Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Julie Pfeiffer @jkpfeiff.bsky.social · Aug 18

Faculty search announcement 2025: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Microbiology at UT Southwestern. We seek candidates working in microbial pathogenesis (some preference may be given to bacterial pathogens). Come join our community! (1/5) www.utsouthwestern.edu/departments/...

Department members sit at a very long table in the hallway eating a pre-Thanksgiving potluck feast.

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Hind Hussein, PhD @hindhussein.bsky.social · 14d

Hello everyone! I am a postdoc in mucosal immunology and I am looking for new postdoc position in Europe! I know a lot about gut mast cells, but also CD4 T cells and type 2/3 immunity in general. I've worked with single cell sequencing and neuroimmune interactions. Feel free to share! Thank you! ♥️🥼👩‍🔬

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Shabaana Khader @khadershabaana.bsky.social · 3d

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Shabaana Khader @khadershabaana.bsky.social · 3d

Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

ASM @asm.org · 13d

Since the late 19th century, microbiologists have relied on agar and its derivatives for growing and separating microbes. However, how many of us really know the story of how this ingredient changed science? The remarkable story of Fanny Angelina Hesse youtu.be/qyTjqIKTQLo

Fanny Angelina Hesse and the Discovery of Agar

YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology

youtu.be

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Matthew Freeman @mjafreeman.bsky.social · Dec 12

Starter packs are still valuable but there is now a mature set of communities @bsky.app

So maybe for the last time (unless things change)

An encyclopaedia of starter packs relevant to 'mechanistic' biomedical science (>100 now!)...

...including collective nouns

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

@mjafreeman.bsky.social's encyclopedia of Bluesky starter packs for 'mechanistic' biologists

docs.google.com

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Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · 18d

This is absolutely brilliant🤩.
Finding the right buffer set that you can use across most all #FACS needs… And at a fraction of cost… Love it👇🏻
Kudos to @labliston.bsky.social to dedicate time and effort to this….

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 19d

For our #flowcytometry peeps, would you like to have a single fix/perm protocol that is optimised for everything? One that preserves fluorophores while allowing simultaneous TF and cytokine staining? How about 100-fold cheaper?

You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 19d

Just take a look. The Foxp3 fix/perm kit is good for TFs, but kills endogenous GFP. The eBio preserves GFP, but is incomplete at allowing TF staining. Burton's Best Buffer is as good as the best under all conditions (except phospho-flow), and preserves dye integrity too.

Plus it is dirt cheap. 🎤

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 19d

For our #flowcytometry peeps, would you like to have a single fix/perm protocol that is optimised for everything? One that preserves fluorophores while allowing simultaneous TF and cytokine staining? How about 100-fold cheaper?

You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Damian Maseda @dmaseda.bsky.social · Nov 12

Starter pack for fellow immunologists here!

Rod Rahimi @rodrahimi.bsky.social · Oct 28

Added new folks to the #Immunology Starter Pack 🧪

@sarahdimeloe.bsky.social
@mahimaswamy.bsky.social
@profken.bsky.social
@johannajoyce.bsky.social
@alanmcn1.bsky.social
@immunoah.bsky.social
@bnmelgert.bsky.social
@copperbae.bsky.social
@benjaminkrishn3.bsky.social

go.bsky.app/PY5tCas

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Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · 20d

I am biased 😉, but this is an amazing PI and an amazing person, check out this opportunity #immunosky #TB

Daniel L. Barber, PhD @danbarberphd.bsky.social · 21d

We are looking to hire post-docs to work on T cell responses to M. tuberculosis infection using murine and NHP models. If you know T cells and wanna work on the top global infectious killer check us out. BSL3 experience not required. The NIH intramural program in Bethesda MD is an amazing place!

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · Aug 24

Have you heard about the Night Science Podcast, where we talk about the actual creative process of doing science? We explore this with discussions with brilliant scientists & also philosophers and artists, to figure out the tricks of the creative scientific trade.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Ivan Zanoni @lozanzi.bsky.social · Aug 21

#InterferonPower! Thrilled for our latest work @cp-cell.bsky.social! With @danielboehmer.bsky.social, we dug into tons of papers & created what we hope will be a go-to resource for immunologists & non-immunologist about type I, II, III (& IV😉) #interferons! Free👉 authors.elsevier.com/a/1leKGL7PXu...

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Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · Aug 21

Congratulations on this important finding! Will perhaps be relevant in other pathologies where clinically sex shows differences in outcomes.

