Thushan de Silva
@thushan-desilva.bsky.social
Physician Scientist | Professor of Infectious Diseases University of Sheffield | Principal Investigator MRC Unit The Gambia | Respiratory Viruses | Strep A | Vaccines and Immunity
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smph/people/clinical-medicine/thushan-de-silva
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smph/people/clinical-medicine/thushan-de-silva
VERY excited by our latest work on StrepA below, but also rhe multiple collaborations and work to come off the back of this at MRCG
🧵 Our paper out today in @naturemedicine.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
On development of #StrepA #Immunity over life course in #TheGambia raising hope for #vaccines on the horizon
1/
#Immunosky #IDsky #MicroSky #globalhealth.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
On development of #StrepA #Immunity over life course in #TheGambia raising hope for #vaccines on the horizon
1/
#Immunosky #IDsky #MicroSky #globalhealth.
www.nature.com
August 8, 2025 at 9:14 AM
VERY excited by our latest work on StrepA below, but also rhe multiple collaborations and work to come off the back of this at MRCG
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
I said no more #LISSSD25 posts but forgot a major highlight!
Most sessions started w/ a patient lived experience video, and you can see them all @ lisssd2025.org/patient-stories
Looking after patients during thier illnesses is v. stressful so it's great to hear their experiences when recovered.
Most sessions started w/ a patient lived experience video, and you can see them all @ lisssd2025.org/patient-stories
Looking after patients during thier illnesses is v. stressful so it's great to hear their experiences when recovered.
Patient Stories — LISSSD 2025
www.lisssd2025.org
June 5, 2025 at 7:33 AM
I said no more #LISSSD25 posts but forgot a major highlight!
Most sessions started w/ a patient lived experience video, and you can see them all @ lisssd2025.org/patient-stories
Looking after patients during thier illnesses is v. stressful so it's great to hear their experiences when recovered.
Most sessions started w/ a patient lived experience video, and you can see them all @ lisssd2025.org/patient-stories
Looking after patients during thier illnesses is v. stressful so it's great to hear their experiences when recovered.
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
A fantastic line up. In person and virtual options. An interdisciplinary conference on vaccines. Network with leaders in vaccine research & deployment. There is no other meeting like this! Every year I come away with new ideas, new learning and new contacts @thushan-desilva.bsky.social
Connect, engage & collaborate at #UKCVN2025!💬
🎤Ask speakers your questions live
🤝Network with global experts
💡Spark new ideas in person & online
📅11th–12th June 2025 | Cutler’s Hall, Sheffield
Secure your spot 👉 ow.ly/tJ2G50Vj7bw
🎤Ask speakers your questions live
🤝Network with global experts
💡Spark new ideas in person & online
📅11th–12th June 2025 | Cutler’s Hall, Sheffield
Secure your spot 👉 ow.ly/tJ2G50Vj7bw
May 2, 2025 at 6:49 AM
A fantastic line up. In person and virtual options. An interdisciplinary conference on vaccines. Network with leaders in vaccine research & deployment. There is no other meeting like this! Every year I come away with new ideas, new learning and new contacts @thushan-desilva.bsky.social
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
A terrific postscript!
Exciting @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded #StrepA work, with Ed Clarke, Hannah Frost, @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social, @njmoreland.bsky.social, @thushan-desilva.bsky.social, Penda Johm, Ya Jankey-Jagne, @drmichaelmarks.bsky.social, David Khoury, Andrew Steer.
Exciting @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded #StrepA work, with Ed Clarke, Hannah Frost, @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social, @njmoreland.bsky.social, @thushan-desilva.bsky.social, Penda Johm, Ya Jankey-Jagne, @drmichaelmarks.bsky.social, David Khoury, Andrew Steer.
March 6, 2025 at 11:53 PM
A terrific postscript!
Exciting @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded #StrepA work, with Ed Clarke, Hannah Frost, @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social, @njmoreland.bsky.social, @thushan-desilva.bsky.social, Penda Johm, Ya Jankey-Jagne, @drmichaelmarks.bsky.social, David Khoury, Andrew Steer.
