We are recruiting postdocs to work on antimicrobial resistance and bacterial cell envelope biology. PLEASE SHARE.

Fluorescence micrograph. Emma Miller and Alex Merz, unpublished.

🧵 After years out of the field, I and my lab are again working on bacterial type IV pili. We have just posted our first preprints, and I'm excited to share what we have discovered.

This shows Neisseria gonorrheae bacteria infecting a human epithelical cell. Here, you can see the pili in red.

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Zoliflodacin and gepotidacin cross-resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Resistance to zoliflodacin, a first-in-class antibiotic for gonorrhea treatment, can occur through gyrBD429N, but this mutation's impact on fitness and resistance to other topoisomerase targeting drug...

New preprint: with increasing resistance to ceftriaxone, the last recommended antibiotic for gonorrhea, we urgently need new drugs. Two--zoliflodacin & gepotdiacin--are up for approval by the FDA in Dec. Here we show a point mutation can result in cross-resistance. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Ecology and spread of the North American H5N1 epizootic - Nature The panzootic of highly pathogenic H5N1 since 2021 was driven by around nine introductions into the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, followed by rapid dissemination through wild migratory birds, primaril...

Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Microbiology Postdoctoral Position (Please re-post)

A funded postdoctoral position in Chicago will open in 2026 to study aspects of Neisseria gonorrhoeae pathogenesis, antigenic variation, genetics, or physiology.
If interested, please get in touch with Hank Seifert
h-seifert@northwestern.edu

Development of avian influenza A(H5) virus datasets for Nextclade enables rapid and accurate clade assignment Abstract. The 2022 panzootic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) viruses has led to unprecedented transmission to multiple mammalian species.

Our lab's first paper is out! Led by Jordan Ort, we developed NextClade datasets that enable rapid H5 clade assignment via NextClade. We deployed these during the start of the H5 cattle outbreak, and we finally published the paper in Virus Evolution academic.oup.com/ve/article/1...

There are half a million cases of invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) every year and while you might know S. Typhimurim and Enteritidis, you may not have heard of S. Panama 💩 🩸 🧫 💊 Check out our latest in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.la... and the 🧵 below to find out more 1/n

Our lab is hiring!!
We are looking for a research assistant who will be involved with our experimental evolution studies on how stress affects population dynamics in E. coli.
Great opportunity for recent grads!
E-mail for more info and apply here:
ecsr.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Delighted to see the first version of our new ELife paper. A collaboration with Levi Morran, we show how an intact antibiotic resistance gene (mecA) changes the course of S. aureus evolution on a new host. Kudos to Michelle Su and Kim Hoang for making this happen.

elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Comparing Strategies to Introduce Two New Antibiotics for Gonorrhea: A Modeling Study Introduction Drug resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an urgent public health threat. The anticipated approval of two new antimicrobials for gonorrhea prompts the need for evidence-based rollout st...

⚠️ New preprint ⚠️: Two new antibiotics are likely coming for gonorrhea 💊. How should we deploy them in the US to minimize drug resistance? @kroster.bsky.social @dhelekal.bsky.social Eva Rumpler @yhgrad.bsky.social [1/10]
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Use of antibiotic to reduce STIs appears to be fueling some antibiotic resistance, research shows The use of the antibiotic doxycycline to reduce STIs appears to be fueling some antibiotic resistance, according to new research.

Using doxycycline after unprotected sex — doxy PEP — is effective at reducing some sexually transmitted infections in some people. But new research suggests is probably also driving development of resistance to tetracycline antibiotics in some bacteria. www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/d...

Now out in NEJM. Kudos to @dhelekal.bsky.social and @tatumdmortimer.bsky.social : www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...

The Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center at UGA is looking for an avian microbiologist (open rank, tenure-track position) to lead the bacteriology/mycology diagnostic section! Find out more about the position and apply here: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/437...

