Last call! Applicant review starts tomorrow!

Jeff Bourgeois, PhD@bourgeoisjs.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Do you pair experimental and computational biology techniques (or know someone who does)? Come be my colleague! wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WPI_Ex...

What happens when AI meets human genetics? We integrate single-cell sQTL mapping with fine-mapping and deep-learning splicing prediction to uncover disease causal genetic variants and their mechanisms. Read our new study in Genome Biology: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Integrating single-cell sQTL mapping with deep-learning splicing prediction identifies causal variants under influenza infection - Genome Biology

Background Realizing the full potential of human genetics requires identifying causal variants and genes underlying association signals. Molecular quantitative trait locus (molQTL) analyses, such as e...

link.springer.com

Never in my career have I sent a paper to so many people with the caption “TOLD YOU SO.”

Alex Bisson@archaeon-alex.bsky.social · last mo.

Yet another myth collapses and joins Ethidium Bromide. Next one will be "having dedicated RNA bench and pipettes" journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Lyme disease risk in New York State is best predicted by the abundance of white-footed mice and the red oak acorns that mice eat, not by white-tailed deer numbers, according to a study. The mice excel at transmitting the Lyme disease bacterium to ticks. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/FMu850ZEOLm

Holy Cross Biology is hiring this year for two positions! I am chairing our search in molecular biology: apply.interfolio.com/191081 We're looking for candidates committed to inclusive excellence in teaching and who will expand our capacity for undergraduate research. I'm happy to field questions.

Nominations for the 2027 New Voices in Infection and Immunity cohort are now open: asm.org/NewVoices-IA...

Honored to have been part of this series. Many thanks to @asm.org and the mentors and colleagues who nominated me. And shoutout to my amazing technician and graduate student who both led the charge on the research and writing.

Andreas Bäumler@abaumler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Check out our New Voices in Microbiology: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Devastated to report that Brandon Jutras passed away a day or two ago. Brandon earned his PhD with me. He went on to be an Associate Professor at Northwestern University School of Medicine and a super star in Lyme research. A loving husband and father, a sincere friend, and a brilliant scientist 💔

Note: “Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate or provide material support as described in the application and should not contain endorsements or additional information about or evaluations of the proposed project. “

I-75 Scientist@flscitriguy.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Oh, and Forms J are coming... grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

A quick word on Taco Bell: That's where we found the suspected lettuce, and it's not bc Taco Bell is gross. It's bc Taco Bell is REALLY GOOD at tracing product! Keeping track of exactly where they got their ingredients, & exactly what restaurants each shipment of ingredients went to!

Like Shakespeare, the Greek classics have been interpreted countless times in countless places. If you do antigone in China, are you supposed to scour the place for Greek actors? Nolan’s Odyssey is an American film so it looks like America. bsky.app/profile/beau...

Last re-up of this thread because I’m hearing lots of similar stories to mine and I do think it’s important. tl;dr If you think there’s any chance AT ALL you may be having a heart attack, go to the ER.

Andrew Blum@ablum.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So let me talk quickly about one thing re Graham, his rejection of the advice to get checked out. Two years ago, I passed out in a restaurant. I came to. Felt weird but ok and called my wife. She said we’re going to the ER. 1/n

My department @tuftsvet.bsky.social (Tufts Vet School) is recruiting an Assistant/Associate/Full Professor with the expertise on infectious disease ecology and evolution. Feel free to repost/forward this. Here is the link for the application: apply.interfolio.com/187991

First time taking the Bourgeois Lab to a conference! Lots of new ideas to try out back in Worcester thanks @bostonbacteria.bsky.social!

Our paper on the evolution of cellular miniaturization is now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... A short recap 🧵

Marco Fumasoni@marcofumasoni.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🗞️ New preprint from the lab, led by our postdoc Ana Garoña (not on here) in collab with @andreagiometto.bsky.social: “Experimental evolution of cellular miniaturization reveals a mechanism for cell size evolution”, aka: “honey, we shrank the yeasts!” 🎥 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

More on the RFI about capping NIH grant awards drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/06/10/m...

