Reposted by Moriah Szpara @LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Scientific American has an outstanding article about what has been happening to our scientific research enterprise that is aimed at the lay public. Worth sharing widely. www.yahoo.com/news/science...yahoo.comAmerica’s compact between science and politics is brokenLast year Christopher Reynolds started to worry that his space telescope was going to be killed. Eight teams of researchers pitched NASA their ideas; Reynolds, an astronomer at the University of Mary... 03426
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 05/06/2026NYTimes just posted a memoriam on Bernard Roizman’s many contributions to the study of HSV. The “strain F” that he first described has been a key example in many of our studies of HSV-1 genomes. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/s...nytimes.comBernard Roizman, Virologist Who Demystified Herpes, Dies at 96 001
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 27/05/2026So... I got more information about this plan. The most important points follow on the next posts. 1/3 77776
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Andy Pekosz @andrewpekosz.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Very sad to hear about the passing of Bernard Roizman. A real powerhouse in virology whose trainees are numerous and many have also had a profound impact on virology: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...annualreviews.orgThe Maturation of a Scientist: An AutobiographyI was shaped by World War II, years of near starvation as a war refugee, postwar chaos, life in several countries, and relative affluence in later life. The truth is that as I was growing up I wanted ... 066
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 18/02/2026ASV members at your service -- check out your ballot! @szparalab.bsky.social @drjdennehy.bsky.social @salehlabparis.bsky.social @skytree42.bsky.social @paulturnerlab.bsky.social Also but not online: Louis Mansky, Liang Deng, Kai Wu, Shou-Wei Ding, Cristina Rosa, David Buchholz & Patrick Creisher 012
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 15/12/2025Pro tip for PSU students looking for a spring general-education class: Viruses in our World (SC 130) starts anew in January! Check out Katie Herron's Daily Collegian article about the new class: www.psucollegian.com/culture_life... 000
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 17/10/2025Thanks for a fabulous visit & inspiring science and ideas, Harmit! 🍃🧫 🧬 010
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Black Microbiologists Assoc (Black In Micro) @blackinmicro.bsky.social · 14/10/2025Welcome to Black In Micro Week! 🎉 Don't miss today's free events - simply click the linktr.ee/BlackInMicro to 1) Register and 2) Login. Everyone is welcome to join! Show your support by donating at tinyurl.com/GiveBiM (all links in bio). #BlackInMicro #BiM2025 033
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 15/10/2025Excellent first day at @pennstateuniv.bsky.social for the Marker lectures hanging out with science celebrities @nicoleacrowley.bsky.social @drohsopretty.bsky.social @symbionticism.bsky.social plus several more folks I was too shy to ask for selfies 5636
Reposted by Moriah Szpara American Society for Virology @amersocvirology.bsky.social · 19/06/2025This year's Trainee Satellite Symposium at #ASV2025 is a trainee-only session "Exploring the Intersection of Culture, Communication, And Mentorship in Science". It will feature speakers Beronda Montgomery, Robert Fernandez, and Olivia Goldman. Find out more here: asv.org/2025/06/19/t...asv.orgTrainee Satellite Workshop | American Society for VirologyORGANIZERS: Roberto Miguel Alers-Velazquez, Dartmouth College, Councilor For Virology Trainees Laura St. Clair, Johns Hopkins University, Councilor For Virology Trainees This satellite symposium… 041
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 10/04/2025NEW: Entire scientific fields have been wiped out by the nearly 800 grants cancelled at NIH, finds a @nature.com analysis of the unprecedented cuts. About half of all 2024 NIH projects related to LGBT+ health or vaccine hesitancy — gone. See the other topics and US states hardest hit here:nature.comHow Trump 2.0 is slashing NIH-backed research — in chartsNature analyses which fields of science and US states are being hit hardest by grant terminations. 311400800
Reposted by Moriah Szpara American Society for Virology @amersocvirology.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Vaccines work! As measles cases have recently been reported in Alaska, Georgia, New York, Rhode Island and Texas, it's important to remember that prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, measles killed 400-500 people and resulted in ~48,000 hospitalizations per year. 7283155
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 08/02/20251. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%. I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...grants.nih.govNOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost RatesNIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD 25469984077
