Manuela Raffatellu

Congratulations to Çagla Tükel @caglatukel.bsky.social for her election to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology! asm.social/2OC

China turns the tables in biotech For at least a century, major scientific research initiatives have reliably occurred in the United States, usually in response to geopolitical competition. This helped establish the country’s status a...

“Success in US science has come from sustained funding and welcoming the best talent from around the world, yet both of these advantages are in decline”

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

These are challenging times - But I would like to take a moment and say a big THANK YOU to my amazing support group of friends and colleagues, who are always there via email, Zoom, phone calls, in person meetings - and are no doubt the best part of being an academic scientist.

Such a fantastic group of people! Enjoy your visit to SoCal (and the break from Boston weather) 😊

Friday we lost a brilliant mind, colleague, and friend to her battle with pancreatic cancer. Those who knew her will remember Helene Andrews-Polymenis for her warmth, generosity and leadership. She will be missed by many. RIP

Early Career Faculty Opportunity! @ucsdhealthsci.bsky.social Health Sciences Summer Institutes in Infectious Diseases - opportunity to work with mentors on enhancing research development and grant writing skills!

Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)

Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

Commensal yeast promotes Salmonella Typhimurium virulence - Nature Commensal Candida albicans enhances the virulence and dissemination of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Excited to share our new publication, out today in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41.... @kanchanj.bsky.social led this fascinating fungal-bacterial interaction project. We are grateful for our wonderful collaborators Brian Peters and David Underhill.

Airport reunion 🥳 Loved catching up with my postdoctoral mentor @manuelar.bsky.social at the airport during her layover in Munich ☀️❣️

Congratulations 🎉 - so well deserved!

This is so cool, congrats @lozanzi.bsky.social and team! Important implications for infection and IBD

Congratulations 🎉

We have decided to ban the use of GenAI for research, writing & creative work at our organization.

In fact, we make people sign an agreement saying that their research, analysis, writing, and creative work are *theirs* and not done by GenAI.

Thanks to all the coauthors, particularly Michael Lee, who was the driving force of this project, all former and current lab members, and @leighknodler.bsky.social and Jean Celli for the beautiful images! Also thankful for the constructive reviews from @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social and John Gunn

African Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ST313 isolates prevent reactive oxygen species production by human neutrophils via elevated PgtE expression | mBio The S. enterica serotype Typhimurium omptin family protease PgtE has long been known to cleave complement factors bound to the bacterial surface, but a role for complement inactivation by PgtE in avoidance of serum bactericidal activity was found only for ...

Here's the link to the companion paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - together, our studies show that PgtE enables Salmonella to evade innate immunity and cause bacteremia.

PgtE protease enables virulent Salmonella to evade C3-mediated serum and neutrophil killing | mBio Non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars primarily cause gastrointestinal infections but can also lead to bacteremia through mechanisms that are not completely elucidated. Here we show that the outer membran...

Happy that our manuscript showing that PgtE protease enables Salmonella to evade C3-mediated serum and neutrophil killing is published in mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - check out the companion paper from @rtsolis.bsky.social and team, focused on PgtE in the African Salmonella strain ST313

African Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ST313 isolates prevent reactive oxygen species production by human neutrophils via elevated PgtE expression | mBio The S. enterica serotype Typhimurium omptin family protease PgtE has long been known to cleave complement factors bound to the bacterial surface, but a role for complement inactivation by PgtE in avoi...

Here is the link to the companion paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - Together our independent and complementary studies show how PgtE enables Salmonella to evade host immunity.

It was so nice to teach about Immunity to Bacterial Pathogens for the @aai.org Intro Course. I love to be part of this great training opportunity that AAI provides.

The new open access policy of NIH will take effect next week (July 1st). All NIH funded research 🔬🧪🧬accepted after July 1st must be open access upon publication. Worried about fees? 💸 Check out how IAI stacks up against other journals—you might be surprised. #OpenAccess #SciComm #Microbiology

What do I love the most about UCSD? My amazing colleagues. Congratulations @chulab.bsky.social and @alistairrussell.bsky.social on your promotion and to Kees Murre for being elected to the NAS!

So important! Please contact your Republican senators, especially Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). 🙏 amplify!

Former and current member of the Raffatellu lab were well represented at #ASMicrobe in LA - it was great seeing everyone!

Check out the preview written by @romanagerner1.bsky.social on the excellent study from @mucosalimmunology.bsky.social about exploiting bacterial competition for rational design of mucosal vaccines

Another amazing manuscript and resource led by @pieterdorrestein.bsky.social and team! So happy to be part of it, and to start using these new class of metabolites in the context of infection. Stay tuned!

Science has more than doubled our life expectancy, revolutionized our quality of life, and powered unprecedented technological advancement. But can we afford to take scientific progress for granted? What happens when science funding is slashed, diversity is suppressed, and pseudoscience takes hold?

World Scientists Look Elsewhere as U.S. Labs Stagger Under Trump Cuts

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/w...

Congratulations, Joe! So well deserved 🎉

Today, the ERC formally adopted a decision to increase its support for researchers moving to Europe.

On top of its normal grants, the ERC offers 'start-up' funding to help PIs establish laboratories / research teams in Europe.

This extra funding is now x2 (up to €2 million!)

europa.eu/!6Vdgmp