Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Tom Churcher

John Lees @bacpop.org · 21d

The EMBL PhD programme is open until 13th October (entry ~Sep 2026):
www.embl.org/about/info/e...

We have three positions in microbial genomics at EMBL-EBI, including one in my group. Please do apply, or if you know anyone that would be interested pass on to them

EMBL International PhD Programme – Unique in the world and waiting for you!

www.embl.org

40 19

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · 26d

Sorry, proper link. www.science.org/content/arti...

1 2

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · 26d

This is so sad. Burkinabe scientists have been at the forefront of the development of GM mosquitoes. They have been meticulous and patient, showing how this technology should be implemented. I fear this decision will cost a huge number of lives. www.malariaworld.org/news/after-h...

www.malariaworld.org

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Aug 26

"we found that mosquitoes are drawn to those who avoid sunscreen, drink beer, and share their bed".......

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Aug 26

Blood, sweat, and beers: investigating mosquito biting preferences amidst noise and intoxication in a cross-sectional cohort study at a large music festival https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.21.671470v1

1 4

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Nico Moiroux @nmoiroux.bsky.social · Aug 21

🚨 New publication!
Our RCT in 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso & 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire shows that adding either non-pyrethroid indoor residual spraying (IRS) or intensive behaviour change communication (BCC) to LLINs reduces #malaria burden.

In @lancetgh.bsky.social :
doi.org/10.1016/S221...

#GlobalHealth #VectorControl

First page of the article entitled "Efficacy of non-pyrethroid indoor residual spraying or intensive behaviour change communication in combination with long-lasting insecticidal nets for malaria control in west Africa: a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, controlled trial"

2

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Nilani Chandradeva @nilanicdeva.bsky.social · Jul 16

Our pre-print "Simplifying mosquito sampling to estimate community biting exposure and malaria indoor vector control impact" is now available! doi.org/10.21203/rs..... 1/n #malaria #mosquitoes #vectors

Simplifying mosquito sampling to estimate community biting exposure and malaria indoor vector control impact

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are most effective against malaria if mosquitoes attempt to bite people when they are in bed. Collecting the biting behaviour data required to quantify a key metric - t...

doi.org

1 2 3

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Simon Cauchemez @scauchemez.bsky.social · Nov 22

Infectious Disease Modelling starter pack update! First pack is full so I created a second one. Pls keep on sending suggestions! (bio should contain experience relevant for this pack)
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX

Infectious Disease Modelling #IDModelling

Join the conversation

go.bsky.app

13 26 53

Reposted by Tom Churcher

MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social · May 13

Over 130 academics signed letter informing Prime Minister Keir Starmer that foreign aid cuts will cost lives & threatens the fight against disease
Thimoty Hallett, @thomaschurcher.bsky.social Caroline Trotter @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @imperialsph.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Foreign aid cuts will cost lives, scientists warn Keir Starmer

More than 130 academics have signed a letter telling the prime minister that cuts in funding could hinder the global fight against disease

www.thetimes.com

1 6 15

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Apr 22

USAID cuts have halted Demographic and Health Surveys that are essential for tracking diseases like HIV and malaria. Huge loss that threatens global security and the efficient distribution of aid. Apparently the UN is trying to track scale of impact. Please respond. form.jotform.com/250913880478...

Questionnaire on the use of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data

Please click the link to complete this form.

form.jotform.com

3 2

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Paul Huxley @phuxley.bsky.social · Apr 14

Our new preprint (ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...) describes✨AedesTraits✨ (zenodo.org/records/1514...) - A global database on temperature-trait responses in Aedes mosquitoes. #AedesTraits holds >31,000 rows of fully open data extracted from published literature (1930s to 2025)!

AedesTraits: A global database of temperature–dependent trait responses in Aedes mosquitoes

ecoevorxiv.org

9 12

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Apr 8

As we try to understand how climate change impacts malaria @isaacstopard.bsky.social looked how daily temperature fluctuations impact development in mosquitoes. Quite a bit it seems, but still unclear in wild mosies. Lovely data from Antoine Sanou but we need more! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Modelling the effects of diurnal temperature variation on malaria infection dynamics in mosquitoes - Communications Biology

Mechanistic modelling of the effects of diurnal temperature variation on Plasmodium falciparum sporogony indicates this variation is important in the laboratory, but further validation is required to ...

www.nature.com

1 10 26

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Pete Dodd @petedodd24.bsky.social · Mar 5

A tracker estimating deaths from freezing PEPFAR pepfar.impactcounter.com #HIVsky #TBsky #IDsky

PEPFAR Impact Tracker

Track the impact of PEPFAR funding halt

pepfar.impactcounter.com

2 3

Reposted by Tom Churcher

🎃nisillos @onisillos.bsky.social · Feb 27

March issue of The Lancet Microbe will be online next week, but you can read our editorial already.

The Lancet Microbe @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social · Feb 18

Prior to our upcoming March issue, here's an early look at our latest editorial

US recklessness in the face of pandemic risk

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

US recklessness in the face of pandemic risk

March 25 will mark a year since the first ever report of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in cows. The first detections occurred in Kansas and Texas, USA, and since then, as of Feb 14, 968 dairy herds in...

www.thelancet.com

1 6 13

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Feb 27

A very sad and counterproductive decision. Aid when you don’t know where diseases are is immensely inefficient. DHS is a vital long-term resource, both in counties with diseases like malaria, but also those finding new global threats. Everyone will be flying blind. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/h...

