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Ewan Harrison

@ewanharrison.bsky.social

Microbiologist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge.

283 Followers  |  472 Following  |  5 Posts  |  Joined: 29.11.2023  |  1.8079

Latest posts by ewanharrison.bsky.social on Bluesky

featuring @duncan-ng.bsky.social @pathogenomenick.bsky.social @emmanuel-saliba.bsky.social @resp-micro.bsky.social @asthmaandlung.org.uk @ewanharrison.bsky.social @ryanthwaites.bsky.social and many many more I can't find on bluesky

08.10.2025 14:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
AIR 2026: Genomic and Systems Approaches to Respiratory Infection, Microbiomes and Immunity β€” 20260211 Course exploring how genomics, microbiome profiling, and systems biology reshape our understanding of respiratory infections and immune dynamics.

New respiratory 🫁 infection and microbiomes conference in Hinxton with stellar line up of speakers.

🚨 Submit your abstracts now! 🚨

Please RT

coursesandconferences.wellcomeconnectingscience.org/event/air-20...

08.10.2025 14:48 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Samples from 1917 have helped identify the genetic culprits responsible for the spread of treatment-resistant infections πŸ”Ž

By mapping plasmid evolution since the pre-antibiotic era, experts found that a minority of plasmids cause most of the multidrug resistance in the world 🧡

26.09.2025 09:09 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Global dissemination of npmA mediated pan-aminoglycoside resistance via a mobile genetic element in Gram-positive bacteria - Nature Communications The authors investigate the distribution of the aminoglycoside resistance gene npmA in Gram-positive bacteria via a mobile genetic element, highlighting its global presence and cross-species transfer ...

Our paper β€œGlobal dissemination ofβ€―npmA mediated pan‑aminoglycoside resistance via a mobile element in Gram‑positive bacteria” is now in @natcomms.nature.com. Part of my freshly defended PhD, so doubly happy! πŸ˜„πŸŽ‰

🧡 (1/14)

www.doi.org/10.1038/s414...

17.07.2025 12:13 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4
A segregated cycle path and footpath, with a lady and a child walking away from the camera, whilst a group of about six young teenagers in school uniform cycle in the opposite direction.

A segregated cycle path and footpath, with a lady and a child walking away from the camera, whilst a group of about six young teenagers in school uniform cycle in the opposite direction.

More of this kind of thing.

11.07.2025 07:39 β€” πŸ‘ 58    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of the homepage of Pathoplexus, showing tiles to navigate to the supported pathogens CCHF, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, HMPV, Mpox, RSV-A, RSV-B, and West Nile virus.

Screenshot of the homepage of Pathoplexus, showing tiles to navigate to the supported pathogens CCHF, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, HMPV, Mpox, RSV-A, RSV-B, and West Nile virus.

πŸ“’Today Pathoplexus announces the inclusion of 2 new viral pathogens: RSV (A & B) and HMPV.

These respiratory viruses cause a serious health burden, particularly in infants & the vulnerable, & Pathoplexus aims to support sequence sharing to improve understanding & response.

1/4

22.05.2025 16:05 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
The nasal microbiome redefines Staphylococcus aureus colonisation Staphylococcus aureus colonises the nose in humans, with individuals defined as persistent, intermittent or non-carriers. Unlike the gut microbiome, the nasal microbiome has not been studied in large ...

Happy to share our first preprint looking at the nasal microbiome in ~1000 healthy adults from the CARRIAGE study of 20,000 healthy blood donors to understand nasal colonisation by Staphylococcus aureus. Ten years in the making! doi.org/10.21203/rs....

07.05.2025 11:35 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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High frequency body site translocation of nosocomial Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important nosocomial pathogen which can cause serious infections across diverse anatomic locations. Infections can spread within an individual to different body sites, but...

Happy to share the first preprint from my lab. Great work by Lewis Fisher and collaboration with Jukka Corander
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

01.05.2025 06:32 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The cost of blood cultures: a barrier to diagnosis in low-income and middle-income countries The recent Editorial by The Lancet Microbe, titled Rethinking blood culture, highlights the blood culture bottle shortage in the USA and the overreliance on single manufacturers.1 The shortages of blo...

If you can't afford to use a diagnostic test, then its relative performance characteristics become irrelevant.

Important issue raised re blood cultures πŸ‘‡ @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social
#ClinMicro #IDSky #AMR
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

31.03.2025 07:32 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 4

There were more than 125,000 measles cases in the WHO European region in 2024 - the highest number since 1997!
38 deaths have been reported so far, every single one of them preventable.

