Jakob Sprague

Tim had an exciting breakthrough this year! The creation of a Candida albicans infection model using our intestine-on-chip in collaboration with the Leibniz HKI. Merging #OrganOnChip, #Microbiology, and advanced image analysis.

📖 Perfect weekend reading for fungal fans! 😉 Our @mpm-hki.bsky.social colleagues uncover how #CandidaAlbicans manages to invade tissue as hyphae but spread as yeast. Published in @femsjournals.bsky.social.

🧑🏻‍🔬: @jlspragu.bsky.social

Check out @jlspragu.bsky.social latest paper!
@leibniz-hki.de

#C.albicans invades tissues as hyphae but spreads as yeast, How?
@jlspragu.bsky.social & coll. show yeast can reach the bloodstream by hitchhiking with invasive hyphae or by switching forms. 🧫 More clues for understanding systemic infections !
👉 buff.ly/0vklJeb

Fungal determinants contributing to translocation of Candida albicans yeast cells through the intestinal epithelial barrier Abstract. Filamentous hyphae are the main invasive morphotype of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans. However, yeast cells seem better suite

🚨New paper out in microLife!
We uncover how Candida albicans yeast cells cross intestinal barriers during infection.

📖 Read more: academic.oup.com/microlife/ad...

A little more than 2 weeks to apply for a Postdoc position in our lab @leibniz-hki.de 👇🏻

New PhD position @uni-jena.de and at our #ClusterOfExcellence! Join @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social's group to study #ClimateChange & #FungalPathogens. Interdisciplinary training, vibrant research network & great working conditions. Apply by Aug 31: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/a... @uni-jena.de

Research Fellow - Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy - 106123 - Grade 7 We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed scientist to join our project team, which is aiming to better understand the in-host behaviour of fungal pathogens. The successful candidate will make ...

Microbiology job link:
edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Job opportunity Postdoctoral Researcher (m/w/div) in “Microbial Infection Strategies” at Leibniz HKI Jobportal Wissenschaft/Forschung in Jena

📣 I’m recruiting a #Postdoc to help us further our understanding on the infection strategies of our human fungal pathogen. If you’re enthusiastic about research, our interdisciplinary group @leibniz-hki.de will be a good fit for you! Please share!
jobs.hki-jena.de/jobs/Postdoc...

It’s what the people want

Thanks to new funding from @wellcometrust.bsky.social we will soon be advertising two postdoc positions! Interested? Please get in touch in the first instance and I'll provide more info on the projects. You can also learn more on our lab website www.theradlab.co.uk
#immunosky 🧪

You can see a photo collage with lots of cheerful snapshots of Leibniz-HKI employees before, during and after the Jena Company Run 2025.

🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏽‍♀️The #LeibnizHKI team had a blast at the Jena #CompanyRun 2025! We ran for a good cause, raised donations per kilometer, and showed that science can keep pace! 💪 Thx to all involved!

#JenasFirmenLaufen! #CharityRun 👟💞

Our @leibniz-hki.de team was indeed #PoweredByNaturalProducts at this year's Company run (Firmenlauf) in Jena! 🏃🏃‍♀️
Of course, we cheered the loudest for our runners - Janik, Johannes, @jlspragu.bsky.social, and Osama. 🥳🎉 Congrats on your successful run❣️

#FirmenlaufJena

Can Germany rein in its academic bullying problem? Researchers and administrators are exploring ways to restructure a rigid hierarchy that can breed power abuses.

“There is far too much power in the hands of professors in the German system,” says @leising.bsky.social.

My latest @nature.com story digs into efforts to tackle the entrenched structural heirarchy that enables academic bullies.

Commensalism and pathogenesis of Candida albicans at the mucosal interface Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01174-xIn this Review, Hube and colleagues overview the commensal and pathogenic lifestyles of Candida albicans, focusing on how the fungus transitions between these two states, the fungal and host factors involved, and the role of the mucosal microbiota on C. albicans commensalism.

ICYMI: New online! Commensalism and pathogenesis of Candida albicans at the mucosal interface

Commensalism and pathogenesis of Candida albicans at the mucosal interface Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01174-xIn this Review, Hube and colleagues overview the commensal and pathogenic lifestyles of Candida albicans, focusing on how the fungus transitions between these two states, the fungal and host factors involved, and the role of the mucosal microbiota on C. albicans commensalism.

New online! Commensalism and pathogenesis of Candida albicans at the mucosal interface

Happy to be a part of this! Congratulations Tim on the excellent review 😁

This week, Emil, the great-grandson of Hans Knoell, joined our group to gain some hands-on experience in our lab. 🧪🧫 @jlspragu.bsky.social, Tim Schille, and Marisa Valentine showed him glowing bacteria🦠, fungal infections🍄, and the organ-on-chip lab🔬. We had a great time with you, Emil! 😊🫶

Congratulations @jlspragu.bsky.social for winning the #microLife poster prize at the annual @trr124-funginet.bsky.social meeting!! 🎉🥳🎊
@jsmc-info.bsky.social @leibniz-hki.de

What an incredible joint meeting „FungiNet – Pathogenic fungiand their human host“ & „Invasive Mycoses in Haematological Malignancies – IMIHM XV in Würzburg!
🌟 The discussions were enlightening, and the talks were truly inspiring.
🙌 A big thank you to everyone involved!

Check out @jlspragu.bsky.social poster about his paper (👉 doi.org/10.1371/jour...) and his tandem talk with Bea Cristóvão from @aps-hki.bsky.social at the FungiNet meeting. In the talk, Jakob will present his newest data about gastrointestinal #Candida albicans reaching the blood stream.

This photograph shows multiple stacks of Petri dishes with handwritten labels on some of them. They are filled with a nutrient agar medium. The dishes contain microbial colonies, which appear as small, circular growths scattered across the agar surface.

#AllEyesOn our Dept. Microbial Pathogenicity Mechanisms! We study human pathogenic fungi like Candida albicans & C. glabrata. We uncover how they invade the host, survive, and cause infections. Our research aims to develop new diagnostic tools & antifungal therapies. lmy.de/VbAlM

December was a big month for us with three (!!) successfull PhD defenses! Congratulations to Rita Mueller, Sophie Austermeier, and @jlspragu.bsky.social! 🎉🎊❣️ We'll be sharing research blurbs about their amazing work and, of course, their stylish PhD hats soon! Stay tuned! 😊