I am looking for prospective DPhil (PhD) students interested in using computational methods to understand and predict antibiotic resistance. bit.ly/3WesMmh All applicants will be considered for an NDM Prize Studentship. Deadline is Tuesday 1 December 2026.

Tiny microbes, big questions and plenty of curious minds at New Scientist Live! We had a brilliant time this weekend bringing our research to life🔬 Curious about what we got up to? Check out our blog post to see Droplet Detectives and Sinks Under Siege activities🦠 ➡️ bashthebug.net/2026/10/13/d...

Droplet detectives and sinks under siege: MMM at New Scientist Live!

How can bacteria spread from hospital sinks, and what can we do to stop them? We recently took our research to New Scientist Live, where researchers from Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) ran …

bashthebug.net

Medical Research UK@medicalresearchuk.bsky.social · last wk.

🦠🔬 What a weekend we had at New Scientist Live! We had so many brilliant conversations about the growing threat of superbugs and why research has never been more important. Thank you to our researchers for helping bring this vital research to life, and to everyone who stopped by our stand. 💚

Droplet detectives and sinks under siege: MMM at #NewScientistLive We spoke to over 500 people about how bacteria can spread from hospital sinks and how we might prevent it, with hands-on activities from our @BashTheBug team! Thanks to Medical Research UK for funding our stand! #Microbiology

Droplet detectives and sinks under siege: MMM at New Scientist Live!

How can bacteria spread from hospital sinks, and what can we do to stop them? We recently took our research to New Scientist Live, where researchers from Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) ran two interactive activities exploring bacterial transmission in hospital sinks. Over the course of the event, we spoke to more than 500 people, with children and families particularly keen to get involved!

bashthebug.net

Fantastic to have been selected for this, we found the reviews constructive and help us on the next version. @philipwfowler.bsky.social @nickdsandy.bsky.social @melodyjp101.bsky.social @modmedmicro.bsky.social @bashthebug.net

bioRxiv & medRxiv@biorxiv-medrxiv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Community Reviews are open feedback in action! Parker et al.'s preprint just got reviewed by a community-organized group through Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases! doi.org/10.64898/202... #Preprints @philipwfowler.bsky.social @nickdsandy.bsky.social @philipbejon.bsky.social @melodyjp101.bsky.social

FUNDING: Calling all early career researchers with an OUH contract!   The OHSRC are offering grants of up to £10,000 to NHS staff (including honorary contracts) whose research will help patients of the OUH. Find out more and apply 👉https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/researchers/grants/ Deadline: 15 October

We're offering a great DPhil opportunity to look at comparing E. coli strain dynamics in gut in health and disease with ultimate aim of developing novel therapeutics. Opportunity to learn wet and dry lab skills including long-read metagenomics, biostastical + ex-vivo modelling. Happy to chat pls RT!

Great new work from @dotnagy.bsky.social who has developed EpiSENTRY which performs sample size calculations for public health WGS surviellance studies. She applies to data from the NEKSUS study to estimate how much sequencing is enough for GNBSI surviellance in England. @modmedmicro.bsky.social

How much is enough? Optimising sampling frames for genomic surveillance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. bloodstream infections - a retrospective study

Background: Optimising sampling frames for genomic surveillance of E. coli and Klebsiella may support interventions to mitigate bloodstream infections (BSIs), but approaches to estimating sample size ...

medrxiv.org

Infusoria BioArt exhibition exploring microbiology opens at the John Radcliffe Hospital! 📅 26 September – 6 November 2026 📍 Artlink Corridor Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford #ArtAndScience #Microbiology #AntimicrobialResistance #InfectionPrevention #PublicEngagement

Infusoria BioArt exhibition exploring microbiology opens at the John Radcliffe Hospital

BioArt exhibition exploring microbiology opens at the John Radcliffe Hospital A new display of work by artist Anna Dumitriu is now on show at the John Radcliffe Hospital, bringing together art, microbiology and research into healthcare-associated infections. The exhibition draws on research from Modernising Medical Microbiology into hospital environments, bacteria and antimicrobial resistance. Through BioArt, Anna’s work explores the microbial world that usually remains unseen and encourages people to think differently about the relationship between microorganisms, healthcare and our surroundings.

bashthebug.net

Beyond the basin: my research internship at Oxford Hospital sinks are essential for handwashing, but beneath the basin lies a complex microbial environment that may present challenges for infection prevention... Read more on our blog! #AMR #InfectionPrevention

Beyond the basin: my research internship at Oxford

Hospital sinks are essential for handwashing, but beneath the basin lies a complex microbial environment that may present challenges for infection prevention. During my internship at the University of Oxford, I had the opportunity to contribute to research investigating the microorganisms found in hospital sinks and their potential relevance to patient safety. I worked under the supervision of Dr Aoife Kearney on the SELECTION project, building on Professor Nicole Stoesser and her colleagues’ research into hospital sink environments and healthcare-associated infections.

bashthebug.net

DPhil opportunity at the University of Oxford 🦠 We’re looking for a motivated DPhil student to join us to develop innovative metagenomic approaches for surveillance of healthcare-associated pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Find out more and apply here!

New publication from @modmedmicro.bsky.social on metagnomic RNA virus detection from upper respiratory samples - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @nickdsandy.bsky.social @treestreet.bsky.social @dotnagy.bsky.social @samlipworth.bsky.social @oxfordbrc.bsky.social

Clinical validation of an optimised metagenomic nanopore sequencing method for detecting viral respiratory pathogens

Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Seque…

sciencedirect.com

Microbiology is coming out of the lab! Infusoria, a new exhibition by MMM Artist-in-Residence Anna Dumitriu, runs in the JR Hospital from 26 Sept–6 Nov 2026. New works inspired by Oxford research explore hospital sinks, wastewater, water microbiomes and antimicrobial resistance.

