Dan Sprockett
@danielsprockett.bsky.social
New Assistant Professor | sprockettlab.com
My lab works on the ecology and evolution of the microbiome.
Former CIHMID Postdoc Fellow at Cornell. Stanford M&I Alum. NMDC Microbiome Data Champion @microbiomedata.org
My lab works on the ecology and evolution of the microbiome.
Former CIHMID Postdoc Fellow at Cornell. Stanford M&I Alum. NMDC Microbiome Data Champion @microbiomedata.org
The lack of information about this has been incredibly frustrating:
Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...
Another excellent piece by @jonathanwosen.bsky.social at @statnews.com
Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...
Another excellent piece by @jonathanwosen.bsky.social at @statnews.com
Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program
Applicants to a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship program say many submissions have been mysteriously “returned without review.”
www.statnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:33 PM
The lack of information about this has been incredibly frustrating:
Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...
Another excellent piece by @jonathanwosen.bsky.social at @statnews.com
Students, faculty mystified as NSF turns back applications for prestigious fellowship program
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/n...
Another excellent piece by @jonathanwosen.bsky.social at @statnews.com
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
New Preprint 📢 from our team 🔎 Critical assessment of #intratumor and #low #biomass #microbiome using #longread sequencing
Some studies suggest bacteria 🦠 live inside tumors and influence cancer treatment. But there’s also been a major #debate: in these very low-microbe tissue samples, how much 1/
Some studies suggest bacteria 🦠 live inside tumors and influence cancer treatment. But there’s also been a major #debate: in these very low-microbe tissue samples, how much 1/
February 5, 2026 at 1:15 PM
New Preprint 📢 from our team 🔎 Critical assessment of #intratumor and #low #biomass #microbiome using #longread sequencing
Some studies suggest bacteria 🦠 live inside tumors and influence cancer treatment. But there’s also been a major #debate: in these very low-microbe tissue samples, how much 1/
Some studies suggest bacteria 🦠 live inside tumors and influence cancer treatment. But there’s also been a major #debate: in these very low-microbe tissue samples, how much 1/
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
New preprint from my lab (with Arya Kaul, @fernpizza.bsky.social, and @brinda.eu), in which we explore new genes hitchhiking on the beneficial deletion that fused them together, and find them in the LTEE, M. Tb/bovis, and across the bacterial tree of life
Novel genes arise from genomic deletions across the bacterial tree of life https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.05.697752v1
January 6, 2026 at 4:12 PM
New preprint from my lab (with Arya Kaul, @fernpizza.bsky.social, and @brinda.eu), in which we explore new genes hitchhiking on the beneficial deletion that fused them together, and find them in the LTEE, M. Tb/bovis, and across the bacterial tree of life
Sometimes you find that you need a tool that does a specific thing, and the universe just manifests it...
(...or maybe it was years of hard work by very clever colleagues).
(...or maybe it was years of hard work by very clever colleagues).
Proud to announce SimPhyNI, a new tool for bacterial GWAS with higher precision and scalability than existing tools. Try it out and let us know what you think!!
High Precision Binary Trait Association on Phylogenetic Trees https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.24.696407v1
January 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Sometimes you find that you need a tool that does a specific thing, and the universe just manifests it...
(...or maybe it was years of hard work by very clever colleagues).
(...or maybe it was years of hard work by very clever colleagues).
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
I think everyone can relate to the importance of science for healthcare, and I’ve been sharing these slides for people to use and adapt with their own stories! youtu.be/BY_SFgi-Cig
Kara Marshall PHD-History of Science in America - Trilogy at Tehaleh 04/27/25
YouTube video by Steve Lawson
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I think everyone can relate to the importance of science for healthcare, and I’ve been sharing these slides for people to use and adapt with their own stories! youtu.be/BY_SFgi-Cig
I'll be @dukemedschool.bsky.social next week presenting my research: “Ancient Partnerships, Modern Insights: Tracing the Assembly, Transmission, and Evolution of Mammalian Gut Microbes”.
sites.duke.edu/microbiome/2...
Come say Hi! @duke-university.bsky.social #microbiome
sites.duke.edu/microbiome/2...