Trump Administration Ends Global Health Research Program

The Demographic and Health Surveys were the only sources of reliable information in many countries on metrics such as mortality, nutrition and education.

www.nytimes.com

2 1

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Feb 13

Target mosquitoes as they sugar feed shows considerable promise. We looked how these new tools could be used alongside existing malaria control and explored reasons why they might not be as good as early mosquito data suggested. Take_home - we just don't know what the mosi is doing!

Aneta Kostadinova @anetakostadinova.bsky.social · Feb 12

New in Current Research in Parasitology & Vector-Borne Diseases @CRPVBD

#OpenAccess
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@nima-moghaddas.bsky.social @thomaschurcher.bsky.social @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social @pathmalaria.bsky.social @ivcc.bsky.social

1 2

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Katharina Hauck @khauck.bsky.social · Feb 8

The real damage to emergency response is probably much larger. On top of the cut to WHO, the US deployed much of their funds for emergency response via the CDC and other US organizations. healthpolicy-watch.news/crucial-who-...

Crucial WHO Health Emergency Response Faces Budget Cut Of 25% - Health Policy Watch

“The immediate response here in WHO was to use our Emergency Response Framework, to realign the functions at the country office to deploy an incident manager

healthpolicy-watch.news

1 3 7

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Jan 29

would be even better if I could have spelt allegory correctly!

1 2

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Jan 29

Thankyou @eonore.bsky.social for putting our recent insecticide treated nets against malaria work into context! Even organised a building site backdrop as an alagory for this being work in progress! Excellent! Supported by @gatesfoundation.bsky.social @ivcc.bsky.social @unitaid.bsky.social

MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social · Jan 24

NEW EPISODE #ScienceInContext This week @eonore.bsky.social speaks with prof @thomaschurcher.bsky.social about the recent World Malaria report, #malaria control interventions, modelling and bed nets 👇
youtu.be/B0spuTWEF2c

Ep 114. Science in Context - Malaria nets with Prof Thomas Churcher (24-01-2025

YouTube video by MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis

youtu.be

1 4

Reposted by Tom Churcher

Anne Cori @anne-cori.bsky.social · Dec 4

Interested in Lassa fever? Hear @drpdoohan.bsky.social summarise our Lassa review, recently published in @thelancet.bsky.social Global Health and part of our wider multi-pathogen review project: bit.ly/imperial-PERG

4 11

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Nov 29

Interesed in the inteaction between global health, modelling and policy? Come join us at @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social as a technical analyst primarily working on malaria! www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Description

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...

www.imperial.ac.uk

2 5

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Nov 23

Super exiting paper from Olivia Lamera & Meta Roestenberg et al using GM malaria infected mosquitoes to vaccinate people against malaria. Early days and the use-case unclear but really interesting science. www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...

Safety and Efficacy of Immunization with a Late-Liver-Stage Attenuated Malaria Parasite | NEJM

Currently licensed and approved malaria subunit vaccines provide modest, short-lived protection against malaria. Immunization with live-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites is an alte...

www.nejm.org

2 1 6

Reposted by Tom Churcher

christldonnelly.bsky.social @christldonnelly.bsky.social · Nov 21

This is a great opportunity for doctoral funding for those who want to work on the fundamentals of AI, computational statistics and machine learning. #OxfordCalling

Department of Statistics @oxfordstatistics.bsky.social · Nov 21

🎇A brand-new CDT: the Fundamentals of AI, has been launched!🚀

Applications are being accepted for 2025/26.
There are 20 places available, with full funding for home and overseas candidates.

⏳Deadline: 08.01.2025

For more info, visit: dtc.ox.ac.uk/foai-cdt

#eraofAI #AI #CDT #AIforhumanity

1 2

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Nov 21

It reports how experiments with wild mosquitoes combined with math models can predict trial results and provides an interface mint.dide.ic.ac.uk to allow decision-makers to choose the best vector control in their local setting given budgets. @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social @unitaid.bsky.social

MINT

mint.dide.ic.ac.uk

1 1 2

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Nov 21

Our paper estimates the use of these chlorfenapyr nets reduced overall malaria cases by 65-75%, substantially more than was observed in trials. These nets are likely to be the most cost-effective way of controlling malaria. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The epidemiological benefit of pyrethroid–pyrrole insecticide treated nets against malaria: an individual-based malaria transmission dynamics modelling study

The benefit of pyrethroid–pyrrole ITNs varies by setting but is generally the most cost-effective indoor vector control intervention in Africa. National Malaria Programmes can strategise deployment to...

www.thelancet.com

1 4 11

Tom Churcher @thomaschurcher.bsky.social · Nov 21

Insecticidal nets prevent more malaria than anything else. Trials in Benin and Tanzania show newer nets that kill more mosquitoes are better than those currently used, but they are unable to assess their overall impact as you cannot leave people without a net and unprotected.

1 5 11