Really enjoyed being part of the "Future Medicine" panel at @latitudefestival.bsky.social. A fun challenge to think about what the next 20 years of medicine will look like and how to bring together genomics, AI, vaccines, diagnostics and public health to make better decisions for patients.

Congratulations to UCL’s Dr Gemma Murray on receiving a prestigious Wellcome Career Development Award, recognising her pioneering research into bacterial evolution and antimicrobial resistance. @ugiatucl.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Gemma Murray awarded prestigious Wellcome Career Development Award

Dr Gemma Murray has been awarded a Wellcome Career Development Award to lead pioneering research into the hidden role of commensal bacteria in antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

ucl.ac.uk

Here it is, your jam packed schedule for The Cosmic Shambles Forest at this year’s Latitude Festival. Two stages of science, comedy, music, poetry and more, a Museum Street and vendors to explore plus other Shambles shows around the festival. Download the Latitude app for any last minute changes!

Fascinating talk ahead: Dr @lucyvandorp.bsky.social on recovering ancient DNA from mummies, museum collections & even Jeremy Bentham’s auto-icon — and what it reveals about disease, migration & evolution.

@ugiatucl.bsky.social microbial genomics are at #SMBE2026! S14 - Marina Escalera-Zamudio - mapping fitness landscape of SARS-CoV-2 🧬 S13 - me/Pooja Swali - tracing 2 centuries of evolution in BFDV 🦜 Open 10a - Cedric Tan - Ranavirus evolution across hosts 🐸

#ICP2026 Stockholm is over, but ICP will return... in 2028! #ICP2028 will be hosted by Trinity College Dublin 🎉☘️🇮🇪

Congratulations to Dr Cedric Tan for successfully defending his PhD on the eco-evolutionary drivers of viral host jumps. What a pleasure to work with Cedric over many years with fellow supervisor @proffballoux.bsky.social.

We are advertising a 3-year Evolution Education Trust funded #PhD studentship at @ugiatucl.bsky.social UCL to investigate the genomic history of infectious diseases preserved within historical pathology collections. Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project.... #findaphd #EET

Unlocking the Genomic History of Pathogens Through Pathology Archives at University College London on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Unlocking the Genomic History of Pathogens Through Pathology Archives at University College London, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

Congratulations to PhD Student Cameron Ferguson for winning the best presentation at the annual postgraduate research symposium for his talk on "The Genomic Landscape of Post-Black Death Epidemics in Northern Europe and the Caucasus".

We are advertising a PhD studentship to study the effects of mitochondrial function on cell motility in flies. The project is supervised by myself, Nick Lane and @fcamus.bsky.social, in collaboration with Anna Franz at UCL, @stramerlab.bsky.social at KCL and Michael Sixt at ISTA. Please repost!

UCL’s Lunch Hour Lectures are returning with a fascinating deep dive into ancient DNA. Dr @lucyvandorp.bsky.social will explain how genetic traces from mummies, museum objects and even Bentham’s auto‑icon are reshaping our understanding of human history and disease. www.ucl.ac.uk/events/event...

Bentham and Beyond: Learning through Genomes, Collections and Collaborations

In this lecture, Dr Lucy van Dorp will discuss ancient DNA research, including how DNA is recovered from historical objects such as Jeremy Bentham.

ucl.ac.uk

S13: Perspectives on paleo-omics: defining functional evolution of ancient viruses in the era of big data 🗓️ Wed Jul 1, 1:20pm 🔗 smbe2026.org/programme

Wonderful UCL Genetics Institute away day at the @nhm.org. A chance to hear exciting research updates, discuss and debate. Thank you to all speakers and organisers.

After 15 years of reporting on infectious disease outbreaks, what continues to fascinate me about them is the challenge of making high-stakes decisions under uncertainty. The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius is a perfect example My story in @science.org is here (and a thread to come): 🧪 #IDsky

What to do with the passengers on the cruise ship hit by hantavirus?

Past studies of Andes virus offer scant evidence on transmission risks, and have sparked debate

science.org

A nice way to kick-off the weekend! Just saw that our @molbioevol.bsky.social paper was published! 🎉 Congrats to Finley Grover-Thomas for doing an amazing job, and massive thanks to co-supervisor @aidaandres.bsky.social, and collabs @lucyvandorp.bsky.social @proffballoux.bsky.social!! 🥳

Young children who attend nursery get sick more often than those who don’t, but will have fewer illnesses during early school years, finds a new review of evidence by parent-scientists including Dr @lucyvandorp.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social and Dr Leo Swadling @uclmedsci.bsky.social

Frequent infections in nursery help toddlers build up immune systems

Young children who attend nursery get sick more often than those who don’t, but they will go on to have fewer illnesses during early school years, finds a new review of evidence by a group of parent-s...

ucl.ac.uk

Even working in infectious disease genomics, it came as a bit of a shock how often toddlers get sick. So myself and a set of colleagues, expertly led by @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social, set out to review the evidence. How much infection is expected, does it increase with nursery attendance and why?