More on the RFI about capping NIH grant awards

I blew it. In rage-reading the RFI and spleen venting about it, I missed the fact they had provided the update to Sally Rockey’s old “mythbusting” analysis of grants-per-PI. I did…

drugmonkey.wordpress.com

Do you pair experimental and computational biology techniques (or know someone who does)? Come be my colleague! wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WPI_Ex...

Assistant Professor | Biology & Biotechnology

JOB TITLE Assistant Professor | Biology & Biotechnology LOCATION Worcester DEPARTMENT NAME Biology & Biotechnology DIVISION NAME Worcester Polytechnic Institute - WPI JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY T...

wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com

It’s time to rethink one of the biggest myths about #Lymedisease: the “bullseye” rash. Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, PI of @lymebiobank.bsky.social talks about how Lyme rashes can look solid, blotchy, or like a bruise—and many patients never see a classic target or a rash at all. #LymeAwarenessMonth

By the way, @dshb-antibodies.bsky.social is a non-profit that sells quality antibodies to many proteins at exceptionally reasonable prices, without AI generated faux-validation images. Check them out. dshb.biology.uiowa.edu

Mark Peifer (He, him)@peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Someone in the news departments of @nature.com or @science.org needs to take a look at this--its a huge scandal from the scientific supplier that has become a monopoly

"If you are female, drink one shot immediately. Underrepresented minority: one shot. Both: three shots, because intersectionality. Each shot will help you lower your expectations for fairness before you read through the comments." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/rev...

Reviewing Course Evaluations: The Drinking Game

“If you are female, drink one shot immediately. Underrepresented minority: one shot. Both: three shots, because intersectionality. Each shot will help you lo...

mcsweeneys.net

Just announced! This year’s Tick Borne Disease Research Program of CDMRP. cdmrp.health.mil/funding/tbdrp #MicroSky

Osas’s approach uses monoclonal antibodies to capture and detect the very unusual peptidoglycan fragments #glycotime now shown to be released by several species of Borrelia that cause Lyme disease 🤯. Check it out 👇 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

A direct, urine-based test to diagnose acute Lyme disease using actively secreted peptidoglycan as a biomarker

Lyme disease is a growing and prominent human health problem caused by a group of spirochaetal bacteria that belong to the Borrelia genus. Persistent Lyme disease infection produces a multi-system dis...

medrxiv.org

We work in sexually dimorphic brain regions and signaling elements that have sex differences. It is EQUALLY interesting when we find sex differences as when we do not, but if we don't look, we don't know. (1)

Drug Monkey@drugmonkey.bsky.social · 5mo ago

How can that be? SABV has been the requirement since....ummm.....

Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey.

The Bourgeois Lab is recruiting a postdoc to work on our DoD-funded human genetics project aimed at understanding Lyme disease outcomes. wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/WPI_External...

Few people are aware of how much progress has been made against cancers. Leukemia is probably the most striking example. Before the 1970s, most children affected by leukemia would soon die from it. Now, most children in rich countries survive. ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...

Mike Black@mikeblack114.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Cancer wasn't quite a literal death sentence like HIV was, but you had a barely coin flip chance of making it across the board 5 years, and a whole lot of different kinds that were close to a death sentence in 1980 that are extremely treatable today

More from J. Jackson on what today's #SCOTUS decision could mean: "So, to put it bluntly, the Court could be ushering in an era of unprofessional and unsafe medical care administered by effectively unsupervised healthcare providers."

Such a cool project and potentially such a potent weapon against tick-borne disease.

Emily Mullin@emilymullin.bsky.social · 6mo ago

As Pfizer plans to seek FDA approval for its Lyme disease vaccine, a small pharma company is beginning a Phase 2 trial for a pill to provide "on-demand" protection: ir.tarsusrx.com/news-release... We wrote about the approach back in 2024: www.wired.com/story/pill-k...

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I defended my PhD 10 years ago today. That was the least remarkable thing that happened that day. Sharing something I wrote about it last year. Since then "the horrors persist but so do we." And with dignity.