PennCHOPMicrobiome

Big thanks to everyone who attended our lab axe throwing event! Congrats to axe throwing champion Karissa Lim!!

We were very happy yesterday to host Kate along with other great list of microbiome speakers at the PCMP annual Microbiome symposium.

Join my team at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Research Technician III-Microbiome Center careers.chop.edu/70oyDxL

Join the CHOP Microbiome Center as a Research Technician IV! We are seeking a motivated individual with hands-on experience in next-generation sequencing (NGS) to support our innovative microbiome research. careers.chop.edu/us/en/job/1017…

Sixteen years after losing his hands in childhood from amputation, a Swiss man became the fifth person to receive a bilateral hand transplant at @PennMedicine. A multi-disciplinary team of more than 20 experts collaborated for the life-changing procedure. spr.ly/60094RZLN

We have the chance to rid the world of cervical cancer - effectively eliminate it How? A vaccine! The HPV vaccine prevents cancer!

Check out new art at The SPACE gallery, featuring photographs of layered weathering graffiti. All proceeds to the artist are donated to Philabundance, to address food insecurity in our area. thespacephiladelphia.com/online-store-f…

In case you were wondering why research is important: check out the song from Mags McCarthy and Bruce Levine on saving lives with novel cancer therapy: youtube.com/watch?v=dkOrbj…

Congrats to Marie Seleme, Aradhana Kasimsetty and the team on their report of effective methods for increasing expression from AAV vectors by blocking SUMOylation. Effective boosting by treatment with an inhibitor presently under investigation in humans! (PMID: 40263936)

Congrats to Carter Merenstein on completion of his PhD thesis! A blizzard of impressive first author papers on the human microbiome in health and disease. Well done!! Examples: PMID: 37217829, PMID: 36195943, PMID: 34399607

PLoS Pathogens just published on Virolithopanspermia, the idea that viruses may move through space inside rocks. Maybe Earth is spewing viruses into space, and maybe viral particles would be a good target to evaluate for signs of life in extraplanetary rocks! PMID:40100845

The recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2025 was a moving tribute to the importance of HIV research and efforts to eradicate HIV globally. Presentations are now up online. It was a great honor to deliver the Fields Lecture! croiwebcasts.org/console/player…

The projected cuts to PEPFAR and USAID will result in thousands of aviodable deaths world-wide. The US has led the world in helping the vulnerable under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Please write your elected leaders. 5CALLS.org makes it easy.

In fiscal year 2024, the report found, NIH awarded more than $36.9 billion to researchers, supporting more than 408,000 jobs and generating over $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide.

My home country Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 NO cervical cancer cases detected in vaccinated women following HPV immunisation! None! Zero! What a stunning achievement ! The HPV vaccine ie a modern medical miracle!

Big congrats to Andrew Marques, Erick Gagne, and the team for their exciting PLoS Path paper on SARS-CoV-2 in deer in PA. At least 12 jumps from humans into deer! PMID: 39854608

Check out the updated booklet “Improving Your Scientific Writing”. The latest edition contains guidance on interacting with AI and use of respectful “person-first” language. The PDF is free! med.upenn.edu/bushmanlab/ass…

We had a great time today at the CHOP Microbiome Core. The sequencing and Bioinformatics labs had dinner after the Microbial Genomes and Metagenomes Workshop in day 1 of the PCMP Microbiome Symposium. Join us today for day 2 with great talks lined up! eventbrite.com/e/2024-penncho…

Excited to share updates to Microbiocode, the code repository for the PennCHOP Microbiome program. Numerous well curated software packages to enable Microbiome research. Check it out! med.upenn.edu/microbiocode/