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Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

20th Midwest Carbohydrate and Glycobiology Symposium (MCGS 2025)

Friday, October 3 - Saturday October 4, 2025
Wolfe Hall, UToledo Main Campus, Toledo, OH

We are pleased to announce the 20th Annual Midwest Carbohydrate & Glycobiology Symposium (MCGS 2025) is being organized and hosted by Peter Andreana, Steve Sucheck and Jianglong Zhu from The University of Toledo, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The symposium will feature an exciting lineup of invited speakers and events highlighting advances across the fields of carbohydrates and glycobiology.

Registration is now open!

The deadline to submit a poster abstract is September 19, 2025. 

Please register and submit abstract here: MCGS 2025 registration form 

Current list of confirmed speakers

We are pleased to announce the following confirmed speakers:

Additional speakers will be announced soon.

History

The MCGS was started in 2005 by Xuefei Huang (Michigan State) and Steven Sucheck (UToledo). Since then, the symposium has been hosted by numerous institutions across the Midwest, including:

Central Michigan University, Cleveland State University, Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin, Washington University in St. Louis and Wayne State University.

Contact the Organizers

For questions or additional information, please contact via email:
Jianglong Zhu at jianglong.zhu@utoledo.edu or
Peter Andreana at peter.andreana@utoledo.edu

Location/Parking

Symposium Venue

The symposium will take place in:

Wolfe Hall, Room WO1201
Campus Map (PDF)
Address: 3100 W Towerview Blvd, Toledo, OH 43606

Parking

Upon arrival, please utilize Lot 13, adjacent to Wolfe Hall and Bowman-Oddy (3100 W Towerview Blvd, Toledo, OH 43606).

  • Daily Rate: $5.95 for a "C" permit (Lot 13 is a “C” lot).
  • Hourly Rates: $1.30–$2.40 per hour, payable via the ParkMobile app or at the kiosk in the lot.
  • Advance Purchase: Daily "C" lot passes may be purchased through the ParkUToledo Visitor Parking Portal.

Important: Your license plate is your parking permit. Plates are scanned by drive-by scanners. License plates must face the drive aisle or vehicles will be ticketed.

Accommodations

Several hotels are within a short drive of the UToledo's Main Campus. Discounted rates for University visitors are available (at some hotels):

View Preferred Hotels and Discount Codes

mcgs logo

Symposium Program

Friday, Oct 3, 2025

  • 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm: Registration and Poster Setup (Lobby outside WO1201) 

Session 1. Chair: Steven J. Sucheck

  • 5:30 pm – 5:40 pm: Introductory remarks by Professor Xuefei Huang, Michigan State University and Professor Steven Sucheck, The University of Toledo
  • 5:40 pm – 5:45 pm: Dr. Marc Seigar, Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, The University of Toledo
  • 5:45 pm – 5:50 pm: Dr. F. Scott Hall, Interim Vice President for Research, The University of Toledo
  • 5:50 pm – 6:15 pm: Invited Lecture by Professor Hien M. Nguyen, Wayne State University
    • “Chemical Approaches to Hydrophobic Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides for Studying Their Interactions with Heparin-Binding Proteins”
  • 6:15 pm – 6:30 pm: Oral Presentation by Natalie Condino, University of Guelph
    • “Promoting anomerization of N-acetyl glucosamine glycosides with a dibromomethane and dimethylformamide”
  • 6:30 pm – 6:45 pm: Oral Presentation by Faranak Pooladian, Saint Louis University
    • “Streamlined chemical synthesis of fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides”
  • 6:45 pm – 6:55 pm: Intermission

Session 2. Chair: Hien Nguyen

  • 6:55 pm – 7:10 pm: Oral Presentation by Rama Banjara, University of Toledo
    • “Stereoselective Synthesis of 2,3-Diamino-2,3-dideoxy-B-D-mannosides Via Cs2CO3-mediated Anomeric O-Alkylation”
  • 7:10 pm – 7:30 pm: Oral Presentation by Dr. Krishnakant Patel, Anatrace Products LLC
    • “An Insight on Necessary Tools for Membrane Protein Studies”
  • 7:30 pm – 7:55 pm: Invited Lecture by Professor Nicola Pohl, Indiana University Bloomington
    • “AI, Automation and Carbohydrate Chemistry”
  • 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Dinner reception at Room 2592, Lancelot Thompson Student Union

