Dr. Alexana Hickmott

Did you know about Brazil’s semi-arid biome called the #Caatinga? @cemafauna and I found the black-tufted marmoset there this week in the field for upcoming genomics- immunogenetic work. This is one of the two #callithrix species adapted to live the #caatinga

🚨New Preprint🚨How do diff 👶 gut microbiomes respond to the same human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) and why? Here, we used metagenomics and microbiome cultivation to examine inf-specific microbial interactions for 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL) metabolism🧵: buff.ly/3ZFeUOT

Genomic analysis of cultivated infant microbiomes identifies Bifidobacterium 2'-fucosyllactose utilization can be facilitated by ... biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh… #biorxiv_micrbio

My first first-author paper is out on biorxiv! Are you curious about how diet influences which bacteria thrive in our gut microbiome? Check it out here: biorxiv.org/content/10.110…. Quick summary (and a dance version!) below 1/

Interpersonal variability of the human gut virome confounds disease signal detection in IBD @CommsBio "correctly identifying associations between viral taxa and disease biomarkers will be significantly more challenging than for 16S" #genomics #virome nature.com/articles/s4200…

Snow day!

Perturbations in the human microbiome can cause or exacerbate several diseases. This review explores how engineering and enabling technologies will help move the field forward ow.ly/Ujir50MQhRt

The gut microbiome is gaining increasing interest in depression. Why new discoveries in the gut microbiome, when integrated into a holistic perspective, hold great promise for the future of positive mental health ow.ly/R9xb50MQhQg

Owning a dog can shift the microbiota of elderly individuals to a more favorable profile. 🐶 #MedTwitter #microbiome journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

"Faecal #microbiota transplantation with anti-inflammatory #diet (FMT-AID) followed by anti-inflammatory diet alone is effective in inducing and maintaining remission over 1 year in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis: a randomised controlled trial" #FMT gut.bmj.com/content/71/12/…

Why are some people mosquito magnets? 🧲 Differences in the skin #microbiome leading to varying carboxylic acid levels may play an important role. 🦟 #MedTwitter cell.com/cell/fulltext/…

Our macaque epigenetic clock paper biorxiv.org/content/10.110… is on @biorx—we built an age predictor w/ DNA methylation data from @CayoSantiagoPR macaques & applied it to independent populations of rhesus macaques & of @AmboseliBaboons. @KNSterner @SMack_Lab

A little surprising, and some very important findings for the #GutMicrobiome field. This clearly shows we still have lots to learn about diet-microbe-immune interactions! "#Inulin fibre promotes microbiota-derived bile acids and type 2 inflammation." nature.com/articles/s4158…

What if we could quantify immunosenescence in wild populations without invasive blood sampling? Our new paper shows that urinary neopterin, a biomarker of innate immune activity, is predictive of age in a free-ranging primate. Summary in 🧵 1/7 frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Finally published in @NatureComms We show that intestinal epithelial cell specific clocks regulate circadian microbial rhythmicity and function, important for maintaining gastrointestinal homeostasis. doi.org/10.1038/s41467…

Long-term life history predicts current gut microbiome in a population-based cohort study. @NatureAging Compares the quantitative microbiome profile of n = 304 older adults to 26 years worth of food intake, lifestyle, medication, blood chemistry etc. nature.com/articles/s4358…

We are recruiting 30 - yes, that's right, 30! - Chancellor's Fellows to prestigious, tenure-track, research-intensive early/mid-career roles at the University of Edinburgh. Please spread the word!

Gut bacteria have also their own food preferences. Scientists have advanced in determining the nutrient preferences across bacteria through tracing into genus-specific bacterial protein sequences ow.ly/z5fB50L5iOs

The intestinal clock drives the microbiome to maintain gastrointestinal homeostasis #GutMicrobiome #Circadian nature.com/articles/s4146…

An online hands-on workshop on Genomics, Metagenomics & Bioinformatics in Microbial Ecology organized under the aegis of the International Society for Microbial Ecology, The Netherlands. Please register at conference.inscr.co.in/pre-conference…