My lab at Pitt is looking for a Research Scientist to help us make phage therapy for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections. Please share and apply! cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...

Drug-Resistant Infections Are Rising. Phage Therapy Can Help Stop Them. Antibiotic-resistant infections are outpacing the drug pipeline, but a powerful, targeted solution has existed in nature all along.

Drug-resistant infections are rising—and we need new solutions. Phage therapy uses viruses that target & kill harmful bacteria with precision 🦠 At P3, we’re bringing this innovation to patients who need it most.
🔗 www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/infectious-d...

#pittsburghphageprogram #phagetherapy

Novo Nordisk Fellowship Potential areas of focus for postdoctoral fellows participating in the MIT-Novo Nordisk Postdoc Program include, but are not limited to, the following: Your complete application should include: In the...

If you're a senior PhD student or recent graduate interested in doing work at the intersection of AI and microbial genomics and/or microbiomes, please feel free to reach out to discuss the possibility of applying together for an MIT Novo Nordisk Fellowship engineering.mit.edu/novo-nordisk

In conclusion, culture-enriched metagenomic sequencing of pathogen populations yields important insights. Thanks and congrats to everyone involved in both studies! @emmamills1.bsky.social @sundermannaj.bsky.social @idpittstop.bsky.social

We again used culture-enriched metagenomics to study VREfm populations from the GI tract and bloodstream of 35 patients. Not surprisingly (but still good to confirm!), GI tract populations had greater diversity and population sequencing uncovered more putative transmission than WGS of clones.

Culture-enriched metagenomic sequencing reveals within-patient diversity and transmission of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium Colonization of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) often precedes bloodstream infection and serves as a reservoir for onward patient transmission in h...

Study 2: Culture-enriched metagenomic sequencing reveals within-patient diversity and transmission of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

We profiled P. aeruginosa populations from six patients over time as they evolved increasing AMR. Population sequencing identified resistance-associated mutations at low frequency in some populations; many of these mutations were not found in single-colony isolates from the same sample.

Within-patient evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations during antimicrobial treatment | mSphere Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are notoriously difficult to treat and are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. While the genetic basis of resistance in P. aeruginosa is well docum...

Study #1: Within-patient evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations during antimicrobial treatment
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Two new studies from us using culture-enriched metagenomics to study populations (not just clones!) of some of our favorite superbugs collected from infected patients in the hospital 🧵

This was so much fun! Check out Jess’s thread and the podcast to hear how we “do” phage therapy these days @pghphageprogram.bsky.social

KSQA: Drs. Joseph P. Zackular & Mariana X. Byndloss (Beyond Antibiotics) YouTube video by KeystoneSymposia

⏰ Last chance to save $250! Register for Beyond Antibiotics by 11:59pm MST on March 5.

Join @joeyzacks.bsky.social, @kimingeneva.bsky.social, @dariavantyne.bsky.social & @maribyndloss.bsky.social to spark new collaborations.

🎥 youtu.be/8Ppjx-MnvxA
keysym.us/KSBeyondAnti...

#KSBeyondAntibiotics26

Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health Call for Papers A defining characteristic of infectious diseases is that they evolve. The consequences of this evolution are among the most pressing medical issues facing humanity, including emerging pandemics, antibiotic resistance, and the success or failure of vaccines. Pathogen evolution profoundly influences virulence, transmission, and responses to a broad array of human interventions. While the evolutionary dynamics of pathogens have historically been challenging to study, large-scale genomic sequencing, novel computational tools, and experimental methods are rapidly changing the field. We encourage submissions on the broad topic of the evolution of infectious diseases. This Special Issue aims to feature research that blends evolutionary approaches to understanding pathogen heterogeneity and ongoing genetic change in clinical samples and models of human infection. It also seeks to highlight opportunities to design treatment and prevention strategies that remain effective in the face of ongoing pathogen evolution. Submission – open until January 31, 2027 Guest editors Robert Woods, MD PhD, University of Michigan Camilo Barbosa, PhD, University of Michigan Silvie Huijben, PhD, Arizona State University

🚨Call for papers🚨
Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health
in the society journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

Guest Editors: Bob Woods, Silvie Huijben & Camilo Barbosa
EIC: me

This will be great, please submit and share!
academic.oup.com/emph/pages/m...

Submission deadline for short talks and scholarships is Wednesday! Come join us in Breckenridge in May!

So incredibly proud of this work, and thankful to everyone who makes it possible!

Holiday card with cookies shaped like microbes

From our lab to yours, Happy Holidays!!

Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection, May 2026, in Breckenridge, with field leaders!

We're just 6 months away from @keystoneSymposia.bsky.social Beyond #Antibiotics : Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection, May 2026 in Breckenridge! 👉Scholarship and short talk abstract deadlines are Jan 7! 🧐 keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26

Fabulous study - congrats!!

Congrats @jakechoby.bsky.social!!

Come join us in Breckenridge next May!

Assistant Professor (Research), Department of Microbiology & Immunology, (C2-240724) Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...

Come join us at @mcgill.ca as an assistant professor in virus-host interactions! Please share widely.

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...

Big shoutout to @olayarendueles.bsky.social @julielebris.bsky.social , @nathaliechen.bsky.social, @dariavantyne.bsky.social and Adeline Supandy—such an awesome team effort from the #VanTyneLab at Pitt! 💫 Great to see phage work move forward together! #PittsburghPhageProgram

🔬 The spotlight continues!
We’re excited to introduce the next incredible member of the #PittsburghPhageProgram team — meet Dr. @dariavantyne.bsky.social, whose work is helping push the boundaries of what’s possible in #phagetherapy. #InfectiousDiseases #P3 #VanTyneLab

Behind every patient story, every discovery, and every #phage, there’s a dedicated team making it happen.
Over the next few weeks, we’re excited to introduce the people who power the #PittsburghPhageProgram — starting with Dr. Ghady Haidar.🧫✨

A superbug rose to the top after gaining a chemical weapon A newfound ability to produce an antibiotic helped a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to take over a hospital.

Emerging strains of a deadly ‘superbug’ seem to have picked up an advantage over other micro-organisms: a chemical weapon that kills competing bacteria

https://go.nature.com/4lb8279

Shoutout to @dariavantyne.bsky.social, our Head of Phage Biology and Discovery, for her leadership in #phagetherapy. P3's latest clinical impact was given the spotlight in Contagion Live! Read more on how phage therapy is transforming treatment options: 🔗 tinyurl.com/Contagion-Live

Survival of the Fittest: How bacteriocin production is driving a global shift in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium populations

Also, check out Emma's blog post about the study here: communities.springernature.com/posts/surviv...

Finally, we wondered whether the strain replacement we observed at our hospital was a widespread phenomenon by examining over 15,000 publicly available VREfm genomes. We found that what is happening at UPMC is also happening all over the world. Global genomic surveillance for the win!

To test whether bacteriocin T8 could help VREfm colonize the intestine, we phoned a friend @joeyzacks.bsky.social. The Zackular lab performed a mouse colonization study, which showed that bacteriocin T8 provided a strong competitive advantage in the mammalian gut.

We observed large-scale strain replacement just in the 6 years of our study, and Emma figured out that this was likely due to production of a bacteriocin called T8, which is carried on a plasmid, kills enterococci, and was previously studied as a probiotic for the treatment of intestinal dysbiosis.

In this study, first author @emmamills1.bsky.social took all the genomes collected by EDS-HAT between 2017 and 2022 and asked a simple question: which VREfm lineages are prevalent in the population, and does their prevalence change over time? Spoiler alert: There were big changes!