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stephanienofal.bsky.social
@stephanienofal.bsky.social
Wellcome Trust Early Career fellow at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine in Lisbon, working on host cell remodelling by P. falciparum gametocytes
Reposted
David Jones PhD manuscript on how mild heat stress (experienced during fever episodes in most malaria infections)changes the cytoadhesion behavior of parasite infected red blood cells is now online and reviewed in eLife.

elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...
Physiological febrile heat stress increases cytoadhesion through increased protein trafficking of Plasmodium falciparum surface proteins into the red blood cell
elifesciences.org
August 30, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted
Now available in a polished format! An important step toward accelerated functional genomics for the Cryptosporidium parasite. Brought to you by the incomparable @lucy-watson.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Targeted CRISPR screens reveal genes essential for Cryptosporidium survival in the host intestine - Nature Communications
Cryptosporidium is an important threat to public health, yet it lacks a robust genetic toolkit. Here, Watson et al. introduce a targeted CRISPR-based screening method to identify parasite genes that a...
www.nature.com
August 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Molecular cloning is beyond a doubt my favourite thing to do in the lab. Then along came this one plasmid that resisted EVERY step of the way and tested my sanity. Papers never capture the how tricky some constructs can be, so here is a small tribute to pSN284 (the plasmid that almost broke me 🫠)
August 4, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted
Thrilled to see our study on how kinesin-2 motors are switched on and off published in @natsmb.nature.com ⚛️

➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats to all authors from me and Anthony 🎉 @dunnschool.bsky.social Check out this animation made by talented PhD student @matthew-batisio.bsky.social 😆
July 29, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Massive congratulations to @ghostpathogen.bsky.social & @saterialelab.bsky.social for this phenomenal piece of work! Exciting times ahead for Crypto!
July 25, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted
📣 Open postdoc position in my lab to investigate how Toxoplasma acquires nutrients. Join me at the University of Edinburgh. Closing date 14th August. More details below ⬇️

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Postdoctoral Research Associate
We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Postdoctoral researcher to join the Maclean lab to investigate the metabolism of the human parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
July 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted
I am looking for a Research Technician! Come join me in my quest to unlock the secrets of Toxoplasma’s RNA-binding proteins and how they help these parasites steal nutrients. Deadline for applications is August 6th! www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/technici...
Technician
Job PurposeTo provide in-depth technical expertise in parasitology, cell, and molecular biology and provide advice on the set up and best operation of equipment and procedures to aid delivery objec...
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk
July 17, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted
What happens when the parasite that causes malaria in humans experiences fever-induced heat stress in its host red blood cell?

Check out David Jones' PhD work now on BioRxiv

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
June 23, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Delighted to see this paper out 🎉🎉🎉
June 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted
🎉 Finally online 🎉 GRA12, the first identified common virulence factor across Toxoplasma strains and murine subspecies! Check this improved manuscript after reviewers’ helpful suggestions www.nature.com/articles/s41...
GRA12 is a common virulence factor across Toxoplasma gondii strains and mouse subspecies - Nature Communications
CRISPR screens reveal Toxoplasma’s GRA12 as a strain- and mouse species-transcendent virulence factor. GRA12 protects parasites from IFNγ-activated macrophage clearance and parasitophorous vacuole col...
www.nature.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Reposted
Cryptosporidium modifies intestinal microvilli through an
exported virulence factor!! Phenomenal work from the newly DR’ed Elena Rodrigues
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cryptosporidium modifies intestinal microvilli through an exported virulence factor
Cryptosporidium is a common intestinal infection of vertebrates and a significant threat to public health. Within the epithelial layer of the intestine, the parasite invades and replicates. Infected cells are readily detected under the microscope by the presence of elongated microvilli, particularly around the vacuole where the parasite resides. Here, we identify a family of Cryptosporidium virulence factors that are exported into the host cell during infection and localise to the microvilli. We examine the trafficking and function of the most highly expressed family member, MVP1, which appears to control the elongation of microvilli through engagement of host EBP50 and CDC42. Remarkably, this mechanism closely mirrors that of an enteropathogenic Escherichia coli virulence factor, MAP, which is also known to drive host microvilli elongation during infection. This highlights a unique instance where eukaryotic and prokaryotic virulence factors have convergently evolved to modulate host actin structures through a similar mechanism. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
www.biorxiv.org
February 26, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Apply, apply, apply! Don't miss out on your chance to work with a fantastic scientist and mentor!
🥁🥁 Job alertttt!! Interested in weird biology of malaria parasites? Inducible genetic screens? Single-cell RNAseq? Come postdoc with us - www.parafugelab.com ! International applicants or applicants just finishing up their PhD, both welcome!!

www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...
Research Assistant/Associate
Job Purpose We are seeking to recruit a motivated and creative Research Assistant/Associate (postdoctoral researcher) to work within an MRC-funded research programme https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?...
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk
January 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted
A Happy New Year indeed! Our new scaleable DiCre system in malaria parasites, SHIFTiKO, found its home yesterday at Nucleic Acids Research! A short #tweetorial/#skeetorial 🧪 to start the year with..https://buff.ly/3DECrcy
academic.oup.com
January 1, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted
Fancy some CRISPR screening? We are looking for an enthusiastic #posdoc to join us to investigate #Toxoplasma host-path interactions in different hosts.
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Postdoctoral Research Associate
We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Postdoctoral researcher to join the Young lab to investigate host-pathogen interactions during Toxoplasma gondii infection.
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
December 20, 2024 at 10:42 AM
Reposted
Final version of paper n1 is out 🎉 so many pooled CRISPR screens are done worldwide, on the host and on pathogens, and we wondered whether interactions between KOs mask phenotypes: they do! We found out that for Toxo a lot of efforts are spent on fine tuning the environment in a paracrine way
In Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite infamous for manipulating the behaviour of its hosts that infects an estimated ⅓ of humans, genetic defects are rescued if co-infected with normal parasites, thanks to supportive secreted proteins.
https://buff.ly/3BtpD86
December 16, 2024 at 5:39 PM
I'm looking for a research technician! If you're interested in studying how malaria gametocytes remodel their host cell come join us on a @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded project at GIMM by applying here: gimm.pt/jobs/laborat...
Deadline 20th December. Please share!
Laboratory Technician – GIMMLaboratory Technician – GIMM
GIMM is recruiting a Laboratory Technician under an Employment Contract – Reference GIMM/CT/35-2024
gimm.pt
December 3, 2024 at 12:26 PM
Reposted
Cryptosporidium is an important public health threat, and it deserves better genetic tools to study it! Here we’ve developed a targeted in vivo CRISPR genetic screen to identify parasite genes required for survival and virulence…
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 23, 2024 at 1:29 PM