ECR Data Visualisation Workshop Please complete this application to attend the Data Viz workshop. This event will be held at the 2025 STI & HIV World Congress in Montreal, Canada on Wednesday, July 30th from 11:30-13:30. Effective...

If you are an early career research attending @stihiv2025.org and interested in learning more about data visualization in R, @odileharrison.bsky.social , Sim Dabee, and I are organizing a workshop during the conference (11:30am-1:30pm on Wednesday). Register here: forms.gle/e4UL1NG62PUD...

RFK Jr. moves on vaccines could have broad ramifications for public health, says expert | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Yonatan Grad, professor of immunology and infectious diseases, comments on the potential impact of recent decisions related to vaccines made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr...

Dr. Yonatan Grad @yhgrad.bsky.social, Professor of immunology and infectious diseases comments on the potential impact of recent decisions related to vaccines made by Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Read it here at bit.ly/3T2KPqX

I got the opportunity to speak with Science about my individual research fellowship being terminated. I was awarded the NSF GRFP before I chose Harvard for graduate school, but I still got cut. I study how we can improve treatments for a common antibiotic resistant bacteria, so this is sad to see

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

In this preprint, we consider the explanations for the observed drop in gonorrhea incidence in the US and the evidence needed to evaluate them.

A critical takeaway: without the CDC data & monitoring, we're unlikely to know. Those huge cuts to the CDC undermine efficient, effective healthcare.

New preprint. After years of increases, gonorrhea diagnosis rates dropped in the US in 2022 and 2023. While the news is promising, understanding WHY is key to sustaining progress.
dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/427...

I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school

FimX regulates type IV pilus localization via the Pil-Chp chemosensory system in Acinetobacter baylyi Type IV pili (T4P) are widespread dynamic appendages required for diverse prokaryotic behaviors including twitching motility, biofilm formation, and DNA uptake leading to natural transformation. Altho...

Excited to share the newest preprint from the lab for my first post! Driven by @tayellisonwrites.bsky.social and @ianyyen.bsky.social with Lynne Howell we show the protein FimX has diverged in function away from regulating pilus extension to instead regulate pilus localization in A. baylyi

Excited to share the first beta release of AMRrules at #ABPHM! (Poster 42 tonight)
interpretamr.github.io/AMRrules

With nearly all of Harvard Chan School’s direct federal grants terminated, we are relying on philanthropy to power our research and support our educational programs. Every gift, regardless of size, advances our vision of health, dignity, and justice for every human. Support our work: hsph.me/whygive

A screenshot of the termination notice showing "Outstanding Investigator Grants"

A screenshot of the termination notice with "This award is terminated effective the date of this award, due to unsafe antisemitic actions that suggest the institution lacks concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students." highlighted

Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab

Are you able to mentor a summer student and have a good project that can be virtually administered, sign up to be an NSURP mentor today! If you can't, hit that share button please and thank you! #NoLabNoProblem #NSURP
uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Our preprint and much other work was only possible because of data generated by the CDC STD lab, which was shuttered in the HHS layoffs last week. This is a huge blow to efforts to monitor resistance, guide clinical care, & inform policy www.statnews.com/2025/04/05/c... @helenbranswell.bsky.social

(1/10) New preprint: Expansion of tetM-carrying Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the US, 2018-2024; Link: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

NSURP.org National Summer Undergraduate Research Project

Although we are not federally funded for this summer, WE WILL STILL RUN The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP) in 2025. We remain committed to the work that needs to be done and will continue to meet people where they are. 1/4 nsurp.org

Some of the most talented people I know have joined, or were about to join, the EIS. This is an immense loss.

microGWAS: a computational pipeline to perform large-scale bacterial genome-wide association studies Identifying genetic variants associated with bacterial phenotypes, such as virulence, host preference and antimicrobial resistance, has great potential for a better understanding of the mechanisms inv...

Our paper describing the microGWAS pipeline was published yesterday in Microbial Genomics. Lots of fixes and additions to the code/documentation since the preprint, including a hard to reproduce bug that only showed up in a specific HPC 🥵

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...