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 · 4mo 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!

1/4 Thrilled to get this metagenomic diagnostic study over the line. We have an in house method that targets RNA viruses in respiratory samples, and evaluated this against 344 prospective samples tested by multiplex PCR. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Clinical validation of a novel metagenomic nanopore sequencing method for detecting viral respiratory pathogens: diagnostic accuracy study

Background Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Sequencing cost and the challenges of high h...

medrxiv.org

New preprint from us @modmedmicro.bsky.social where we validate the diagnostic accuracy of a metagenomic nanopore sequencing method for respiratory RNA viruses. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Clinical validation of a novel metagenomic nanopore sequencing method for detecting viral respiratory pathogens: diagnostic accuracy study

Background Clinical metagenomics (CMg) offers high-throughput respiratory pathogen detection with a wider range than targeted, probe-dependent diagnostics. Sequencing cost and the challenges of high h...

medrxiv.org

Are you a post-doctoral microbiologist interested in characterising bacterial resistance evolution and want to apply your knowledge and expertise to developing new therapeutics for Klebsiella (and other Enterobacterales) infections? Then we need you! Apply now bit.ly/3MX39Ce close date March 13th 👀

Hoping to innovate community population-level AMR surveillance with the ALARUM team bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/2.... Can we use metagenomics of pooled colonisation samples to predict clinical AMR burden & inform antimicrobial guidelines?

International Day of Women and Girls in Science 👩‍🔬 Proud to work alongside the scientists in our #microbiology lab whose work in antimicrobial resistance, public health and diagnostics has real-world impact! #WomenInScience #AMR #PublicHealth @medsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk @oxfordbrc.bsky.social

MMM has an exciting UNIQ+ project running this summer -apply now! Bacteria, microplastics & resistance — what’s the connection? #Microplastics are everywhere, even in hospitals. But what happens when bacteria stick to them? Come and find out! @afswinkels.bsky.social @nstoesser.bsky.social

Happy our preprint is out🦠: "Evaluation of an Oxford Nanopore sequencing workflow for mycobacteria from primary MGIT culture" We developed and tested a workflow for long-read sequencing of #mycobacteria, including optimising DNA extraction and assessing how #ONT performs compared with #Illumina.

Our project "Sardinia’s Invisible Marine Microbiome" is one of six 2026 #PartArt4OW participatory art initiatives! Excited to do this with the brilliant @annadumitriu.bsky.social (image credit), Sardinian scientists, citizens of Alghero, and colleagues in @modmedmicro.bsky.social @bashthebug.net

Delighted to be involved in the Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator (Gr-ADI) consortium novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/new-... as part of a project led by Annette von Delft gcgh.grandchallenges.org/grant/discov... @modmedmicro.bsky.social @samlipworth.bsky.social @philipwfowler.bsky.social

Discovery of Novel Klebsiella Hits Through In-Depth Genomic Profiling, Fragment-Based Drug Design and Accumulation Assays

Annette von Delft and collaborators Nicole Stoesser, Lizbe Koekemoer, Ed Griffen, Paul Brennan, Frank von Delft, Phil Fowler, and Thomas Lanyon-Hoggat of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

gcgh.grandchallenges.org

Univ of Oxford UNIQ+ scheme applications open: 7-week research internship this Summer www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g.... Lots of projects - one in our lab on microplastics & AMR & hospital environments at @modmedmicro.bsky.social led by Aram Swinkels www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g... (Clin Med 04). Join us!

What is UNIQplus? | University of Oxford

The UNIQplus programmeThe UNIQplus programme is aimed at supporting talented undergraduates from under-represented groups, who would find continuing into postgraduate study a challenge for reasons

ox.ac.uk

Read the full paper here: tinyurl.com/2a5z6tt8

Nanopore adaptive sampling for bacterial identification from periprosthetic joint replacement tissue

Metagenomic approaches to the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections promise more accurate and more rapid diagnosis. However, the high host DNA to bacterial DNA ratio is a challenge. Nanopore adapti...

tinyurl.com

🔬 New blog post! Infections after joint replacement are serious, and identifying the bacteria quickly is crucial for patient care. We explain our research into metagenomic sequencing—reading all DNA in a sample to identify bacteria without needing lab growth. 👉 tinyurl.com/mrh8ukha #AMR #Genomics

Our paper is out in Microbial Genomics! 🧬 We evaluate gnomonicus, an open-source AMR prediction tool, using 2,663 Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomes—showing how WGS can deliver faster, scalable TB resistance predictions. Read the full paper here🔗 bit.ly/4iZepd1 #TB #AMR #Genomics

Characterizing the performance of an antibiotic resistance prediction tool, gnomonicus, using a diverse test set of 2,663 Mycobacterium tuberculosis samples

Tuberculosis remains a global health problem. Making it easier and quicker to identify which antibiotics an infection is likely to be susceptible to will be a key part of the solution. Whilst whole-ge...

bit.ly

📢Job Alert! Translational Research Collaboration Manager in Infectious Disease and Antimicrobial resistance. 🦠💊 Know anyone who would be good? Pass it on! www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

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Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...

imperial.ac.uk