Robin May
@robinmay9.bsky.social
330 followers 160 following 33 posts
Professor at University of Birmingham, UK and Gresham College. Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Food Standards Agency. Views very much my own (and occasionally someone else's too).
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Reposted by Robin May
brianbilston.bsky.social
Here’s a poem called ‘English Roundabouts’.
English Roundabouts
 
They’re making the roundabouts great again 
by painting the flag of St George
to keep our circular road systems safe
from the dark, satanic hordes.

What do they want? Patriotic junctions!
When do they want them? Before it’s too late.
Good old-fashioned English roundabouts,
as decreed by Alfred the Great.

Behold the sacred intersection,
this blessed plot, this septic isle.
English roundabouts for English people,
draped in red and white and bile. 

St George is cross, as well he may be –
whipped-up hate, he’s seen before.
Give way to the right, the road signs rage,
and the far right most of all.

Brian Bilston
Reposted by Robin May
greshamcollege.bsky.social
😱 Why Do We Fear?

Free tickets now open 👉 gres.hm/why-fear

Fear keeps us alive, but can also trap us in phobias or push us toward thrill-seeking. Prof @robinmay9.bsky.social asks, can understanding its biology help us overcome it?

*also of @imibirmingham.bsky.social
robinmay9.bsky.social
One week left to apply, folks! And I promise that I'm not spending my final month in post making all sorts of daft decisions that you'll have to unravel if you get the job...! 😉
robinmay9.bsky.social
This is the job I've been doing for the last five years and it is FANTASTIC. So if your finger is hovering uncertainly over the 'apply now' button, then stop hesitating and press it!
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...
Quick Check Needed
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk
Reposted by Robin May
pasteuredu.bsky.social
🖥️ The MOOC “Medical Mycology” is open for registration!   
👉 bit.ly/medical-myco...
🍄 Welcome to the fascinating world of fungi, agents of major infectious diseases! Discover the taxonomy, ecology, identification of fungi, epidemiology of infectious diseases, drugs, link with HIV…Share this info!
Medical Mycology
Welcome to the fascinating world of fungi, agents of major infectious diseases!
bit.ly
robinmay9.bsky.social
Just in case Pinewood Studies are reading this, then I'm more than happy to discuss my consultancy fee with you (I'm thinking maybe a hand-me-down Bond dinner suit - without bullet holes - and a quick spin in the Aston Martin?)
oehlerslab.org
"an ability to operate sensitively and effectively in a political and/or ambiguous environment" - 90% chance Robin is consulting on the next James Bond movie villain!
robinmay9.bsky.social
This is the job I've been doing for the last five years and it is FANTASTIC. So if your finger is hovering uncertainly over the 'apply now' button, then stop hesitating and press it!
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...
Quick Check Needed
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk
robinmay9.bsky.social
Great to be able to talk about the impact of climate change on infections at today's 'Leave No One Behind' schools' conference with @mulberrytrust.bsky.social @greshamcollege.bsky.social and @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social. Yet another reason (as if we needed one) to get to #netzero ASAP.
Reposted by Robin May
imibirmingham.bsky.social
Excellent talk from @robinmay9.bsky.social about his life, David Attenborough being his inspo and the Food Standards Agency 🦠🥪
Reposted by Robin May
idontevencara.bsky.social
Woah, they've also got a tool where you can listen to the image: skyviewer.app/skysynth
Listen | Skyviewer
skyviewer.app
robinmay9.bsky.social
125 years of preparation, and @unibirmingham.bsky.social is looking at its most spectacular... #UoB125
robinmay9.bsky.social
A @greshamcollege.bsky.social short on Rethinking the 'reincarnation' of Dire Wolves. Or rather, why they aren't Dire Wolves at all (sorry to disappoint all you Game of Thrones fans out there):
youtu.be/Scesbs7GT6U?...
De-Extinction or Design? Rethinking the ‘Return’ of the Dire Wolf - Robin May
YouTube video by Gresham College
youtu.be
Reposted by Robin May
thelisterinstitute.bsky.social
In our latest blog post we catch up with #BlavatnikAwards Life Sciences Laureate @stewartlab.bsky.social, who recently attended the Blavatnik Awards ceremony and public symposium and gave talks about his preventive health work on preterm infant microbiomes 🫄👶 lister-institute.org.uk/congratulati...
Congratulations Chris Stewart, 2025 Blavatnik Laureate for Life Sciences – Lister Institute
lister-institute.org.uk
Reposted by Robin May
greshamcollege.bsky.social
Tickets open: The Future of Immunity

gres.hm/future-immunity

Our understanding of our immune system is vastly different from 50 years ago, w/ modern therapies that would have once seemed like science fiction.

@robinmay9.bsky.social asks: what next for #immunity?

@imibirmingham.bsky.social
robinmay9.bsky.social
Every time I hear someone playing the free piano at Euston Station, blissfully unaware of the small crowd of commuters tapping their feet in time behind them, it restores my faith in the future of civilisation...
Reposted by Robin May
greshamcollege.bsky.social
Today at 6pm: Do Computers Get Sick? How Humans and Computers Fight Viruses

Watch via: gres.hm/computer-virus

Profs @robinmay9.bsky.social & @cyberbaines.bsky.social ask whether there are similarities between human & #computer immunity? Can we use discoveries in one to help protect the other?
Reposted by Robin May
erc.europa.eu
“Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party.”

EC President Ursula von der Leyen, announcing a €500M initiative to attract top global talent.

In a fractured world, science remains a unifying force – rooted in diversity, driven by curiosity, and shared by all humanity.
Reposted by Robin May
greshamcollege.bsky.social
How do vaccines work?

Prof @robinmay9.bsky.social explains how #vaccination changed the world, saving millions of lives and enabling us to eradicate a lethal disease for the first time in human history...

Watch full lecture: gres.hm/how-vaccines

#immunology #vaccine
Reposted by Robin May
acmedsci.bsky.social
A mucus-eating microbe might be one of the best friends your gut has 🦠

Former Springboard awardee @lucyicm.bsky.social explores how Akkermansia muciniphila supports our immune system, and why that matters for disease prevention ❤️‍🩹

👇 Read more via @uk.theconversation.com
This mucus-loving gut bacteria is important for health – here’s how to keep it happy
Akkermansia muciniphila is a friendly bacteria which is linked to good immune function.
theconversation.com
Reposted by Robin May
ukhsa.bsky.social
Our antibiotics are under threat.

Join Andi Biotic’s mission to #KeepAntibioticsWorking.

Share our video and blog post with your network: ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/07/w...
robinmay9.bsky.social
This is going to be a fun one (even more so than usual!) because it's a double act between me and @cyberbaines.bsky.social. Easy questions to me, please, and all tricky ones to Vic! 😉
greshamcollege.bsky.social
Tickets open: Do Computers Get Sick? How Humans and Computers Fight Viruses

Book: gres.hm/computer-virus

Prof @robinmay9.bsky.social asks whether there are similarities between human immunity & computer immunity? Can we use discoveries in one to help protect the other?

@imibirmingham.bsky.social
robinmay9.bsky.social
Happy birthday @foodgov.bsky.social - 25 years young yesterday! That's a quarter of a century keeping food safe, with a huge amount of underpinning science on everything from 'traffic light' nutrition labels to catching food fraudsters: science.food.gov.uk
FSA Research and Evidence
Scientific research and risks assessments carried out by the Food Standards Agency.
science.food.gov.uk