Saturday, Oct 4, 2025

  • 8:00 am – 9:00 am: Continental Breakfast and Poster Viewing

Session 3. Chair: Nikki Pohl

  • 9:00 am – 9:25 am: Invited Lecture by Dr. Joseph Barchi, National Cancer Institute
    • “Anti Tumor Immunotherapeutic Design Based on Mucin Glycopeptides”
  • 9:25 am – 9:45 am: Oral Presentation by Dr. Geraud Valentin, The University of Toledo
    • “Click Chemistry for the Assembly of Entirely Carbohydrate-based Vaccines”
  • 9:45 am – 10:05 am: Oral Presentation by Dr. Xingling Pan, Michigan State University                          
    • “Synthesis and Immunological Evaluation of the Lipopolysaccharide Outer Core of Salmonella for Potential Broad-Spectrum Protection against Multiple Salmonella Serovars”
  • 10:05 am – 10:30 am: Invited Lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Gildersleeve, National Cancer Institute
    • “Multiplexed Anti-Glycan Antibody Discovery Using DNA-Barcoded Neoglycoproteins Coupled with Single Cell Sequencing”
  • 10:30 am – 10:45 am: Intermission

Session 4. Chair: Xue-Long Sun

  • 10:45 am – 11:10 am: Invited Lecture by Professor Pavel Nagorny, University of Michigan
    • “Selective glycosylation in synthesis and medicinal chemistry exploration of natural products”
  • 11:10 am – 11:25 am: Oral Presentation by Morgan Mayieka, Michigan State University
    • “Expediting the synthesis of heparan sulfate oligosaccharide mimetics”
  • 11:25 am – 11:40 am: Oral Presentation by April Tapayan, Wayne State University                                   
    • “Leveraging Cell-Surface Sugar Mimicry to Target and Understand the Relationship of Proteins Implicated in Alzheimer's Disease”
  • 11:40 am – 12:05 pm: Invited Lecture by Dr. Leila Aminova, Midwest Bioprocessing Center
    • “Enzymatic Conversion of Chitin to Valuable Products Using Thermophilic Enzymes”
  • 12:05 pm – 12:30 pm: Invited Lecture by Professor James Janetka, Washington University in St. Louis
    • “Lectin antagonists as antibiotic sparing antibacterials”
  • 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm:  Lunch and Poster Viewing

Session 5 Chair: Pavel Nagorny

  • 1:30 pm – 1:55 pm:    Invited Lecture by Professor Anthony Serianni, University of Notre Dame
    • “MA’AT Analysis, NMR Strong Coupling, and Substituent Effects on Probability Distributions of ψ in O-Glycosidic Linkages”
  • 1:55 pm – 2:10 pm:    Oral Presentation by Ankur Ankur, Michigan State University
    • “Polymorphic α-Glucans as Structural Scaffolds in Cryptococcus Cell Walls for Chitin, Capsule, and Melanin”
  • 2:10 pm – 2:25 pm:    Oral Presentation by Umesha Kumbalathara, The University of Toledo
    • “Carbohydrate mimetics in inhibiting mycobacterial trehalose-6-phosphate-phosphatase (TPP) enzyme”
  • 2:25 pm – 2:50 pm:    Invited Lecture by Professor Xue-Long Sun, Cleveland State University
    • “Profiling and Modulating Cellular Sialylation and Desialylation”
  • 2:50 pm – 3:15 pm:    Invited Lecture by Professor Michael Held, Ohio University
    • “Self-assembly of plant cell wall extensin glycoproteins using atomic force microscopy”
  • 3:15 pm – 3:30 pm: Intermission

Session 6 Chair: Xuefei Huang

  • 3:30 pm – 3:55 pm: Invited Lecture by Professor Brian Cobb, Case Western Reserve University
    • “Vascular Contributions to IgG Function”
  • 3:55 pm – 4:10 pm: Oral Presentation by Oseni Kadiri, Wayne State University
    • “GlycoID2: A Next-Generation Chemical Probe for Decoding O-GlcNAc-Mediated Signaling in Live Cells”
  • 4:10 pm – 4:35 pm: Invited Lecture by Professor Katherine Ann Wall, The University of Toledo
    • “Design of a Broadly Protective Synthetic Conjugate Vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa”
  • 4:35 pm – 5:05 pm: Keynote Speaker Professor Zhongwu Guo, University of Florida
    •  “Synthesis and Biological Studies of GPIs and GPI-Anchored Proteins”
  • 5:05 pm – 5:20 pm: Meeting of the Principal Investigators
  • 5:20 pm: Award Ceremony and Concluding Remarks

Poster Presentations

Poster viewing: Saturday, Oct 4th, 8:00 am – 9:00 am; 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Poster

#

Last Name

First Name

Organization

Poster Title

1

Aboagye

Caleb

Wayne State University

Developing OGT inhibitors - A pathway to mitigate Triple Negative Breast Cancer tumorigenesis

2

Alwis

Vindula

Michigan State University

Investigating mQβ-PNAG Conjugates as a Promising Antigen for Next-Generation Vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus

3

Akter

Momota

Michigan State University

Chemical Synthesis of Enterobacterial Common Antigen (ECA) toward a Vaccine Against Enterobacteriaceae

4

Appuarachchige

Bhagya

Wayne State University

Effects of protein glycosylation on cell metabolism

5

Ayodele

Abigail

Wayne State University

CRISPR Gene Editing: A key to unlocking O-GlcNAc Effects

6

Balboa

Steven

Wayne State University

Designing sugar probes to study time-based effects of metabolic flux in cells

7

Damico

Alessandra

Saint Louis University

Modulating Glycosylation Selectivity in 2-Azido Aminosugar Donors through OPico Group Positioning

8

Das

Pratim

Michigan State University

Synthesis of a library of heparan sulfate like oligosaccharides for structure and activity relationship studies

9

Debnath

Debkumar

Michigan State University

Molecular Insights into Boron-Deficient Rose Cell Wall Revealed by Solid-State NMR

10

El Hariri El Nokab

Mustapha

Michigan State University

Tuning Alginate and Pectin Hydrogels: Effects of Solution Viscosity and Crosslinking Ions Revealed by Solid-State NMR and Rheology

11

Fan

Fei

Michigan State University

Distinguishing Binding to Hyaluronan Receptors via Combinatorial Synthesis of a Hyaluronan Based Polysaccharide Library from Ugi Reactions

12

Gao

Lei

Michigan State University

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of 9NHAc-GD2 Antigen for Anticancer Conjugate Vaccine Development

13

Gautam

Isha

Michigan State University

Structural Elucidation and Remodeling of Fungal Cell Walls and Responses to Antifungal Drugs Elucidating Using Solid-State NMR

14

Ghorai

Jayanta

Wayne State University

An Efficient Stereo- and Chemoselective Glycosylation as a Tool for Enhancing Bioactive Peptide Potency

15

Gulewicz

Andrew

Wayne State University

Development of Aminoglycoside-based Therapeutics to Treat Glioblastoma

16

Hall*

Melanie

Central Michigan University

Increasing the scale and scope of the chemoenzymatic synthesis of trehalose using mCherry-tagged trehalose synthase variants

17

Hetzler

Hailey

The University of Toledo

Applications of Marine Product Cyclomarin A and Analogues in the Inhibition of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis GlgE

18

Hill

Megan

The Ohio State University

Oligosaccharide Structure Dictates Cross-feeding Interactions Between Bacteroides and Bifidobacteria

19

Hoard

Daniel

Saint Louis University

Breaking the Reactivity Trend with Cooperatively- Catalyzed (4K) Reaction

20

Hoshiyar

Kourosh

Michigan State University

Synthesis of a Tetrasaccharide Arm of the Lipo-oligosaccharide Antigen Determinant of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

21

Hudson

Brody

Saint Louis University

Novel Syntheses Involving Aminosugars

22

Jacob

Anand

Michigan State University

α-Glucan remodeling by GH13-domain enzymes shapes fungal cell wall architecture

23

Jose

Joe

Indiana University Bloomington

Development of Automated Flow Methods for Birch Reduction with Application to the O-Debenzylation of Carbohydrates

24

Kabutey

Clinton

Central Michigan University

Synthesis and evaluation of triazole-linked trehalose mycolate analogues as inhibitors of glycolipid metabolism in mycobacteria

25

Kasubski*

Andrew

The University of Toledo

Intermolecular Aziridination Using Carbohydrate-Derived Sulfamates

 

26

Koralage

Rangika

Wayne State University

Understanding the Relationship of Heparanase (HPSE) Overexpression and p-Tau Driven Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Modulation by HS Mimetics

27

Kosgahakumbura

Lakmini

Wayne State University

Structure-Based Optimization of Lablaboside F Derivatives for Enhanced Solubility and TLR4/MD2-Mediated Immune Modulation

28

Krug*

Jack

Indiana University Bloomington

Continuous Automated Synthesis of Mannose 1,2-Methyl Orthoacetate Building Blocks

29

Kumar

Prashant

Indiana University Bloomington

Continuous Flow Synthesis of Mannose Building Blocks and Development of a Low-Cost Automated Platform

30

Leonard

Garry

Wayne State University

Metabolic advantage begets more metabolic in advantage in ovarian cancer sialylation based fatty acid metastatic niche

 

31

Lin

Chun-Yi

Michigan State University

Synthesis of a library of heparan sulfate-like oligosaccharides for structure and activity relationship studies

32

Mahmud

Idris

Indiana University Bloomington

Challenges in the Automated Continuous Flow Synthesis of D-Fucose Building Blocks

 

