glycoscience investigators at the University of Mississippi and glycoscientists across the Mid-South region.
The Organizing Committee intends for the Mid-South Glycoscience Meeting to be a collegial and welcoming event that supports existing glycoscientists across the region and serves as a useful introduction to the field for researchers and trainees. This year’s program will include researchers from many facets of glycoscience, from synthetic chemistry and glycomaterials to glycobiology.
We hope you find this year's program exciting, and we look forward to welcoming you in person or virtually to the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence on the beautiful University of Mississippi campus.
Thomas Werfel, Associate Director
Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence (GlyCORE)
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/dz7JG4dx1i6MndP58
Subission deadline: Monday, June 30, 2025
Submission eligibility: Submission must be glycoscience-related. All abstracts are subject to anonymous peer review and are selected solely based on academic quality.
• The presenting author must ensure that all co-authors are aware of the content of the abstract before submission.
• The presenting author must be listed as the first author and be a registered participant (free registration).
• The submitting author will receive all correspondence regarding the abstract, so we advise that the submitting author details entered are the same as those of the presenting author.
• The abstract should be submitted as a PDF file and uploaded via the link at the bottom of this page.
• The abstract text is limited to no more than 400 words and contain the following sections: Introduction, Methods, and Results. Abstracts should include no images.
• Abstracts accepted will be published in a booklet and made available for viewing through the GlyCORE website.
• Your abstract is not successfully submitted until you receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive an email within 24 hours, please contact us: kkballer@olemiss.edu
• Abstract alteration is not permitted after the abstract deadline of 6/30/2025.