Exciting to collaborate with the Voordouw lab on this study! Co-infection with multiple strains of the Lyme disease bacterium affects maternal antibody transfer. Implications for maintenance of strain diversity in nature? 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Since most of the grad studies inquiries I receive now are written by AI, it feels like the same candidate is just emailing over and over again - they're all so bland and have the same tone ☹️

I'm judging research posters at an event today and wanted to make shorthand titles for my notes: Woodchuck radiation Summer queens Chronic cows Bad broods Gonna be a fun day! I love my job 🤓

First we characterized Gardnerella enzymes involved in breaking down glycogen and now in this next chapter we're looking at how it picks up the pieces 🧪🦠 #microsky #microbiome

Ligand-binding properties of substrate binding proteins of a maltose uptake system in Gardnerella swidsinskii

Glycogen and its breakdown products, maltose and malto-oligosaccharides, are important carbon sources for vaginal bacteria including Gardnerella species. MusEFGKI transport systems for maltose and mal...

doi.org

So how are we all feeling about citing preprints?

“The bubble sheets circulating around us are not specifically too good. It’s suggested that you do stay away from them. Of course, it’s your own exam, so be my guest. But be advised that there is a warning on that, OK?” [Apologies to Woodstock lightning manager, Chip Monck]

TFW one of your former students is the guest speaker in your department seminar series

My ask of any science enthusiasts who tell the story of Rosalind Franklin: Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author. Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.

Jeffrey M@jeffreymphd.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Her sister wrote my favorite essay about her. She points out that RF would have been famous even if she'd never looked at DNA www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Excited to share this work with you for two reasons: it's Divanthika's first paper (🥳) and it's pretty cool. Transformation of Gardnerella vaginalis with a Bifidobacterium-Escherichia coli shuttle vector plasmid #microsky | journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Transformation of Gardnerella vaginalis with a Bifidobacterium-Escherichia coli shuttle vector plasmid | Microbiology Spectrum

The healthy human vaginal microbiome is mainly dominated by Lactobacillus spp. An imbalance or shift in this population can lead to a gynecological disorder known as bacterial vaginosis (BV). In BV, t...

journals.asm.org

😬😬😬

A year ago, I was tasked with creating a timeline for @lshtm-tbmod.bsky.social and we came across this amazing example of a way to keep track of a group with a long history. We now have a record of our history going back to 2011, and I hope that this can stay alive and continuously updated as well!

Janet E. Hill, PhD@hilllabsask.bsky.social · 2y ago

Time for the annual update of my lab Gantt chart. If you haven't started one, I highly recommend. Students see themselves in the context of lab history and I get a very useful memory aid!

I think my university has a Department of Moving Snow Around. Every day piles of snow disappear in one place and appear in another

#ChemTogether. Forever. #RealTimeChem #ChemSky #Chemistry

This was such a fun project and I love it when we can see an immediate application of our work 🐄🧬 #microsky #diagnostics #veterinarydiagnostics wcvmtoday.usask.ca/articles/202...

New genomic sequencing diagnostic tool targets reproductive failure in cattle herds - WCVM Today - Western College of Veterinary Medicine

A collaboration between researchers at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and Prairie Diagnostic Services Inc. (PDS) has resulted in the creation of an innovative genomic sequencing too...

wcvmtoday.usask.ca

I've been an ASM member and supporter for >20 yrs and that is about to end. There are so many other choices internationally. I'll put my membership $ and publication fees, and donate my volunteer reviewer time to societies that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️@napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 2y ago

Edited for brevity: I expect the professional society that I have supported with national & regional membership dues, conference fees for myself and mentees, journal publication fees, & my time as an editor and reviewer, to support widely held values & to advocate on behalf of ALL microbiologists, 🧵

My letter to ASM leaders that I sent is too long to be posted here, so I'm going to post highlights in case anyone else needs information for their letter. 🧵

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️@napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 2y ago

@asm.org this better not be anticipatory obedience. I have 5 lab members planning on going to ASM microbe this year. I will absolutely pivot to another meeting if ASM gives in to anti-DEI efforts.

Setting the tone for the office: 🧪Science is cool (especially microbiology) 🧑‍🎓Grad school is cool 🪶Birds are cool ❤️Everyone is welcome here

Our paper describing a new STH species Trichuris incognita which is resistant to albendazole-ivermectin combination therapy is out in Emerging Infectious Diseases wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/... Great work Abhinaya Venkatesan & collaborators @jsoghigian.bsky.social , Jennifer Keiser and team.

Had to do some Canadian Common CV updates today and once again I am marvelling at the fact that I can satisfy the NSERC template and yet simultaneously anger the CIHR template. Apparently "student start date" is not a shared concept between the two 🤪

Final grades: submitted 🥳

Excited to see our latest development put into action in the diagnostic lab! Details in the Prairie Diagnostic Services November newsletter: www.pdsinc.ca/PDS/Assets/D... journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Targeted syndromic next-generation sequencing panel for simultaneous detection of pathogens associated with bovine reproductive failure | Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Bovine reproductive failure causes substantial economic losses to beef and milk producers, and infectious disease contributes significantly to this syndrome. Etiologic diagnosis is complicated since multiple pathogens can be involved and infections with ...

journals.asm.org

Targeted syndromic next-generation sequencing panel for simultaneous detection of pathogens associated with bovine reproductive failure https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.10.612295v1

Targeted syndromic next-generation sequencing panel for simultaneous detection of pathogens associated with bovine reproductive failure https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.10.612295v1

Bovine reproductive failure, which includes infertility, abortion, and stillbirth in cattle, leads t

biorxiv.org

It me! 🤓 I'm on the list but lab homepage has changed to research-groups.usask.ca/hilllab/

Home - The Hill Lab - Microbial Ecology and Molecular Diagnostics

research-groups.usask.ca

David Wakeham@wakehamamr.bsky.social · 2y ago

🧪🧫🍎 Thanks for the timely reminder @devezer.bsky.social Issuing a #WomeninScience 5-day challenge. Each day, find & share the work of a different female scientist. Here's a list of female #microbiologists to get you started. Thanks to @MicrobiomDigest for tirelessly curating this list.

Excited to share this preprint - diagnostic solution for detection of pathogens associated with bovine reproductive failure 🐮🦠🧬 t.co/9Z0LafCsCI

Time for the annual update of my lab Gantt chart. If you haven't started one, I highly recommend. Students see themselves in the context of lab history and I get a very useful memory aid!

We have an early New Year present for you 🎁 the January #MVIF program with Jennifer Wargo Nikolay Oskolkov Sondra Turjeman Mireia Valles-Colomer Full program with abstracts: www.microbiome-vif.org/en-US/-/futu... Registration: hopin.com/events/micro... ✨Happy holidays ✨

She's back as a predatory publisher 🧛‍♀️

Excited to see a double-anonymous peer review option at Journal of Bacteriology. For now, it's an opt-in experiment: journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

Making an appearance at the September Microbiology International Virtual Forum. Join us! www.microbiome-vif.org/en-US/-/futu...

Well, here I am. Where are the microbes? 🤓