Jennifer Tsang

This is wild

a penguin with a bandana on his head says " don 't worry i 'm a doctor " in white letters ALT: a penguin with a bandana on his head says " don 't worry i 'm a doctor " in white letters

For the next 24h, drop any infectious disease and/or vaccine-related questions in response to this post, and I will do my best to answer them. Answers are for information only, NOT medical advice.
#AskAnIDDoc March 2026 edition.

Publisher demands $500 from impersonated author to retract paper Last year, we wrote about a Walsh Medical Media journal that refused to withdraw an author’s paper unless he paid a fee — even though he didn’t write or submit the article. For one reader, some det…

Lol. This is academic publishing taken to its logical end.

Wow! That's such a difference!

In the standard SEM image, aggregates of bacterial cells with no visible matrix sit on top of a network of collagen fibrils. In the cryo image, interconnected aggregates are covered with a smooth coat of matrix, and no collagen is visible - it is under the aggregates, and the only tissue structures visible are patches of elastin fibres.

If you check out my lab's recent work, you'll notice how much biofilm structure is destroyed by dehydration & vacuum during standard scanning electron microscopy. These are both images of P. aeruginosa PA14 #biofilm on pig lung tissue at 48h p.i: using cryoSEM retains the biofilm matrix. #MicroSky

Friday productivity hack: Go to the library to write so I can use the guilt of being on my phone or scrolling social while taking up a table to stop me from distractions

#Productivity #Focus #ProductivityHack

Ad for Postdoctoral Scientist Position in Burmeister Lab on Bacteria-Phage Coevolution. Full document available here: https://arburmeister.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/9/9/19990727/burmeister_lab_postdoc_position_2026.pdf

Postdoc position on phage-bacteria coevolution available in the @aburmeister.bsky.social lab at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee #phage #evosky #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🔬 #microbiology

arburmeister.weebly.com/join-the-lab...

Also me: trying to get some work done during a naptime today (Sunday) because I don't want to get too behind!

My email autoreply is basically like "I'm not around for the next couple days, but I'm not sure how long exactly. Because I assume schools will be closed (for currently undetermined amount of time) and I'll be shoveling 2 ft of snow."

DOG AT THE OLYMPICS
FULL COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS

Scientists have seen Asgard archaea crawling for the first time. When it comes to the origin of eukaryotes, this is like seeing a feathered dinosaur in the wild. (Video courtesy of Philipp Ralder)

Hi #chemsky! If you're navigating the NIH grant application process right now—or if you decided not to—I'd love to hear from you.

Email: LDattaro@proton.me
Signal: LDattaro.73

Every time this gets me.

I get a message from preschool. My heart sinks, fearing an illness and they want us to get him early or something worse.

Then I open it and see a picture of cupcake ingredients. They're asking if it's okay he has this because they're celebrating a birthday.

Climate change and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Reviews Microbiology In this work, Kalanxhi and Laxminarayan review the evidence supporting the links between climate change and antimicrobial resistance, highlight opportunities for action and identify areas wherein furt...

On the need for more research into the relationship between climate change and antimicrobial resistance. 🦠 #AMR

congratulations!!

My first remarks since being arrested last night.

Excerpt from a review article. Circled in red is the sentence " Had we realized that NF-κB would have a wide role in inflammation and other natural and pathological processes, we might have found a simpler designation for ease of typing."

I'm doing a bit of research for something I'm writing on NF-κB and came across this gem of a paper. I am having this struggle right now. 😂

(Excerpt from: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...)

#ScienceWriter

Snow day WFH with a toddler

Step 1 - Time for nap time!

Step 2 - Tries to get some work done during nap.

Step 3 - Hears toddler singing "My mama's coming back, my mama's coming back" to the tune of a Ms. Rachel song he listened to yesterday.

#SnowDay #WinterStorm #WorkingParent #Parenting

Snow storm predictions for this weekend are like:

1. We'll be getting 1-30 in inches.
2. It'll start at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pm.

#winter #snowstorm #weather

Climate change as a driver of fungal infections Every year, I set a small reading goal and track my progress in one of those reading apps. I started using Storygraph last year and set a goal of 12 books. Small for some, but I met last year’…

The first book I read this year was Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic. I came across a concept that was new to me: the "thermal barrier" that have kept fungi from infecting humans. I was curious about this and dug up some details for my blog. #Fungi

microbialmenagerie.com/climate-chan...

My whippet dog Song lying in her bed

This is the most amazing thing. I will never look at Song the same way! (picture of Song below)

Leafcutter ant holds up a large piece of leaf that says "Call for Scientists."

Seeking scientist volunteers for the 2026 spring semester! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? Apply by 1/25. Please share widely. bit.ly/comicscollabspring2026

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled $1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

Great news! The unethical hepatitis B vaccine trial planned for Guinea-Bissau has been cancelled.

Public pressure and insisting that clinical trials pass ethics analysis worked.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

1/2

Microbiology in space aboard the International Space Station!!!

Surely astronauts contributed enough to get authorship?!
#science #MicroSky #ClinMicro #phages #UTISky

Diet modulates Vibrio cholerae colonization and competitive outcomes with the gut microbiota Liu et al. show that dietary protein sources differentially restrict colonization of the pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Specific diets downregulate V. cholerae type VI secretion system (T6SS) expression, l...

#ScienceMonday 🧪 🦠 I've heard of picky eaters, but there's no reason to get your Type 6 Secretion System out over a meal,... but Vibrio will! Diet modulates Vibrio cholerae colonization and competitive outcomes with the gut microbiota: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

If it takes 20 minutes to regain focus after switching tasks, why are Pomodoros only 25 minutes long?

#Pomodoro #Productivity #TimeBlocking

I'm eating breakfast with my 3 yo and this is a conversation we had:

3 yo: Mama, do you have a meet this morning?

(I had a few early morning meetings recently and he calls them "meets")

Me: Not today. Do you know what meetings are?

3 yo: Talking to a grown up.

He's not wrong!

Why do we get more colds and respiratory illnesses in the wintertime? Note: As an Amazon Associate I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from links in this post (affiliate disclosure). It has been a while since I read an actual book so at the beginning of …

Also thought it would be a good time reshare this blog post I wrote last year about why we get more respiratory illnesses in the winter: microbialmenagerie.com/why-do-we-ge...