33

Mensah

Caleb

Central Michigan University

Synthesis of labeled phosphatidylinositolmannoside (PIM) fragments to probe glycolipid synthesis and transport processes in mycobacteria

34

Mullendore*

Andreus

Indiana University Bloomington

Recombinant Expression and Purification of Hyperthermophilic Transketolases

35

Murali

Yuvarani

Michigan State University

Investigating mQβ-PNAG Conjugates as a Promising Antigen for Next-Generation Vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus

 

36

Nakisa

Athar

Michigan State University

Development of Anti-CA 19-9 Monoclonal Antibody Using Qβtm-CA 19-9 Conjugate

 

37

Nasir

Mohsin

Ohio University

Heteroxylan biosynthesis in rice: In silico co-expression, genetic, and protein-protein interaction approaches

38

Nawaz

Samia

Ohio University

Elucidating the role of TaVER2 and Rice orthologs in Xylan biosynthesis

39

Nishat

Shahnaz

Michigan State University

Semi-Syntheses of Homogenous Glyoprein Mimetics by Remodeling Proteoglycans

40

Oates*

Molly

Indiana University Bloomington

Dataset Design for Building Predictive Models of Carbohydrate Separations by HPLC: Maximizing model accuracy with limited experimental data

41

Oswald

Olivia

Wayne State University

Interplay between Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 and O-GlcNAc in Type 2 Diabetes

42

Philip

Livia

Wayne State University

Rational Design of Sulfated Aminoglycosides as Selective Heparanase Inhibitors for Multiple Myeloma

43

Poudel

Madhav

The University of Toledo

Regioselective ring opening of cyclopropylmethylidene with trimethylaluminum: Synthesis of 1-cyclopropyl ether as an acid labile hydroxyl protecting group

44

Pychowycz*

Morgan

Cleveland State University

Sialidase Expression and Desialylation of THP-1 Monocytes and Macrophages Upon LPS Activation

 

45

Ramezani

Nima

Michigan State University

Synthetic Partially N-Acetylated Oligoglucosamines to Produce Conjugate Vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus

46

Ranasinghe

Yohara

Michigan State University

Solid-State NMR Insights into Cell Wall Carbohydrate Remodeling during Aspergillus fumigatus Conidial Germination

47

Rosenglick

Nadine

The University of Toledo

Proposed Synthesis of Aminooxy GD2 and GD2-PS A1 Glycoconjugate for Monoclonal Antibody Production

48

Sahu

Priya

Michigan State University

Precursor-Specific Lignin Biosynthesis in Grasses and Its Implications for Carbohydrate–Lignin Crosslinking Revealed by Solid-State NMR

49

Sanduski*

Andi

Indiana University Bloomington

Dataset Design for Building Predictive Models of Carbohydrate Separations by HPLC: Feature Choice to Link with Molecules and Experiments

50

Singh

Kalpana

Michigan state University

Distinct echinocandin responses of Candida albicans and Candida auris cell walls revealed by solid-state NMR

51

Sutar

Yogesh

Saint Louis University

HPLC-based automation of glycan synthesis

52

To

Vi

Central Michigan University

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of 2,2-difluorotrehalose, a novel trehalose analogue and possible inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

53

Ullah

Atique

Michigan State University

Plasmonic Glyco-Nanoparticles for Single-Test Multiplexed Detection and Differentiation of Cancer Cells

54

Vithanage

Tharuka

Wayne State University

Inhibition of heparanase as a therapeutic approach for Triple-negative breast cancer: Mechanistic insights from an aminoglycoside-based inhibitor

55

Vojvodin

Cameron

Michigan State University

Structural Characterization of Organic Molecules and Water Phases in Biological Solids using 17O Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

56

Wang

Junzhe

Wayne State University

Therapeutic Potential of Sulfated and Hydrophobic Paromomycin Ligands for Type Ⅰ Diabetes under the Challenge of Upregulated Heparanase

57

Wiley*

Corbin

Cleveland State University

Synthesis and Characterization of Chondroitin Sulfate Isoforms

58

Zhang

Yunqin

Michigan State University

Towards the total synthesis of 2C7 epitopes from Neisseria gonorrhoeae for the development of a carbohydrate-based gonococcal vaccine

* denotes undergraduate students

Many thanks to our generous sponsors!

  • U.S. Advisory Committee for the International Carbohydrate Symposia (USACICS): Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Division of Cellulose and Renweable Materials
  • ACS Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Chemical Glycobiology
  • The University of Toledo
  • The University of Toledo Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
  • The University of Toledo Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
  • CDD Vault: Collaborative Drug Discovery
  • Fina Biosolutions, LLC
  • Organic Synthesis
  • Carl and Mary Johnson Family Foundation

 

Last Updated: 10/3/25