Connor Bamford
@connorggbamford.bsky.social
Scientist and educator interested in viruses, , innate immunity and evolution. Currently lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast and member of Young Academy Ireland.
Pinned
🦠 "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!
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!
Reposted by Connor Bamford
A side note on this little festive project - it was genuinely lovely when writing it to be reminded that (as of January with the introduction of MMRV) the UK will offer all children vaccines to protect them from 9 serious viral diseases (plus another 12 bacterial diseases). Vaccines are amazing
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
A side note on this little festive project - it was genuinely lovely when writing it to be reminded that (as of January with the introduction of MMRV) the UK will offer all children vaccines to protect them from 9 serious viral diseases (plus another 12 bacterial diseases). Vaccines are amazing
Reposted by Connor Bamford
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
Wastewater surveillance of hepatitis A in New York State. Our team's latest work here. #EpiSky 🧪💩#WBE www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A pilot study to correlate wastewater and clinical surveillance for hepatitis A in New York state
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a rapid expansion of wastewater-based surveillance in New York State (NYS). Pilot studies were initiated in 2023 to ass…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Wastewater surveillance of hepatitis A in New York State. Our team's latest work here. #EpiSky 🧪💩#WBE www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
The suspected outbreak of a hemorrhagic vial illness in Ethiopia has now been confirmed to Marburg Virus Disease. So far 9 cases have been identified in a part of the country that shares a border with Sudan.
apnews.com/article/ethi...
apnews.com/article/ethi...
Ethiopia confirms first Marburg outbreak as WHO lauds country's fast action
Ethiopia has confirmed its first Marburg outbreak after nine cases were identified in the southern region of the country that borders South Sudan.
apnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM
The suspected outbreak of a hemorrhagic vial illness in Ethiopia has now been confirmed to Marburg Virus Disease. So far 9 cases have been identified in a part of the country that shares a border with Sudan.
apnews.com/article/ethi...
apnews.com/article/ethi...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
A rather somber first paper out of the project
November 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A rather somber first paper out of the project
Reposted by Connor Bamford
Wild-type polio detected in German sewage—this is *actual* polio, not vaccine-derived virus. This will probably be a one-off event, but it shows the real potential for polio reintroduction into under-vaccinated communities.
www.reuters.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Wild-type polio detected in German sewage—this is *actual* polio, not vaccine-derived virus. This will probably be a one-off event, but it shows the real potential for polio reintroduction into under-vaccinated communities.
Reposted by Connor Bamford
🚨New preprint🚨
In a multidisciplinary tour-de-force, @itingtu.bsky.social shows that, because #H5N1 flu is now routinely infecting seals and sealions in Peru, it's also spilling over into the vampire bats that feed from beaches...
🦭🦠🦇
(1/2)
In a multidisciplinary tour-de-force, @itingtu.bsky.social shows that, because #H5N1 flu is now routinely infecting seals and sealions in Peru, it's also spilling over into the vampire bats that feed from beaches...
🦭🦠🦇
(1/2)
My 1st first-author paper is out as a preprint! Excited to share the fascinating story of marine-feeding vampire bats 🌊🦇 We found that marine-diet bats were exposed to #H5#AvianFlu 🦠 from marine wildlife and could potentially spread it to livestock via blood feed🩸
doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.09.686930
doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.09.686930
November 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
🚨New preprint🚨
In a multidisciplinary tour-de-force, @itingtu.bsky.social shows that, because #H5N1 flu is now routinely infecting seals and sealions in Peru, it's also spilling over into the vampire bats that feed from beaches...
🦭🦠🦇
(1/2)
In a multidisciplinary tour-de-force, @itingtu.bsky.social shows that, because #H5N1 flu is now routinely infecting seals and sealions in Peru, it's also spilling over into the vampire bats that feed from beaches...
🦭🦠🦇
(1/2)
felt good (and bad) submitting 6(!) abstracts for my group for the Microbiology Society conference annual meeting in Belfast next year, with only 30 minutes to spare... a new record
November 11, 2025 at 11:24 PM
felt good (and bad) submitting 6(!) abstracts for my group for the Microbiology Society conference annual meeting in Belfast next year, with only 30 minutes to spare... a new record
Reposted by Connor Bamford
I'll be presenting at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social at the School of Biological Sciences, 2nd December, 1pm - please come along to hear about #aDNA, domestication, and disease!
November 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I'll be presenting at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social at the School of Biological Sciences, 2nd December, 1pm - please come along to hear about #aDNA, domestication, and disease!
