The Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP

Over 3 years we performed WGS-based surveillance of S. aureus in the NICU at @childrensphila.bsky.social, sequencing both surveillance and bloodstream infection isolates, to understand how colonization, transmission, and persistence are associated with invasive infection in high-risk neonates.

Researchers from @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social @chopresearch.bsky.social identify strategies for preventing the most infectious strains of Staph aureus.

@pjplanet.bsky.social @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social @qianxuan.bsky.social @joeyzacks.bsky.social

Thrilled to share this study tracking Staph aureus carriage and transmission across the NICU using genomics! Work done w @pjplanet.bsky.social & @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social and made possible by @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social.

Study co-led by the amazing @qianxuan.bsky.social & Lakshmi Srinivasan!

The Science Behind the Spread: Researchers Aim to Reduce Bacterial Burden in NICUs Researchers are using whole genome sequencing techniques to identify possible high-risk strains of bacteria in neonatal intensive care units.

Center for Microbial Medicine clinicians and researchers team up to tackle bacterial infections in NICUs.

Check out the amazing work being done by @pjplanet.bsky.social @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social Lakshmi Srinivasan and more!

@chopresearch.bsky.social

www.research.chop.edu/cornerstone-...

Proud to announce SimPhyNI, a new tool for bacterial GWAS with higher precision and scalability than existing tools. Try it out and let us know what you think!!

Really happy to have this study led by @ashleyweiss.bsky.social and Jilarie Santos-Santiago published in the Journal of Bacteriology (@asm.org) over the holiday break!! Always awesome to team up with the amazing @ritatamayo.bsky.social lab! #Cdiff #enterococci

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

Happy New Year, all! Reminder that the deadline for abstract selected talks is Jan 7th for @keystonesymposia.bsky.social meeting "Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating Bacterial Infection." Register today and join us in Breckenridge!! It is going to be an awesome meeting!

The Center for Microbial Medicine at CHOP is delighted to be a sponsor for this important @keystonesymposia.bsky.social meeting on emerging strategies for combating AMR! Come find us at the meeting!

And of course, super lucky to be planning this meeting with an amazing team: @kimingeneva.bsky.social @dariavantyne.bsky.social @maribyndloss.bsky.social.

#KSBeyondAntibiotics26

Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection, May 2026, in Breckenridge, with field leaders!

Registration is now open for @keystonesymposia.bsky.social "Beyond #Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection." Deadline for scholarships and abstract selected short talks is Jan 7! Join us this May for an amazing meeting! keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26

We are incredibly grateful for the generous support we have received for @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social. Support from these donors is allowing us to improve pediatric health through the lens of the microbiome and bring precision pathogen surveillance to reduce infections in children.

Donors Join Forces to Support Center for Microbial Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity.

We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity.
Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social

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

Excited to share this collaborative study with @ritatamayo.bsky.social showing that E. faecalis influences C. diff morphology through the phase variable CmrRST system! This work was co-led by the amazing team of @ashleyweiss.bsky.social and Jilarie Santos-Santiago!

Excited to post our first S. aureus preprint on biorxiv! Big congrats to co-first authors, postdocs @anjali20anil.bsky.social and Rezia Braza, and really enjoyed the collaboration with @torreslab.bsky.social !

Congratulations to @haidermanzer.bsky.social on being awarded the @bwfund.bsky.social Postdoc Diversity Enrichment Program Award!! So well deserved - we are very proud here in the Zackular Lab!

Congratulations to Dr. Alexa Semon on successfully defending her thesis yesterday!

We are incredibly proud of all that you accomplished during your time in the Zackular Lab. We’re sad to see you go, but know that you’ll do amazing things at @regeneron.com!

@upenn.edu
@chopresearch.bsky.social

Incredibly honored to be selected as a @bwfund.bsky.social Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease. Thank you to @bwfund.bsky.social for supporting our work - I am thrilled to join this amazing community! And special thank you to my AMAZING team (past & present) for getting us here!

Check out this new work from the Center for Microbial Medicine(@centermicrobialmed.bsky.social) and @upenn.edu! Amanda PeBenito @rinniehewlett.bsky.social @joeyzacks.bsky.social @alhecht.bsky.social and team show that dietary fiber alters risk for C. diff infection following antibiotics.

This was a really fun and collaborative team effort! Thank you to all who were critical for this work including @microbe-enjoyer.bsky.social, @rcglover.bsky.social, Jibraan Fawad, Elliot Friedman, Nitin Ahuja, Gary Wu, Ceylan Tanes, Kyle Bittinger, and Jim Lewis!!

@centermicrobialmed.bsky.social

Excited to share our new work in @aga-gastro.bsky.social! We show that dietary fiber alters the window of susceptibility to C. difficile following antibiotic exposure. This really fantastic study was co-led by an amazing team @rinniehewlett.bsky.social @alhecht.bsky.social and Amanda PeBenito.

I am organizing #KSAntibiotics26 with an amazing team: @kimingeneva.bsky.social, @maribyndloss.bsky.social and @dariavantyne.bsky.social.

Reach out to us if you have any questions and please share with your colleagues!

Come join us in Breckenridge next May!

Come join us in Breckenridge, CO next May (2026) for the Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection
Keystone meeting! More information below:

Delighted to announce the @keystonesymposia.bsky.social meeting: Beyond #Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection. Join us in Breckenridge in May 2026!!

You can check out the program and amazing lineup of speakers below: keysym.us/KSAntibiotics26

#KSAntibiotics26

Trump Science Funding Cuts May Hurt Economy, Experts Say (Gift Article) Since World War II, U.S. research funding has led to discoveries that fueled economic gains. Now cutbacks are seen as putting that legacy in jeopardy.

The economists get it, maybe someone listen to them if not to us scientists?
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/b...

I joined the Center for Microbial Medicine in November, and I'm so excited to see what this team of amazing scientists will accomplish!

Welcome @drnikhilpai.bsky.social and @kristenpidgeon.bsky.social to Bluesky!! Kristen is the Administrative Director of the Center and Nik is leading our Clinical Division and clinical trial efforts. Give them a follow!!

Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit predicts invasive infection Background : Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infection and is one of the most common pathogens causing serious invasive infection in the neonatal intensive care unit ...

Our preprint on genomic epidemiology in the NICU! Strains that transmit faster also cause more invasive disease! nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...