Come say Hi! @duke-university.bsky.social #microbiome
Special Research Seminar – 12/10/2025
Daniel Sprockett from Wake Forest University School of Medicine will be visiting Duke to present some of his research to…
sites.duke.edu
December 2, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I'll be @dukemedschool.bsky.social next week presenting my research: “Ancient Partnerships, Modern Insights: Tracing the Assembly, Transmission, and Evolution of Mammalian Gut Microbes”.
sites.duke.edu/microbiome/2...
Come say Hi! @duke-university.bsky.social #microbiome
sites.duke.edu/microbiome/2...
Come say Hi! @duke-university.bsky.social #microbiome
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
Poster deadline for the Keystone Microbiome Meeting in Banff is December 30th www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...
Will be a great meeting focused on human microbiomes, spanning basic, mechanistic, and applied. Organized by myself, @amibhatt.bsky.social , and Harry Sokol. Join us!
Will be a great meeting focused on human microbiomes, spanning basic, mechanistic, and applied. Organized by myself, @amibhatt.bsky.social , and Harry Sokol. Join us!
Human Microbiome: From Models and Mechanism to Medicine | Keystone Symposia
Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Human Microbiome: From Models and Mechanism to Medicine, January 2026, in Banff, with field leaders!
www.keystonesymposia.org
December 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Poster deadline for the Keystone Microbiome Meeting in Banff is December 30th www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...
Will be a great meeting focused on human microbiomes, spanning basic, mechanistic, and applied. Organized by myself, @amibhatt.bsky.social , and Harry Sokol. Join us!
Will be a great meeting focused on human microbiomes, spanning basic, mechanistic, and applied. Organized by myself, @amibhatt.bsky.social , and Harry Sokol. Join us!
Proud to have contributed to this important work!
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated #microbiome studies. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natmicrobiol.nature.com
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated #microbiome studies. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natmicrobiol.nature.com
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies - Nature Microbiology
This Consensus Statement presents the standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies (STREAMS) guidelines.
www.nature.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Proud to have contributed to this important work!
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated #microbiome studies. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natmicrobiol.nature.com
STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated #microbiome studies. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natmicrobiol.nature.com
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
Ok; mim (github.com/COMBINE-lab/...) preprint submitted! Excited for folks to see it and share thoughts. The key takeaway; mim allows the quick, one-time, building of a small auxiliary index that then allows scaling gzipped FASTQ parsing linearly in # of threads. 1/2
GitHub - COMBINE-lab/mim: A small, auxiliary index to massively improve parallel fastq parsing
A small, auxiliary index to massively improve parallel fastq parsing - COMBINE-lab/mim
github.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Ok; mim (github.com/COMBINE-lab/...) preprint submitted! Excited for folks to see it and share thoughts. The key takeaway; mim allows the quick, one-time, building of a small auxiliary index that then allows scaling gzipped FASTQ parsing linearly in # of threads. 1/2
If anyone happens to be around UNC Chapel Hill this week, I'll be speaking on Tuesday: www.med.unc.edu/cgibd/event/... @microbiomeunc.bsky.social #microbiome
"The Assembly, Evolution, and Clinical Implications of the Gut Microbiota in Early Life" With Daniel Sprockett, PhD, MSc | Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease
www.med.unc.edu
September 6, 2025 at 1:55 PM
If anyone happens to be around UNC Chapel Hill this week, I'll be speaking on Tuesday: www.med.unc.edu/cgibd/event/... @microbiomeunc.bsky.social #microbiome
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
Excited to share a new preprint w/ the Sonnenberg lab, led by Matt Carter, @zzzhiru.bsky.social & @mattolm.bsky.social. We analyzed the microbiomes of two non-industrialized populations from opposite sides of the globe to try to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of our gut microbiota.
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
The gut microbiome is crucial for health and greatly affected by lifestyle. Many microbes common in non-industrialized populations are disappearing or extinct in industrialized populations. Understand...
www.biorxiv.org
August 16, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Excited to share a new preprint w/ the Sonnenberg lab, led by Matt Carter, @zzzhiru.bsky.social & @mattolm.bsky.social. We analyzed the microbiomes of two non-industrialized populations from opposite sides of the globe to try to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of our gut microbiota.