Reposted by Connor Bamford
#Breaking: Canada has formally lost its measles elimination status, the country’s public health agency announced, triggering the loss of that status throughout all of the Americas.
www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
Canada loses measles elimination status — as does the entire Americas region
Canada has formally lost its measles elimination status, the country’s public health agency announced, triggering the loss of that status throughout all of the Americas.
www.statnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:52 PM
#Breaking: Canada has formally lost its measles elimination status, the country’s public health agency announced, triggering the loss of that status throughout all of the Americas.
www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
BBC News - Experts say this could be the worst flu season for a decade - here's why
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Will a new mutated flu strain cause a rough winter?
Leading flu experts say they will not be surprised if this year's is the worst flu season for a decade.
www.bbc.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
BBC News - Experts say this could be the worst flu season for a decade - here's why
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Up a bit earlier than I’d like… but excited for me and my lab to present at the Irish Microbiology Society meeting in beautiful - and slightly isolated - Athlone!
November 4, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Up a bit earlier than I’d like… but excited for me and my lab to present at the Irish Microbiology Society meeting in beautiful - and slightly isolated - Athlone!
Reposted by Connor Bamford
🔊 Applications for the tenure-track illuminate global challenge fellowships at Queen’s are now open!
Comes with 5 years protected research time, a PhD studentship, & 60k start-up. I had one of these before getting my FLF, happy to chat to anyone interested!
www.qub.ac.uk/Research/fel...
Comes with 5 years protected research time, a PhD studentship, & 60k start-up. I had one of these before getting my FLF, happy to chat to anyone interested!
www.qub.ac.uk/Research/fel...
Our Illuminate Global Challenges Fellowships | Research | Queen's University Belfast
www.qub.ac.uk
October 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
🔊 Applications for the tenure-track illuminate global challenge fellowships at Queen’s are now open!
Comes with 5 years protected research time, a PhD studentship, & 60k start-up. I had one of these before getting my FLF, happy to chat to anyone interested!
www.qub.ac.uk/Research/fel...
Comes with 5 years protected research time, a PhD studentship, & 60k start-up. I had one of these before getting my FLF, happy to chat to anyone interested!
www.qub.ac.uk/Research/fel...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
A divergent betacoronavirus with a functional furin cleavage site in South American bats https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.24.684489v1
October 27, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A divergent betacoronavirus with a functional furin cleavage site in South American bats https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.24.684489v1
Reposted by Connor Bamford
The Microbiology Society returns to Belfast in April. From microbiomes to natural products, phage to protists, infection models to plant pathogens, together with all the usual fora, and ECM development opportunities. There truly is something for everyone! Get your abstracts in now and join us! 🦠
Submit your abstract for the UK’s largest annual gathering of microbiologists, Annual Conference 2026. Held in Belfast, UK, this year’s conference now features two-day attendance tickets.
October 22, 2025 at 7:34 AM
The Microbiology Society returns to Belfast in April. From microbiomes to natural products, phage to protists, infection models to plant pathogens, together with all the usual fora, and ECM development opportunities. There truly is something for everyone! Get your abstracts in now and join us! 🦠
Reposted by Connor Bamford
I'm v excited to be recruiting a PhD student to work on badger behaviour and ecology! Starting date is March 2026; see the ad here, or message me for more details: www.gregalbery.me/s/March-2026...
October 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I'm v excited to be recruiting a PhD student to work on badger behaviour and ecology! Starting date is March 2026; see the ad here, or message me for more details: www.gregalbery.me/s/March-2026...
excellent article on Ancient RNA research www.science.org/content/arti...
On an Arctic archipelago, frozen soil may preserve a hidden history of viruses
Scientists are hunting for ancient RNA in Svalbard’s permafrost, hoping to shed light on the evolution of viral diseases
www.science.org
October 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
excellent article on Ancient RNA research www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
Serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in red and fallow deer in Great Britain. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.682775v1
October 18, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in red and fallow deer in Great Britain. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.682775v1
Reposted by Connor Bamford
Our first effort exploring gut bacteria-extracellular ATP interactions is published! We show that eATP rewires gene expression and physiology in harmless and pathogenic bacteria, impacting production of bioactive metabolites, antimicrobial sensitivity, and virulence. A 🧵
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
October 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Our first effort exploring gut bacteria-extracellular ATP interactions is published! We show that eATP rewires gene expression and physiology in harmless and pathogenic bacteria, impacting production of bioactive metabolites, antimicrobial sensitivity, and virulence. A 🧵
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
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 📈
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
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
October 10, 2025 at 1:12 PM
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 📈
Reposted by Connor Bamford
🧵🚨
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...
1/11
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...
1/11
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
October 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
🧵🚨
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...
1/11
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...
1/11
Reposted by Connor Bamford
#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.
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.
October 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
#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.
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.
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...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
October 9, 2025 at 8:04 AM
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...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Connor Bamford
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
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
October 6, 2025 at 10:14 AM
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
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
Reposted by Connor Bamford
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”
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
October 6, 2025 at 9:48 AM
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”
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, Shimon Sakaguchi
“for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance”