Reposted by Brandon SitSasha Gusev @sashagusevposts.bsky.social · 01/10/2026A searchable mapping between NIH study sections and program officers that doesn't suck. (Claude one-shot) sashagusev.github.io/po-study-sec... 43716
Reposted by Brandon SitAndrew Savinov @biosavinov.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Thrilled to announce that the Savinov lab is now live at UT Austin @utaustin.bsky.social! Our lab employs massively parallel experimental and AI methods to discover and design protein fragments as universal regulators of protein interactions in health and disease. www.savinovlab.com (1/n) 4237
Reposted by Brandon SitI-75 Scientist @flscitriguy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Updates to NIH K awards starting with October 2027 deadlines. The individual K awards are being consolidated into 4 awards. 🧪 grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...grants.nih.govNOT-OD-26-098: Notice of NIH Updates to Career Development (K) Award ProgramsNIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Notice of NIH Updates to Career Development (K) Award Programs NOT-OD-26-098. OD 12235
Reposted by Brandon SitThomas P200 Burke @findmeinthelab.bsky.social · 15/06/2026I'm excited to share our recent working using forward genetics to identify virulence determinants in Rickettsia. Check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgA genetic screen identifies O-antigen as essential for Rickettsia parkeri survival in macrophages by protecting from inflammasomes and interferon-stimulated genesLipopolysaccharide (LPS) is highly immunostimulatory, yet it is evolutionarily conserved among many obligate intracellular bacteria for unknown reasons. We report a forward genetic screen to identify ... 1217
Reposted by Brandon SitRoberto Vázquez Núñez @robertovn.bsky.social · 29/05/2026🚨 New preprint: GATO-seq did it again! ELOF1 is the missing promoter-proximal factor that confers RNA Pol II resistance to TFIIF. Including ELOF1, DSIF, and NELF in GATO-seq reactions recapitulates promoter-proximal pausing in vitro at physiological conditions for the 1st time. tinyurl.com/ELOF1 13312
Reposted by Brandon SitAndrew Savinov @biosavinov.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Interested in genetically encodable inhibitors of your favorite biomolecular condensate? Excited to announce our latest work, w/ Jibin Sadasivan, Gene-Wei Li, & Lindsay Case, on protein fragments as generalizable regulators of phase separation. (1/n) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1186
Reposted by Brandon SitMatthew Welch @mattwelchlab.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Our most recent paper "Divergent Rickettsia species exhibit distinct mechanisms of actin-based motility" is now out in @jcb.org! Check it out here: rupress.org/jcb/article/... 14516
Reposted by Brandon SitThomas P200 Burke @findmeinthelab.bsky.social · 16/04/2026I'm happy to share a review that our lab put together on innate immune responses to Rickettsia. One interesting tidbit - different Rickettsia species have distinct interactions with xenophagy, where some species co-opt ubiquitylation, while others avoid it! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...sciencedirect.comInnate immune responses to Rickettsia: emerging themes and contrasts between speciesOver 10 species of Rickettsia cause serious human disease across the globe, including deadly spotted fever and typhus. These arthropod-borne microbes … 0226
Reposted by Brandon SitA. Murat Eren (Meren) @merenbey.bsky.social · 16/04/2026How every layer of science's "self-correcting machinery" failed when Iva Veseli and I simply wanted to reproduce the findings of a high-profile study on gut microbiome and autism: merenlab.org/2026/04/15/u...merenlab.orgUnfalsifiable by Design: A Year of Trying and Failing to Reproduce a Human Microbiome and Autism StudyThe myth of open data, reproducibility, responsibility, and accountability in science, and your role in it 1216380
Reposted by Brandon SitBecky Lamason @lamasonlab.bsky.social · 24/02/2026Excited to share our latest work from first author Patrick Woida. Using a novel surface display platform for expression of split TurboID, we discovered that CYLD is recruited to the Listeria surface via the effector InlC and that it supports cell-to-cell spread www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.org 083
Reposted by Brandon SitCaulocon @caulocon.bsky.social · 21/02/2026With CauloCon coming up in a few weeks, we are excited to share with you the schedule for the upcoming meeting! There will be 3 keynotes and 26 short talks over three days. You can see more information at caulocon.com 064
