Folks, I have a birthday coming up, when you think of me, please reach into your pocket and donate something to the appropriate cancer charity close to you. It’s lovely to receive cards and presents, but I would prefer you to give your hard earned cash to something more worthwhile! Many thanks!

Congrats to MCID members Georgia Salanti and @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social who are named among this year’s Highly Cited Researchers! Their work ranks in the top 1% by citations, highlighting sustained excellence and wide-ranging impact. @ispm.unibe.ch @medfacultyunibe.bsky.social @unibe.ch

www.20min.ch/story/klimaw... #BEready Vektoren ahoi! Vektoren? Bei #BEready dabei sein uns etwas lernen! www.beready.unibe.ch/mitmachen/te... (Das Bild zeigt übrigens nicht die bei uns am häufigsten vorkommende Ixodes scapularis)

On #OneHealthDay, we’re proud to support #OneHealth by recognising the links between human, animal & ecosystem health. Our work spans disciplines tackling infectious diseases, zoonoses, ethics, policy & pandemic preparedness. Collaboration is key! 🌍🤝 🔗 www.mcid.unibe.ch @unibe.ch

At Nacht der Forschung, the MCID had the pleasure to host the INPUT team from the ISPM. Throughout the evening, they ran a full-scale pandemic game with the crowd. The evening turned into a living lab, check out the results here:- 👉 tinyurl.com/ye8hsyzr @unibe.ch

Welcome back from the summer break! 🌞 The 11th edition of The SPREAD is out now. 🔹 Research on Tropical Theileriosis 🔹 Why syndromic surveillance matters for wildlife health 🔹 How machine learning is helping discover new antimicrobials 🔹 Meet our MCID-funded PhD students: Mike and Martin

A couple of times a week, I wander from the Vetsuisse over to @mcid-unibe.bsky.social HQ. I try to take a different route each time as the Länggasse quarter is full of interesting buildings and sights. Passed this gentleman in front of the @unibe.ch main building the other day!

Quite a few weeks of hard work cumulated in the “Nacht der Forschung” last Saturday. Thrilled that Jessie also came to help! She was a wiz with the face paints and tattooing! These outreach events are so important and proves if you make science accessible people are genuinely interested!

Preprint by the Thiel, Heller&Chao labs w/1st author Reto Lang "Stress granules formed during different RNA virus infections show remarkable plasticity &substantial virus-specific differences in their formation&composition" @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social buff.ly/vU7Tdg6 @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social

Really thought provoking talk from @philippmarkolin.bsky.social today at the scientific communication workshop organised by @veflu.bsky.social at the vetsuisse faculty. Given me loads to think about for my own role in making science more accessible with the @mcid-unibe.bsky.social! @unibe.ch

MCID is back at Nacht der Forschung 🎉 on Sat 6 Sept 2025! Fun for all ages: 🎨 Face painting + “Make Your Own Pathogen” | 🎯 Klatsch die Bakterie | 🖼️ Interactive posters | 🦠 Pandemic Control Centre | 🕷️ BEready – take “a close look at ticks”! ⚖️Ethical dilemmas Come say hi! #ndfunibern @unibe.ch

🎉 Big shoutout to our MCID Bern-funded PhD students who shone at the 20th GCB Symposium @unibe.ch! They wowed us with posters, talks & flash presentations, showcasing not just cutting-edge science but passion & dedication to their research 👏 Congrats to all! Keep up the good work!

A great day!

The next publication from our team @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social is now hot off the press showing the safety of our live attenuated vaccine against SARS-Cov-2. It’s always a pleasure to work with Martin Beer’s team from FLI Reims. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Issue #10 of The SPREAD is hot off the press! 📰✨ This one’s got bite (🦟) — from dodging tick bites, to Giardia’s sneaky protein secrets, plus a spotlight on more of our brilliant MCID PhD students 🎓 Dive in here 👉 shorturl.at/XrYw1 @unibe.ch #MCID #TheSPREAD #Ticks #Giardia #InfectiousDisease

Great discussions in Prague at the 2nd #PanViPrep meeting. @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social shared updates on our MERS and seasonal CoVs research while I talked about EU compliance in ethics and animal welfare. We also found the Prague “Zytglögge”. What a great city!

