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Reposted by Khadempour Lab

Lily Khadempour @khadlily.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I'm happy to share my new paper "A new conceptual framework for host-microbe symbiosis" If you've seen me give a talk in the last 5 years, then you've seen me talk about this. It's been a journey. academic.oup.com/ismehm/artic... #MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky

academic.oup.com

A new conceptual framework for host-microbe symbiosis

Abstract. Host-microbe relationships are studied across biological disciplines, with unique but overlapping conceptual frameworks arising from each of them

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

On May 1 the lab celebrated the end of a tough but productive semester! Five papers submitted and a lot of work put in. The lovely Ariane Peralta send over an Edible Arrangement to celebrate Lily's tenure packet submission and we all chowed down :)

Seven people crouched together around a fancy fruit basket arranged like a flower bouquet. From the left, Faith Hill, Lina Bashay, DiemQuynh Nguyen, Bianca Nogueira, Layla Harris, Lily Khadempour and Ian Oiler.

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Belated congrats to postdoc @ian-oiler.bsky.social for winning a poster award at the RUMP (Rutgers University Microbiome Program) Symposium! He presented his work on honeypot-associated Fructilactobacillus genomes and genome-scale metabolic models. Thanks RUMP and the RAD Collaboratory!

A man stands in front of a poster with various fancy images showing some fat ants, heat maps and phylogenies.

Action shot of the same man standing in front of a poster, telling his captive audience about his data as he points to parts of his poster

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

A new paper, "Honeypots: a review of repletism across the ants" from our lab was published today, with grad student Bianca Nogueira as first author, and co-authors DiemQuynh Nguyen, @adriatica.bsky.social, and @haidomyrmex.bsky.social. It was a labor of love! doi.org/10.25849/myr... 🧵

Three ants with giant gasters are next to each other. The one on the left has a creamy and opaque gaster, the middle one has a dark amber and transluscent gaster, and the third is a lighter honey-colored transluscent gaster. All three ants are Mymecocystus mexicanus repletes from the same colony. The colors are due to the different fluids that they are storing in their crops. Because their crops and gasters are so distended, it's possible to see the crop contents.

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Together with the @brittbertolet.bsky.social lab, we decorated cookies and will take them to the department holiday party later this week 🎅

Four people and part of the head of another smile next to a table covered in decorated cookies.

A table full of colorfully decorated cookies

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Most of the lab attended the Theobald Smith Society meeting last week. Faith, DiemQuynh and Ian all presented posters, and DiemQuynh presented a brief talk on her work. We all learned a lot, received great feedback and had great conversations with other attendees. @njmicrobe.bsky.social

A woman smiles, making a peace sign, in front of a poster titled "Characterizing the gut microbiome of (Myrmecocystus spp.) honeypot ants

A woman stands, smiling, making a peace sign, in front of a poster titled, "Evolutionary and Ecological Contributions ot the Honeypot ant Gut Microbiome"

A man stands, smiling, holding a peace sign, in front of a poster titled, "Developing a Genome Scale Metabolic Model (GEM) for Fructilactobacillus in Honeypot Ants (Myrmecocystus mexicanus)"

A woman stands at a lecturn in front of a projected presentation, giving a talk in a dark room. The slide on the screen has hand-drawn images of various insects, with the title Host-Associated Microbiomes

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The team is all here! Faith, DiemQuynh and Bianca (PhD students), Lashon (undergrad), Lily (PI) and Ian (postdoc). Excited for a lot of great science from a group of excellent people.

Six people smiling at the camera in a cinder block hallway

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Khadempour Lab @khadlab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Good fun in the field with DiemQuynh who is learning how to collect honeypot ants while hanging upside down

A person is face down in a hole in the desert surrounded by shovels and other tools of various sizes

The same person is now facing up. She's wearing a headlamp and holding a spoon, with a pained smile on her face

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