Reposted by Moriah Szpara American Society for Virology @amersocvirology.bsky.social · 03/02/2025Shoutout to all of the exceptional Black scientists who have contributed to and are currently contributing to virology research! Your work is vitally important to understanding basic virology controlling viral diseases worldwide! #BlackHistoryMonth 217854
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 02/02/2025One last reminder -- tomorrow is the last day to submit an abstract for ASV's annual meeting! We have a new, shorter schedule of just 4 awesome days -- July 14-17, 2025, in Montréal 🇨🇦. The ASV Program Committee is eagerly awaiting your excellent abstracts! ✍️ 1113
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Heads up, virologists! ASV's annual meeting is going to Montréal 🇨🇦 in July 2025, and abstract submission closes in <3 weeks -- Monday Feb. 3rd!!! 🔬 🧬 The ASV Program Committee is eagerly awaiting your excellent abstracts! ✍️ 066
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Martin Steinegger 🇺🇦 @martinsteinegger.bsky.social · 23/11/2024Our Big Fantastic Virus Database (BFVD) is now published NAR! It contains protein structure predictions of major viral clades, enhanced by petabase-scale homology search and it's explorable on the web. 🌐 bfvd.foldseek.com 💾 bfvd.steineggerlab.workers.dev 📄 academic.oup.com/nar/advance-... 6339126
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 23/11/2024I love that someone left this on my office door board! 😊 🔬🦠 ❤️🩹#LoveVirology 071
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 13/08/2024Calling all #virology friends who are on the faculty job market: Penn State's Biology department & our Biochemistry & Molecular Biology department have multiple faculty openings! Link #1 of 3 here -- this one's theme is Evolutionary Genomics (open topic): psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.comEvolutionary Genomics Tenure Track Faculty Position in Biology DepartmentAPPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a... 21130
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 14/01/2024Abstract submission for the biggest US-based meeting in virology #ASV2024 closes in under 3 weeks! ASV's Program Committtee is ready & excited to receive your abstracts, due by February 1! asv.org/asv2024/ @amersocvirology.bsky.social 053
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 20/12/2023Ancient chicken remains reveal the origins of virulence in Marek’s disease virus Marek´s disease virus is a herpes virus, the virulence of which has greatly increased www.science.org/doi/... 1/3 132
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 17/12/2023Very sad to learn about the passing of Dr. Lindenbach - the world has lost an eminent and deeply caring scientist. www.legacy.com/us/obituarie...legacy.comBrett Lindenbach Obituary (1968 - 2023) - Legacy RemembersBrett Lindenbach, 55, died on December 16, 2023 after enduring glioblastoma and its treatments (both standard and investigational) for 20 months. He was a loving husband, father, son, and brother and 43110
Reposted by Moriah Szpara Oren Kobiler @orenkobiler.bsky.social · 23/11/2023New paper alert After more than 15 years in the field this is my first paper in @JVirology My student Alina Shitrit had led this project as part of Ph.D, with our collaborators @szparalab.bsky.social @nirdrayman.bsky.social @weitzmanlab.bsky.social and more journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...journals.asm.orgShared sequence characteristics identified in non-canonical rearrangements of HSV-1 genomes | Journa...Mutations and genetic rearrangements are the primary driving forces of evolution. Viruses provide valuable model systems for investigating these mechanisms due to their rapid evolutionary rates and va... 162
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 16/11/2023In-person visits to share science are the best, especially after years of being zoom-limited for pandemic safety. Thank you to Bill @wtjackson.bsky.social & the faculty & trainees at U. Maryland Baltimore for an awesome visit & great post-seminar questions! 080
Reposted by Moriah Szpara American Society for Virology @amersocvirology.bsky.social · 10/09/2023Mark your calendars, virologists! ASV2024 will be held at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH from June 24-28. 01311
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 22/09/2023In honor of all the new peeps rebuilding science-social over here (thank goodness!), here's a super-cool new preprint from my old labmate Matt Taylor's group -- on single-cell analyses of HSV1, in neurons cultured in little droplets. Check it out! Matt's not yet on bluesky, but we'll get him here!biorxiv.orgSingle-cell Herpes Simplex Virus type-1 infection of neurons using drop-based microfluidics reveals ...bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution 2239
Moriah Szpara @szparalab.bsky.social · 10/09/2023Keen to hear about the new place for science online, from fellow virologists at @amersocvirology.bsky.social! Our pup is listening to the good news too... 070