@mcid-unibe.bsky.social and IVI welcomed the Swiss Klub für Wissenschaftsjournalismus. @profvolkerthiel.bsky.social kicked off with an intro to the MCID, followed by the @bereadycohort.bsky.social study, an IVI spotlight, and rounded off with a lively Q&A session. #ScienceJournalism @unibe.ch

🌍#Research thrives on openness and global cooperation. 🔎 Laure Ognois, Head of International #Cooperation at the SNSF, discusses how policymakers must balance openness and security to keep #Swiss researchers connected while safeguarding research integrity. 👉

Good to see you are having fun as well as doing the science thing…..just slightly jealous as I am keeping things ticking over in Bern in your absence!

Many people were also interested in the #tick and #BEready today. #BEA

Well done team, that’s quite the journey! Enjoy the science!

How the #PandemicAccord makes the world safer from future pandemics: All that you need to know.⤵️

A first step forward in building a global solution for pandemic preparedness was agreed on yesterday. When we’re aligned and ready to work together, we’re already in a better position. Better research, diagnostics, and smarter preparedness tools can only stand us in good stead for future challenges.

Bacterial and viral pathogens dominate public health discussions, but fungal infections also pose a threat. The latest WHO report highlights critical gaps in diagnostics and therapeutics—and the urgent need for innovation in mycology-focused R&D. #InfectiousDiseases #FungalInfections #GlobalHealth

Maternal health in Africa: there’s progress, but challenges remain 🚨 The region bears a disproportionate burden of maternal mortality, counting for 70% of global maternal deaths in 2023. bit.ly/42cK1VT

An inspiring and timely article in @uk.theconversation.com written by @waspwoman.bsky.social about our need to develop a #nature-literate society. 🐝

Week one as the new Communication Officer for the MCID….exciting times ahead! Can’t wait to share the cool science we are involved in. @mcid-unibe.bsky.social @unibe.ch 🧬🔬🧫🦠

Gift article about why it is a TERRIBLE idea to let H5N1 spread on farms, because it will 1. kill the birds 2. make them suffer 3. provide more opportunities for mutation 4. be a disaster to clean up because they would just be leaky feathered H5N1 bombs. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h...

A generation of scientists could be lost through the axing of various programs designed to help young people find a path into basic and applied research. www.science.org/content/arti...

At Kursaal Bern on #Dreikoenigstag Showcasing how #Philanthropy supports research and innovation @unibern.bsky.social Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases and @BEreadycohort (Stiftung Vinetum) Wyss Center for Research on Nature Diabetes Center Bern (Willy Michel)

📣 As of January 2025, researchers in Switzerland can participate in (almost all) calls for proposals of Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme. This means that they can submit project proposals in the role of coordinator. 🧪🧬🔬🔭 www.horizon-europe.ch #HorizonEurope #Science #Innovation

How did we get here, with a prominent anti-vaxxer nominated to lead Health and Human Services, with its $1.7T budget? Much of it can be traced to this retracted 1998 paper, falsely linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism. 1/3

Cumulation of a couple of years of work, great to be part of the team along with the folks from FLI www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It's been quite a week for the Thiel team. Another publication is unleashed on the world, this time its working on feline coronaviruses. Great work Kim and really happy I was able to contribute to this study! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

SARS-CoV-2 biology and host interactions www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Not a bad start to the year, our review article has been published today www.nature.com/articles/s41... Also perfect timing as we were able to have a double celebration as Silvio had organised an apero as he is moving on to pastures new in industry. It's been a pleasure working with you Silvio!