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James Mason

@profjamesmason.bsky.social
142 followers 142 following 40 posts

Associate Dean Impact & Innovation Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London Antimicrobials (mostly peptides), nucleic acid delivery, microbial metabolomics

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Reposted by James Mason
Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Academics and caterers at the same table, eating from root to tip: campus project could lead to recipe book, in ‘important’ example of collaboration between professional services staff and researchers ow.ly/Fnxt50ZRv7Q
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UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Sharaine works at Porton Down, in what is sometimes called our 'top secret lab'. 🔬 🧪 Go behind the scenes and find out about her work on phages - a possible alternative treatment for antibiotics. 🧫
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I can vaguely remember Villa winning the European Cup and there have been some good teams since but I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested. There was a sense of togetherness, a strong, relatable (British) core and an emerging, world class local talent. It has been emotional seeing it broken up.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Real at home and Inter away.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
In Unai we trust. Still painful seeing this team broken up!
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Yes absolutely. Still quite emotional seeing a team broken up like this.
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
HIRING MICROBIOLOGIST: effective start asap! The PDRA/PDRF (per xp) will investigate the interactions of bumblebee antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with the gut microbiota & more. Our work has shown AMPs have striking specificity for ecological microbes. careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/13... 1/2
careers.exeter.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Researcher Associate or Fellow in Cornwall | University of Exeter
View details and apply for this Postdoctoral Researcher Associate or Fellow vacancy in Cornwall. Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow This job is part of an Advanced Research + Inventio...
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
So he won’t win the Conference League, Europa League and Super Cup in the same season?
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
What a wrench. Got to thank him for all he has done but he made us tick and will be hard to replace.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
English clubs to have won both the European Cup/Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League: Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa (new). #AVFC
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Think this is actually something of a compliment. Two are on the list for being title contenders and the others for outperforming expectations. If fifth and a Europe League final/win are now expected for Villa that is some achievement.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Floating voter?
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Andreas Peschel @andreaspeschel.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
You are an ambitious young scientist, on the verge to independence, in a research field related to our Cluster of Excellence @cmfi.bsky.social “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections”? Join our vibrant, interactive scientific community in Tubingen. Repost and apply! www.nature.com/naturecareer...
nature.com
Independent Junior Research Group Leaders (m/f/d) - Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg (DE) job with Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen | 12858473
The Cluster of Excellence EXC 2124 “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections” (CMFI) at the University of Tübingen invites applications for Indepen...
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Good luck Dr Bolla!
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
I went before smart phones got going. Had to be given step by step instructions for once I left the airport as could it read the signs. Will be much easier now I guess! Everyone very polite and it will be a fantastic experience.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Used to do that journey on the Corail. Such a difference on the TGV.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Thank you. Currently dealing with the impact of this decision that will deny entry to a student with a $200k fellowship to work on antibiotic drug discovery.
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Reposted by James Mason
King's Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine @kingslsm.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Researchers @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social and @uniofsurrey.bsky.social have developed a new technique to measure the content of individual human immune cells infected with a model bacteria for Mycobacterium tuberculosis ⬇️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-sin...
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
MRC have announced their new approach to curiosity-driven research: www.ukri.org/news/mrc-cur... Boards gone (?) replaced with flexible panels and interviews. DPFS and Gap fund renamed.
ukri.org
MRC curiosity-driven research reopens with new approach
The Medical Research Council (MRC) unpauses curiosity driven research funding and improves the funding process.
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Tracy Palmer @proftracypalmer.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
2 year fellowship available in AMR research www.medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk/grants/antim...
medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk
Medical Research Foundation | Antimicrobial Resistance Research
Antimicrobial Resistance Research
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King's Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine @kingslsm.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Researchers at King’s have shown that a widely used cardiac arrest risk score can be applied before patients reach hospital, enabling paramedics to assess the risk of brain injury at an earlier stage of care www.kcl.ac.uk/news/algorit...
kcl.ac.uk
Algorithm allows paramedics to predict brain damage risk after cardiac arrest | King's College London
Researchers at King’s College London have shown that a widely used cardiac arrest risk score can be applied before patients reach hospital, enabling paramedics to assess the risk of brain injury at an...
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Fantastic. Very clever.
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Reposted by James Mason
King's College London @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Interdisciplinary scientists at King's are using highly powerful magnets to drive new discoveries.🧲 The state of the art #NuclearMagneticResonance (#NMR) machine enables researchers to see what cannot be seen with the naked eye, at the atomic level. #ScienceAtKings @kingslsm.bsky.social
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King's College London @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Deaths due to synthetic opioids nitazenes could have been underreported by as much as a third. New research by @kingslsm.bsky.social sheds light on the UK’s growing opioid problem. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought
Study find nitazenes, which are up to 500 times stronger than heroin, can degrade significantly in portmortem blood samples
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Reposted by James Mason
Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
So Starmer, a man who never met Epstein but made a bad appointment, might resign. But Trump, his closest friend, fellow sex abuser and coverer-upper of his crimes, is going nowhere. That’s how it works, isn’t it?
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