Exciting @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded #StrepA work, with Ed Clarke, Hannah Frost, @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social, @njmoreland.bsky.social, @thushan-desilva.bsky.social, Penda Johm, Ya Jankey-Jagne, @drmichaelmarks.bsky.social, David Khoury, Andrew Steer.
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Super excited announce funded @wellcometrust.bsky.social extend #StrepA Human challenge inc. transfer to Gambia & identify correlates of protection. Great team @joshosowicki.bsky.social @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social @njmoreland.bsky.social @thushan-desilva.bsky.social y.social & others not on Bluesky
March 7, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Super excited announce funded @wellcometrust.bsky.social extend #StrepA Human challenge inc. transfer to Gambia & identify correlates of protection. Great team @joshosowicki.bsky.social @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social @njmoreland.bsky.social @thushan-desilva.bsky.social y.social & others not on Bluesky
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Are you London ID trainee post-PhD & interested in an ACL. May be able to create posts in 2025. Opportunities in Syphilis & STIs (UK & Global), Group A Strep (Global), Leishmaniasis & NTDs. If interested get in touch. @gpollara.bsky.social @drneilstone.bsky.social @thushan-desilva.bsky.social
January 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Are you London ID trainee post-PhD & interested in an ACL. May be able to create posts in 2025. Opportunities in Syphilis & STIs (UK & Global), Group A Strep (Global), Leishmaniasis & NTDs. If interested get in touch. @gpollara.bsky.social @drneilstone.bsky.social @thushan-desilva.bsky.social
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Some papers are very difficult to read but that doesn’t necessarily mean they're deeper than other papers. Authors must work very hard to make their story easy to read and understand by others. Or as Stephen King says: "the shorter the book, the less bullshit".
December 8, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Some papers are very difficult to read but that doesn’t necessarily mean they're deeper than other papers. Authors must work very hard to make their story easy to read and understand by others. Or as Stephen King says: "the shorter the book, the less bullshit".
Super interesting work from @dchodge.bsky.social on determinants of influenza vaccine immunogenicity. Congrats David! Food for thought.
1/ 🎉 Thrilled to share our new study: Quantifying the impact of pre-vaccination titre and vaccination history on influenza vaccine immunogenicity 🦠💉 Published in Vaccine! link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kD7x,60n7... with @adamjkucharski.bsky.social
authors.elsevier.com
December 5, 2024 at 10:56 AM
Super interesting work from @dchodge.bsky.social on determinants of influenza vaccine immunogenicity. Congrats David! Food for thought.
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
This #StrepA paper was a LONG labour of love from a great team 😊 Equal first & senior author credits buried at the very end, so I want to highlight the critical contributions of Dr Hannah Frost & @njmoreland.bsky.social & Dr Danika Hill @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social rdcu.be/d2gBV
Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis elicits diverse antibody responses to key vaccine antigens influenced by the imprint of past infections
Nature Communications - Streptococcus pyogenes is a deadly bacteria without a vaccine. Here, researchers measured antibodies in serum and saliva from a strep throat human challenge trial. Baseline...
rdcu.be
December 3, 2024 at 10:37 PM
This #StrepA paper was a LONG labour of love from a great team 😊 Equal first & senior author credits buried at the very end, so I want to highlight the critical contributions of Dr Hannah Frost & @njmoreland.bsky.social & Dr Danika Hill @precisionvaxlab.bsky.social rdcu.be/d2gBV
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
🎉 I'm a #newPI , and I'm so excited to share our new paper out in Nature Comms today! 🧵
rdcu.be/d2gBV
Quick intro for the new followers:
I'm from Monash Uni in Melbourne, and we study T and B cell responses to viruses, bacteria & parasites with the goal of improving vaccines. #ImmunoSky #MicroSky
rdcu.be/d2gBV
Quick intro for the new followers:
I'm from Monash Uni in Melbourne, and we study T and B cell responses to viruses, bacteria & parasites with the goal of improving vaccines. #ImmunoSky #MicroSky
December 3, 2024 at 1:11 PM
🎉 I'm a #newPI , and I'm so excited to share our new paper out in Nature Comms today! 🧵
rdcu.be/d2gBV
Quick intro for the new followers:
I'm from Monash Uni in Melbourne, and we study T and B cell responses to viruses, bacteria & parasites with the goal of improving vaccines. #ImmunoSky #MicroSky
rdcu.be/d2gBV
Quick intro for the new followers:
I'm from Monash Uni in Melbourne, and we study T and B cell responses to viruses, bacteria & parasites with the goal of improving vaccines. #ImmunoSky #MicroSky
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Doing good science is 90% finding a science buddy to constantly talk to about the project.
