Ben Ross
@rossbenjamind.bsky.social
Associate professor, Dept of Microbiology & Immunology at Dartmouth College. Studying interbacterial interactions among members of the human gut microbiota. https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/faculty/facultydb/view.php/?uid=7172
Reposted by Ben Ross
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.
February 12, 2026 at 7:18 PM
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.
Reposted by Ben Ross
Excited to announce the upcoming 2026 Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity GRC and GRS meeting taking place July 12 - 17, 2026 at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. This meeting will be chaired by yours truly and co-chaired by
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...
2026 Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity Conference GRC
The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity will be held in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
January 24, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Excited to announce the upcoming 2026 Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity GRC and GRS meeting taking place July 12 - 17, 2026 at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. This meeting will be chaired by yours truly and co-chaired by
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...
Reposted by Ben Ross
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...
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.
www.embl.org
January 16, 2026 at 6:33 PM
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...
Reposted by Ben Ross
Here, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵
Bacteria chromosomes contain Genomic Islands that provide virulence, antibiotic resistance, MGE-defence,... They transfer between cells, but the mechanism of most remains elusive.
Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 14, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Here, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵
Reposted by Ben Ross
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 2:55 PM
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!!
Reposted by Ben Ross
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
We create vector graphics of model organisms and emerging biological research organisms to enhance our publications. We’re sharing these editable graphics under a CC0 license for other scientists to...
doi.org
December 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
Reposted by Ben Ross
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature
Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Ross
Beautiful work from Jay Winans in the Nadell Lab @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social showing IncF plasmid pED208 spreading like wildfire through E. coli biofilms www.cell.com/current-biol...
Bacterial conjugation can restructure biofilms and increase their resilience while constraining host cell dispersal
Winans et al. show how plasmid transfer can reorganize bacterial communities into
dense aggregates, conferring antibiotic and phage tolerance to otherwise sensitive
host cells. Conjugation-dependent a...
www.cell.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Beautiful work from Jay Winans in the Nadell Lab @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social showing IncF plasmid pED208 spreading like wildfire through E. coli biofilms www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Ben Ross
The first ever cover art from my lab! And an awesome story about how chromatin changes in response to the N/C ratio from my first grad student, Anusha Bhatt!
Have a look at the new issue:
link.springer.com/journal/4431...
The cover features work by Amanda Amodeao @aaamodeo.bsky.social and co-workers showing that local nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio regulates #histone H3.3 incorporation during zygotic #genome activation.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/journal/4431...
The cover features work by Amanda Amodeao @aaamodeo.bsky.social and co-workers showing that local nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio regulates #histone H3.3 incorporation during zygotic #genome activation.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
December 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The first ever cover art from my lab! And an awesome story about how chromatin changes in response to the N/C ratio from my first grad student, Anusha Bhatt!
Reposted by Ben Ross
🚨New faculty job opportunity 🚨
Please share this ad for a faculty position in our department at UC Irvine, in the fields of microbiology and infectious disease. MD/PhDs and PhDs are desired and should apply!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09954
Please share this ad for a faculty position in our department at UC Irvine, in the fields of microbiology and infectious disease. MD/PhDs and PhDs are desired and should apply!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09954
Pediatric Infectious Diseases/Microbiology - Professor Series (tenure track/tenure), Open Rank
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
December 12, 2025 at 8:55 PM
🚨New faculty job opportunity 🚨
Please share this ad for a faculty position in our department at UC Irvine, in the fields of microbiology and infectious disease. MD/PhDs and PhDs are desired and should apply!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09954
Please share this ad for a faculty position in our department at UC Irvine, in the fields of microbiology and infectious disease. MD/PhDs and PhDs are desired and should apply!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09954
Reposted by Ben Ross
I think some folks might be happy to see this. NIGMS MIRA R35 for EI/NI has been published. PAR-26-121 files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...
PAR-26-121: Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional)
files.simpler.grants.gov
December 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I think some folks might be happy to see this. NIGMS MIRA R35 for EI/NI has been published. PAR-26-121 files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...
Reposted by Ben Ross
I wrote my PO who said that they are hoping it will come out soon but this has to now be reviewed at the HHS level and so they have no more info. Said that since it has to be posted 60d ahead of first deadline, the Jan deadline may have to be postponed.
Mild panic is ensuing.....
Mild panic is ensuing.....
December 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I wrote my PO who said that they are hoping it will come out soon but this has to now be reviewed at the HHS level and so they have no more info. Said that since it has to be posted 60d ahead of first deadline, the Jan deadline may have to be postponed.
Mild panic is ensuing.....
Mild panic is ensuing.....
I’m curious if anyone has heard anything about the status of the NIGMS R35 MIRA, currently there is no next submission deadline for established investigators and we have now passed the forecasted new announcement date
December 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I’m curious if anyone has heard anything about the status of the NIGMS R35 MIRA, currently there is no next submission deadline for established investigators and we have now passed the forecasted new announcement date
Reposted by Ben Ross
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!