Worth remembering this also as we report on the measles outbreak in the US.
πŸ§ͺ #IDsky

13.03.2025 12:02 β€” πŸ‘ 151    πŸ” 55    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 3

Weeks ago I highlighted the false balance of β€œif only scientists could communicate better”.

One OpEd writer kindly reached out to me and I want to share my main response to them because I find it remarkable that people still can’t see what we are now all seeing has been under way for years.

πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡

09.02.2025 21:32 β€” πŸ‘ 246    πŸ” 89    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 13
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The mutational landscape of Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation Nature Communications - The authors applied a genomic and evolutionary approach to study Staphylococcus aureus in host adaptation during colonisation revealing signals of adaption in metabolic...

Happy to share the findings of our latest work on mutational adaptation of Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation now published on @NatureComms
rdcu.be/d55l3

14.01.2025 09:40 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Overall, the data identifies a number of new genes and metabolic pathways likely to be critical in S. aureus colonisation (its primary lifestyle) that now require further investigation.

13.01.2025 13:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

We reveal that genes involved in nitrogen metabolism showed the strongest signal of adaption. As well as antibiotic resistance, riboflavin biosynthesis and quorum sensing regulation (amongst others).

13.01.2025 13:06 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

To understand the selective pressures that S. aureus experiences during colonisation, we analysed ~7000 S. aureus genomes from ~1500 individuals to identify protein altering mutations that were enriched.

13.01.2025 13:06 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The mutational landscape of Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation Nature Communications - The authors applied a genomic and evolutionary approach to study Staphylococcus aureus in host adaptation during colonisation revealing signals of adaption in metabolic...

Our paper investigating the mutational landscape during Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation is out now rdcu.be//d55l3
@fcic.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @ibv-csic.bsky.social University of Cambridge @julianparkhill.bsky.social

13.01.2025 13:06 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Certain sublineages of antimicrobial resistant bacteria dominate the surveillance landscape, but what causes them to become resistant? Check out our latest work in Shigella to find out and/or read the thread below www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.27.24316207v2
1/n

19.12.2024 20:48 β€” πŸ‘ 63    πŸ” 37    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 5

Frustrating - I reviewed a paper that was highly problematic, mainly in scientific rigour undermining most of the conclusions, so I recommend Reject. However the editor decides to Revise presumably due to the more positive comments from reviewer 2... /1

11.12.2024 09:09 β€” πŸ‘ 49    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4
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Today Pathoplexus announces the inclusion of a new viral pathogen: mpox (previously known as monkeypox).

Within the context of the current mpox outbreaks and ongoing health concerns, Pathoplexus aims to support sequence sharing to improve both understanding and response.

1/7

09.12.2024 19:15 β€” πŸ‘ 82    πŸ” 38    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 6
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UK PhD stipends have not been increasing in line with the national minimum wage, and since the generous COVID increase haven’t even bothered to be anchored against an inflation metric. I’m lucky enough to have a spouse to support me but in what world is this not a barrier to entry for others?

01.12.2024 07:56 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
Bluesky

Applied Bioinformatics & Public Health Microbiology (21-23 May 2025) is open for registrations!
Spread the word - @happykhan.mstdn.science.ap.brid.gy @pathogenomenick.bsky.social
@ewanharrison.bsky.social @wvschaik.bsky.social @ksbakes.bsky.social @firefoxx66.bsky.social @katholt.bsky.social

29.11.2024 17:12 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

last couple days to apply (for free! from anywhere in the world!) to the Sanger 2025 PhD Programme β€” Deadline: 28th November 2024 (09:00 GMT)

For more info, visit www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

25.11.2024 18:34 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

First @bsky.app post! Great session today #FISHIS about the importance of learning from the pandemic for the future. Thanks @hisinfection.bsky.social @marionkoopmans.bsky.social @ewanharrison.bsky.social

22.11.2024 22:37 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Using demographics of patients to inform treatment of shigellosis in England Shigellosis, caused by bacteria of the genus Shigella, is aΒ diarrhoeal disease transmitted by the faecal–oral route.1 Rapid increases in the prevalence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Shigella iso...

Antimicrobial resistance is rapidly rising in Shigella species. How up to date is your treatment guidance? Be sure to read our latest @LancetMicrobe comment to inform your thinking bit.ly/3Z6yNRa 1/10

15.11.2024 20:25 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

@ewanharrison is following 20 prominent accounts