November 9, 2024 at 10:53 PM
Doing good science is 90% finding a science buddy to constantly talk to about the project.
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
🚨 Delighted to share our paper defining a new role for IL-6 in TB. 🚨
We used genetic variation to show *reduced* IL-6 signalling is causally associated with *lower* risk of TB.
Lead author @gushamilton.bsky.social
#TBSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Thread 👇 (1/8)
We used genetic variation to show *reduced* IL-6 signalling is causally associated with *lower* risk of TB.
Lead author @gushamilton.bsky.social
#TBSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Thread 👇 (1/8)
Altered IL-6 signalling and risk of tuberculosis: a multi-ancestry mendelian randomisation study
Our findings propose a causal relationship between reduced IL-6 signalling and lower
risk of tuberculosis, akin to the effect seen in other IL-6 mediated diseases. This
study suggests that IL-6 antago...
www.thelancet.com
November 21, 2024 at 10:30 AM
🚨 Delighted to share our paper defining a new role for IL-6 in TB. 🚨
We used genetic variation to show *reduced* IL-6 signalling is causally associated with *lower* risk of TB.
Lead author @gushamilton.bsky.social
#TBSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Thread 👇 (1/8)
We used genetic variation to show *reduced* IL-6 signalling is causally associated with *lower* risk of TB.
Lead author @gushamilton.bsky.social
#TBSky #IDSky #ImmunoSky www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Thread 👇 (1/8)
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Come do a PhD with us at @lshtm.bsky.social! We're advertising two projects:
Understanding and predicting vector-borne epidemics (with Rachel Lowe): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Kinetics of immunity to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 (with @dchodge.bsky.social): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Understanding and predicting vector-borne epidemics (with Rachel Lowe): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Kinetics of immunity to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 (with @dchodge.bsky.social): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
November 21, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Come do a PhD with us at @lshtm.bsky.social! We're advertising two projects:
Understanding and predicting vector-borne epidemics (with Rachel Lowe): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Kinetics of immunity to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 (with @dchodge.bsky.social): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Understanding and predicting vector-borne epidemics (with Rachel Lowe): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Kinetics of immunity to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 (with @dchodge.bsky.social): mrc-lid.lshtm.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
@thushan-desilva.bsky.social @susannadunachie.bsky.social and all of our other amazing collaborators! #hsct #cart #covid #octave #pitch
November 19, 2024 at 1:01 PM
@thushan-desilva.bsky.social @susannadunachie.bsky.social and all of our other amazing collaborators! #hsct #cart #covid #octave #pitch
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
A while back we wrote an article calling for accelerated change in policy for those w/ caring responsibilities in #STEMM
Sharing insights into the challenges, highlighting personal experiences & proposing a strategy to improve culture
#AcademicSky
Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Sharing insights into the challenges, highlighting personal experiences & proposing a strategy to improve culture
#AcademicSky
Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Researcher parents are paying a high price for conference travel — here’s how to fix it
Three scientist mothers call for a change in how conference childcare costs are reimbursed, drawing on their personal experiences.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2024 at 1:30 PM
A while back we wrote an article calling for accelerated change in policy for those w/ caring responsibilities in #STEMM
Sharing insights into the challenges, highlighting personal experiences & proposing a strategy to improve culture
#AcademicSky
Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Sharing insights into the challenges, highlighting personal experiences & proposing a strategy to improve culture
#AcademicSky
Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Use it or lose it: Unless we publish papers in our society owned and published journals they will cease to be, along with all the conferences and meetings the proceeds support. Microbiology Society publishes many excellent journals, all edited by experts. #microsky www.microbiologyresearch.org
Microbiology Society
Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefi...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
November 2, 2024 at 2:37 PM
Use it or lose it: Unless we publish papers in our society owned and published journals they will cease to be, along with all the conferences and meetings the proceeds support. Microbiology Society publishes many excellent journals, all edited by experts. #microsky www.microbiologyresearch.org
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Application window for this 5 year assistant professor post @lshtm.bsky.social extended to 25th November
Join team @lshtm.bsky.social 5yr Assistant Prof Genomics jobs.lshtm.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Core work across several Syphilis grants & links to 2 Health Protection Research Units. Opportunities for own work++ Apply by 14th. Reach out if interested @thushan-desilva.bsky.social @typemat12.bsky.social
Job Opportunity at LSHTM: Assistant Professor
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is one of the world’s leading public health universities. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working i...
