Lilly Cummins

Note it in your calendars! Aug 3-5, 2026. Excited to bring back MEEHubs to a hub near you (Switzerland, USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Ukraine, or virtual only)‼️

After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research

microbiologysociety.org/news/society...

Photograph taken from within a seated audience showing a screen with ‘EARLY CAREER MICROBIOLOGIST OF THE YEAR TALK FINAL’

Great science-filled afternoon at @microbiologysociety.org HQ watching finalists present at the Early Career Microbiologist of the Year Finals! All the speakers gave fantastic talks on a wide variety of subjects 🦠🧫🔬

Outreach and Engagement Grant Eligible members can apply for up to £1000 to support relevant science outreach or public engagement initiatives that engage new audiences in the art and science in any aspect of microbiology.…

Applications for Outreach and Engagement grant are closing tomorrow at 23.59 BST. Members can apply for up to £1000 to support relevant science outreach or public engagement initiatives. Check your eligibility and apply now: microb.io/OutreachandE....

Our fantastic @sheppardlab.bsky.social DPhil student Madison Goforth gives us a global overview of Campylobacter source attribution and the spread of AMR 🌎💊🌎 #CampyUK2025 @microbiologysociety.org @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

Are antibiotics a dead parrot? 🦜Prof Aidan Taylor kicks off the ‘From farm to fork’ session discussing Campylobacter AMR and vaccine development 🧫💉 #CampyUK2025 @microbiologysociety.org @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

Another speaker sponsored by @microbiologysociety.org , Prof Sitara Ajjampur talks about age and exposure to infected poultry in backyard chicken flocks as determinants of Campylobacter infections in children in rural south India 🐓🇮🇳 #CampyUK2025 @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

@sheppardlab.bsky.social collaborator Francesca Schiaffino, sponsored by @microbiologysociety.org explains patterns in persistent Campylobacter infections in LMICs, using data from Peru to investigate complex long-term carriage 🐓🇵🇪 #CampyUK2025 @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

Fascinating talk from keynote speaker Dr Christine Szymanski about how Campylobacter jejuni has evolved to colonise and survive the breastfed infant gut #CampyUK2025 @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

Our very own @sheppardlab.bsky.social DPhil candidate Amy Douglas representing the @ukhsa.bsky.social giving us some Campy stats 🤩🤩🤩 #CampyUK2025 @ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

And we’re off! Excited for a day full of all things Campy. The Sheppard lab @sheppardlab.bsky.social welcomes everyone to CampyUK, the first conference in the new Life and Mind Building @ox.ac.uk

Congrats Tabea! Very well deserved 🥳

‘We identified clone-specific metabolic capabilities… that may contribute to the ecological success and dissemination of most prevalent ExPEC clones’

Yes! Jack and Lauren both gave excellent talks, you should be a very proud supervisor!

Amazing news Rachel! Very well deserved 👏

#CampyUK2025 there are still one or two spaces for late breaking posters - please contact us!

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📣 Keynote speaker announced #CampyUK2025

Dr Aidan Taylor @uniofreading.bsky.social ‘Taming Campylobacter: From Molecular Insights to Real-World Interventions’

24-25th Sep, register now!

campyuk.web.ox.ac.uk/registration

@biology.ox.ac.uk @ineosoxford.bsky.social @microbiologysociety.org

The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens - npj Antimicrobials and Resistance npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - The hospital sink drain microbiome as a melting pot for AMR transmission to nosocomial pathogens

Delighted to have this review out with @jpjhall.bsky.social!

We discuss the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance in the hospital sink drain microbiome, highlight studies providing evidence of transfer, and consider strategies to mitigate these risks 🪠🦠

doi.org/10.1038/s442...

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📣 Keynote speaker announced

Prof David Kelly @sheffielduni.bsky.social will join us at #CampyUK2025 to discuss "Campylobacter and Oxygen: A Double-Edged Sword."

24/25th Sep, register now!

campyuk.web.ox.ac.uk/speakers#col...

@biology.ox.ac.uk @microbiologysociety.org @ineosoxford.bsky.social

One week extension to submit abstracts and benefit from the early bird discounted registration fee!

Thanks for the feedback! We’ll definitely correct this for publication ☺️

We hope that GOLD-GWAS will be a useful tool for understanding pathogen evolution more broadly and takes us a step closer to achieving accurate genotype-phenotype mapping 5/5 #microsky

Our biologically informed way of filtering GWAS results allowed us to examine parts of the genome that covary with SCCmec. Interestingly, among the genes that co-varied with SCCmec were those linked to resistance to other antibiotics, highlighting the integrated nature of resistance mechanisms 4/

Diagram explaining how genomic masking filters GWAS results

Rather than asking what genomic elements co-occur with phenotypic resistance (which we know will likely be resistance genes) we adapted the standard GWAS approach by incorporating a genomic ‘masking’ step prior to association mapping that removes resistance genes and their associated LD regions 3/

GOLD-GWAS (Guided Omission of Linkage Disequilibrium - Genome Wide Association Study) detects genomic regions that co-vary with a target gene/region of interest. This is important for discovering what co-evolves with ARGs in the genome to unpick the complicated evolutionary stepping stones of AMR 2/

Genome co-adaptation and the evolution of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens is a major threat to global health, rendering standard treatments ineffective and increasing the risk of severe infection or death. Re...

🚨New pre-print 🚨
We introduce our new tool GOLD-GWAS and demonstrate its use by digging into the evolution of MRSA facilitated by SCCmec

This work was led by talented PhD student @seungwonko.bsky.social who did most of the computational heavylifting 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨 10 days left to submit an abstract for #CampyUK2025
Please circulate within your networks for anyone working on any aspect of Campylobacter biology/epidemiology/food safety 🧫😷🍗

A few hours left for you to sneak in a cheeky last minute abstract! ECRs, you know what to do…
#mevosky

Home Why now? Campylobacter infections are on the rise globally, with increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) making treatment more challenging. As the world’s most common bacterial cause of…

Abstract submissions and registration for CampyUK 2025 are now open! The event will take place on 24–25 September in Oxford. This event received funding through our Society-Supported Conference Grant. The deadline is 31 July – campyuk.web.ox.ac.uk #CampyUK2025 @campyuk2025.bsky.social

I was fortunate enough to participate in the co-chairing scheme at #AC25 in the AI in microbiology session. I had a great experience supporting the management of the session: time keeping, ensuring seating was filled and delivering announcements. Fab opportunity to boost the CV and support events!