Alex Smith

PhD Candidate in @joeyzacks lab at @penn and @childrensphila | he/him 🏳️‍🌈

C. difficile-microbe interactions

Latest work 👉

[Joe Zackular @joeyzacks]

Delighted to share our work developing an mRNA vaccine for C. difficile, published today in @ScienceMagazine. This study with @WeissmanLab was co-led by two truly amazing scientists: @_alexafluor from the Zackular lab and @MgAlameh (now at @CHOP_Research)! https://t.co/jHXMgQMpc6

[Alexa Sem @_alexafluor]

I’m proud to share our recent publication describing the development of a multivalent mRNA-LNP vaccine for C. difficile that incorporates targets across C. diff’s complex life cycle https://t.co/cQuur0iWps

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@Marisa_Egan11 @swarthmore Congratulations Marisa!! @Swarthmore is very lucky to have you!

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@SunnyShinLab @joeyzacks Thank you Sunny!

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

And thanks to a great mentor @joeyzacks for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to spread my wings! AZ here we come!

[Joe Zackular @joeyzacks]

Congratulations to former graduate student in the lab, @Brokaryote, on starting a new position in Vaccines & Immune Therapies at @AstraZeneca!! Excited to see the big things coming from the team at AZ! #proudPI

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@LovinsTori @joeyzacks Thank you so much Tori 🥰🥰

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@LovinsTori @mbiojournal Thanks so much Tori 😁

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

Thrilled to have this story out in @mbiojournal and start to answer the question of how enterococci thrive in the CDI gut with an amazing group of collaborators! Spoiler: it uses heme!

[Joe Zackular @joeyzacks]

Excited to share the latest from @Brokaryote out in @mbiojournal today!! Alex shows how Enterococci take advantage of C. diff toxin-mediated damage to thrive in the gut. Fun collaborative study with @DariaVanTyne @PrenticeLabUF @Ahmed_Microbes and team! https://t.co/aQ4EzlhWbe

[CAMB Graduate Group @CAMBUpenn]

Alexander Smith @Brokaryote from the Zackular lab @joeyzacks defends tomorrow!!

[Joshua Soto Ocaña @JoshuaSotoOc]

Hello Science Twitter! Really excited to share a short tweetorial of some of my work as a grad student in the @joeyzacks lab at Penn/CHOP focused on the impact of NSAIDs during C. difficile infection: https://t.co/sIU6tGVwvh

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@PlittTamar @NYASciences So great to meet you!

[Theodore G. Drivas 🏳️‍🌈 @TDrivas]

Well, twitter friends, it's official: I'm staying in academia and in Philly, starting as a #newPI on the tenure track in @PennMedicine's Department of Medicine, Division of Translational #Medicine and Human #Genetics 😃🍾🧬

[Penn Microbial Pathogenesis & Genomics Trainees @PennMPG]

To start, I want to share one of the coolest papers to come out in nature in years (I might be biased...) from microbiology student @Brokaryote from @joeyzacks lab! A terrific demonstration of top notch microbial pathogenesis and genomics research at Penn 🎉

[Nature Reviews Microbiology @NatureRevMicro]

Helping C. difficile to thrive

This study reports that Enterococcus species can remodel the metabolic environment in the gut and reprogramme the metabolism of Clostridioides difficile, enhancing its fitness and virulence.

https://t.co/w05mYWk0hG

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

This class is super helpful and you couldn't find a better instructor than @hostmicrobe!

[Daniel Beiting @hostmicrobe]

Gearing up to offer our DIYtranscriptomics course again this Spring semester (Jan), covering bulk and #singlecell RNA-seq. All video lectures will be freely available online. Updated labs too! Something specific you'd like to see? Post in the comments!

https://t.co/iDxjDdiaIY

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@JN1171 @gpollara Here is an open-access link to the article!
https://t.co/35k1feBvpn

[Gabriele Pollara @gpollara]

▶️ Cephalosporin use is a risk factor for C difficile
▶️ Cephalosporins don't kill enterococci
▶️ Enterococci support growth of C difficile (this is the ⭐new⭐ data @Nature 👇) #microbiome #antimicrobialstewardship
https://t.co/zpvnrYuAfk

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

@hostmicrobe @joeyzacks @Nature Thanks Dan 😁 and for all your support!

[Alex Smith @Brokaryote]

Thrilled to share my work from the @joeyzacks lab published today in @nature. We find that enterococci enhance C. difficile fitness and virulence by remodeling the metabolic environment in the gut. Thread below with highlights. https://t.co/Bl7HYgLOJj

[Fernando Gomollón @fgomollon]

This could help to explain some clinical facts….