Ajai Dandekar
@ajaidandekar.bsky.social
Sociomicrobiologist. Critical care and cystic fibrosis doctor. University of Washington. Views are my own. he/him
Before rideshare, the only cities in the country where someone could go out and confidently expect to hail a cab afterwards were Chicago and (of course) New York
This isn’t just an Atlanta thing — if you needed a taxi in San Francisco on a Friday night in the mid-2000’s you couldn’t get one. There were two phone numbers you could call and you’d mostly get a busy signal.
Anyone in ATL in the late 90s/early 2000s who waited on a taxi to arrive will understand the productivity benefits, even if tangentially related, that ride share and Waymo have provided. Had a friend who would call a wrecker instead of a taxi b/c it was faster, cheaper, and you had your car in AM. 😂
November 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Before rideshare, the only cities in the country where someone could go out and confidently expect to hail a cab afterwards were Chicago and (of course) New York
Reposted by Ajai Dandekar
The University at Albany Biomedical Sciences Department is hiring at the Assistant Professor level. We are looking for researchers at the intersection of infectious disease and artificial intelligence:
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
#infectiousdisease #artificialintelligence
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
#infectiousdisease #artificialintelligence
albany.interviewexchange.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The University at Albany Biomedical Sciences Department is hiring at the Assistant Professor level. We are looking for researchers at the intersection of infectious disease and artificial intelligence:
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
#infectiousdisease #artificialintelligence
albany.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdeta...
#infectiousdisease #artificialintelligence
Incredible stuff from Ireland (who were robbed of a birth in 2009, also at the death)
Ireland winning goal and end of match with Irish commentary
November 16, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Incredible stuff from Ireland (who were robbed of a birth in 2009, also at the death)
If only someone, anyone at all, had predicted this totally obvious consequence of imposing tariffs on food
November 14, 2025 at 2:19 AM
If only someone, anyone at all, had predicted this totally obvious consequence of imposing tariffs on food
Incredibly close in the Seattle mayor race
November 11, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Incredibly close in the Seattle mayor race
Political advisor: literally everything you’re doing from tariffs to canceling IRA investments to reducing ACA subsidies is increasing costs for Americans
Trump (yawning, trying to stay awake): what if I “seize” the affordability message?
Trump (yawning, trying to stay awake): what if I “seize” the affordability message?
November 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Political advisor: literally everything you’re doing from tariffs to canceling IRA investments to reducing ACA subsidies is increasing costs for Americans
Trump (yawning, trying to stay awake): what if I “seize” the affordability message?
Trump (yawning, trying to stay awake): what if I “seize” the affordability message?
New lab paper!
Andrew Frando describes how MexT alters the quorum sensing cascade in P. aeruginosa. /1
With Nicole Smalley; two undergraduates, Jamal Omar and Bobby Parsek; and @dezieleric.bsky.social, @mariecg.bsky.social, and Mylène Trottier at INRS in Montreal
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Andrew Frando describes how MexT alters the quorum sensing cascade in P. aeruginosa. /1
With Nicole Smalley; two undergraduates, Jamal Omar and Bobby Parsek; and @dezieleric.bsky.social, @mariecg.bsky.social, and Mylène Trottier at INRS in Montreal
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Modulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing cascade by MexT-regulated factors | mBio
Bacteria interact with both abiotic and biotic factors in their environment. Quorum
sensing (QS) is one mechanism that bacteria use to communicate with other bacteria
and coordinate behaviors in the p...
journals.asm.org
October 23, 2025 at 5:52 PM
New lab paper!
Andrew Frando describes how MexT alters the quorum sensing cascade in P. aeruginosa. /1
With Nicole Smalley; two undergraduates, Jamal Omar and Bobby Parsek; and @dezieleric.bsky.social, @mariecg.bsky.social, and Mylène Trottier at INRS in Montreal
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Andrew Frando describes how MexT alters the quorum sensing cascade in P. aeruginosa. /1
With Nicole Smalley; two undergraduates, Jamal Omar and Bobby Parsek; and @dezieleric.bsky.social, @mariecg.bsky.social, and Mylène Trottier at INRS in Montreal
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
No kings, no crown, the people won’t back down
October 19, 2025 at 2:55 AM
No kings, no crown, the people won’t back down
Incredible game, perfect outcome. Worth every minute and inning!
October 11, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Incredible game, perfect outcome. Worth every minute and inning!
