Weekly round-up #145

Weekly Round-up #145

VALIDATE Winter Seminar: Mtb in the host: Persisters and PE/PPE proteins

The latest VALIDATE Seminar took place on 24 November and was a great success with 60 people attending via MS Teams. Prof Samantha Sampson and Dr Jomien Mouton from Stellenbosch University talked about their work on M.tb, persisters and PE/PPE proteins. A video will soon be available on the VALIDATE Hub and we will eventually upload it to the VALIDATE YouTube Channel from where it can be shared with anyone who might be interested.

Upcoming Seminars

We have two more VALIDATE Winter Seminars and you can register for these now:

Funding:

PhD Studentship: Using microbial networks to quantify transmission dynamics of bovine tuberculosis – This PhD will use metagenomic sequencing of faecal and environmental samples collected in a disease hotspot to build putative transmission networks for the pathogen M.bovis – deadline 7 December 2020
The PASIFIC Fellowship Programme – A unique opportunity for researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences who want to undertake state-of-the-art research in a dynamic scientific environment. – deadline 15 June 2021

Training Opportunities and Events:

Imminent:

Oxford TB Meeting, Online, 26 November 2020
Modelling the impact of COVID-19 interruptions on NTD programmes, Online, 2 December 2020
Tuberculosis: Science Aimed at Ending the Epidemic, Online, 2 December 2020

New Events:

VIB Science Translational Immunology Conference 2021, (postponed from 2020) VIB Headquarters, Ghent, Belgium, 22 November 2021

More opportunities are to be found on our Training and Events pages.

Job Opportunities:

Laboratory Technician (Non-Vesicular Reference Laboratories), Pirbright Institute, UK, deadline 2 December 2020
Immunology Fellow: Host-Pathogen Interaction Research, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone UK, deadline 6 December 2020
Research Specialist B, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, no stated deadline

There are many more relevant career opportunities on our jobs page.

Publications:

Unravelling the unsolved paradoxes of cytokine families in host resistance and susceptibility to leishmania infection, Osero BO et al, in Cytokine
Preclinical validation of a second generation leishmanization vaccine against vector transmitted fatal visceral leishmaniasis, Karmakar S et al, Preprint in bioRxiv
A persisting nontropical focus of Burkholderia pseudomallei with limited genome evolution over five decades, Webb JR et al, in American Society for Microbiology Journal
Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria interference with BCG-current controversies and future directions, Verma D et al, in Vaccines
Proteomic characterization of a second-generation version of the BCGΔBCG1419c vaccine candidate by means of Electrospray-ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, Velázquez-Fernández JB el al including VALIDATE member Mario Alberto Flores-Valdez, in Oxford Academic
Overexpression of the celA1 gene in BCG modifies surface pellicle, glucosamine content in biofilms, and affects in vivo replication, Vaca-González A et al, including VALIDATE member Mario Alberto Flores-Valdez, in Tuberculosis

Highlights on Twitter this week:

TB News Daily shared a Devex article on outdated TB testing policies, Nature Careers published an article about how postdoc life is like a plane circling an airport, and NC3R celebrated Rachel Tanner’s VALIDATE Fellowship. The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy marked World Toilet Day, we reminded our followers about the VALID8 interviews, and Write that PhD shared a free book on how PhD students can write more, write better and be happier. The Vaccine Confidence Project warned about the decreased public confidence in a COVID-19 Vaccine, the Emerging Pathogens Institute did an interview with Biothreat Specialist Mike Norris about Burkholderia, and the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases shared an article arguing we should innovate to tackle NTDs as we have with COVID-19. Nature Careers shared a flow chart on how to choose your next research project and Write that PhD shared The PhD journey: A guide to applying, starting & succeeding. You can find more like this on our Twitter feed - @NetworkVALIDATE.

Published: 25 November 2020