Manuela Raffatellu's Avatar

Manuela Raffatellu

@manuelar.bsky.social

From Sardinia to California - Professor at UCSD - Love microbes. Find me by the ocean or at my Pilates studio

2,167 Followers  |  776 Following  |  41 Posts  |  Joined: 01.09.2023  |  1.9576

Latest posts by manuelar.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com

15.10.2025 06:33 β€” πŸ‘ 443    πŸ” 142    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 39
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BIG ANNOUNCEMENTπŸ“£: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!πŸ™€πŸ₯³ (thread πŸ‘‡)

15.10.2025 12:22 β€” πŸ‘ 445    πŸ” 173    πŸ’¬ 52    πŸ“Œ 51

Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!

05.10.2025 16:10 β€” πŸ‘ 76    πŸ” 32    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2
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Commensal yeast promotes Salmonella Typhimurium virulence - Nature Commensal Candida albicans enhances the virulence and dissemination of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Excited to share our new publication, out today in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41.... @kanchanj.bsky.social led this fascinating fungal-bacterial interaction project. We are grateful for our wonderful collaborators Brian Peters and David Underhill.

03.09.2025 16:32 β€” πŸ‘ 112    πŸ” 55    πŸ’¬ 18    πŸ“Œ 3
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Airport reunion πŸ₯³ Loved catching up with my postdoctoral mentor @manuelar.bsky.social at the airport during her layover in Munich β˜€οΈβ£οΈ

10.08.2025 07:37 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations πŸŽ‰ - so well deserved!

23.07.2025 03:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is so cool, congrats @lozanzi.bsky.social and team! Important implications for infection and IBD

17.07.2025 16:19 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations πŸŽ‰

17.07.2025 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

We have decided to ban the use of GenAI for research, writing & creative work at our organization.

In fact, we make people sign an agreement saying that their research, analysis, writing, and creative work are *theirs* and not done by GenAI.

17.07.2025 01:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1996    πŸ” 375    πŸ’¬ 37    πŸ“Œ 48

Thanks to all the coauthors, particularly Michael Lee, who was the driving force of this project, all former and current lab members, and @leighknodler.bsky.social and Jean Celli for the beautiful images! Also thankful for the constructive reviews from @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social and John Gunn

15.07.2025 19:02 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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African Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ST313 isolates prevent reactive oxygen species production by human neutrophils via elevated PgtE expression | mBio The S. enterica serotype Typhimurium omptin family protease PgtE has long been known to cleave complement factors bound to the bacterial surface, but a role for complement inactivation by PgtE in avoidance of serum bactericidal activity was found only for ...

Here's the link to the companion paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - together, our studies show that PgtE enables Salmonella to evade innate immunity and cause bacteremia.

15.07.2025 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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PgtE protease enables virulent Salmonella to evade C3-mediated serum and neutrophil killing | mBio Non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars primarily cause gastrointestinal infections but can also lead to bacteremia through mechanisms that are not completely elucidated. Here we show that the outer membran...

Happy that our manuscript showing that PgtE protease enables Salmonella to evade C3-mediated serum and neutrophil killing is published in mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - check out the companion paper from @rtsolis.bsky.social and team, focused on PgtE in the African Salmonella strain ST313

15.07.2025 18:57 β€” πŸ‘ 60    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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African Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ST313 isolates prevent reactive oxygen species production by human neutrophils via elevated PgtE expression | mBio The S. enterica serotype Typhimurium omptin family protease PgtE has long been known to cleave complement factors bound to the bacterial surface, but a role for complement inactivation by PgtE in avoi...

Here is the link to the companion paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... - Together our independent and complementary studies show how PgtE enables Salmonella to evade host immunity.

15.07.2025 18:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It was so nice to teach about Immunity to Bacterial Pathogens for the @aai.org Intro Course. I love to be part of this great training opportunity that AAI provides.

