Matt Aliota
@aliotalab.bsky.social
University of Minnesota | Arbovirus virology | Vector Biology | Emerging Infectious Diseases | Host-Pathogen Interactions | Opinions Mine
Just got this tonight. I am on a panel that is supposed to meet Nov 03.
October 21, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Just got this tonight. I am on a panel that is supposed to meet Nov 03.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Can’t believe I have to say this, but in Minnesota you will continue to have the freedom to get your COVID and flu shots.
October 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Can’t believe I have to say this, but in Minnesota you will continue to have the freedom to get your COVID and flu shots.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Interested air sampling for pathogens?
I'm a big wastewater surveillance proponent, but it is not the answer in every situation.
Our team has a short blog about the currently available air samplers if this is something you are interested in.
lungfish-science.github.io/2025/09/04/o...
I'm a big wastewater surveillance proponent, but it is not the answer in every situation.
Our team has a short blog about the currently available air samplers if this is something you are interested in.
lungfish-science.github.io/2025/09/04/o...
Options for Bioaerosol Samplers
Do you want to detect pathogens in the air? You should know what sampling instruments are available.
lungfish-science.github.io
September 4, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Interested air sampling for pathogens?
I'm a big wastewater surveillance proponent, but it is not the answer in every situation.
Our team has a short blog about the currently available air samplers if this is something you are interested in.
lungfish-science.github.io/2025/09/04/o...
I'm a big wastewater surveillance proponent, but it is not the answer in every situation.
Our team has a short blog about the currently available air samplers if this is something you are interested in.
lungfish-science.github.io/2025/09/04/o...
Reposted by Matt Aliota
RFK Jr.'s #2 is stepping in as acting CDC director. You need to call your Congress people now and demand hearings until RFK is forced out. They're politically weak for another 48-72 hours, then they'll do unbelievable damage in the next month. Show me that you called and I will give you a reward 👇
August 28, 2025 at 9:14 PM
RFK Jr.'s #2 is stepping in as acting CDC director. You need to call your Congress people now and demand hearings until RFK is forced out. They're politically weak for another 48-72 hours, then they'll do unbelievable damage in the next month. Show me that you called and I will give you a reward 👇
Good start. Continue to (1) demand his resignation and (2) threaten endless hearings until it happens.
I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don’t kill kids, antidepressants do.
Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired.
Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired.
RFK Jr on the mass shooting in Minnesota: "We're launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence."
August 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Good start. Continue to (1) demand his resignation and (2) threaten endless hearings until it happens.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
I've got an opening for a postdoctoral fellow, and likely a second available in 6-12 mos. If you're interested in infection biology during pregnancy or reproductive immunology, please reach out. To formally apply, Search for posting ID: 369238 myu.umn.edu/employment
Careers
myu.umn.edu
July 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I've got an opening for a postdoctoral fellow, and likely a second available in 6-12 mos. If you're interested in infection biology during pregnancy or reproductive immunology, please reach out. To formally apply, Search for posting ID: 369238 myu.umn.edu/employment
The final version is out in the Journal of Virology: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
May 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The final version is out in the Journal of Virology: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
New paper out led by Rachel Lange (Alex Ciota's lab) and Julia Pritchard (my lab) showing that the unique genetic signatures associated with Powassan virus infections in MN and NY are associated with variability in viral fitness and virulence.
doi.org/10.4269/ajtm...
doi.org/10.4269/ajtm...
Differential Virulence and Host-Specific Fitness of Regionally Distinct Human-Derived Powassan Virus Lineage 2 Strains
Powassan virus (POWV; family Flaviviridae) is a tick-borne encephalitic virus endemic to Canada, the United States, and Russia. In the United States, POWV is transmitted by ixodid ticks, and transmiss...
doi.org
May 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
New paper out led by Rachel Lange (Alex Ciota's lab) and Julia Pritchard (my lab) showing that the unique genetic signatures associated with Powassan virus infections in MN and NY are associated with variability in viral fitness and virulence.
doi.org/10.4269/ajtm...
doi.org/10.4269/ajtm...
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Last year, I was overjoyed to receive an NIH NRSA fellowship to study toddler brains and caregiving effects on memory at Columbia. Last night, my grant was terminated.
March 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Last year, I was overjoyed to receive an NIH NRSA fellowship to study toddler brains and caregiving effects on memory at Columbia. Last night, my grant was terminated.