Check out this incredible analysis!
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
The gut microbiome is crucial for health and greatly affected by lifestyle. Many microbes common in non-industrialized populations are disappearing or extinct in industrialized populations. Understand...
www.biorxiv.org
August 16, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Check out this incredible analysis!
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
Junior, Assistant, or Associate Specialist – Xue Lab
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
July 17, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!
Garud Lab
garud.eeb.ucla.edu
July 22, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!
Looks like it'll be a good one!
Cell Symposia: Host-microbiome dynamics
May 10–12, 2026 | Bruges, Belgium
by @cp-immunity.bsky.social @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social and @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
www.cell-symposia.com/microbiome-2...
May 10–12, 2026 | Bruges, Belgium
by @cp-immunity.bsky.social @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social and @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
www.cell-symposia.com/microbiome-2...
August 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Looks like it'll be a good one!
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
Excited to share the Compendium Manager -- our new tool for scaling bioinformatics pipelines! Launch thousands of analyses, track progress, and maintain reproducibility. Developed by @richabdill.com. Check it out: arxiv.org/abs/2505.11385
May 20, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Excited to share the Compendium Manager -- our new tool for scaling bioinformatics pipelines! Launch thousands of analyses, track progress, and maintain reproducibility. Developed by @richabdill.com. Check it out: arxiv.org/abs/2505.11385
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
#NatureMicroPicks
Microbial integrons in focus 🦠🧬
Two studies showing microbial integrons encoding phage defense systems
#MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Microbial integrons in focus 🦠🧬
Two studies showing microbial integrons encoding phage defense systems
#MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Mobile integrons encode phage defense systems
Integrons are bacterial genetic elements that capture, stockpile, and modulate the expression of genes encoded in integron cassettes. Mobile integrons (MIs) are borne on plasmids, acting as a vehicle ...
www.science.org
May 14, 2025 at 3:55 PM
#NatureMicroPicks
Microbial integrons in focus 🦠🧬
Two studies showing microbial integrons encoding phage defense systems
#MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Microbial integrons in focus 🦠🧬
Two studies showing microbial integrons encoding phage defense systems
#MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A very open-ended question:
Has anyone developed a lab policy for for AI use in their biomedical research that they'd be willing to share?
Have people even thought about defining what should be allowed/encouraged, and what should be outright banned?
Please share with anyone who might have ideas.
Has anyone developed a lab policy for for AI use in their biomedical research that they'd be willing to share?
Have people even thought about defining what should be allowed/encouraged, and what should be outright banned?
Please share with anyone who might have ideas.
May 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM
A very open-ended question:
Has anyone developed a lab policy for for AI use in their biomedical research that they'd be willing to share?
Have people even thought about defining what should be allowed/encouraged, and what should be outright banned?
Please share with anyone who might have ideas.
Has anyone developed a lab policy for for AI use in their biomedical research that they'd be willing to share?
Have people even thought about defining what should be allowed/encouraged, and what should be outright banned?
Please share with anyone who might have ideas.
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
🔬 New Perspective in mBio (@asm.org)!
We call for a shift from disease surveillance to microbial stewardship, and highlight testable, cross-system hypotheses to unravel central rules of microbial life–spanning multiple scales, taxa, and environments. 🦠🌎
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
We call for a shift from disease surveillance to microbial stewardship, and highlight testable, cross-system hypotheses to unravel central rules of microbial life–spanning multiple scales, taxa, and environments. 🦠🌎
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Ecologically expanding the One Health framework to unify the microbiome sciences | mBio
Microbiome research rapidly expanded in the last two decades, with nearly 200,000
peer-reviewed articles that use the word “microbiome” and significant microbial lineage
discoveries reshaping the evol...
journals.asm.org
May 13, 2025 at 12:59 PM
🔬 New Perspective in mBio (@asm.org)!
