Recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis producing a functional M. tuberculosis ESX-1 system is protective in the murine model of bovine TB without sensitization to tuberculin Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic, productivity-limiting infection in livestock with significant zoonotic potential that is caused by members of …

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I am delighted to share the latest study on our bTB vaccine. Grateful to Beef Cattle Research Council for the support 🙏

Introducing the newly minted Dr. Slim Zriba! What a week it has been for Slim (second from left) - successfully defends his PhD and gets his second first-author (and co-corresponding author I might… |... Introducing the newly minted Dr. Slim Zriba! What a week it has been for Slim (second from left) - successfully defends his PhD and gets his second first-author (and co-corresponding author I might ad...

www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffre...

One of the deadliest diseases in history is still here. TB kills 1.3M people every year.

On #WorldTBDay, VIDO researchers are advancing vaccines, drug targets, and new models to help stop TB.

Read more: www.vido.org/news/2026/ad...

@usask.ca @jeffchenmycolab.bsky.social

#WorldTBDay #TB

We’re hiring at VIDO!

🔬 Principal Research Scientist – ESKAPE Pathogens
🐄 Principal Research Scientist – Bovine Respiratory Disease
🛡️ Associate Biosafety Officer

Help us advance infectious disease research. Apply today: vido.org/careers/curr...

@usask.ca

Congrats Jenny-Lee!

📢 We’re hiring a Director of Facilities at VIDO.

This senior leadership role oversees world-class biocontainment labs, infrastructure, and capital projects, supporting critical pandemic and infectious disease research.

Apply here: vido.applytojobs.ca/leadership/4...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis overcomes phosphate starvation by extensively remodelling its lipidome with phosphorus-free lipids - Nature Communications Here, the authors show that Mycobacterium tuberculosis manipulates lipid metabolism to overcome host restriction, by remodelling its lipidome and utilising host lipids as an alternative phosphate sour...

We’re excited to share our latest study that reshapes our understanding of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) lipid composition, with major implications for drug discovery, immunity, and vaccine development.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A thread.

Excited to see the PhD work led by Sarah Danchuk published today. Virulence hierarchies within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Thanks to all the authors and collaborators, and especially kudos to Sarah: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Quote by Paul Sutter which says "The public needs to see scientists as poeple, rather than simply sources of information"

Given the absolutely insane levels of disinformation and growing attacks on science and scientists, all scientists must be taught

- how to communicate effectively
- how to engage the public
- how to engage politicians and policy makers
- how to engage with the media
- how to counter misinformation

Welcome, Shabaana!

Yes absolutely...we have a follow-up study demonstrating exactly that. Stay tuned

Thank you Steve 🙏

What a week! 🎉From our Scientific Summit to the 50th Gala to celebrating our amazing team, thank you to everyone who joined us to mark 50 years of VIDO. The future of innovation, collaboration & impact starts now. #VIDOis50
@usask.ca

🚨 We're hiring for an animal technician! Apply now to join our team: vido.applytojobs.ca/veterinary%2...
#WorkAtVIDO #WorkWithUs #Hiring #JoinOurTeam #ResearchCareers

In doing so, this talented young scientist discovered 1) a novel activator of ESX-1 gene transcription and 2) a novel vaccine that is as protective as BCG but does not compromise existing TB diagnostic tests.

Slim Zriba (PhD student) engineered Mycobacterium smegmatis to produce a functional Mtb ESX-1 system.

Assembly of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis type VII ESX-1 secretion system in Mycobacterium smegmatis identifies a new transcriptional activator of esx-1 genes and a novel TB vaccine | Microbiology Sp... In this study, we modified Mycobacterium smegmatis, which is often used as a surrogate model organism in mycobacterial research, to produce and assemble a functional Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb)...

Delighted to share our latest report in Microbiology Spectrum
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

😔

Seventy-year-old Parkinson’s drug shows promise against tuberculosis A medication developed in the 1950s to treat Parkinson’s disease may offer a powerful new tool in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), according to new research from the University of British Co...

Seventy-year-old Parkinson’s drug shows promise against tuberculosis | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

My fantastic group threw me a surprise birthday lunch today 🎉 🥳 🪅 Couldn't ask for a better group of people to be my partners in crime in the lab 😁

Corporate administrators who have only experienced jobs whose main benefit was pay cannot fathom that the very best find intrinsic value in excellence and are best left to do it without undue interference or burden

Congratulations!

I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.

Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design

Please repost for reach 💚

Join the Blokesch lab (@EPFL) as a postdoc in Molecular Microbiology 🤩
Study Vibrio cholerae defense systems (phage/plasmid) in a dynamic, collaborative environment in Lausanne close to Lake Geneva in 🇨🇭!
Please visit my lab's webpage for details about the position and how to formally apply.

NBC News: A deadly E. coli outbreak hit 15 states, but the FDA chose not to publicize it

Reuters: US FDA suspends food safety quality checks after staff cuts April 17, 2025

These stories landed today, within 11 hours of each other.

This presidential administration is a clear and present danger to the American people.

“Tuberculosis has long suffered a PR problem… We are looking at a world whereby, two years from now, 2 million people will die of #tuberculosis, instead of 1.25 million… This is getting worse, not better, and I really hate it when we have the ability to make something better and we let it get worse”

🤣🤣🤣

How researchers are trying to tackle Sask.'s high tuberculosis rates Saskatchewan's rate of tuberculosis infections was more than twice the national average in 2023. Scientists in the province hope to find a new drug treatment and a new vaccine. Jeffrey Chen, a princip...

To commemorate World TB day, got to discuss the state of TB in SK and our TB research at VIDO with Adam Hunter on CBC Radio
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Tuberculosis Resurgent as Trump Funding Cut Disrupts Treatment Globally The United States was the major funder of tuberculosis programs. Now hundreds of thousands of sick patients can’t find tests or drugs, and risk spreading the disease.

The gutting of USAID has crippled tuberculosis programs, leaving hundreds of thousands of patients without tests or drugs and at risk of spreading the disease.

Amazing thesis work led by Sarah Danchuk now submitted for review and posted as preprint: ssrn.com/abstract=51598…. Short summary: M. bovis & M. orygis manifest enhanced virulence compared to M. tuberculosis in natural host model (calves) and small animal model (mice).