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
04.03.2026 03:35
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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
⏰ 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!!
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!
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.🧫✨
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
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!
We are fortunate to have access to VREfm genomes and isolates from EDS-HAT, a bacterial genome sequencing surveillance program that has been running @upmc.com for almost a decade. EDS-HAT was built to detect transmission (yay @sundermannaj.bsky.social!), but it also enables lots of other studies.
Excited to share our latest, out today in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social Bacteriocin production facilitates nosocomial emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium www.nature.com/articles/s41... @idpittstop.bsky.social
👋 We're the Pittsburgh Phage Program (P3)! Based at Pitt, we advance precision medicine using phages—viruses that kill bacteria. We fight antibiotic resistance through compassionate use & clinical trials.
Follow for 🔬research, 💡phage facts, 📢success stories!
#PhageTherapy #P3
How does avi-caz treatment lead to broad-spectrum treatment failure? Our awesome Peds ID faculty and labbie @rapskiid.bsky.social shows how, by longitudinal sequencing, genotyping, and phenotyping. Congrats Glenn! @dariavantyne.bsky.social @aleciarokes.bsky.social
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
I remember seeing Dr. O’Brien at seminars around Boston and Cambridge and being wowed at his stature, both physically and in the AMR field. And that was before I knew whose father he was… www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
From our lab to yours, happy holidays!
🧪 Please share! Spring 2025 Microbiology & Immunology Diversity Scholars Program Applications open Dec 4-Jan 15. The program seeks to provide biomedical research opportunities for Pittsburgh area undergrads who are from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds
www.pmi.pitt.edu/research/mid...
JOB CLAXON!
I am recruiting a post-doctoral researcher on a BBSRC-funded project (36 months) on the genetics and functional genomics of vancomycin resistance in enterococci.
Further details here: edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Please DM or email me if you want to discuss this post.
Silver lining of an otherwise awful week: attending #RBM2024 with these fabulous folks. A great meeting full of awesome science!