We call for a shift from disease surveillance to microbial stewardship, and highlight testable, cross-system hypotheses to unravel central rules of microbial life–spanning multiple scales, taxa, and environments. 🦠🌎
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
We call for a shift from disease surveillance to microbial stewardship, and highlight testable, cross-system hypotheses to unravel central rules of microbial life–spanning multiple scales, taxa, and environments. 🦠🌎
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
From 2 of my favorite scientists:
“We are deeply concerned about the current funding climate. When we think about new professors or postdocs starting their own labs, we worry that funding challenges could easily result in losing a generation of talented scientists.”
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
“We are deeply concerned about the current funding climate. When we think about new professors or postdocs starting their own labs, we worry that funding challenges could easily result in losing a generation of talented scientists.”
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
‘We can change diet to generate a healthier microbiome and a healthy individual’
Microbiologists Justin and Erica Sonnenburg are working to understand the complex microbial community that resides within the human gut and its potential for helping people live healthier, longer live...
news.stanford.edu
May 10, 2025 at 1:33 PM
From 2 of my favorite scientists:
“We are deeply concerned about the current funding climate. When we think about new professors or postdocs starting their own labs, we worry that funding challenges could easily result in losing a generation of talented scientists.”
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
“We are deeply concerned about the current funding climate. When we think about new professors or postdocs starting their own labs, we worry that funding challenges could easily result in losing a generation of talented scientists.”
news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...
Reposted by Dan Sprockett
Do people in the same household share strains when they have the same species?
How many cells transmit when a strain is shared?
Can strain composition be dynamic when species composition is stable?
We answer these and related questions for the facial skin microbiome in our latest paper.
🧵[1/10]
How many cells transmit when a strain is shared?
Can strain composition be dynamic when species composition is stable?
We answer these and related questions for the facial skin microbiome in our latest paper.
🧵[1/10]
May 1, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Do people in the same household share strains when they have the same species?
How many cells transmit when a strain is shared?
Can strain composition be dynamic when species composition is stable?
We answer these and related questions for the facial skin microbiome in our latest paper.
🧵[1/10]
How many cells transmit when a strain is shared?
Can strain composition be dynamic when species composition is stable?
We answer these and related questions for the facial skin microbiome in our latest paper.
🧵[1/10]
This is exciting! Top reporting on Science, Biotech, Health Policy, and Public Health news.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine affiliates can access @statnews.com for the next 2 weeks!
Visit www.statnews.com/register/ & enter a valid @wakehealth.edu email address
@wakeforest.bsky.social
Wake Forest University School of Medicine affiliates can access @statnews.com for the next 2 weeks!
Visit www.statnews.com/register/ & enter a valid @wakehealth.edu email address
@wakeforest.bsky.social
Register
Register for your free STAT account.
www.statnews.com
April 29, 2025 at 6:41 PM
This is exciting! Top reporting on Science, Biotech, Health Policy, and Public Health news.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine affiliates can access @statnews.com for the next 2 weeks!
Visit www.statnews.com/register/ & enter a valid @wakehealth.edu email address
@wakeforest.bsky.social
Wake Forest University School of Medicine affiliates can access @statnews.com for the next 2 weeks!
Visit www.statnews.com/register/ & enter a valid @wakehealth.edu email address
@wakeforest.bsky.social
WOW -- this is awesome:
Stealth plasmids: rapid evolution of deleted plasmids can displace antibiotic resistance plasmids under selection for horizontal transmission. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.30.646151v1
March 31, 2025 at 1:54 PM
WOW -- this is awesome:
"...creativity in science, as in the arts, cannot be organized."
March 19, 2025 at 2:17 AM
"...creativity in science, as in the arts, cannot be organized."
Are Microbiomes Contagious?
Check out this awesome video on the social #microbiome.
asm.org/Videos/Are-M...
@asm.org
Check out this awesome video on the social #microbiome.
asm.org/Videos/Are-M...
@asm.org
Are Microbiomes Contagious? Microbial Minutes
ASM is a nonprofit professional society that publishes scientific journals and advances microbiology through advocacy, global health and diversity in STEM programs.
asm.org
March 14, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Are Microbiomes Contagious?
Check out this awesome video on the social #microbiome.
asm.org/Videos/Are-M...
@asm.org
Check out this awesome video on the social #microbiome.
asm.org/Videos/Are-M...
@asm.org