Review written by: Roshni KadamInvasive fungal infections represent a major global health burden. Of the more than 2 million fungal species estimated to exist, only about 300 are known to cause human ...

Review written by: Megan MaurielloTuberculosis is still a major infectious disease on a global scale, killing the most people of any infectious disease annually. Despite how long it has been known as ...

Review written by: Megan MaurielloCRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a prokaryotic antiviral immunity system enabled by various Cas effector proteins. Cas13 specific...

Review written by: Roshni KadamCoxsackievirus B (CVB) represents a substantial public health burden, causing illness across all age groups from infants to adults. Symptoms range from mild respiratory ...

Review written by: Megan MaurielloMalaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium spp., which are unicellular eukaryotes. These parasites are transmitted by Anopheles spp. mosquitoes when they take a blood ...

Review written by: Roshni KadamRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major global health concern and the leading cause of respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in children, particularly those under the...

Review written by: Megan MaurielloCandida glabrata, now officially known as Nakaseomyces glabratus (Takashima and Sugita 2022), causes opportunistic infections, especially in immunocompromised people, and has a high mortality rate. It is among the most frequently antifungal-resistant Candida species. Echinocandin antifungals, including caspofungin, micafungin, anidulafungin, and rezafungin, inhibit fungal cell wall synthesis by inhibiting β-1,3-glucan synthase. Echinocandin resistance is usually

Review written by: Megan MaurielloTemperate phages can switch between lytic and lysogenic reproductive styles. Some temperate phages are known to sense bacterial autoinducers, the signal molecules bac...

Review written by: Roshni KadamCould the next pandemic be manageable instead of catastrophic? Vaccination is one of the most effective tools for protecting public health by preventing disease and help...

Review written by: Roshni KadamWhat if protecting yourself from HIV took one pill a month instead of one every day? The data suggests we're getting closer. Since the start of the HIV epidemic, an esti...

Review written by: Megan MaurielloCulex mosquitoes were collected from sites in New Brunswick, NJ. They were fed sucrose, and a superhydrophobic funnel (Figure) was used to collect their excrement. Sh...

Francis Santoriello (Princeton University), Junwon Yang (NJIT), and Alexandra Kwasnik (Rutgers -- New Brunswick) were honored as poster prize winners at the Theobald Smith Society’s Spring 2026 Sympos...

Dr. Cameron Myhrvold, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, was named the recipient of the 2026 Young Investigator Award at the Theobald Smith Society Spring Symposium. Dr....

Dr. Martin J. Blaser is a globally recognized physician, microbiologist, and pioneer in human microbiome research whose work has fundamentally reshaped how scientists understand the relationship betwe...

Microbes beneath our feet quietly orchestrate the health of ecosystems, but their seasonal rhythms remain a mystery—especially in coastal wetlands.

For decades, the study of bacterial persistence has relied heavily on Escherichia coli as the primary model organism. Microbiologists have largely operated under the assumption that the mechanisms gov...

New research from the Neiditch lab at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School on the Vibrio cholerae CqsR receptor reveals how this pathogen monitors host-derived ethanolamine (and other related autoinducer...

The enzyme Pah1 is a central figure in the lipid metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, acting as a Mg2+-dependent phosphatidate (PA) phosphatase that converts PA into diacylglycerol. This catalytic ...

The pursuit of rapid, targeted protein evolution has been significantly advanced by systems like OrthoRep, which allows for high-rate in vivo hypermutation of specific genes in Saccharomyces cerevisia...

The persistent evolution of SARS-CoV-2, driven by the intrinsic infidelity of its RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, continues to pose challenges for global health management. The emergence of antigenicall...

We are sad to report that Richard Bartha, past president of Theobald Smith Society (1990-1991), passed away on August 11, 2025, at his home in Port Townsend, Washington.   He was ninety years old.  Ba...

Enteroviruses, including EV-D68, EV-A71, and Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), are a significant global health threat, causing a spectrum of diseases from mild respiratory illness to severe neurological compl...

Tick-borne co-infections are an escalating concern in endemic regions worldwide, notably in the United States, where the protozoan Babesia microti and the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi are frequently...

Staphylococcus aureus remains a formidable human pathogen, being a leading cause of bacterial-induced death, with significant concerns regarding antibiotic resistance and the current lack of an effective vaccine. A major hurdle in combating S. aureus is that it is a human-adapted pathogen, expressing virulence factors specific to human cellular receptors. This specificity limits the utility of traditional mouse models, which often fail to accurately replicate human-specific host responses to inf

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may be behind us, but the virus continues its relentless evolution, posing ongoing challenges to public health. Research at the Center for Discovery & Innovation, led by Nadine...

Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection results in clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic/mild infection to severe pulmonary COVID-19, to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), charac...

So why is the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health perpetuating this myth?

The persistent battle against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), a leading cause of infectious disease-related illness and death worldwide, is continually complicated by its remarkable adaptability an...

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), continues to be a formidable global health threat, particularly in under-resourced areas where accurate and accessible diagnosis remains ...

For clinicians battling the persistent threat of fungal infections, Candida glabrata stands out as a formidable adversary, particularly due to its increasing resistance to frontline antifungal drugs l...

YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology

The Yellow Fever (YF) 17D vaccine, developed in the 1930s, stands as a triumph in vaccinology, recognized as one of the most potent and durable vaccines known. Despite its widespread success, having b...

Billions in NIH research funds remain unspent, stalling clinical trials, halting grants, and disrupting training for future scientists.

Microbiologists constantly seek to understand the intricate metabolic capabilities of bacteria, particularly those involved in environmental remediation. Rhizorhabdus wittichii RW1, formerly classifie...

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the formidable bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), remains a devastating global health crisis, responsible for more deaths annually than any other single infectiou...

Staphylococcus aureus is a formidable foe in healthcare settings, a leading cause of pneumonia that contributes significantly to illness and death worldwide. This ubiquitous bacterium, a common coloni...

Carbapenem-resistant bacteria are a major global health concern, and Enterobacter species are increasingly problematic, especially those producing carbapenemases. These infections are particularly con...

A look at how this vaccine technology has been in the works for decades.