Out now on bioRxiv – we looked at how bacteria use slime (EPS) to protect themselves against attacks by bacterial “spearguns” (the type 6 secretion system). Inspired by a video game! Collective protection against the type VI secretion system in bacteria (preprint)

Thrilled I will be giving an invited talk at the Microbiology Society Focus Meeting “Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics“ in Manchester (21./22. November 2022). This will be an awesome meeting, register here and submit your abstracts before 30. August 2022!

Podcast Interview – “Tidbits of Research” I had an absolute blast talking to Smaranda Sandu about my research, my cats, and life as a scientist. Check out the episode HERE

Excited to announce that I’ll be giving a plenary talk at FEMS 2022 in Belgrade. https://www.femsbelgrade2022.org/plenary-speakers A real dream come true!

I was recently featured in a Podcast Episode of “Microbes and Us”, published by FEMS (Federation of European Microbiological Societies). You can listen to it HERE (LINK).

I am excited and honored to be the recipient of the 2021 Early Career Microbiologist Award from the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS). Big thanks to all my collaborators, mentors and friends!

Great news: I have been awarded a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship to work on the role of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial warfare at the University of Oxford. Exciting times ahead!

Out now: we show that Escherichia coli bacteria undergo mass cell suicide to release toxins during competitions, and that this behavior is restricted to cells that are going to die from the competitor’s attack. The Evolution of Mass Cell Suicide in Bacterial Warfare (Open Access) Watch a video summary of the paper:

Out now on bioRxiv: We looked at bacteria that lyse themselves en masse (!) to release toxins & found that they only do that when they’re bound to die anyway. So smart! The Evolution of Mass Cell Suicide in Bacterial Warfare (preprint)