Reposted by Ben Ross
Assistant Professor position posted for my Department, Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte! Current research foci: Immunology, Microbiology, Virology; Biomolecular Function; Proteostasis; Genome Integrity; Epigenome Regulation; Cancer; Environmental Risks. jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/65141
Assistant Professor
Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in the biological sciences or related fields.Candidates are expected to document expertise in their specialty by a record of postdoctoral training, peer reviewed publ...
jobs.charlotte.edu
November 19, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Assistant Professor position posted for my Department, Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte! Current research foci: Immunology, Microbiology, Virology; Biomolecular Function; Proteostasis; Genome Integrity; Epigenome Regulation; Cancer; Environmental Risks. jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/65141
Reposted by Ben Ross
Hey folks, we (the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University) are looking for an Assistant Teaching Professor in microbiology and immunology. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested, or check it out if you are interested yourself!
apply.interfolio.com/176994
apply.interfolio.com/176994
Apply - Interfolio
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apply.interfolio.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Hey folks, we (the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University) are looking for an Assistant Teaching Professor in microbiology and immunology. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested, or check it out if you are interested yourself!
apply.interfolio.com/176994
apply.interfolio.com/176994
Reposted by Ben Ross
Two unrelated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages require the exopolysaccharide Psl for infection
NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes from Courtney Reichhardt and @micheleleroux.bsky.social and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes from Courtney Reichhardt and @micheleleroux.bsky.social and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Two unrelated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages require the exopolysaccharide Psl for infection - npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
npj Biofilms and Microbiomes - Two unrelated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages require the exopolysaccharide Psl for infection
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Two unrelated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages require the exopolysaccharide Psl for infection
NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes from Courtney Reichhardt and @micheleleroux.bsky.social and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes from Courtney Reichhardt and @micheleleroux.bsky.social and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Ross
Excited to share some new work led by grad student Sophie Walton (w/ @petrovadmitri.bsky.social). We used in vitro gut communities to study how natural selection acts on strains of the same species as they compete within larger communities. Check out Sophie's thread below for details!
Super excited that the bulk of my PhD work is now preprinted! Here we used whole-community competition, or coalescence, experiments to quantify selection acting on genetically diverged strains within larger communities. (1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Excited to share some new work led by grad student Sophie Walton (w/ @petrovadmitri.bsky.social). We used in vitro gut communities to study how natural selection acts on strains of the same species as they compete within larger communities. Check out Sophie's thread below for details!
Reposted by Ben Ross
Congratulations to BCB Professor Soni Lacefield on Receiving the Genetics Society of America Ira Herskowitz Award!
This prestigious award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the field of yeast research in the last 20 years”
This prestigious award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the field of yeast research in the last 20 years”
November 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Congratulations to BCB Professor Soni Lacefield on Receiving the Genetics Society of America Ira Herskowitz Award!
This prestigious award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the field of yeast research in the last 20 years”
This prestigious award recognizes “outstanding contributions in the field of yeast research in the last 20 years”
Reposted by Ben Ross
Reposted by Ben Ross
Dartmouth is OUT! Thank goodness... a friend at U of A and I have been playing "Who will be the last of the 9 standing?" and it's not gonna be us!
October 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Dartmouth is OUT! Thank goodness... a friend at U of A and I have been playing "Who will be the last of the 9 standing?" and it's not gonna be us!
Reposted by Ben Ross
Just a reminder about our faculty search at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. Applications due Oct. 15. @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social
My department at Dartmouth Medical School is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor. We are looking broadly for a biochemist or cell biologist. Please share this add! apply.interfolio.com/171438
@dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @futurepislack.bsky.social
@dartmouthbcb.bsky.social @futurepislack.bsky.social
Apply - Interfolio
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apply.interfolio.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Just a reminder about our faculty search at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. Applications due Oct. 15. @dartmouthbcb.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Ross
During hyperphagia, bears can spend 22 hours per day foraging.
The sweet scent of wind-fallen apples attracts them, which is why if you live in bear country, it's essential to remove fallen apples daily.
Kilham Bear Center link, if you feel like donating:
kilhambearcenter.org/how-you-can-...
The sweet scent of wind-fallen apples attracts them, which is why if you live in bear country, it's essential to remove fallen apples daily.
Kilham Bear Center link, if you feel like donating:
kilhambearcenter.org/how-you-can-...
How You Can Help | Kilham Bear Center
kilhambearcenter.org
October 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
During hyperphagia, bears can spend 22 hours per day foraging.
The sweet scent of wind-fallen apples attracts them, which is why if you live in bear country, it's essential to remove fallen apples daily.
Kilham Bear Center link, if you feel like donating:
kilhambearcenter.org/how-you-can-...
The sweet scent of wind-fallen apples attracts them, which is why if you live in bear country, it's essential to remove fallen apples daily.
Kilham Bear Center link, if you feel like donating:
kilhambearcenter.org/how-you-can-...
Reposted by Ben Ross
Your daily moment of zen:
Rescued bear cubs at the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire are given a donated pile of apples & acorns every year to fatten up before their first hibernation.
Kilham is focused on rehab & release, run by competent rehab experts.
Rescued bear cubs at the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire are given a donated pile of apples & acorns every year to fatten up before their first hibernation.
Kilham is focused on rehab & release, run by competent rehab experts.
October 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Your daily moment of zen:
Rescued bear cubs at the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire are given a donated pile of apples & acorns every year to fatten up before their first hibernation.
Kilham is focused on rehab & release, run by competent rehab experts.
Rescued bear cubs at the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire are given a donated pile of apples & acorns every year to fatten up before their first hibernation.
Kilham is focused on rehab & release, run by competent rehab experts.
Reposted by Ben Ross
Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404
October 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404