Reviewing grants for a study section on March 18/19 that will almost certainly be canceled. I am doing this in solidarity with and in support of my SRO. I get the sense that NIH folks don't know what might get them fired. They are doing the best they can given the circumstances.
March 3, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reviewing grants for a study section on March 18/19 that will almost certainly be canceled. I am doing this in solidarity with and in support of my SRO. I get the sense that NIH folks don't know what might get them fired. They are doing the best they can given the circumstances.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D Obituary February 20, 2025 - Cress Funeral and Cremation Services
View Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
www.cressfuneralservice.com
March 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Particularly vicious protest sign today at Sugarbush, VT
March 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Particularly vicious protest sign today at Sugarbush, VT
Also worth paying attention to this on research involving animals.
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
February 28, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Also worth paying attention to this on research involving animals.
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Thanks to the @startribune.com for running this the same day I submitted it 👍🏻. Vaccinate your kids (and yourself)
www.startribune.com/readers-writ...
www.startribune.com/readers-writ...
February 27, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Thanks to the @startribune.com for running this the same day I submitted it 👍🏻. Vaccinate your kids (and yourself)
www.startribune.com/readers-writ...
www.startribune.com/readers-writ...
Crap, this a legit problem for mosquito rearing supplies. Always fun to justify a bolt of wedding tulle to the purchasing admins.
Joann, the fabrics and crafts retailer that has supplied quilters, seamstresses and school projects for 80 years, announced that it would close down all of its stores in the latest chapter of financial tumult for the company.
Joann, 80-Year-Old Crafts and Fabrics Retailer, Will Close All Stores
The announcement that the chain would close all 800 of its stores in 49 states comes after a period of financial turmoil.
www.nytimes.com
February 25, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Crap, this a legit problem for mosquito rearing supplies. Always fun to justify a bolt of wedding tulle to the purchasing admins.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
I think people both within science and outside science don’t fully appreciate the miracle that were the Covid-19 vaccines. How much courage it took to get the sequence out, how much work had already gone into figuring out the best viral antigen and how best to present it. 1/
February 23, 2025 at 7:23 AM
I think people both within science and outside science don’t fully appreciate the miracle that were the Covid-19 vaccines. How much courage it took to get the sequence out, how much work had already gone into figuring out the best viral antigen and how best to present it. 1/
My friend and colleague Dave O’Connor is keeping an eye on this here: github.com/dhoconno/rep...
February 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
My friend and colleague Dave O’Connor is keeping an eye on this here: github.com/dhoconno/rep...
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Dear Virology Community, please see ASV’s statement to our members and the scientific community. asv.org/asv-statemen...
ASV Statement for our Members | American Society for Virology
Our American Society for Virology (ASV) promotes the study and combatting of viruses, more than ever recognizing their importance and responding to them with research and education. Our academic…
asv.org
February 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Dear Virology Community, please see ASV’s statement to our members and the scientific community. asv.org/asv-statemen...
Take a break from doomscrolling and check out this new preprint from Ellie Bohm: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... We leveraged the natural variability between ZIKV strains to understand mechanisms that lead to fetal harm.
Zika virus-induced fetal demise is driven by strain- and dose-specific RLR-driven activation of the interferon response in the decidua, placenta, and fetus in Ifnar1-/- mice.
Congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), the set of fetal and neonatal complications associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnancy, was first noted during the outbreak in the Americas in 2015-16. Ho...
www.biorxiv.org
February 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Take a break from doomscrolling and check out this new preprint from Ellie Bohm: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... We leveraged the natural variability between ZIKV strains to understand mechanisms that lead to fetal harm.
Reposted by Matt Aliota
Folks: I am NOT affiliated with the group that is using my name to support an economic boycott. Please spread this post, if you would.
February 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Folks: I am NOT affiliated with the group that is using my name to support an economic boycott. Please spread this post, if you would.
This whole thread 100 times over. @carlbergstrom.com puts into words what I have been struggling to articulate these past few days as I have grappled with similar grief and frustration.
I’ve been seething and grieving since yesterday’s Friday Night Massacre of NIH overheads, a seeming bit of bureaucratic trivial that will in fact destroy the US university system if unchecked. But I want to get away from budgets and rate breakdowns and F&A percentages for a moment.
Humor me?
Humor me?
February 9, 2025 at 8:54 PM
This whole thread 100 times over. @carlbergstrom.com puts into words what I have been struggling to articulate these past few days as I have grappled with similar grief and frustration.