12.07.2025 02:36 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The new open access policy of NIH will take effect next week (July 1st). All NIH funded research πŸ”¬πŸ§ͺ🧬accepted after July 1st must be open access upon publication. Worried about fees? πŸ’Έ Check out how IAI stacks up against other journalsβ€”you might be surprised. #OpenAccess #SciComm #Microbiology

26.06.2025 21:47 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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What do I love the most about UCSD? My amazing colleagues. Congratulations @chulab.bsky.social and @alistairrussell.bsky.social on your promotion and to Kees Murre for being elected to the NAS!

27.06.2025 02:37 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

So important! Please contact your Republican senators, especially Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). πŸ™ amplify!

25.06.2025 01:01 β€” πŸ‘ 98    πŸ” 72    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
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Former and current member of the Raffatellu lab were well represented at #ASMicrobe in LA - it was great seeing everyone!

23.06.2025 00:36 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Check out the preview written by @romanagerner1.bsky.social on the excellent study from @mucosalimmunology.bsky.social about exploiting bacterial competition for rational design of mucosal vaccines

15.06.2025 20:06 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Another amazing manuscript and resource led by @pieterdorrestein.bsky.social and team! So happy to be part of it, and to start using these new class of metabolites in the context of infection. Stay tuned!

12.06.2025 23:51 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Science has more than doubled our life expectancy, revolutionized our quality of life, and powered unprecedented technological advancement. But can we afford to take scientific progress for granted? What happens when science funding is slashed, diversity is suppressed, and pseudoscience takes hold?

08.06.2025 00:05 β€” πŸ‘ 93    πŸ” 33    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 1
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World Scientists Look Elsewhere as U.S. Labs Stagger Under Trump Cuts

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/w...

31.05.2025 16:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations, Joe! So well deserved πŸŽ‰

24.05.2025 00:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Today, the ERC formally adopted a decision to increase its support for researchers moving to Europe.

On top of its normal grants, the ERC offers 'start-up' funding to help PIs establish laboratories / research teams in Europe.

This extra funding is now x2 (up to €2 million!)

europa.eu/!6Vdgmp

16.05.2025 10:58 β€” πŸ‘ 796    πŸ” 274    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 30

Fun facts: in Italian prurito is a common term, sincope is also often used, maybe ecchimosi is a bit more rare. I had a harder time learning the common terms in English.

11.04.2025 21:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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kermit the frog from the muppet show is standing in front of a red curtain . ALT: kermit the frog from the muppet show is standing in front of a red curtain .

Excitement plus!! The full program is online for the upcoming GRC Salmonella Biology and Pathogenesis meeting. There is still some room in the schedule for short talks, which will be chosen from submitted abstracts. Submit your abstract, if you haven't done so already.
www.grc.org/salmonella-b...

04.04.2025 14:34 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | The Uncertain Fate of the Young American Scientist (Gift Article) Young researchers are choosing between staying in science and staying in the United States.

Great opinion article in the @nytimes.com today: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

04.04.2025 13:58 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thrilled to share our @elife.bsky.social paper "Inflammasomes primarily restrict cytosolic Salmonella replication within human macrophages" by 1st author Dr. @marisaegan.bsky.social (@cambupenn.bsky.social alum, now faculty @swarthmorecollege.bsky.social)! elifesciences.org/articles/90107 🧡(1/n)

02.04.2025 13:02 β€” πŸ‘ 97    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 3
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Fast Facts: The Gut Microbiome β€˜Fast Facts: The Gut Microbiome’, though pithy and concise, is amazingly comprehensive and takes the reader through all major aspects of the human gut micr

I have been teaching classes on the gut #microbiome for almost 20 years and always struggled to have a good book to recommend. Finally there is one. Fergus Shanahan's "Fast Facts: The Gut Microbiome" provides expert insight, is brilliant, and it is free.

doi.org/10.1159/isbn...

24.03.2025 16:30 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Exciting #PhD project where you will learn how to study #Host-pathogen interactions including #infection models, cell biology, microbiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics - you will address questions important to global health including #typhoid fever and invasive NTS disease #iNTS pls share

20.03.2025 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

@manuelar is following 20 prominent accounts