Reposted by Brandon SitI-75 Scientist @flscitriguy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00): for Individuals whose final due date was September-November 2025 and January-March 2026. As always, reach out to your PO/IC contact to discuss. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...grants.nih.govNOT-OD-26-021: Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Notice of Temporary Extension of Eligibility for the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) NOT-OD-26-021. OD 01525
Reposted by Brandon SitBecky Lamason @lamasonlab.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Check out our latest paper from first author Allison Scott using a powerful enrichment strategy to enable transcriptional profiling of the early stages of a rickettsial infection 063
Brandon Sit @sitbrandon.bsky.social · 03/11/2025This project has been incubating for a while, and I'm very grateful to my labmates who pitched in (@laurenbird.bsky.social and others not on 🟦), @johndoench.bsky.social, and my amazing mentor @lamasonlab.bsky.social. More to come soon! 010
Brandon Sit @sitbrandon.bsky.social · 03/11/2025First 🟦 post - my main postdoc work is out in the world! We designed a Cas12a-based genetic screen to identify host factors that contribute to infection by the tickborne pathogen Rickettsia parkeri, and stumbled across a really exciting direct interaction between host and bacterium🦠. Check it out! 1145
Reposted by Brandon SitAndrew Savinov @biosavinov.bsky.social · 27/10/2025Thrilled to contribute to this exciting work on protein binder design together w/ @hannes-stark.bsky.social , Felix Faltings, Regina Barzilay, Tommi Jaakkola, and co. We applied BoltzGen to design novel antimicrobial peptides targeting DNA gyrase based on inhibitory protein fragments. (1/n) 153
Reposted by Brandon SitJordan Jastrab @jordanjastrab.bsky.social · 26/09/2025Thrilled to share my work from the @jkagan1.bsky.social lab! TLDR: O-acetylation and wall teichoic acid compete for space on S. aureus peptidoglycan. This competition regulates DNA release, and thus immune receptor activation, during infection! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #microsky #immunoskybiorxiv.orgWall teichoic acid is required for DNA-triggered innate immune receptor activation by Staphylococcus aureusReceptors that stimulate inflammation are commonly activated by ligands that are buried within microbial cells. The mechanisms that facilitate immunostimulatory ligand release from microbes during inf... 23916
Reposted by Brandon SitFabian Rivera-Chávez @fabianrchavez.bsky.social · 18/08/20251/ Excited to share the first preprint from my lab! 🎉 My postdoc Paz asked how cholera toxin (CT) helps Vibrio cholerae thrive in the gut. Turns out, CT rewires epithelial metabolism toward L-lactate production—fueling pathogen growth in the small intestine during diseasebiorxiv.orgCholera toxin-induced disease generates epithelial cell-derived L-lactate that promotes Vibrio cholerae growth in the small intestineCholera toxin (CT) promotes Vibrio cholerae colonization by altering gut metabolism to favor pathogen growth. We have previously found that CT-induced disease leads to increased concentrations of L-la... 106425
Reposted by Brandon SitMaiko Kitaoka 北岡舞子, PhD @maikokitaoka.bsky.social · 01/07/2025Are you an MIT postdoc in the life sciences? Come join my new initiative, the KendallSqBio Postdoc Symposium on Sept. 10, 2025! ✅ Present your science ✅ Connect with other postdocs ✅ Build your community Abstract deadline July 11th! forms.gle/iXMTYfqgLKWR... 185
Reposted by Brandon SitVictor J. Torres @torreslab.bsky.social · 23/06/2025Alert! The abstract deadline for the Microbial Pathogenesis & Host Response meeting has been extended to July 7 meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...meetings.cshl.eduMicrobial Pathogenesis & Host ResponseCold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics. 13823
Reposted by Brandon SitLauren Bird @laurenbird.bsky.social · 25/04/2025Excited to share this story from my PhD, out today in Nature Communications! We show that Coxiella removes cathepsin B to reduce lysosomal hostility and promote bacterial success. This depends on a vacuole established by effector CvpB. www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comCoxiella burnetii manipulates the lysosomal protease cathepsin B to facilitate intracellular success - Nature CommunicationsThe zoonotic pathogen Coxiella burnetiiestablishes a unique intracellular niche within a lysosome-derived vacuole. Here Bird et al. undertook proteomic, cell biology and microbiology approaches to cha... 2254
Reposted by Brandon SitMatt Barber @biobarber.bsky.social · 17/11/2024Excited to see many in the bacterial pathogenesis community joining here in the last few weeks, so here's a Starter Pack to help make connections. Reply/DM to be added to this or future Packs. #Microsky go.bsky.app/VH64BaY 8522874