Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
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mayerbarber.bsky.social
Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
@mayerbarber.bsky.social
5.7K followers 1.3K following 92 posts
Cellular mucosal immunologist- lung- 🫁 innate immunity and inflammtion @IRP/NIAID/NIH - views my own
https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/katrin-d-mayer-barber-dr-rer-nat-phd
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mayerbarber.bsky.social
Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · Dec 6
Best #Nikolaus 🎅! Our paper on how the 🫁 microenvironment can shape #innate immunity against #viruses is out @sciimmunology.bsky.social This was a herculean effort brilliantly led by @pauljbaker.bsky.social who singlehandedly established the model in the lab during the pandemic. 🧪 #Immunosky 1/9
Graphical summary of our paper. In mice, prior lower airway exposure to diverse inflammatory stimuli, including chronic bacterial infections such as M. tuberculosis, acute bacterial infections such as pulmonary S. aureus, viral infections such as Influenza A, type-II allergic responses such as the OVA-Alum model, activation of pulmonary TLR9 by CpG or pulmonary TLR1/2 by Pam3CSK4 leads to reduced viral burden upon subsequent infection with SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2). (2) This SCV2 restriction occurs prior to induction of SCV2-specific adaptive immune responses and is mediated through innate immune responses, including the induction of IFN-I, TNFα and IL-1 and sustained changes to the TRM (Tissue resident macrophage) cellular compartment and the pulmonary epithelium. (3) Innate cytokine and TLR signaling to both recruited immune cells and the pulmonary epithelium creates a microenvironment in the lung that limits early replication of SCV2. IFN-I signaling to pulmonary ECs (epithelial cells) increases expression of interferon-stimulated genes, that likely cell-intrinsically limit viral replication. TNF- or IL-1 suppress SCV2 independently of IFN-I signaling. TNF acts exclusively through radio-resistant cell types such as the lung epithelium, whereas IL-1 affords control both direct and indirectly, through either stromal and hematopoietic cell types, to restrict overall early SCV2 burden.
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
heran.bsky.social
We're hiring! Check out our ad and please re-post or forward to interested #Microbiology parties: apply.interfolio.com/174783
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October 7, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
lozanzi.bsky.social
#WeekendRead! #FriendOrFoes?! Zhang &co show @cp-immunity.bsky.social that herpes simplex virus #HSV1 exploits changes in membrane integrity to activate a GPI-anchored hydrolase which degrades cGAMP preventing #cGAS/#STING activation & favoring virus infection

www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
Membrane integrity changes upon viral infection activate sphingomyelinase SMPDL3B to restrict cGAS-STING signaling via cGAMP degradation
Wang et al. find that cell membrane stress upon viral infection induces expression and stabilization of host sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase acid-like 3B (SMPDL3B), which, in turn, degrades cGAMP to s...
www.cell.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
inflames-flagship.bsky.social
#Openpositions #ImmunoSky #MedSky #wearehiring
Are you a postdoctoral researcher with an excellent track record in immunology research and/or a related field? Come and work with us in Finland!
👉Read more: bit.ly/43C68Fd
October 27, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
natrevimmunol.nature.com
NEW Perspective by @alazozcan.bsky.social, Tommaso Vicanolo, Veronique Angeli, Yuval Rinkevich & @drusqui.bsky.social presents a model of immune cells as architects of tissue barriers, by depositing matrix components or by interactions with structural cells and the ECM
#structuralimmunity #immunosky
Structural immunity: immune cells as architects of tissue barriers - Nature Reviews Immunology
This Perspective presents a framework of ‘structural immunity’ that positions immune cells as architects of tissue structure. Beyond their roles in antimicrobial defence, we posit that immune cells co...
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
napaaqtuk.bsky.social
I was impressed with the meticulous work that Sarah did and how well she led a team of undergrads, rotation students, and the chemist collaborator, Abiodun Aderibigbe, who did the XPS analysis. There is more in the paper that I don't have time to capture here, please read the paper for more info!
Cold-water gut isolate from threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) reveals polypropylene surface oxidation and co-culture inhibition
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP), two of the most widely produced plastics in the United States, persist in cold-water environments where plastic-degrading microbes have been po...
www.biorxiv.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
napaaqtuk.bsky.social
Ok, I have a minute, let's do this. Our lab is interested in contaminants found in Alaskan waters and identifying microbes from a fish native to Alaska, three-spine stickleback, to use in bioremediation in cold water lakes. Sarah was interested in microplastics, which I wasn't really studying. 1/n
October 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
senguptalab.bsky.social
TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
Brandeis University, Biology Department
Job #AJO30961, Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program, Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, US
academicjobsonline.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
evoneuro.bsky.social
For anyone on the neuroscience job market, our ads are up. We are looking for anyone working in systems neuroscience of animals to join us in southern Alberta 🇨🇦
#academicsky #neuroskyence #neuroethology #academicjobs #Canada
neurojobs.sfn.org/job/39049/as...
Assistant Professor (Neuroscience, Tenure Track) - Lethbridge (City), Alberta (CA) job with University of Lethbridge | 39049
Assistant Professor (tenure track) of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
neurojobs.sfn.org
September 4, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
ardemp.bskyverified.social
During these uncertain times, I’m very happy to see that my institution, @scripps.edu has an open tenure-track Assistant Professor position. Any field in Chemistry or Biology is welcome. I’d especially love to see fellow neuroscientists apply. Please repost!

apply.interfolio.com/174756
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October 14, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
senguptalab.bsky.social
Despite the mess, we are grateful to be funded, have exciting science happening, and have an opening for a postdoc!