It was massively oversubscribed. Over 17,000 applications and more than 60% up on last year.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Chef’s kiss for the Alt text for the one on the bottom right.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Dear John, very much enjoy your reporting across different platforms. Perhaps this is the week (again?) to ask why the club is still on X and does not have an official presence on here?
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Reposted by James Mason
King's College London @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Researchers across King’s are making a profound impact on society – locally, nationally and across the world. The King’s Engaged Research Awards, held at the King’s Great Hall, celebrated this remarkable impact. ⬇️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/winners...
kcl.ac.uk
Winners announced for the 2026 King's Engaged Research Awards | King's College London
Staff, students and community partners have celebrated public and community engagement at the King’s Engaged Research Awards ceremony.
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King's College London @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
The One King’s Impact Fund is open for applications! 🌍 Open to students and staff at King's, the fund offers £25k–£50k to support projects tackling local and global challenges. 💡 Turn bold ideas into real-world impact. Apply by 1 April: www.kcl.ac.uk/impact/fund
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Rogers 104th or something on the spreadsheet.
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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 02/12/2025
Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard
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Charlie Hind @hindcharlie.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Come work with me!!! Opportunity for a Senior Scientist to join our wonderful, friendly and productive team at UKHSA, Porton Down. Working as part of our Phage and Open Innovation Teams. Closing date 10th Dec. #job #microsky Please share with your networks :D www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Londo...
healthjobsuk.com
Job vacancy: Senior Scientist - Phage, UK Health Security Agency, Salisbury | trac.jobs
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Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · 26/11/2025
#NewResearch The permeability of bacterial porins is dynamically regulated by periplasmic proton and potassium concentrations, altering antibiotic resistance. #MicroSky #AMR 🦠 @andresfloto.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli - Nature Microbiology
The permeability of bacterial porins is dynamically regulated by periplasmic proton and potassium concentrations, altering antibiotic resistance.
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Freya Harrison @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
PhD opportunity in my lab: exploring how commensals and pathogens build biofilm communities on endotracheal (ventilator) tubes. Microbial ecology, medical microbiology and fancy imaging! Co-supervised with the fabulous Saskia Bakker and Jeremy Webb warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... #MicroSky
warwick.ac.uk
Dr Freya Harrison
Dr Freya Harrison
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Reposted by James Mason
Freya Harrison @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Great name!
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Maybe, but I suspect ChatGPT is also making drafting an application easier.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Think ChatGPT is also playing a role here.
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King's Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine @kingslsm.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
What if ICU doctors could diagnose infections in hours, not days? A new test, developed from a PhD project at King's, now makes this possible.🔬 🔗 www.kcl.ac.uk/metagenomics...
kcl.ac.uk
Metagenomics testing: From PhD project to the ICU
A new diagnostic test that can detect a broad range of microorganisms in a single sample and give same-day results has been shown to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients with…
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Reposted by James Mason
Andy Edwards @bugsinblood.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41... Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.
nature.com
Polymyxin B lethality requires energy-dependent outer membrane disruption - Nature Microbiology
The antibiotic polymyxin B requires bacterial metabolic activity to cause sufficient damage to the outer membrane to access the inner membrane, which it permeabilizes via an energy-independent mechanism to kill the cell.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Exciting to see what impact will come from this in how all cause lung injuries are treated in the future.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
King’s are doing the drug testing so some of my colleagues from the 4th floor might be there but I know quite a few people who couldn’t get tickets. Will be amazing to have Twickenham full for this.
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
It is a hot ticket! No joy in the ballot ☹️
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Professor Lesley Hoyles @bugsinyourguts.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
If you are UK-based and working on any aspect of microbiomes (human, plant, insect, soil, animal, ...), please do sign up to Microbiome-Net for details of networking, funding and training opportunities. forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com
Microsoft Forms
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ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ @nizet.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Please share my 1 min video on the importance of maintaining NIH funding of infectious diseases and drug discovery research vs rising antibiotic resistance Drastic budget cuts harm our health and imperil the next generation of scientists More @UCSanDiego “Behind Every Breakthrough” bit.ly/3FlXQs3
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ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ @nizet.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Impressive paper in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 Describes a new sensory modality: "𝙉𝙀𝙐𝙍𝙊𝘽𝙄𝙊𝙏𝙄𝘾 𝙎𝙀𝙉𝙎𝙀" Links bacterial flagellin to appetite control Gut-Brain Circuit: flagellin activates TLR5 on PYY+ neuropod cells that synapse onto vagal neurons → feeding suppressed independent of microbiota, immunity, or metabolism
nature.com
A gut sense for a microbial pattern regulates feeding - Nature
A study reveals a gut–brain sensory pathway through which the microbial component flagellin activates neuropod cells in the colon to signal the brain and reduce feeding in mice.
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ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ @nizet.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
If high quality treatment is provided to everyone with bacterial infections + innovative new antibiotics funded ... By 2050: Health costs ⬇️ $97 billion The economy ⬆️ $960 billion Generated health benefits 🟰 $680 billion to countries Return on Investment 🟰 28 to 1 www.cgdev.org/publication/...
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Charlie Hind @hindcharlie.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
It is time to improve diagnostics of Urinary Tract Infections! We developed a new technology that can work out which antibiotic would be best suited to treat UTIs in <five hours rather than the >40 hours that it currently takes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Rapid impedance-based Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (iFAST) of Enterobacterales in urinary tract infections
Evidence-based antibiotic prescribing for urinary tract infections (UTIs) would increase treatment success and improve antibiotic stewardship. Current…
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James Mason @profjamesmason.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
This will have the opposite outcome to that intended as prices will rise as they are coupled to what people can borrow. All that happens, for those that do buy, is the proportion of take home covering repayments increases. This causes a structural problem that feeds into so many other areas.
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