Have you ever wondered why children starting nursery/daycare pick up so many germs? I certainly did, and with a crack team of parent-scientists/clinicians, we set out to answer that question. Is childcare a germ factory or an immune bootcamp? journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Germ factories or immune boot camps? Infection and immunity in childcare settings | Clinical Microbiology Reviews

SUMMARYChildcare outside the home is a common experience for many children in high-income countries. It is associated with an increase in the incidence of infectious diseases—not just for the child bu...

journals.asm.org

Come join us! We are looking for a Professor or Associate Professor of Computational Genomics in Health and Disease at University College London. Details 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... Post funded by UCL Health Strategy.

There's still a few days left to apply for our AI-Intervene PhD project mapping the drivers of avian influenza using viral genomics, bird migration data and AI-powered phylodynamics. Come join us! Details below. #FindaPhD #LondonPhD #genomics

Lucy van Dorp@lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We’re recruiting a PhD student as part of the AI-Intervene DTP to join FlightPath, an exciting project combining viral genomics, bird migration data, and AI-powered phylodynamics to forecast how avian influenza evolves and spreads. Project Details 🦠🧬🦅🦆🌎: tinyurl.com/2v4xaxmx.

"These viruses have been co-evolving with human populations for well over 2,000 years, underscoring a deep, ongoing shared history between virus and host”: Dr @lucyvandorp.bsky.social on her ancient DNA analysis of human herpes viruses @ugiatucl.bsky.social @ucllifesciences.bsky.social

First ancient human herpesvirus genomes document their deep history with humans

Analysis of ancient DNA has confirmed that certain human herpesviruses became part of the human genome thousands of years ago, in a study involving a UCL researcher.

ucl.ac.uk

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... It's finally out! Meriam Guellil expertly led this project from the first HHV6 detection to the final paper. We found both human herpesviruses 6A and 6B in ancient remains going back 2500 years.

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA

First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

science.org

Charlotte Houldcroft@virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social · 7mo ago

New paper coming out 7pm UK/2PM US Eastern time... 🤫

New paper out in Science Advances: Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA

First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

science.org

Reconstructing the histories of ancient pathogens with @poojaswali.bsky.social of @ugiatucl.bsky.social at the @lien-london.bsky.social meeting. Makes me want to learn every one of these stories!

We’re recruiting a PhD student as part of the AI-Intervene DTP to join FlightPath, an exciting project combining viral genomics, bird migration data, and AI-powered phylodynamics to forecast how avian influenza evolves and spreads. Project Details 🦠🧬🦅🦆🌎: tinyurl.com/2v4xaxmx.

FlightPath: Predicting Avian Influenza Evolution through AI-Powered Phylodynamics and Bird Migration Modelling at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - FlightPath: Predicting Avian Influenza Evolution through AI-Powered Phylodynamics and Bird Migration Modelling at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

PhD candidate Cedric Tan from @ucl.ac.uk @ugiatucl.bsky.social is exploring how pathogens and antimicrobial resistance jump between species, supported by a scholarship from A*STAR Singapore and @astar-gis.bsky.social. #UCLSingapore #UCLHealth www.ucl.ac.uk/global/case-...

We are recruiting! If you like evolutionary biology, microbial genomics, and host-pathogen interactions we have a PhD opening at @ugiatucl.bsky.social using population-scale metagenomics to map global phage diversity and uncover evolutionary signatures that could point to new antimicrobials.

The 2026 EMBL symposium 'Reconstructing the human past using ancient and modern genomics' is live with a fantastic invited speaker lineup! Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉. Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.

A fantastic day of talks and discussions. Thanks to the organisers and @gensocuk.bsky.social

UCL Genetics Institute@ugiatucl.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Wonderful and engaging talk by @lucyvandorp.bsky.social who was invited to speak on the drivers of pathogen evolution using ancient DNA at the Ancient Genomes: Perspectives on Human Biology and Medicine meeting @gensocuk.bsky.social 🧬🦠

Great to have Dr Hrushikesh Loya give a fantastic talk on his tool Ghostbusters: A Genome-Wide Genealogical Approach to Uncovering Hidden Admixture Events in Human Evolution 👻