Resource Coordinator III - Center for Microbial Medicine & Microbiome Center

SHIFT: Day (United States of America) Seeking Breakthrough Makers Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers countless ways to change lives. Our diverse community of more than 20,000 Breakthrou...

chop.wd108.myworkdayjobs.com

2026 Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Recipients Announced - Burroughs Wellcome Fund

DURHAM, N.C. — The Burroughs Wellcome Fund and The Charles H. Revson Foundation are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Postdoctoral Enrichment Program (PDEP) awards, providing career-devel...

bwfund.org

The Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP | LinkedIn

The Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP | 19 followers on LinkedIn. Dedicated to finding cures and improving pediatric health through the lens of the microbiome | The Center for Microbial Medicine a...

linkedin.com

What Do We Gain When Tolerating Loss? The Information Bottleneck Wrings Out Recombination

Abstract. Most microbes have the capacity to acquire genetic material from their environment. Recombination of foreign DNA yields genomes that are, at leas

academic.oup.com

Geographic divergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST5-SCCmecI in the aftermath of a major earthquake and tsunami: impact of a plasmid harboring heavy metal resistance genes | mBio

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of life-threatening infections worldwide and a growing public health concern. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as MRSA, is often linked to genetic adaptations that enhance ...

journals.asm.org

Rapid dissemination of Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit is associated with invasive infection - Nature Communications

In this work, authors use whole genome tracking in a neonatal intensive care unit to reveal a strong link between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and invasive infection, pinpointing critical new ta...

nature.com

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn Medicine Researchers Identify Strategies for Preventing the Most Infectious Strains of S. aureus in the NICU

A new study has identified which strains of Staphylococcus aureus – commonly known as staph – are commonly transmitted in neonatal intensive care units. A new study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine) has identified which strains of Staphylococcus aureus – commonly known as staph – are commonly transmitted in neonatal intensive care units and which specific strains are most likely to cause invasive and serious infections.The findings, published today in Nature Communications, offer a critical blueprint for precision surveillance of staph in the NICU and provide an important foundation for reducing infections in vulnerable newborns.Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium often found on the skin and in the noses of healthy people. While usually harmless, certain strains can cause anything from mild skin infections to more serious bloodstream infections and pneumonia. A recent study found that one in four healthcare-acquired infections in very preterm U.S. infants were due to staph. Lakshmi Srinivasan, MD, FAAP As part of bi-monthly surveillance sampling at CHOP led by co-lead author Lakshmi Srinivasan, MD, an attending physician in the Division of Neonatology and the Pediatric Sepsis Program, nurses routinely swab the noses of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to test for the presence of these bacteria. However, there are currently no standard approaches for NICU surveillance of staph, and there is little evidence for when to begin or stop surveillance, how frequently to test, and which patients to closely monitor. Joseph P. Zackular, PhD “Staph is a critical human pathogen and a major cause of severe infection in our highest-risk infants,” said co-senior study author Joseph Zackular, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Co-Director of the Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP. “In this study, we brought together basic researchers, clinicians, and computational biologists in a highly collaborative effort to address a major challenge in pediatric health.”Utilizing expertise in CHOP’s NICU, the Center for Microbial Medicine, the Infectious Disease Diagnostics Laboratory, and the Microbiome Sequencing Center, researchers performed precision surveillance of invasive infections of staph in high-risk infants with the goal of identifying new strategies for prevention and control. Over three years, whole-genome sequencing showed that shared spaces and physical proximity were major drivers of staph transmission. Stable colonization by two types of staph, MSSA and MRSA, occurred across all areas within the NICU, and an analysis of more than 1,000 staph genomes revealed strain-specific persistence and colonization patterns, with MSSA causing more colonization and invasive disease than MRSA. Ahmed M. Moustafa, BPharm, PhD “Our study demonstrated that certain strains of staph pose significantly greater risk by being more transmissible and potentially more invasive, suggesting that a more effective prevention strategy might isolate and target the strains that cause the most infections,” said co-senior study author Ahmed M. Moustafa, BPharm, PhD, a researcher in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and Co-Director of the Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP and the Sequencing Core Director of the CHOP Microbiome Center. Paul J. Planet, MD, PhD “This study provides a path forward for real-time interventions and improved surveillance that we hope can be implemented in NICUs around the country and improve the health and safety of preterm infants,” said co-senior study author Paul J. Planet, MD, PhD, an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Co-Director of the Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP.This study was supported by the Center for Microbial Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and National Institutes of Health grant 1R01AI185544.She et al, “Rapid dissemination of Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit is associated with invasive infection.” Nat Commun. Online February 9, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69074-z

chop.edu

Rapid dissemination of Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit is associated with invasive infection - Nature Communications

In this work, authors use whole genome tracking in a neonatal intensive care unit to reveal a strong link between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and invasive infection, pinpointing critical new ta...

nature.com

The Science Behind the Spread: Researchers Aim to Reduce Bacterial Burden in NICUs

Researchers are using whole genome sequencing techniques to identify possible high-risk strains of bacteria in neonatal intensive care units.

research.chop.edu

Enterococcus faecalis modulates phase variation in Clostridioides difficile | Journal of Bacteriology

Clostridioides difficile is an enteric pathogen with critical implications for public health. The microbial ecosystem in which C. difficile resides shapes the behavior and fitness of C. difficile; how...

journals.asm.org

Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection | Keystone Symposia

Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection, May 2026, in Breckenridge, with field leaders!

keysym.us

Donors Join Forces to Support Center for Microbial Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Today Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced funding to support the recently launched Center for Microbial Medicine. This pioneering initiative is made possible by three transformative g...

chop.edu

science.org

Dietary fiber modulates the window of susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile infection

Clostridioides difficile epidemiology is rapidly evolving, and understanding the factors that contribute to one’s risk of C. difficile infection (CDI) is urgently needed. Based on our observations in a dietary intervention study, we hypothesized that fiber modulates susceptibility to C. difficile post-antibiotic exposure and investigated this using human specimens and murine models.

secure.jbs.elsevierhealth.com