SPPIRIT Network

-> 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 for BSP 2026 in Glasgow are open!
The deadline for abstracts for oral presentations is 17 February while the deadline for poster abstracts is 28 February.
lnkd.in/eJqXD3DY

Travelaward2026 MPM LMIC award details

🌍 Calling parasitologists from LMICs! Apply for the MPM XXXVII LMIC Travel Award to attend the Molecular Parasitology Meeting in Woods Hole, MA (September 13–17, 2026). Awards include full registration, travel, and accommodation.
🗓️ Deadline: March 1, 2026

🔗 www.parasitesrule.com/mpm-xxxvii/t...

We are pleased to share a pre-print of collaborative work @scotomorph.bsky.social @janemunday.bsky.social @keithrmatthews.bsky.social @goldrieve.bsky.social describing the genome of Trypanosoma congolense and the organisation of VSG genes for immune evasion

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Are you a curious and skilled molecular parasitologist wanting to discover how Plasmodium parasites enter red blood cells?
Come and join our team!
We have two postdoc positions available.

Find out more here:
jobs.rvc.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Application closing date is the 2nd of March.

Applications are open for the 2026 Biology of Parasitism course!

📍 Woods Hole, MA | 🗓 June 12 - July 23, 2026

An immersive 6-week program in modern parasitology for PhD students & postdocs, co-organized by Stéphanie Blandin.

📅 Application deadline: February 5, 2026

🔗 : shorturl.at/i8GSr

Our next Parents of Parasites virtual coffee is almost here! ☕🍼
A chance to catch up and connect with fellow parents in academia.

📅 1 December
⏰ 10:30 AM (GMT)

👉 SPPIRIT members: check your inbox
👉 Non-members: DM or email us to join

Coming up: Postdoctoral fellowship mini-workshop as a part of the SPPIRIT Forum series. EMBO, Marie Curie, and Wellcome Early Career fellows will share their advice on fellowship applications.

Join us at 12 noon on Thursday 14th November!

Register at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Cryptosporidium oocyst wall proteins are true components of the oocyst wall and COWP8 is not required for parasite transmission Author summary Infection with Cryptosporidium causes diarrhoea, which can be fatal for malnourished children or people who are immunocompromised. There is no vaccine or effective medicines available t...

Incredibly proud to share that our work on Cryptosporidium Oocyst Wall Proteins is published in
@PLOSPathogens
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Led by previous PhD student
@BacchettiRoss
and carried on by current PhD student, Sarah Stevens.

Join the next TrypsClub Journal Club with our former committee member Dr Kirsty McWilliam, who will be chatting about her latest trypanosome work! 🔬🧬

Hi Anna, you should receive the link via email very soon 🙂

📢 Just 1 month to go until our SPPIRIT ECR symposium

📝 Abstract deadline extended to 10 October 2025 - don’t miss out!

Hostbusters: SPPIRITed to Roslin Bringing together ECR parasitologists from across Scotland to network and showcase their science.

📢 7 weeks to go until our SPPIRIT symposium

A fantastic opportunity for ECR parasitologists across Scotland to network and showcase their research.

🗓️ 31 October 2025 | 📍 Roslin Institute, Edinburgh
🎟️ Free to attend → tinyurl.com/3yzjnm5h

Secure your spot today!

A composite image of Professor Rick Maizles in the lab on the left, and the Freethink* logo with a microscopic image of Caenorhabditis elegans directly below, and the article title: 'We purged worms from our bodies - and may have made ourselves sick' below that, on the right.

🆕 | @uofgsii.bsky.social's Professor Rick Maizels has been prominently featured in a fascinating Freethink* article exploring the surprising relationship between parasitic worms and the human immune system.

👉 Full story: www.gla.ac.uk/schools/infe...

🗞️ Article: www.freethink.com/biotech/worm...

Save the dates!! @bspparasitology.bsky.social Spring Meeting 2026 will be in Bonnie Glasgow! 7-9 April 2026, with a drinks reception in Glasgow City Chambers on the 6th of April 2026!
Keep an eye on the BSP website for registration and abstract submission!
Logo by @shannaraeilean.bsky.social! 🦟

Our next Parents of Parasites meeting is coming up! ☕👶

Being a parent in academia can feel isolating - join our virtual coffee break to connect, share experiences, and support each other.