When microbiology becomes art: Infusoria

Infusoria 26 September – 6 November 2026Artlink Corridor Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford From hospital sinks to BioArt: our microbiology research inspires new exhibition Infusoria What does the microbial world of a hospital sink look like when viewed not only through the lens of microbiology, but through art? Research from Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) at the University of Oxford…

bashthebug.net

A closer look at microplastics! Recently, we visited @ukceh.bsky.social to explore the analysis of #microplastics in sink trap aspirates collected from hospital environments. @afswinkels.bsky.social

Happy to share my first paper! We developed an optimised #ONT workflow for sequencing mycobacteria directly from positive MGIT cultures, achieving 98.3% agreement with Illumina for species identification, with reliable results often within 6 hours. #PathogenGenomics #TB @modmedmicro.bsky.social

Validation of an optimized Oxford Nanopore sequencing workflow versus Illumina for mycobacteria from primary MGIT culture | Microbiology Spectrum

Rapid genomic characterization of mycobacterial infections is important for timely patient management, infection control, and public health surveillance. However, many diagnostic laboratories rely on ...

journals.asm.org

Read our new blog post! Risk factors for antimicrobial resistance in cancer patients and survivors: an electronic health record study by Annie Hu

Risk factors for antimicrobial resistance in cancer patients and survivors: an electronic health record study

Bloodstream infections occur when bacteria (which are germs that can cause disease) enter the blood and grow there. These infections are usually treated with antibiotics. However, bacteria can become resistant, meaning the antibiotics no longer work, and this is called antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It is a major worldwide health problem and people with cancer are especially at risk because both cancer treatments and the cancer itself weaken their immune systems (bodies own protection system).

bashthebug.net

NIHR webinar on BashTheBug on YouTube BashTheBug was originally a large international citizen science project that invited anyone to help us classify how well different samples of M. tuberculosis grew in the presence of a range of antibiotics. It ran from 2017 to 2021 and in that time 46,427…

NIHR webinar on BashTheBug on YouTube

BashTheBug was originally a large international citizen science project that invited anyone to help us classify how well different samples of M. tuberculosis grew in the presence of a range of antibiotics. It ran from 2017 to 2021 and in that time 46,427 people took part and collectively they classified 4,746,420 images of M. tuberculosis growing on different concentrations of one of 13 antibiotics. 

bashthebug.net

Thanks to the team for all their hardwork preparing and delivering the activities, especially in this heatwave! 🌞🌞🌞

And our DNA detective programme was a smash🕵‍♀️ Follow the bioinformatic instructions to figure out which patient in a ward has which infection, and work out from the hints which drugs will help the patient get better!

The Mystery Outbreak poster was a hit! A cluedo-esque mystery where you had to follow the clues to find the source of illness in the hospital 🔍

Everybody loved the strawberry DNA extractions!🍓 Participants learnt how this technique can be used by scientists to diagnose infections in patients and the data used by doctors to see if the infection has any resistance and then choose which antibiotics to prescribe🧬 @oxfordbrc.bsky.social

We had an amazing time in Westgate, Oxford today! We had many attempts to 'bash the bug' and get the high score for the day on our dance mat 💃🕺 where overusing antibiotics causes resistance so you have to be careful what you're prescribing!💊 #AMR #ScienceOutreach #Microbiology #Oxford

Come see us at the @oxfordbrc.bsky.social showcase! We'll be in Westgate, Oxford 10-3.30. We'll be bringing the dance mat so come and try to beat the germs with antibiotics and claim the high score💃🕺 #AMR #PublicOutreach @ox.ac.uk

Long-read sequencing of Mycobacterial tuberculosis is comparable to short-read sequencing for antimicrobial resistance prediction and epidemiological studies. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.08.717216v1

On #WorldTBDay, it’s important to reflect on the scale of the challenge we’re facing. In 2024 alone, tuberculosis (TB) caused 1.23 million deaths worldwide, remaining the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, according to WHO @ndm.ox.ac.uk

Rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis is available and recommended! Early diagnosis is a gamechanger. Ask your provider for access to WHO-recommended rapid tests for TB, including the latest near-point-of-care tests, to ensure a quick diagnosis and early treatment.

Open datasets such as these are key for tackling AMR in diseases such as tuberculosis. #WorldTBDay

Philip Fowler@philipwfowler.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Since 2017 the CRyPTIC project collected and collated 53,897 clinical TB samples with genetics and drug susceptibility testing data. You can download the datasets via crypticproject.info and v4.0.0 will appear later this year. #WorldTBDay @modmedmicro.bsky.social

Since 2017 the CRyPTIC project collected and collated 53,897 clinical TB samples with genetics and drug susceptibility testing data. You can download the datasets via crypticproject.info and v4.0.0 will appear later this year. #WorldTBDay @modmedmicro.bsky.social

Bash the Bug at ATOM Festival: Dancing, Germs, and the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance! We had a fantastic time this weekend at ATOM Festival in Abingdon, bringing microbiology to life with our Bash the Bug public engagement activities.

It was fantastic to see so many people getting involved, asking great questions, and learning about microbiology in the sunshine. Thanks to everyone who came to say hello, and to our brilliant team for all their enthusiasm! #BashTheBug #Microbiology #PublicOutreach #ATOMFestival

We had a brilliant time this weekend at ATOM Festival in Abingdon! ☀️🦠 We brought along our favourite interactive activities to help people learn about antimicrobial resistance #AMR, including our dance mat game where you fight germs with antibiotics, and we tested everyone’s handwashing skills!