Fikadu G. Tafesse

Job alert!  We’re hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow to develop nanobody-based spatial biology approaches to study TB granulomas. Please help spread the word! @ASMicrobiology @ImmunologyAAI @LungAssociation @OHSUNews @ASBMB @ASCBiology

Excited to share our latest paper in @J_Immunol. We report an MR1-specific nanobody that blocks MR1-mediated T cell activation. Congrats to Tim Bates, Corinna from David Lewinsohn’s lab, and thanks to John Burke for HDX-MS support! @OHSUNews academic.oup.com/jimmunol/artic…

NIH Common Fund announces 4️⃣ new funding opportunities for NIH Director’s High-Risk, High-Reward awards supporting exceptionally creative researchers with bold, innovative, high-impact ideas. 👉 Find the opportunity that fits your research: go.nih.gov/goFfpVo

The #Ebola situation in the #DRC is deeply worrisome. So far, 82 cases have been confirmed, with seven confirmed deaths. But we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger. There are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The situation in #Uganda is currently stable, with two confirmed cases, and one death reported. There have been no new cases or deaths reported. An American national who was working in DRC has also been confirmed positive, and transferred to Germany for care. We are aware of the reports today about another American national who is a high-risk contact who has been transferred to the Czech Republic. These numbers are changing as surveillance efforts and laboratory testing is improving, but violence and insecurity are impeding the response. Additional @WHO personnel have deployed to Ituri, the epicentre of the DRC outbreak, to support affected communities. I am in regular contact with the government officials of the affected countries to coordinate response actions. I have just convened a Member States briefing to update them on the ongoing response.

We’re hiring! Our department at @OHSUNews is recruiting for a tenure-track faculty position. We seek outstanding candidates working broadly in molecular microbiology, immunology, and host–pathogen interactions. Please share widely! nature.com/naturecareers/…

PacTB is back in Portland on April 8–9, 2026! West Coast TB folks (Bay Area, WA, Vancouver), especially grad students & postdocs, please join us! Great chance to present + network. Abstract deadline: TODAY Registration deadline: Apr 1 eventbrite.com/e/pactb-2026-t…

Glad to see this news story highlighting our recent lipid interactome database, a resource we hope will help the broader scientific community. @OHSUNews @SchultzLabOHSU news.ohsu.edu/2026/02/25/new…

Huge thanks to my former PhD student and then postdoc Gaelen Guzman - this wouldn’t exist without his drive and craftsmanship. Also, big thanks to Carsten Schultz, André Nadler, and Baskin Baskin for their support and contributions.

Spread the word: Please share/RT so more people can find it. And feedback is welcomed: tell us what you love and how to make it better. Paper link: lnkd.in/gEJzJcQi Database: lnkd.in/g-swyT2a

Our paper on The Lipid Interactome is now published, and the database is open: lnkd.in/g-swyT2a Why you should care: Lipid–protein interactome studies are exploding, but the data is scattered across papers, inconsistent formats, and silos making it hard to compare/reuse.

@jen_liou @OHSUNews Thank you, Jen!

@TheTafesseLab @OHSUNews Congratulations!

Big career update:  I’m honored and humbled to serve as Chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Looking forward to what we’ll build together! @OHSUNews

Big News!!! Ethiopia 🇪🇹has officially declared the end of its first-ever #Marburg virus disease outbreak following enhanced surveillance with no new confirmed cases. The outbreak was contained in less than three months through a government-led response supported by @WHO

It was fun writing this book chapter on methods to trace #lipid metabolism. Congrats to Alec and Helene! Thanks to @basktastic for the invitation to contribute this chapter. #lipidtime @OHSUNews sciencedirect.com/science/chapte…

Excited to share our first paper of the year- a review on the emerging roles of lipids in flavivirus infection, now published in @TrendsMicrobiol. Congrats to Judah (postdoc) for spearheading the work! @OHSUNews @SchultzLabOHSU sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Applications open for the African STARS Fellowship. Four months of immersive Advanced and Translational Training (ATT) in South Africa or Senegal. Deadline 31 January 2026 - More info: starsfellows.africa/applyattypp/

Thrilled to share that my new paper has been published at @NatureComms @NaturePortfolio. We conducted a genome-wide CRISPR screen in Toxoplasma gondii and identified GRA38, a dense granule protein, as a key regulator of lipid homeostasis in Toxo. nature.com/articles/s4146…