📅 22nd September
🕒 2:00 PM

👉 SPPIRIT members: check your inbox
👉 Non-members: email or DM us to join

Don't miss the chance to learn from an industry expert in drug discovery and connect with the Tryps Club community! 🌍✨

Leishmania major chromosomes are replicated from a single high-efficiency locus supplemented by thousands of lower efficiency initiation events DNA replication initiates at genome sites termed origins. Previous origin mapping approaches in the populations of the protozoan parasite Leishmania m…

We’re pleased to share our new study, led by @jezieldamasceno.bsky.social, that used long-read, single molecule sequencing to reveal the full (?) picture of Leishmania DNA replication. Thanks, Mike Boemo and helpful reviewers @uofgsii.bsky.social

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

🚨NEW PAPER🚨 We've already shown mosquito infections vary by time-of-day, here we test whether infection of mice FROM mosquitoes vary in a rhythmic manner. We test this in untreated & drug treated mice as some fitness consequences are only apparent in stressful environments doi.org/10.1186/s130...

The paper we will discuss:
bmcmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Only one week left until SPPIRIT Forum meeting! Join us to discuss recent work on mosquito tissue ultrastructure-expansion microscopy for malaria research, and ask questions to the 1st author, @benliffner.bsky.social, who will join us!
For meeting link fill in: tinyurl.com/3j5ewezv

My attempt to become a professor was unsuccessful again but the diplonema tagging paper is now published in Open Biology. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

T cell responses in repeated controlled human schistosome infection compared to natural exposure - Nature Communications In schistosomiasis-endemic regions, the cyclical nature of infection and treatment complicates understanding of host immune responses. Repeated controlled human Schistosoma mansoni infection, designed...

A real pleasure to be a part of this beautiful new study on T cell responses in repeat controlled human infection vs natural infection with #schistosomes, spearheaded by @emmahoulder.bsky.social with many wonderful colleagues #helminths #ImmunoSky #IDSky 🪱 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mosquito Tissue Ultrastructure-Expansion Microscopy (MoTissU-ExM) enables ultrastructural and anatomical analysis of malaria parasites and their mosquito - BMC Methods Background Study of malaria parasite cell biology is challenged by their small size, which can make visualisation of individual organelles difficult or impossible using conventional light microscopy. ...

On our first meeting on the 22nd of August, we will discuss an exciting recent study on ultrastructure-expansion microscopy of mosquito tissue for malaria research. Looking forward seeing you there! bmcmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

The SPPIRIT Forum SPPIRIT would like to invite you to join our series of meetings - the SPPIRIT Forum! The forum is a platform where we will discuss parasitology, funding applications, experimental methods, and other t...

We would like to invite you to join our brand new SPPIRIT Forum! This series of online meetings aims to bring parasitologists together to discuss science, funding opportunities, etc.
For more info, join our mailing list: tinyurl.com/3j5ewezv

🚨 Postdoc alert! Our former committee member @macleanlab.bsky.social is looking for a postdoc to work on Toxoplasma metabolism in his lab. Great opportunity to do cool science in a beautiful city! 🧪🤝

MMV announces new partnership using AI-powered image analysis to accelerate malaria drug discovery | Medicines for Malaria Venture MMV announces new partnership using AI-powered image analysis to accelerate malaria drug discovery. The platform will improve identification of compounds with novel modes of action that can help comba...

MMV, @LPIXEL_Inc & @dundeeuni are partnering to accelerate #malaria drug discovery using advanced AI-powered image analysis. This partnership aims to develop a platform that could shave months off the process of screening & selecting compounds. Learn more: bit.ly/44Roq5o

Antitrypanosomal quinazolines targeting lysyl-tRNA synthetase show partial efficacy in a mouse model of acute Chagas disease Quinazolines targeting Trypanosoma cruzi lysyl-tRNA synthetase show partial efficacy in a mouse model of acute Chagas disease.

Delighted our latest paper is now published in Science Translational Medicine. Fantastic collab with Dr Avninder Bhambra and his team. Our studies reveal promising quinazolines selectively target KRS in T. cruzi. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@dundee.ac.uk

Structure–activity relationships of 1,5-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]diazepine-2,4(3H)-diones as inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), is responsible for a large health burden with around 6–8 million people infected globally. The current dru...

Great to have a latest #Chagas disease drug discovery paper published in @rsc.org MedChem: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

This work highlights how we decide to progress or terminate series, and hopefully provides some useful approaches and lessons.

@ddu-dundee.bsky.social 🧪 #NTD #drugdiscovery

Genomic evidence of spatially structured gene flow and divergent insecticide resistance backgrounds of the malaria vector Anopheles funestus in Tanzania Abstract. Population genetic analysis of mosquitoes is important for understanding the distribution of insecticide resistance alleles, devising sustainable

New paper led by Joel Odero from the #VectorsGlasgow team in @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk and #IfakaraHealthInstitute
⬇️
Genomic evidence of spatially structured gene flow and divergent insecticide resistance backgrounds of the malaria vector Anopheles funestus in Tanzania academic.oup.com/genetics/art...

🚨 Postdoc alert! Amazing opportunity to work on Toxoplasma with @youngtoxolab.bsky.social in Edinburgh. Check it out!