If you are interested in sensory biology and esp in cilia, thermosensation, or interoception, and would like to join an interactive & supportive group - please email.

Please RT 🙏
October 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
odedrechavi.bsky.social
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
alissarothchild.bsky.social
Our department has a second TT search in #development and #reproduction.

careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
Details - Assistant Professor of Dynamic Reproductive Networks | Human Resources | UMass Amherst
careers.umass.edu
October 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
alissarothchild.bsky.social
🚨Job posting! #UMassAmherst Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences is hiring a TT faculty member in #Immunology. Both fundamental and translational areas considered. Please spread the word!
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
Details - Assistant Professor - Immunology | Human Resources | UMass Amherst
careers.umass.edu
October 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
mbeisen.bsky.social
Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
therad-lab.bsky.social
Fancy doing a PhD on #fungi ? 🍄 I'm co-supervising a project on the MIDTP program with Dr Ayesha Rahman - follow the link for project details and how to apply! #FindAPhD #immunosky 🧪
www.birmingham.ac.uk/about/colleg...
Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership - University of Birmingham
MIBTP is a UK-wide doctoral training programme that equips bioscience PhD students with interdisciplinary skills to tackle global challenges in agriculture, health, and sustainability.
www.birmingham.ac.uk
October 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
uvaimmunology.bsky.social
There are two open positions in the CIC:

Research Scientist, McNamara Lab: jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...

Research Scientist, Ewald lab: jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...

Interested applicants should apply using the above links!

#medsky #immunosky
Research Scientist, The Beirne B. Carter Immunology Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America | Research at University of Virginia
Apply for Research Scientist, The Beirne B. Carter Immunology Center job with University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America. Research at University of Virginia
jobs.virginia.edu
October 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
durocher1.bsky.social
JOB ALERT 🚨 We are hiring TWO principal investigators in cell, molecular, systems, or chemical biology in Toronto, Canada at @sinaihealth.bsky.social. We provide a generous startup, fully funded salary and academic appointment at U of Toronto.

www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Please repost!
Image of Toronto
August 28, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
bconlon.bsky.social
Delighted to share our latest paper - A host-directed adjuvant sensitizes intracellular bacterial persisters to antibiotics. Excellently led by Dr. Kuan-Yi Lu. We think it's a great proof-of-concept that altering immune cell behavior can make antibiotics work better www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A host-directed adjuvant sensitizes intracellular bacterial persisters to antibiotics - Nature Microbiology
The authors developed a screen to find compounds that modulate intracellular Staphylococcus aureus metabolism and discovered KL1, which sensitizes persisters to antibiotics by reversing host-induced tolerance.
www.nature.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
marionpepper.bsky.social
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute, intermittent, recurrent episodes of airway inflammation. A decade of work developing the tools, techniques and collaborations needed to figure out how CD4+ T cells in the lungs propagate disease can be found here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells
Tissue-resident memory CD4+ T cells (TRM) are key sentinels of the adaptive immune response that provide a rapid, robust inflammatory response upon reactivation in non-lymphoid tissues. While CD4+ TRM...
www.biorxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
tomscriba.bsky.social
We are inviting applications for postdoctoral fellows in immunology of TB at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, University of Cape Town. For more information see the attached ad:

idm.uct.ac.za/media/739223
October 9, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
jkpfeiff.bsky.social
Faculty search announcement 2025: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Microbiology at UT Southwestern. We seek candidates working in microbial pathogenesis (some preference may be given to bacterial pathogens). Come join our community! (1/5) www.utsouthwestern.edu/departments/...
Department members sit at a very long table in the hallway eating a pre-Thanksgiving potluck feast.
August 18, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
hindhussein.bsky.social
Hello everyone! I am a postdoc in mucosal immunology and I am looking for new postdoc position in Europe! I know a lot about gut mast cells, but also CD4 T cells and type 2/3 immunity in general. I've worked with single cell sequencing and neuroimmune interactions. Feel free to share! Thank you! ♥️🥼👩‍🔬
September 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
khadershabaana.bsky.social
UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404
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October 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
khadershabaana.bsky.social
Dear #microbiology and #immunology community- I took a break from social media after I deleted my Twitter account, but am back here. Please help me rebuild my community by following me and amplifying this message- I will follow you back. Thank you and I look forward to our many interactions!
October 5, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD
asm.org
Since the late 19th century, microbiologists have relied on agar and its derivatives for growing and separating microbes. However, how many of us really know the story of how this ingredient changed science? The remarkable story of Fanny Angelina Hesse youtu.be/qyTjqIKTQLo
Fanny Angelina Hesse and the Discovery of Agar
YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology
youtu.be
September 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM