Matt Barber

Thrilled to share this study tracking Staph aureus carriage and transmission across the NICU using genomics! Work done w @pjplanet.bsky.social & @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social and made possible by @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social.

Study co-led by the amazing @qianxuan.bsky.social & Lakshmi Srinivasan!

I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.

It was hugely satisfying to take an ancestral reconstruction approach in this project - thanks to Mike Harms and Jose Sanchez-Borbon for input as well as awesome coauthors @caitlinkowa.bsky.social and Sierra Scamfer.

New preprint from our lab led by fantastic graduate student @titas10.bsky.social, in which we retrace the emergence of antimicrobial function in the mammalian protein lactoferrin.

With important contributions from current/former lab members and collaborators @kdc509.bsky.social @corrigar.bsky.social @jarrods.bsky.social and others

Excited for this new preprint from former postdoc @caitlinkowa.bsky.social identifying unexpected functions for the bacterial stringent response in antimicrobial fatty acid susceptibility in S. aureus #microsky

Glowing bacterial sensors detect gut illness in mice before symptoms emerge UBC researchers have engineered gut bacteria that dim their fluorescent glow in the presence of illness.

Excited to share our latest publication, led by Dr. Ellie McCallum and Juan Burckhardt!
bit.ly/4kfzQaf
You can access the article for free here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mWb4L7PXu... And more information is available on the updated preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Applications are open for PREP Bio at the University of Oregon! A great opportunity for postbacs looking for additional research experience while preparing for graduate school. More here: cas.uoregon.edu/UO-PREP-Bio

Trump admin drops appeal in anti-DEI funding case against K-12 schools, colleges The Trump administration dropped its appeal in the anti-DEI funding threat to K-12 schools and colleges, according to the Associated Press.The Eugene 4J school

Proud of our local school district! 💪

View of a river running through the forest

Waterfall view

Silver Falls State Park 💚

An article today in @natmed.nature.com lays out a "New Vision" for NIAID, stating that following Covid "much of the American public lost trust in the NIAID, the National Institutes of Health (...), and in the greater scientific community"

Let's have a look at what they cite in support of that 1/n

In remembrance of Peer Bork  | EMBL EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.

very sad news. Peer Bork was one of the leaders of our field, a wonderful scientist, and he's much too young to be gone. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...

Coyote in the snow.

One of the most incredible shots I've ever gotten, in Yellowstone. This coyote walked over a ridge in the blowing snow and posed for me, with a small grin on its face, the snowfalkes like stars in the background.

The desolation and beauty of life and nature is grounding, and so good for the soul.

Late job posting: My department is hiring a tenure-track faculty member in microbiology! Please share with anyone interested in working at a PUI. We have a preference for someone who can teach Medical Microbiology, but other than that the focus is open-ended. Happy to answer qs.

So proud of you @kdc509.bsky.social!!! Very excited for your next chapter 👏👏

This week officially marked the end of my time as a PhD student at the University of Oregon. Amidst transferring PhD programs in the middle of my first year, moving cross country during March of 2020 and starting my PhD during the COVID lockdown, I still found a way to get it done
1/

Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection, May 2026, in Breckenridge, with field leaders!

Registration is now open for @keystonesymposia.bsky.social "Beyond #Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection." Deadline for scholarships and abstract selected short talks is Jan 7! Join us this May for an amazing meeting! keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26

The Saccharomyces killer toxin K62 is a protein of the aerolysin family | mBio Pore-forming toxins are potent biological weapons used across nature, from virulence factors to immune defense proteins. This study identifies K62, a little-known antifungal toxin produced by a wild y...

The Rowley/Ytreberg/Patel labs at UI have led a multidisciplinary study to characterize a new yeast toxin! Published in the ASM's flagship Journal - mBio. Eight undergraduate authors contributed to the study, a great team effort! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @uidaho.bsky.social

An advertisement for the project Cryptc consequences of a selfish X chromosome. It shows chromosome mapping indicating many inversions, flies with eye colour phenotypes (wild-type brighter than selfish X), and sections of testes that show ordered (wild-type) or deformed structure (selfish X).

We have a funded NERC PhD studentship!

Selfish X chromosomes are these bizarre things where males carrying the selfish X suffer from imploding testes. Lots to do in this space, especially in evolutionary, stress, and infection biology.

Please share!

#PhDchat #AcademicSky @uniexecec.bsky.social

Very excited for him to be joining the @annaselmecki.bsky.social lab for a postdoc in 2026

Killian standing in front of a podium at his thesis defense!

Going to break my social media hiatus for a belated congratulations to @kdc509.bsky.social on an outstanding thesis defense last week! I cannot say enough good things about Killian - an amazing scientist and human being.

We are looking for a postdoc to study single-cell transcriptional heterogeneity in the human skin microbiome.

We have a new protocol mostly developed, but need someone to see it through. Experience with protocol dev or RNAseq appreciated.

Funded by a new grant from MIT-HEALS.

#MicroSky

Contact View of the University of Oregon campus from nearby Hendricks Park Lab Address:322 Pacific Hall5289 University of OregonEugene, OR 97403 Lab Phone:541-346-1537 Joining the lab Lab Manager: We are c…

🚨Job alert!🚨

We are looking for a new lab manager to join our group at the University of Oregon! Applicants with experience in microbiology, evolutionary genetics, or protein biochemistry are especially encouraged to apply. See the link below for more information: barberlab.org/contact/

#Microsky 🦠 🧪

The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.

Congrats Rebecca and congrats to Pitt on adding a great new faculty member!

✨ Exciting News ✨I am thrilled to share that I have accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (IDM), at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health!

I am honored to be named an ASM Distinguished Lecturer! Looking forward to participating in upcoming ASM Branch Meetings and supporting our next generation of microbiologists.