jobs.lshtm.ac.uk
November 12, 2024 at 1:54 PM
Application window for this 5 year assistant professor post @lshtm.bsky.social extended to 25th November
BIA now on blue sky 👏 - and please consider applying for our ECR and small project grants!
Grants: we provide travel and research grants for infection trainees and undergraduates. Scientific committee chair: @thushan-desilva.bsky.social
Our call for Early Career Research and Small Project Grants is open. Closing date 31st January 2025
www.britishinfection.org/research-gra...
Our call for Early Career Research and Small Project Grants is open. Closing date 31st January 2025
www.britishinfection.org/research-gra...
Grants | British Infection Association (BIA)
www.britishinfection.org
November 12, 2024 at 9:36 AM
BIA now on blue sky 👏 - and please consider applying for our ECR and small project grants!
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
🚨🚨 Our latest paper shows that IFITM3 deficiency lowers the minimum virus dose threshold for influenza and also enhances adaptation of the virus to a new species.🦠🫁 Major implications for preventing new pandemics. 😷 Proud of first author Parker Denz!👨🔬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Innate immune control of influenza virus interspecies adaptation via IFITM3 - Nature Communications
This study highlights that IFITM3 deficiency lowers the minimum infectious dose of influenza virus, enhances adaptation of influenza viruses to a new host species, and broadly increases infection of h...
www.nature.com
October 30, 2024 at 3:31 PM
🚨🚨 Our latest paper shows that IFITM3 deficiency lowers the minimum virus dose threshold for influenza and also enhances adaptation of the virus to a new species.🦠🫁 Major implications for preventing new pandemics. 😷 Proud of first author Parker Denz!👨🔬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Want to make beautiful scientific figures? Easy!
The NIH released a library of 2000+ free scientific illustrations called *BioArt*.
Check it out! bioart.niaid.nih.gov
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky 🧠🟦 🧪
The NIH released a library of 2000+ free scientific illustrations called *BioArt*.
Check it out! bioart.niaid.nih.gov
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky 🧠🟦 🧪
October 30, 2024 at 9:45 AM
Want to make beautiful scientific figures? Easy!
The NIH released a library of 2000+ free scientific illustrations called *BioArt*.
Check it out! bioart.niaid.nih.gov
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky 🧠🟦 🧪
The NIH released a library of 2000+ free scientific illustrations called *BioArt*.
Check it out! bioart.niaid.nih.gov
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky 🧠🟦 🧪
Reposted by Thushan de Silva
Our paper describing a new sequencing-based neutralization assay for influenza virus is now published in Journal of Virology:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
This new approach makes it possible to measure 100s (or even ~1000) neutralization titers in a single 96-well plate.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
This new approach makes it possible to measure 100s (or even ~1000) neutralization titers in a single 96-well plate.
September 24, 2024 at 6:36 PM
Our paper describing a new sequencing-based neutralization assay for influenza virus is now published in Journal of Virology:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
This new approach makes it possible to measure 100s (or even ~1000) neutralization titers in a single 96-well plate.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
This new approach makes it possible to measure 100s (or even ~1000) neutralization titers in a single 96-well plate.