This game is incredible
October 11, 2025 at 4:34 AM
This game is incredible
Reposted by Ajai Dandekar
Another new preprint from our lab! This one details our efforts to produce new PqsE inhibitors and methods for assessing their potential to induce a conformational shift and weaken the interaction with RhlR. Haven't gotten there yet, but our methods are getting more sophisticated 😉
New inhibitors of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa enzyme, PqsE, and methods assessing their potential to induce a conformational change via active site binding https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.680923v1
October 8, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Another new preprint from our lab! This one details our efforts to produce new PqsE inhibitors and methods for assessing their potential to induce a conformational shift and weaken the interaction with RhlR. Haven't gotten there yet, but our methods are getting more sophisticated 😉
@sound-transit.bsky.social there are hundreds of people waiting for trains and the current wait is 19 minutes. Absurd and incomprehensible.
September 28, 2025 at 12:57 AM
@sound-transit.bsky.social there are hundreds of people waiting for trains and the current wait is 19 minutes. Absurd and incomprehensible.
The degree to which the President can be swayed by the last person he talked to is really astonishing
(This is a good outcome, but it’s only until he talks to someone else)
(This is a good outcome, but it’s only until he talks to someone else)
September 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
The degree to which the President can be swayed by the last person he talked to is really astonishing
(This is a good outcome, but it’s only until he talks to someone else)
(This is a good outcome, but it’s only until he talks to someone else)
More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, this passage from Camus’ “The Plague”, written decades ago, still resonates
September 21, 2025 at 3:44 AM
More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, this passage from Camus’ “The Plague”, written decades ago, still resonates
New lab preprint! We set out to explore interstrain differences in P. aeruginosa cooperation and discovered an interesting variant of the quorum sensing receptor LasR. — by Kiki Bellamoroso, Maxim Kostylev, and Nicole Smalley
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Inactivation of MexT in Pseudomonas aeruginosa destabilizes cooperation and favors the emergence of a unique quorum sensing variant
Pseudomonas aeruginosa , an opportunistic gram-negative pathogen, uses a cell-cell signaling system called quorum sensing to coordinate group behaviors. Quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa is a model to s...
www.biorxiv.org
September 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
New lab preprint! We set out to explore interstrain differences in P. aeruginosa cooperation and discovered an interesting variant of the quorum sensing receptor LasR. — by Kiki Bellamoroso, Maxim Kostylev, and Nicole Smalley
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Somehow I missed this tentative but important news -- extension of the NIGMS MIRA (R35) mechanism
simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
Opportunity Listing - Maximizing Investigators' Research Award
Read detailed information about this funding opportunity.
simpler.grants.gov
September 16, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Somehow I missed this tentative but important news -- extension of the NIGMS MIRA (R35) mechanism
simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
I wish that I had a way to thank all of the program officials, grants specialists, scientific review officers, et al. at NIH — this is amazing and important work in the face of politically manufactured, ongoing adversity
September 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I wish that I had a way to thank all of the program officials, grants specialists, scientific review officers, et al. at NIH — this is amazing and important work in the face of politically manufactured, ongoing adversity
Twin Peaks We'll meet again in Valhalla
YouTube video by smica_lica
youtu.be
September 13, 2025 at 12:51 AM
When there are guns everywhere, nobody is safe anywhere
September 10, 2025 at 9:34 PM
When there are guns everywhere, nobody is safe anywhere
Reposted by Ajai Dandekar
settings > content & media > autoplay video & gifs = off
September 10, 2025 at 6:59 PM
settings > content & media > autoplay video & gifs = off
Andrew Frando, @jrchandler.bsky.social, and I wrote a primer about excellent work done in Sam Brown's group @brownlab.bsky.social
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Better together: Reciprocal activation of quorum sensing circuits enhances bacterial communication
Many bacteria use quorum sensing to control gene transcription based on population density. This primer explores a recent study in PLOS Biology which found that in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, two quorum-s...
journals.plos.org
September 6, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Andrew Frando, @jrchandler.bsky.social, and I wrote a primer about excellent work done in Sam Brown's group @brownlab.bsky.social
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Ajai Dandekar
Excited to announce this is now published!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Inverse stable isotope probing–metabolomics (InverSIP) identifies an iron acquisition system in a methane-oxidizing bacterial community | PNAS
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and a target for near-term climate change mitigation.
In many natural ecosystems, methane is sequestered by micr...
www.pnas.org
September 4, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Excited to announce this is now published!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Ajai Dandekar
