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bacterioskeptic.bsky.social
Assistant Professor in Microbial Genomics (#microbiome, #pneumococci, #haemophilus). My views not UoB. Husband, dad, music miserablist and egg chasing.
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Fantasitic to see achievements of the brilliant Tash Theodosiou (not on here I think) from @unisouthampton.bsky.social finally in print! With @adamdale.bsky.social @dbogaert.bsky.social Prof. Rob Read, Prof. Chrissie Jones et al. Was a pleasure to be involved! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

My youngest son has decided he now supports Ireland … can’t say I blame him

New paper in @microbiologysociety.org Microbial Genomics Journal with collaborators in Malaysia examing 10 years of #Acinetobacter baumannii in a tertiary healthcare center www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

I’m not sure this is going to be Scotland’s first championship year #SCOvITA

New paper out today from the lab on Akkermansia muciniphila 🦠and how it breaks down host glycans! Very proud of my group, especially @cassiebakshani.bsky.social who did an amazing job. @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our mSCAPE project has been formally announced to the world by @smhopkins.bsky.social at #FOG2025 today: www.gov.uk/government/n... - a really exciting academic-public health collaboration to build a surveillance platform leveraging NHS metagenomic diagnostic data. @meerac.bsky.social

This will probably generate some backlash since there are important environmental, commensal, and pathogenic species in each group, but Gram-positive bacteria are just more talented, rather more charismatic, and simply better looking than Gram-negative bacteria

Happy blue monday everyone

I’m at my desk … now what?

Useful minireview outlining how little we really know about commensals in the context of microbiomes and disease journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Looks useful www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I quite like pneumococci being referred to as 'professional pathogens'. There's a lot to agree with in here ... www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Requires a change in assessment rather than tools to try and detect AI use. That genie isn’t going back in the bottle! www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

What are Friday evenings for if not dressing your dog up as an elf.

Bit of rugby … don’t mind if I do

Yesterday in the cocktail bar of the Burgh Island Hotel I met a very spry gentleman of 90 having a martini. I asked him the secret of his spryness. His advice was: 1. Don't eat too much 2. Do drink too much 3. Never wear jeans

I have three PhD studentships available currently through the MIBTP DTP warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... on different aspects of the respiratory microbiome, interaction with mucin with @lucyicm.bsky.social, the resistome with Dr Michelle Buckner and pathobionts with @bacterioskeptic.bsky.social

I have a funded PhD opportunity through MIBTP to look at pneumococci in adults with Dr Mike Cox (also check out two other projects with Mike and Prof. Joan Geoghegan on other respiratory pathobionts) link here: warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... Happy to be contacted with questions. Reposts appreciated 👍

Majestic puppy

Got to hand it the boks, a win even when playing below usual standard

We just released 8 new data wrangling tutorials for biologists! sandbox.bio/community/da... 💻 🧬

MIBTP PhD applications are now open! There are three associated with my lab.1) infant gut microbes and human milk oligosaccharides with @halllab.bsky.social 2) respiratory microbiome nutrition with Mike Cox 3) mucus-producing organoids with Amanda Rossiter! 🧪✨ warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...

PhD studentship alert!! Two projects available with me fully funded by BBSRC This one is a collaboration with Dr Michelle Buckner warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... And this one a collaboration with @overtonlab.bsky.social warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... Both will be lots of fun! Come & join us 😃

Our latest work is out in preprint in Access Microbiology www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

'Tis the season ... of UK research fellowship interviews! Here are some tips & tricks to help you prepare - featuring a list of 100(!) common Q&A questions elisagranato.com/how-to-apply...

For a bit of nostalgia from the other place … how long before we start calculating our Kardashian index

Darwinian Christmas

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the University of Birmingham, we are recruiting 100 Anniversary Fellows and 25 Anniversary Chairs fellowsandchairs.birmingham.ac.uk If you are interested to join our community of researchers in infection, inflammation and immunology, please DM me!

JOB CLAXON! I am recruiting a post-doctoral researcher on a BBSRC-funded project (36 months) on the genetics and functional genomics of vancomycin resistance in enterococci. Further details here: edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... Please DM or email me if you want to discuss this post.

On my way to Cambridge to the Microbiomes in Health and Disease conference. Mostly to plug the newly launched section in MGen of Metagenomics and Microbiomes microbiologysociety.org/news/full-ne...

New personal view article in The Lancet Microbe Integrating research on bacterial pathogens and commensals to fight infections—an ecological perspective www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #MicroSky #IDSky #OpenAccess #OA

I'm new here, so I'll share our recent work here too 😁🧫 Using Tn-seq + live imaging in engineered airway organoids, we explored the fitness tradeoffs P. aeruginosa faces while growing and surviving antibiotic treatment on the mucosal surface. Check it out: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #MicroSky

Should have stayed asleep

Please sign up, it will be fun! Open for all with an interest in AMR and genomics (in the UK and elsewhere). www.targetamr.org.uk (and please give @target-amr.bsky.social a follow!)

Ok, I'm handling a paper as an editor and I've hit 20 invites without luck. Anyone on here interested in reviewing an epi paper comparing COVID-19 and Flu ... please!

It's happening again! The next Analysing Microbial Genomic Data course (#AMGD25) in bioinformatically brilliant Birmingham is available - 5 days, hands-on, 17th March 25, beginners welcome www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Sunday morning jeopardy. Will she, won’t she?

New paper out in BMC Public Health on the MY-Pneumo study protocol - pneumococcal infections among children with pneumonia in Peninsular Malaysia bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Evolutionary dynamics of genome structure and content among closely related bacteria www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Interesting paper looking at bacterial evolution over ~100 years - in E. coli ST131. 1 structural change per 3 core genome SNPs.

New paper from me and lots of fantastic colleagues - Did COVID-19 lockdowns change carriage of other respiratory tract bacteria in children? Sort of. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...