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Michael Boucher

@mjboucher

Microbiologist studying human fungal pathogens | New PI at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health

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10.11.2024
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Latest posts by Michael Boucher @mjboucher

The University at Albany Biomedical Sciences Department is hiring at the Assistant Professor level. We are looking for researchers at the intersection of infectious disease and artificial intelligence:
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
#infectiousdisease #artificialintelligence

18.11.2025 22:45 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Faculty search at UAlbany targeting folks broadly applying AI/ML to infectious disease research!! Please RT πŸ™
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...

18.11.2025 23:15 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Research Affiliate I (Post Doctoral) Applications to be submitted by October 28, 2025 Compensation Grade: P99 (Research Affiliate I) Compensation Details: Minimum: $62,353.20 - Maximum: $62,353.20 Annually Positions with a designated wor...

Deadline to apply for a postdoctoral position in my lab has been corrected--applications will be accepted until October 28.

healthresearch.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/HRI_Ca...

14.10.2025 20:48 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Interested in the lab but not quite ready to apply? Feel free to get in touch with me about upcoming positions

10.10.2025 18:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Research Affiliate I (Post Doctoral) Applications to be submitted by October 13, 2025 Compensation Grade: P99 (Research Affiliate I) Compensation Details: Minimum: $62,353.20 - Maximum: $62,353.20 Annually Positions with a designated wor...

My lab is hiring a postdoc! Official job ad and application instructions here:

healthresearch.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/HRI_Ca...

Current deadline says October 13, but this will be extended to be open for ~2 weeks.

10.10.2025 18:44 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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CRISPR/Cas9-compatible plasmids enabling seven dominant genetic selection methods for the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans | Microbiology Spectrum Cryptococcus neoformans is the top-ranked World Health Organization priority fungal pathogen due to its widespread distribution and inadequate treatment options. Additionally, as a basidiomycete yeast...

We just published new selectable markers for C. neoformans, bringing the total up to 7. All in CRiSPR-Cas9 compatible plasmids.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

26.09.2025 14:31 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Plasmids for selection with phleomycin (BLE marker); phosphite prototrophy (ptxD marker) and blasticidin S (BSD or BSR markers) are available @addgene.bsky.social

26.09.2025 21:41 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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CRISPR/Cas9-compatible plasmids enabling seven dominant genetic selection methods for the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans | Microbiology Spectrum Cryptococcus neoformans is the top-ranked World Health Organization priority fungal pathogen due to its widespread distribution and inadequate treatment options. Additionally, as a basidiomycete yeast...

Small side-project from my postdoctoral work with @hitenmadhani.bsky.social. We found that blasticidin S can select for Cryptococcus transformants, and made CRISPR-compatible plasmids for other existing markers. Now 7 dominant genetic selection methods in total!

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

26.09.2025 21:39 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Leishmaniasis is 95% fatal if untreated β€” yet it’s still overlooked, and media coverage is low.

Our new report shows what gets decision-makers to pay attention ‡️
wellcomeopenresearch.org/documents/10...

19.08.2025 09:21 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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New in #G3journal: @hitenmadhani.bsky.social and the team present new methods and strains for high-efficiency homology-dependent genome editing in Cryptococcus neoformans, a budding #yeast that is the most common cause of fungal meningitis in humans.

Read more: buff.ly/dQRKrOJ

15.08.2025 16:12 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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New PI day 1!

14.08.2025 22:57 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ„Mark your calendars for March 17-22, 2026 for #Fungal26! Registration will open October 25, 2025. We can’t wait to see you at Asilomar in absolutely beautiful Pacific Grove, California. Start planning today!

πŸ”—Stay updated on all the important information at buff.ly/BjAlE2j.

11.08.2025 18:02 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our work to functionally map the Cryptococcus genome is now "officially" out in Cell!

24.07.2025 19:38 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Someone's settled in for her cross-country road trip

19.07.2025 21:46 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Hello everyone! I am pleased to share information on the first ever Computational Structural Virology Symposium, conducted August 4th on zoom and highlighting work in this emerging field. You can register for this event here: forms.gle/CNiqskMwQEuV.... Please re-post!

12.06.2025 20:31 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 52 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 6

Share link to access article here:

authors.elsevier.com/c/1lFMiL7PXu...

11.06.2025 16:01 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Phenotypic landscape of an invasive fungal pathogen reveals its unique biology The construction and high-precision fitness profiling of a C. neoformans knockout library reveals a high-resolution functional map of its genome and allowed for the identification of fungal analogs of...

My postdoctoral work with @hitenmadhani.bsky.social is now online at @cp-cell.bsky.social! We profiled the fitness of >4300 Cryptococcus neoformans deletion strains in >140 conditions, identifying unexpected mammalian-like biology and drivers of fungal pathogenesis.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

11.06.2025 16:00 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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#TheLastOfUs: A fungus that actually infects the human brain 🧠

A recent #G3journal paper from @hitenmadhani.bsky.social and team presents a valuable auxin-inducible genetic toolkit for conditional mutation in the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, which can cause meningitis: buff.ly/rIkC09R

05.06.2025 18:03 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Near 100% efficient homology-dependent genome engineering in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans Abstract. We recently described CRISPR/Cas9-based short homology-dependent genome engineering in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, a haplo

Warp speed genetics!

We have just published another methods paper, which demonstrates how to make short-homology genome edits in Cryptococcus neoformans with exceptionally high efficiency.

Kudos to Matt, Sanjita, and Manning!

academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...

04.06.2025 18:06 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Come join me as a new PI at the Wadsworth Center!

04.06.2025 01:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Great to know, thanks!

22.05.2025 23:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks to @hitenmadhani.bsky.social and the many coauthors who made this work possible!

17.05.2025 17:18 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Felipe! Won't make it to CSHL, but maybe the GRC or Crypto meeting next year!

10.05.2025 00:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Really excited to share that I'll start my research lab at the Wadsworth Center with the New York State Department of Health in August 2025! My group will use functional genomics to study how fungal pathogens have repurposed machinery from their environmental lifestyles for mammalian infection!

09.05.2025 19:43 πŸ‘ 22 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0
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An auxin-inducible degron system for conditional mutation in the fungal meningitis pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans Abstract. Cryptococcus neoformans is the top-ranked W.H.O. fungal priority pathogen, but tools for generating conditional mutations are limited. Auxin-indu

Our small but important technical advance for conditional mutation in Cryptococcus neoformans. Combined with some other technical advances (like 100% efficient HDR), this makes working on this yeast as easy as working on S. cerevisiae. tinyurl.com/yzhjr45u

08.04.2025 18:05 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We have another opening for a fully funded #PhDposition in the Beusch lab (www.beuschlab.org) at the University of WΓΌrzburg! If you or someone you know is curious about #splicing, please apply or contact me for more information. (Official advertisement tba soon.) #RNAsky #RNAbiology

19.12.2024 22:43 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0