Institute of Microbiology and Infection

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Professor Jeff Cole. An esteemed academic, Jeffs research on bacterial adaptation to oxygen and nitrosative stress made a lasting impact on the field. He mentored nearly 60 doctoral students, our thoughts are with his family, friends & colleagues

Fantastic Harry Smith Memorial Lecture given by Prof Nicole Dubilier @nicoledubilier.bsky.social today 'Eating your Microbiome: Nutritional Symbioses between Chemosynthetic Bacteria and Marine Invertebrates' with thanks to @pathogenomenick.bsky.social for hosting

Nicole Dubilier is standing in front of her opening slides that says 'Eating your microbiome: nutritional symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and marine invertebrates'

Excellent line-up for microbiology/microbiome speakers in Birmingham this week.

Yesterday we hosted @cibiocm.bsky.social, presenting his stunning work on the human microbiome, and today's @imibirmingham.bsky.social Harry Smith lecture by Nicole Dubilier

The 2nd round of PhD projects for the DTP in Microbial Genomics for Health Protection, in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social, has just launched, funded by @nihr.bsky.social 6 PhD projects are available (UK students only)
www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/cen...

Barber Family | Meet the Microbes - The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Barber Family | Meet the Microbes Saturday 22 November 2025, 11am – 2pm Drop-in Included in the cost of admission to Winterbourne Old Tool Shed, Winterbourne House and Garden Perfect for ages 4 – 10 a...

Join the Barber Learning team at Winterbourne House and Garden on Saturday 22 November for an afternoon of creativity and funky fungi. You will get to ‘Meet the Microbes’ learning more about their weird and wonderful world and letting your imagination run wild!

barber.org.uk/events/barbe...

Powering team science to unlock life’s secrets Four world-class teams awarded major BBSRC sLoLa grants to push the frontiers of discovery in microbiology, photosynthesis, gene regulation and quantum biology.

Congratulations, @jessicamablair.bsky.social, Sara Jabbari and Tim Overton on winning prestigious BBSRC sLoLa grant www.ukri.org/news/powerin...

Congratulations to Prof David Grainger @graingerlab.bsky.social who has been awarded a long term grant to lead a pioneering investigation into one of the world’s most dangerous and understudied pathogens 🧫🦠
www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/mi...

Prof Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social co-leads a new UK collaboration tackling infection and antimicrobial resistance www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/bi...

Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics at University of Birmingham Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics on jobs.ac.uk!

Assistant Prof post in bacterial genomics @unibirmingham.bsky.social Come and join us!!

@imibirmingham.bsky.social
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a...

BMS: Berkeley Award The British Mycological Society's Berkeley Award recognises an outstanding original scientific contribution to mycology by researchers at an early stage of their career.

Congrats to Dr Jo Rhodes @drjorhodes.com who won the Berkeley Award at the British Mycological Society this Summer - the award, a major honour in the field of mycology, recognises outstanding contributions and potential in fungal research, well done Jo 🎉
www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/berkeley-awa...

Probiotics for preterm babies lowered antibiotic resistant bacteria in gut - University of Birmingham New research lays groundwork for future studies exploring the role of probiotics in antimicrobial stewardship and infection control among preterm babies.

Probiotics for preterm babies lowered antibiotic resistant bacteria in gut @halllab.bsky.social and @raymondkiu.bsky.social
www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/pr...

Professor Robin May to join UKHSA as Chief Scientific Officer UKHSA has appointed Professor Robin May as Interim Chief Scientific Officer.

Huge congratulations to IMI's Prof Robin May @robinmay9.bsky.social who has been appointed as UKHSA's @ukhsa.bsky.social Interim Chief Scientific Officer - excellent choice! 🎉
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Professor Robin May to join UKHSA as Chief Scientific Officer UKHSA has appointed Professor Robin May as Interim Chief Scientific Officer.

Terrific news that @robinmay9.bsky.social of @imibirmingham.bsky.social has been appointed CSO of @ukhsa.bsky.social today! www.gov.uk/government/n... A fantastic choice!

A porin-like protein used by bacterial predators defines a wider lipid-trapping superfamily Nature Communications - This study reveals that an outer membrane protein from the predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus forms a pentameric assembly that traps a lipid monolayer within. This allows...

New paper in Nature Communications authored by Prof Andy Lovering et al rdcu.be/euXWk

Photo dump IMI Summer school 2025 🦠🦠🦠

Photo dump of IMI Summer school 2025

And IMI Summer school 2025 wraps up! What a fantastic group of students! Thank you UoB school and @hannahtriv.bsky.social @bpettifor.bsky.social @miribiome.bsky.social

Excellent talk from @robinmay9.bsky.social about his life, David Attenborough being his inspo and the Food Standards Agency 🦠🥪

Last day of IMI Summer school 2025 starts with all things UCAS applications and Escaping the Toxoplasma 💩🦠

Visual description: graphic depicts Professor Lindsay Hall giving their lecture. Title reads: "Peter Wildly Prize 2025, Interview and Lecture, Lindsay Hall."

Peter Wildy Prize Lecture and Interview with Prof. Lindsay Hall from Annual Conference 2025 is now available on YouTube. Watch the full interview and lecture: 'Guardians of the Gut Bringing Microbiome Science to Life through Public Engagement' microb.io/40s1zvB #Microbio25

Some exciting results from the IMI Summer school experiments 🧪🧫🔬

Day 4 of IMI Summer school started with Feeding the Future and green bread 🍞 with UoB's Dr Helen Onyeaka, GI infections with Dr Ella Rodwell and Exploring the World of Gut Bacteria with the fabulous @halllab.bsky.social 🦠🦠🦠

How does your diet impact the microbiome? Let's find out...🦠🦠

Half way through the IMI Summer school 2025 starts with a fantastic Q&A panel with our own UoB students and Postdocs and @wvschaik.bsky.social giving a great talk on AMR & Phages 🦠🦠

Culture club! Do probiotic yoghurt drinks really contain live bacteria? Let's find out at IMI Summer school 2025 🦠🦠

Day 2 of IMI Summer school 2025 kicks off with some funky images from @contamclub.bsky.social and Mathematical modelling of an infectious disease with Rowland Seymour 🦠🦠🤢🤢

Newly published study by Prof Lindsay Hall @halllab.bsky.social and Prof Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social finding that antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus bacteria are common in premature babies
www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/wi...

Windows, hand rails, kettles, water fountains and jelly pots all antimicrobially active 🦠🦠 - swab and send in action with @lstmnews.bsky.social

Practicing pipetting and making dilutions - great start to IMI Summer school 2025 with @hannahtriv.bsky.social @miribiome.bsky.social @bpettifor.bsky.social

And so it begins! IMI Summer school 2025 follow us for all the fun this week 🦠🦠