Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
@tinycosmical.bsky.social
The whos and hows of the microbial world interacting with the macrobial world! Microbial ecology, microbial genetics, microbiology, bioinformatics.
>Headshot by DJ Hawkins
>Headshot by DJ Hawkins
Reposted by Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
Interested in a tenure track position teaching and doing research with undergrads at a PUI? We are looking for a broadly-defined microbiologist who can teach Med Micro and Immunology. Apply at universityofscrantonjobs.com/postings/8308. Pls share widely to feeds (& on twitter if you still tweet)! 🦠
October 1, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Interested in a tenure track position teaching and doing research with undergrads at a PUI? We are looking for a broadly-defined microbiologist who can teach Med Micro and Immunology. Apply at universityofscrantonjobs.com/postings/8308. Pls share widely to feeds (& on twitter if you still tweet)! 🦠
Self promotion time! Recently, we found that maternal BMI status does not impact HMO composition, however maternal HMOs were correlated with specific infant bacterial taxa and genes, reinforcing the influence of HMOs on the infant gut microbiome. www.mdpi.com/3139886
www.mdpi.com
March 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Self promotion time! Recently, we found that maternal BMI status does not impact HMO composition, however maternal HMOs were correlated with specific infant bacterial taxa and genes, reinforcing the influence of HMOs on the infant gut microbiome. www.mdpi.com/3139886
Collaborative mucin degradation by commensal gut microbes- an insightful mechanistic paper!
📚 I am happy to share that our latest paper is out in Glycobiology!
🦠 We developed a synthetic community of human gut microbes that completely degrades mucin glycans.
🔬 We studied its enzymes and ecological interactions in vitro.
#glycotime #mucin #microbiome
academic.oup.com/glycob/artic...
🦠 We developed a synthetic community of human gut microbes that completely degrades mucin glycans.
🔬 We studied its enzymes and ecological interactions in vitro.
#glycotime #mucin #microbiome
academic.oup.com/glycob/artic...
Mucin-driven ecological interactions in an in vitro synthetic community of human gut microbes
Abstract. Specific human gut microbes inhabit the outer mucus layer of the gastrointestinal tract. Certain residents of this niche can degrade the large an
academic.oup.com
December 13, 2024 at 3:14 AM
Collaborative mucin degradation by commensal gut microbes- an insightful mechanistic paper!
Just had an NIH grant withdrawn for not fitting the IC mission (despite matchmaker alignment). Feeling sad and infuriated, but also hopeful the NIH will still be around next year for me to try again.
November 28, 2024 at 2:42 AM
Just had an NIH grant withdrawn for not fitting the IC mission (despite matchmaker alignment). Feeling sad and infuriated, but also hopeful the NIH will still be around next year for me to try again.
Reposted by Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
Note to colleagues at R1 schools: an easy way to support the research of faculty at smaller schools is to invite them to give talks in your seminar series. I just received emails about high-profile colloquia at two different Ivies: 100% of speakers in both are affiliated w big research universities
August 30, 2024 at 9:35 PM
Note to colleagues at R1 schools: an easy way to support the research of faculty at smaller schools is to invite them to give talks in your seminar series. I just received emails about high-profile colloquia at two different Ivies: 100% of speakers in both are affiliated w big research universities
I'm building a "reading list" of articles about microbes in pop culture (eg: 3000 year old beer) to get students excited about micro. I'm looking for good journals/resources with easy reading (freshman/sophomore level). Any suggestions from the blue?
August 26, 2024 at 11:10 PM
I'm building a "reading list" of articles about microbes in pop culture (eg: 3000 year old beer) to get students excited about micro. I'm looking for good journals/resources with easy reading (freshman/sophomore level). Any suggestions from the blue?
Reposted by Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
Nice genome-resolved metagenomics of 90 fermented foods - including a lot of fungal genomes
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 31, 2024 at 12:50 AM
Nice genome-resolved metagenomics of 90 fermented foods - including a lot of fungal genomes
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
Want to know why CSU faculty are going on strike next week? Here's a great explanation:
medium.com/@kateozment/...
medium.com/@kateozment/...
A University, If You Can Keep It.
When I took a tenure-track position at Cal Poly Pomona in 2018, I was thrilled. Next week, I’ll be on strike with 30,000 of my colleagues…
medium.com
January 19, 2024 at 5:40 PM
Want to know why CSU faculty are going on strike next week? Here's a great explanation:
medium.com/@kateozment/...
medium.com/@kateozment/...
Reposted by Dr Ashwana Fricker (she/her)
for folks in grad programs, what are key barriers that may affect your ability to regularly attend seminars organized as part of routine department seminar series?
January 4, 2024 at 1:29 AM
for folks in grad programs, what are key barriers that may affect your ability to regularly attend seminars organized as part of routine department seminar series?
Excited to share this preprint! The credit for most of the work goes to Loren Padilla! Huge thanks to our collaborators for helping us get the final piece of the puzzle.
Akkermansia and 2'FL: which species eats it best?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Akkermansia and 2'FL: which species eats it best?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 18, 2023 at 4:14 AM
Excited to share this preprint! The credit for most of the work goes to Loren Padilla! Huge thanks to our collaborators for helping us get the final piece of the puzzle.
Akkermansia and 2'FL: which species eats it best?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Akkermansia and 2'FL: which species eats it best?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
My first post here and I'm very proud to announce our newest publication in JMBE in which we redesign the microbial unknown doi.org/10.1128/jmbe...
A huge shout out to my coauthors: Kayla Perri and Maha Abdelhaseib, my mentors: Tom Walter and Chris Sahley, and my inspiration: Sue Merkel
A huge shout out to my coauthors: Kayla Perri and Maha Abdelhaseib, my mentors: Tom Walter and Chris Sahley, and my inspiration: Sue Merkel
Increasing student interest with the Bacterial Unknown Identification Project: using mixed cultures ...
The “Bacterial Unknown Identification Project” (BUIP) is typically the ultimate assessment
used by undergraduate microbiology laboratory instructors to gauge students’ hands-on
laboratory skills...
doi.org
October 6, 2023 at 5:25 AM
My first post here and I'm very proud to announce our newest publication in JMBE in which we redesign the microbial unknown doi.org/10.1128/jmbe...
A huge shout out to my coauthors: Kayla Perri and Maha Abdelhaseib, my mentors: Tom Walter and Chris Sahley, and my inspiration: Sue Merkel
A huge shout out to my coauthors: Kayla Perri and Maha Abdelhaseib, my mentors: Tom Walter and Chris Sahley, and my inspiration: Sue Merkel