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Reposted by Connor Bamford

Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 1d

Is a healthy microbiome one that is rich in phages? 🦠 Excited to share our paper out in Lancet Microbe with @bkoskella.bsky.social & @dholtappels.bsky.social where we test whether virome diversity can be used a broad signature of microbiome health 📈

The Lancet Microbe @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social · 2d

New research article

Evaluation of bacteriophages as a signature of #microbiome health: a systematic review and meta-analysis

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

#IDSky #ClinMicro #ViroSky #Phage #OpenAccess #OA

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 1d

Great work and very pleased we have another virologist in the building! But still trying to get over your use of “bacteriophage viruses”!

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 2d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 1d

Lol thank you Blair! And thanks again Charlotte for the AdV help! On routine wastewater monitoring unfortunately this has ceased in NI and we never got round formally to looking for rose classic cryptics. Marc’s work in US remains a rare shining light for Covid and other viruses globally

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UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 2d

#UKHSAVirusWatch is back, a summary of our weekly winter surveillance report .🦠🧵
This week's data shows an increase in COVID-19 activity, which is circulating at medium levels. Flu activity has also increased, particularly in those aged 15 to 24, but remains at baseline levels.

Graph showing COVID-19 positive tests rising steadily from spring 2025 after a low in early 2025. Data from October 2024 to October 2025, England only.

Graph showing flu-positive tests peaking sharply in winter 2024–25 before declining and then beginning to rise again in autumn 2025. Data from October 2024 to October 2025, England only.

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 2d

Wow - hadn’t heard of this. Thanks

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah that is important as it’s an old debate really so I focused on new vaccines (eg RSV), global changes like RFKjr, and - at least the UKs - ever decreasing childhood vaccination rate

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 2d

Could try googling for State of Us BBC NI podcast but there could be some restriction with it being BBC. Unless it’s a conspiracy!

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 2d

🤔 could try www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... I’m not sure if there could be country restrictions?

The State of Us - The great big vaccine debate - BBC Sounds

Vaccine rates in Northern Ireland are falling – why?

www.bbc.co.uk

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 2d

It was great to speak with the BBC’s State of Us podcast about the science behind vaccines in the wake of the pandemic, alongside a local politician Paul Frew

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

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Gunnar N. Schroeder @gunnarns.bsky.social · 5d

SAVE THE DATE!

The 2026 UK CellularMicrobiologyNetwork meeting will be held 22nd - 23rd of June at @wwiem-qub.bsky.social in Belfast.

Researchers from the UK and beyond are invited to share exciting work on the mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions.

Follow us to stay tuned! www.ukcellmicro.org

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Reposted by Connor Bamford

Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 5d

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to:

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, Shimon Sakaguchi

“for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance”

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org

The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for the purpose of engaging, inspiring and spreading knowledge about the Nobel Prize as well as the discoveries and achievements of the laureates.

www.nobelprize.org

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 5d

Phew thankfully I waited until an hour before my T cell lecture to update my slides

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 6d

🦠 "Social Virology at the Tri-Kingdom Interface in Birds and Mammals" 🐥

We have a new 4y (open to intl students) PhD project advertised through the NorthWestBio Doctoral Training Partnership (lnkd.in/ee8hRpN6 ) between QUBelfast and Lancaster on virus-bacterial interactions across vertebrates!

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 17d

Wonderful early morning on my first day lecturing this semester - teaching second years about all things antibodies and their uses!

Early morning sun peeking over a tree in the central quad of the Queen’s University Belfast main building

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Timofey Skvortsov @timskvortsov.bsky.social · 23d

Are you interested a fully funded PhD? We would like to understand the role phages play in well- and poorly-performing broiler flocks using AI!
Learn more here: sustain-cdt.ai/advertised-p...
Apply by Friday, 17 October @ 12:00:

S3140 | SUSTAIN

sustain-cdt.ai

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · 28d

What’s the point of Young Academies like @yai.ie ? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Why we launched Denmark’s second Young Academy (and what’s different about it)

YATSI aims to represent scientists based in academia and in industry, and to build bridges between the two sectors.

www.nature.com

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · Sep 10

Inspiring day at the @yai.ie ‘s “evidence for policy summit” with a big focus on how early career researchers fit into the system across the island, with a focus on sustainability and a fair and inclusive society. Big thanks to Johnathan Dalzell from DAERA coming down from NI.

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bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Sep 1

Experimental infections reveal unexceptional viral tolerance in bats https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.28.672855v1

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Dalan Bailey @dalan-bailey.bsky.social · Sep 9

Our first post on here and it's a doozy 😍🤩. Our epic piece on #sarbecovirus host range. #virology #sars2 #covid #vaccines. Enjoy and please repost. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Understanding the future risk of bat coronavirus spillover into humans: correlating sarbecovirus receptor usage, host range, and antigenicity.

Sarbecoviruses interact with their receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), via the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike, the immunodominant target for neutralising antibodies. Understandin...

www.biorxiv.org

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · Sep 8

Congrats Kevin - well deserved, and sounds a really cool project!

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Kevin Daly @gingerhowley.bsky.social · Sep 5

I will be recruiting two PhDs for my ERC Project HERDPATH - let's discover out how livestock and pathogens evolved together using #aDNA. Projects will be animal or pathogen focused but will be in dialogue.

Details at my quaint website below. Deadline 3rd October.

kevingdaly.github.io

Ruminant Palaeogenomics - Kevin G. Daly: Ruminant Palaeogenomics

kevingdaly.github.io

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Reposted by Connor Bamford

Claire Donald @claireldonald.bsky.social · Sep 5

Really enjoyed working with MSc Science Communication student Hannah to produce this video as part of her summer project. It's a great opportunity to look at science from a different perspective. Great work Hannah!

MRC-UofG Centre for Virus Research @cvrinfo.bsky.social · Jul 23

🦟 Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, is expected to rise in a warming world.

This video by MSc student Hannah Stephens explores how #dengue transmission may shift with climate change and how innovative research could help control it.

@uofglasgow.bsky.social

youtu.be/zY1F875_M80

Dengue in a Warming World: Can We Control It?

YouTube video by MRC - UofGlasgow Centre for Virus Research

youtu.be

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Connor Bamford @connorggbamford.bsky.social · Sep 5

Wow! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This is the world’s largest ‘mosquito factory’: its goal is to stop dengue

Raising millions upon millions of disease-fighting mosquitoes per week is no easy task, Nature learnt during its visit to the facility.

www.nature.com

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Young Academy Ireland @yai.ie · Sep 1

Last few places available to attend our Evidence for Policy Summit in Dublin next week. Visit: www.yai.ie for sign up details. If you can't attend in person, email [email protected] for livestream details! #evidenceforpolicy #youngacademyireland #EfP25 @emmaefarrell.bsky.social @karinadoorley.bsky.social

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