Did a little experiment with Hannah and her friend from school: they collected some cheek cells from saliva and looked at them under the microscope. Their excitement when the cells came into view was priceless. A nice reminder that even simple experiments can sparkcuriosity. 🔬

This week’s family theme 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

PhD opportunity at LMU Munich 🇩🇪 Join our lab to study the molecular and cellular biology of Apicomplexan parasites, with a focus on the apical complex, motility regulation, and post-translational modifications. Apply: [email protected] job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/6...

📆 Join us for the scientific session of the ParaFrap Next Generation in Parasitology Workshop (May 18-21, 2026, Montpellier) ! 🧑‍🔬 Junior PIs will present their work. Registration is free but mandatory (includes lunch & coffee breaks). Spots are limited, register now! 👉 forms.gle/bYsb47iZG7pR...

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

🚨 Postdoc position 🚨 I’m moving back to Switzerland this summer to launch my lab at the University of Zurich and am recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow (start: late 2026). Details & application: jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie.... Please share! 😊

There are few emails better than one that says: “Happy to in principle accept your study for publication.” 🎉

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Let’s continue to support and celebrate them, and fight for equal opportunities for women in STEM! Shout-out to @shubhabevkal.bsky.social and @fra-florini.bsky.social! You’re the best! #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM

Joyful snow day!

🦠 Grad students & postdocs in parasitology: Apply now for the Biology of Parasitism (BoP): Modern Approaches course at @MBLScience. Hands-on labs, expert lectures, and cutting-edge tools. 📅 Summer 2026 | ⏰ Deadline Feb 5 🔗 mbl.edu/courses

New paper out ! Want to learn more about fascinating proteasome biology and Artemisinin resistance in Malaria parasites ? Check out our preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Publication alert! 🔔 Our recent work exploring how Plasmodium uses a Rad51 independent homologous recombination to diversify its var gene repertoire is now published in 🧬 Nucleic Acids Research! @oupprimary.bsky.social @narjournal.bsky.social Read more here. tinyurl.com/794brb6h

Repost for World #AMR Awareness Week. #AntimicrobialResistance ➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Exciting news!!
I’ve been awarded an #SNSFStartingGrant and will join the Institute of Parasitology, University of Zurich as an Assistant Professor in summer 2026.
A dream come true! 🥺

✨ Searching for extraterrestrial life or combating speech disorders: The SNSF is awarding #SNSFStartingGrants to 41 outstanding researchers. They will receive a maximum of CHF 1 million to lead a project with their own #research team at a Swiss university. 🚀 ℹ️ sohub.io/aq26

Save the date, next Cryptosporidium meeting in Edinburgh May 24-26, 2026. Register for email updates via the QR code below.

As an immigrant scientist in the U.S., travel bans and visa uncertainty are taking a toll | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

The parasitesrule site has an archive of abstract books from the Molecular Parasitology Meeting (MPM) & the Kinetoplastid Molecular Cell Biology Meeting (KMCB). The book from the first MPM (1990) is also there! 🔗 parasitesrule.com/archive

Our latest story on Clofazimine resistance in Cryptosporidium! What started as a side project turned into one of the most interesting stories. Genetics 101 😊 #Cryptosporidium #Apicomplexa #Clofazimine #AntimicrobialResistance #AMR #ParasiteResearch www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨 New paper out! 🚨 🧬 Parasite sex as a discovery tool — new insights into Cryptosporidium virulence! Huge thanks to my co-authors, collaborators & mentors 🙌 #Parasites #Cryptosporidium #Genetics #InfectiousDiseases #ForwardGenetics www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How many red flags more will it take?

Happy #SwissNationalDay 🇨🇭 Meanwhile, Trump just slapped 39% tariffs on Swiss goods. How am I supposed to keep up my essential intake of cheese and chocolate? 🧀🍫

No ERC Starting Grant this time 😔 7 great reviews — and 1 that… didn’t quite agree. Time to go all in for the SNSF Starting Grant! 💪🏼 Interview in September 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

“Coachella of molecular parasitologists” 😜

Just had my ERC Starting grant interview. Now the wait is on! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Here's the NIH's proposed budget - from $48 billion to $27 billion. NIAID, current ~$7 billion cut to ~$4.2 billion. The proposed 15% cap on indirect costs remains. Again, these budgets are passed, and our leadership in science, technology, and innovation is gone. www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul...

Genetic crosses reveal genomic loci responsible for virulence in Cryptosporidium parvum infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.20.655157v1

🚨 Preprint Alert 🚨 We performed genetic crosses between phenotypically different Cryptosporidium strains and identified genomic loci responsible for their differences! #Cryptosporidium #Genomics #Parasitology #InfectiousDiseases #Preprint #BioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨Out now! scRNA-seq reveals transcriptional plasticity of var gene expression in Plasmodium falciparum for host immune avoidance by @fra-florini.bsky.social @kirkdeitsch.bsky.social #MicroSky #Plasmodium 🦠🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very happy to congratulate @fra-florini.bsky.social and Joe Visone for the publication of their recent work on antigenic variation by malaria parasites: rdcu.be/emjbn and an earlier version here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Francesca will present some of this work next week at BioMalPar 2025.

Please consider applying for a post doc in our lab if you have bioinformatics and wet lab skills, and are interested in parasites! elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Two toddlers in a sandbox, flinging toys at each other because one wouldn’t share a shovel — each tantrum louder than the last, while the whole playground suffers from the mess.

Had a wonderful time in New York attending Joe’s defense (he rocked it!) and seeing my PhD buddies Francesca and Shubha and many more 😍

On my way back to Philadelphia after an amazing two-week trip! Spent time with family & friends in Switzerland, then headed to Würzburg for a joint parasitology meeting—caught up with old friends and made new ones. Great science, great people!

I wouldn’t sprint like it’s the Olympics for free food after a seminar.

Presented my work at the Joined Parasitology Spring Meeting in Wurzburg today! 😍

Stupidest way to waste money and undermine science in one go 💵 🚮 www.reuters.com/business/hea...

How many more red flags does it need?

Today I decided that my car wasn’t getting the mileage I wanted, so I put on a blindfold, took my socket wrench, and started randomly removing parts from the engine and throwing them away. Just kidding, I didn’t do that, because it would have been stuoid and counter-productive

Applying for a grant, pouring in hours of work, and then seeing that “You made it to the second round” email! 😍🥳🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 #StepByStep

The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.

🚨 Three weeks until the big Joint #Parasitology Spring Meeting 2025 with the BSP, SSTMP, and DGP!! 🚨 - 𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 - Würzburg, Germany - Website at parasitology-meeting.de - Registration at tinyurl.com/3x32vycr #parasitology

Switzerland, I miss you more than ever right now… www.bmj.com/content/388/...

#TobRegSky #PedSky #MedSky #EpiSky #addictionsci #policysky #polisky #PCCM 🧪🛟 March 7, 2025, DC and state capitals ! standupforscience2025.org #standupforscience2025 #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

Super excited to go to Wurzburg in March to present my work on genetic crosses and virulence in Cryptosporidium! 😍 #parasitesrule

Go Birds!!! 🦅

Tired of pooping in solitude? Have a kid.