NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by race drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/03/19/n...

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

The CspC:CspA heterodimer transduces germinant and co-germinant signals during Clostridioides difficile spore germination dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

This Friday, February 13th, we'll have our first ☕️ Coffee Hours ☕️ event of the year at 12-1 PM (EST)! Check your emails for the Zoom link. If you're not yet signed up for our newsletter, you can do so at prideinmicrobiology.github.io! 🏳️‍🌈 #PrideInSTEM #Microbiology #PrideinMicrobiology

Do you: 1) Live near/in Buffalo? 2) Like to organize stuff? 3) Hate what the government is doing to science? If you answered yes, help me organize the Stand Up for Science rally on March 7th! I need reps from UB, Buff State, Canisius, D’Youville to spread the word. I need general support. DM me!

Postdoc position available in my lab! Project will focus on how the microbiome-derived metabolite butyrate shapes C. difficile fitness and pathogenesis & will build on our previous/ongoing work in this space. Apply here: hr.wisc.edu/postdoc-and-...

Very cool analysis of sporulation genes in the Paenibacillaceae from the @heatherfeaga.bsky.social group! 🤩

rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

We are hiring postdocs :)

Unlike other #bacteria, C. difficile must detect both germinant & co-germinant signals to trigger #spore #germination. This study finds that the CspC:CspA complex is a key signaling node that integrates environmental cues to regulate #Cdifficile spore germination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rtCKdZ

My department at Washington State University is recruiting an Assistant or Associate Professor in vector-borne disease 🕷️🦟🦠 Full job description is linked below. Come join us on the Palouse!

📢 🏳️🌈🦠 We are expanding our matching program for 2SLGBTQIA+ microbiologists! Whether you need a mentor, a collaborator, or community support, we can help you. 🔗 Mentorship & Geo-matching: tinyurl.com/5cdyppys 🔗 Research Interest Groups: tinyurl.com/4p88bm4k #Microbiology #QueerInSTEM

You may have voted for him. You may have supported what he said Operation Metro Surge was going to be. But it’s okay to say you changed your mind. It’s okay to say he’s gone too far.

Can’t do good science in an unfree country. Defund ICE.

Donald Trump and Kristi Noem think you will believe them over your own eyes. No. Alex Pretti wasn't a terrorist. He was a VA nurse. When agents pushed a woman to the ground, he tried to help her up. His last words were “Are you okay?” Enough. Kristi Noem should resign.

Like many of you, I have seen this video, and I'm demanding answers. My team has reached out to ICE repeatedly and have yet to get clear answers. [1/2]

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….

Once it became clear that an ICE agent could commit murder in broad daylight with no consequences except the VPOTUS defending him with no heed to the facts and instead vilifying and prosecuting the victim, we opened the door to roving death squads. But there is no statute of limitations for murder.

Unreal. Are witnesses being detained by ICE now? Where are the witnesses??

ABOLISH 👏🏼 DEFUND 👏🏼 IMPEACH 👏🏼 WTF is happening Cuban Detainee in El Paso ICE Facility Died by Homicide, Autopsy Shows www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

Are you a graduate student or postdoc who wants to apply your science to policy? The Gulf Research Program’s Science Policy Fellowship provides experience for one year on the staff of federal, state, local, NGO in the Gulf region and impt networking. www.nationalacademies.org/programs/GUL...

A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

And check out the accompanying paper from the Grangeasse lab: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Now online @natmicrobiol.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Calling all postdoctoral women scientists in microbiology! We're here to support you; receive up to $2,000 to travel to a meeting, visit another laboratory or take a course to enhance your research skills. Check eligibility and apply now: asm.social/2Jh

indeed, 𝘙𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘻𝘢𝘦 looke like fusilli, which are notably better at holding on salsa di pomodoro than spaghetti... and as pasta addicts, we fell instantly in love with the shape of this newly described alphaproteo from the Rhizobiales 🤭 #MicroSky

There's just over 2 weeks left to apply for a fully funded PhD studentship with us working on C. difficile vancomycin resistance. Two more studentships - linked in the thread below - close in early January

Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. " www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

The 5th of 6 faculty positions in UNC Biology is posted. We're working with the @ncbg.bsky.social to fill a joint position as Director of the UNC Herbarium at @ncbg.bsky.social and as Associate Professor within the Department of Biology (BIOL). Please share 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...

Excited to share my latest postdoctoral work in the Shen Lab at Tufts! In this study, we follow up on an exciting finding by former grad student @shailab.bsky.social that C diff uses its Class A PBP (PBP1) to drive cell division (unlike previously studied bacteria)! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Friendly reminder: 🎉 Pre-register today & get ready to join our FREE online celebration. Everyone is welcome. To keep #BlackInMicro alive Donate: tinyurl.com/GiveBiM and Register to attend: linktr.ee/BlackInMicro#BlackInMicro(see links in bio) #BiMWeek2025

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro 2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute 3) Center for Vaccine Research 🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...

Fantastic meeting! Heard about SO MUCH groundbreaking work and met so many incredible people! Such a great community 😃

Rich Losick’s Farewell Publication Reexamines a Molecular Biology Milestone 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @craigphunter.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardmagazine.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social

Analysis of essential genes in Clostridioides difficile by CRISPRi and Tn-seq | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

NEW: Don't ask too many questions, but... NIH may not re-terminate the 900ish grants at issue in the main NIH lawsuits after all. To the PIs of reinstated grants, SPEND NOW! 🧵 Here's what NIH is probably thinking. Bear with me:

Here we show that >90% of Paenibacillus encode a unique Spo0B with a transmembrane domain! TM domain helps it interact with its phosphorelay partners. Congrats to @isabellalin.bsky.social who left for grad school this week and her mentor @cassidyprints.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.

New preprint from us! The latest part of our C. difficile vancomycin resistance story. We identified a new two-component system (VnrRS) that can control expression of the vanG pathway - just needs one amino acid change @buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social

😔

We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine

Elio Schaechter was one of my heroes. His 1958 paper with Ole Maaløe and Niels Kjeldgaard (fondly known as “SMK”) is a North Star for so much work in my group. A wonderful scientist, great communicator, and a very kind person. May his memory be a blessing.

On Aug. 1, ASM & partner societies filed an expanded amicus brief with SCOTUS to defend scientific integrity & protect early-career researchers. The brief highlights the harm caused by NIH grant terminations, including canceling the MOSAIC program. asm.org/press-releas...

The CspC:CspA heterodimer transduces germinant and co-germinant signals during Clostridioides difficile spore germination. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.01.668244v1

Excited to share this collaborative study with @ritatamayo.bsky.social showing that E. faecalis influences C. diff morphology through the phase variable CmrRST system! This work was co-led by the amazing team of @ashleyweiss.bsky.social and Jilarie Santos-Santiago!

Excited to post our first S. aureus preprint on biorxiv! Big congrats to co-first authors, postdocs @anjali20anil.bsky.social and Rezia Braza, and really enjoyed the collaboration with @torreslab.bsky.social !