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Andreas Linkermann @linkermannlab.bsky.social · Aug 19

Happy to start at Bluesky with a post on our recent manuscript at @nature.com:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Great collaboration with cool scientists such as @theprattgroup.bsky.social, @fedorovalab.bsky.social and many who do not (yet) have a Bluesky account.

Multiple oestradiol functions inhibit ferroptosis and acute kidney injury - Nature

17β-oestradiol establishes an anti-ferroptotic state in female kidney tubules.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Pedro Friedmann Angeli @angelifriedmann.bsky.social · Aug 6

🚨Preprint alert 🚨

We identify riboflavin (vitamin B₂) as a key modulator of ferroptosis sensitivity via stabilizing FSP1 & recycling lipid-soluble antioxidants.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1....

pls check @olzmannlab.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#ferroptosis #FSP1 #antioxidants

Riboflavin metabolism shapes FSP1-driven ferroptosis resistance

Membrane protection against oxidative insults is achieved by the concerted action of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and endogenous lipophilic antioxidants such as ubiquinone and vitamin E. Deficienci...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Infectious Diseases @infectiousdz.bsky.social · Aug 7

Ah this is interesting: "At the genetic crossroads of Leishmania: Emerging hybrids reshaping disease patterns"
Mobility of people & vectors + climate & environmental change = rise in hybrid infections

Already happening with leish—new disease patterns emerging, with hundreds of cases in Turkey alone

At the genetic crossroads of Leishmania: Emerging hybrids reshaping disease patterns

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · Aug 1

Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.

Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships:
Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.

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Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · Aug 2

What a wonderful meeting! Thanks to @olzmannlab.bsky.social and the whole community for being so welcoming.🙏🏻

James Olzmann @olzmannlab.bsky.social · Aug 1

The first FASEB Ferroptosis conference! ✔️ Thank you to my co-organizer Scott Dixon, our sponsors, and the whole #Ferroptosis community for showing up and making this such a wonderful meeting! 🤩 ❤️

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Brent Stockwell @brentstockwell.bsky.social · Jul 31

Thanks to James Olzmann and Scott Dixon for organizing a fantastic #faseb #ferroptosis meeting in Scottsdale AZ! Lots of great science as ferroptosis continues to impact diverse biology and diseases. Can’t wait for the next one! @olzmannlab.bsky.social

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Yaneer Bar-Yam @yaneerbaryam.bsky.social · Jul 30

Breakthrough study: COVID-19 reactivates dormant breast cancer, triggering deadly metastasis (shown in mice). In humans, cancer survivors who got COVID had 4.5× higher cancer-related deaths—and 1.4× greater breast cancer.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs - Nature

Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological d...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

T cell Vaccines Lab (Swadling UCL) 🧬👩🏽‍🔬 @tcellvaccineucl.bsky.social · Jul 3

An HA/NP/IL-1B adenovirus led to a different profile of lung-resident Trms than natural H1N1 infection with the adjuvanted vaccine leading to longer lived lung-resident Trms than infection.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
#immunology #vaccine #Tcell #memory

Inflammatory conditions shape phenotypic and functional characteristics of lung-resident memory T cells in mice

Lung tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) are critical for the local control of respiratory tract infections caused by influenza A viruses (IAV). Here we compare TRM populations induced by intranasal ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Adam Braithwaite @braithwaiteat.bsky.social · Jul 3

Stimulating immune cells in vitro is a common experimental lab model. We profiled 150K blood immune cells treated with 11 different stimuli to compare the effects. The data are freely available for researchers. See the preprint for our findings and to access the data 🧪 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Pamelia Lim @pamelialim.bsky.social · Mar 5

I’m so happy for my first post on Bluesky to be introducing my first 1st author paper! We show that alveolar macrophage inflammatory cytokine production to low dose LPS is enhanced by IFN-b due to lack of c-Maf/IL10 production. Download, share, and support science!! academic.oup.com/jimmunol/art...

Absence of c-Maf and IL-10 enables type I IFN enhancement of innate responses to LPS in alveolar macrophages

Abstract. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are lung-resident myeloid cells and airway sentinels for inhaled pathogens and environmental particles. While AMs can

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD

Laura Mike @lauraamike.bsky.social · Jul 3

It's seem like arginine is emerging as a major host cue. So we wrote an IAI minireview on how arginine levels vary between host tissues and affect microbial behavior.

The review is online today!
journals.asm.org/doi/epdf/10....

@brookeeryan3.bsky.social

#microsky

Known effects of arginine on Gram-positive and Gram-negative behavior

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