Michael Marks

Lottery before peer review is associated with increased female representation and reduced estimated economic cost in a German funding line - Nature Communications The authors show evidence from a German funding line that a lottery-first approach followed by peer review is accompanied by increased female representation both at the submission stage and among fund...

Leaders at @ukri.org should be seriously looking at the lottery first idea. 68% lower economic costs, increase in diversity of award holders and well received.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Hurts less, lasts longer"; a qualitative study on experiences of young people receiving high-dose subcutaneous injections of benzathine penicillin G to prevent rheumatic heart disease in New Zealand - PubMed Participants preferred SCIP over their usual regimen, reporting less pain and a preference for the longer time gap between treatments. Recommending SCIP as standard of care for most patients needing long-term prophylaxis has the potential to transform secondary prophylaxis of ARF/RHD in NZ and globa …

In our trials, would say No1. reason for non-participation is a strong preference for a 'one-and-done' treatment over a multi-day oral therapy even though BPG is obviously painful.

Laurens Manning group has done great work on administering BPG sub-cut which seems better tolerated & with great PK:

The student and members of his team wearing formal academic gowns as he is awarded his PhD.

Super proud of my student Philippe Ndzomo awarded PhD today at University of Yaounde.

His work focused on the emergence of Hameophilus ducreyi as a cause of cutaneous ulcers in Cameroon & Globally
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40338972/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39961439/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38150487/

We have a PhD project as part of this scheme focused on mathematical modelling of STI transmission. Do get in touch if you are interested.

Several RCTs completing soon inc BD dosing Linezolid and Cefixime.

Japanese published on Amoxicillin as they dont use BPG - seems to work just a long course.

Ongoing studies on alternative penicillin strategies & planned Doxy neurosyphilis RCT.

TBH all will be back-up drugs as BPG so effective.

Incredible retirement talk by Prof. Paul Fine @lshtm.bsky.social Career dedicated to global health, critical enquiry & passion for training next generation in UK & esp Malawi where he left huge legacy. Privilege spend 10+yrs at same institution & humbling to know its not even 1/3 time hes been here.

Professor Paul Fine’s retirement lecture and celebration | LSHTM Please join us to celebrate and commiserate Professor Paul Fine’s retirement after many decades of service to the LSHTM. The event will consist of a special lecture by Paul reflecting on aspects of

Please come along tomorrow to celebrate Prof Paul Fine's decades-long work @lshtm.bsky.social and for #PublicHealth worldwide. ❤️‍🩹🌍

📅 9 December 2025
⏲️ 17.30
📍LSHTM | John Snow Lecture Theatre
🔗 bit.ly/3KDk6Ay

UK Sexual Health Clinicians - can you spare a few minutes to contribute to a survey led by colleagues in Australia on the role of AI in improving diagnosis of anogenital skin conditions?

Survey is here: go.unimelb.edu.au/b3a2

@drlaurajwaters.bsky.social @manikkohli.bsky.social

Excited to announce launch of IVM-KIDS consortium.

Funded by @globalhealthedctp3.bsky.social & Open Philanthropy & Swiss Government.

Aim to deliver data & paediatric friendly formulation to extend use of ivermectin for NTDs to include youngest children who are currently excluded from programmes.

The Study Logo which says SOS Global superimposed on a picture of a globe with some spirochetes of syphilis on it.

Congratulations to Burrell St Sexual Health: First UK patient into SOS Global - Evaluating mucosal shedding of spirochetes in heterosexual individuals with syphilis.

Great collaboration led by Melbourne Sexual Health Centre focused on understanding syphilis transmission.

Clarity Initiative Clinical Literature Appraisal and Research education in InfecTious diseases

A group of ID clinical researchers passionate about clinical research and evidence appraisal has just launched the CLARITY initiative (clarityinitiative.org), which aims to improve the generation and interpretation of evidence in ID and Microbiology.

REMINDER

1) Last week to apply for a PhD studentship working on near patient syphilis diagnostics - deadline 5th December.

2) We also have an STI modelling PhD open for applications until mid January.

If interested do get in touch.

Zoliflodacin and gepotidacin cross-resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Resistance to zoliflodacin, a first-in-class antibiotic for gonorrhea treatment, can occur through gyrBD429N, but this mutation's impact on fitness and resistance to other topoisomerase targeting drug...

New preprint: with increasing resistance to ceftriaxone, the last recommended antibiotic for gonorrhea, we urgently need new drugs. Two--zoliflodacin & gepotdiacin--are up for approval by the FDA in Dec. Here we show a point mutation can result in cross-resistance. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Great event at the Red Run for World Aids Day - a bracing, wet, windy but highly enjoyable 10km. Still accepting final donations for an excellent cause - @thelovetankcic.bsky.social

You need to check the rules for each post - it depends for each scheme whether it does/doesn't cover international PhD fees.

Two funded PhD studentships available to come and work with us.

Through my @nihr.bsky.social Professorship & the Health Protection Research Unit on STIs - come & work on syphilis diagnostics.

Through MRC LID scheme @lshtm.bsky.social - come & work on mathematical modelling of STI interventions.

𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 🎓 Applications are now open for OUCRU’s fully funded #PhD programme at @ox.ac.uk , offering world-class research training for scientists and clinicians from Vietnam & Indonesia.

👉 Explore more: linktr.ee/oucru

A picture of the spirochete that causes Treponema pallidum

Two syphilis/STI related UK PhD Studentships with our group:

Evaluating near-patient syphilis tests with @uclglobalhealth.bsky.social inyurl.com/aw9sapma deadline 5th Dec 2025

Mathematical models to understand partner notification tinyurl.com/2re7xasj deadline 14th Jan 2026

Please do share

Nice work - consistent with literature esp. that if women ask the first question it is more likely for further women to ask questions.

Did you record duration of speaking? There is some evidence that men not only speak more they speak longer (which might mean their questions had comments in....)

A photo of a group of people who make up many of the people working on the PROMISE study.

Fabulous meeting in Zimbabwe @thruzim.bsky.social for PROMISE Trial

Investigating STI screening in 12,000 women in antenatal care thruzim.org/hiv-srh-1/promise

Great team across clinical, stats, economics, social science, genomics & basic science to allow us to tackle a wide range of questions

Financial incentives to improve uptake of partner treatment for sexually transmitted infections in antenatal care: a cluster randomised trial in Zimbabwe Financial incentives did not address barriers to index participants informing partners, and ultimately did not improve partner attendance for STI treatment. Multifaceted packages addressing barriers f...

Partner notification is a key part of STI care but uptake in many LMIC settings is low.

Our RCT in Zimbabwe tried to improve uptake via financial incentives.

Results out in Lancet Global Health.

tl;dr Answer was no. Possibly as incentive only averted indirect costs of care & that wasn't enough.

Registration is open for Strep GBI 2026, bringing together ECRs and experts to highlight cutting-edge research focused on crucial aspects of Streptococcal biology.

📌 Durham
🗓️ March 30/31 2026.
🌐 strepgbi.wixsite.com/strep-gbi.

Registration and abstracts
👉 pay.durham.ac.uk/event-durham...

To inform a UK grant application. Similar survey circulated in other countries to guide their applications.

Treatment of ENterococcus Trial (TENT) clinical attitudes and equipoise survey Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

UK Infection & related specialty clinicians - we would like your views on the design of RCTs to optimise treatment of Enterococcal bacteraemia.

Relevant for ID, microbiology, cardiologists etc.

A picture of the spirochete that causes Treponema pallidum

Two syphilis/STI related UK PhD Studentships with our group:

Evaluating near-patient syphilis tests with @uclglobalhealth.bsky.social inyurl.com/aw9sapma deadline 5th Dec 2025

Mathematical models to understand partner notification tinyurl.com/2re7xasj deadline 14th Jan 2026

Please do share

PhD position (London, UK)
Develop a model of sexually transmitted infections and understand impact of partner notification on transmission of STIs.
with @dr_michaelmarks
at LSHTM
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2390

2025 World AIDS Day RED RUN - PrEPster Help Michael Marks raise money to support Positive East

I'm doing a 10K run for charity in November on World AIDS day raising money for @thelovetankcic.bsky.social a fabulous UK sexual health community organisation.

Final call for any and all donations to a very worthwhile cause which are gratefully received!

UCL – University College London UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

Want to do a PhD on syphilis diagnostics? In collaboration with @uclglobalhealth.bsky.social & @ukhsa.bsky.social we have a funded studentship available via the Health Protection Research Unit on Blood Borne & Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Deadline for applications: Friday 5th December 2025.

Want to come and do a PhD on mathematical modelling & sexually transmitted infections?

Apply for an MRC funded PhD to come to @lshtm.bsky.social and work on understanding STI transmission dynamics in low resource settings & how we can optimise partner notification as a public health intervention.

2025 World AIDS Day RED RUN - PrEPster Help Michael Marks raise money to support Positive East

I'm doing a 10K run for charity in November on World AIDS day raising money for @thelovetankcic.bsky.social a fabulous UK sexual health community organisation.

Final call for any and all donations to a very worthwhile cause which are gratefully received!