Bastien Castagner🇨🇦

HCMPH Symposium | Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health We are delighted to welcome everyone to the eighth annual Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center (HCMPH) symposium. As microbial community science

IMP ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center (co-directed by Wendy Garrett & Curtis) will host its annual symposium on May 18 @ Harvard T.H. Chan School @hsph.harvard.edu. The theme is 'Translating the Microbiome'. Poster abstracts are due April 1. Register : hsph.me/hcmph2026

Conference banner showing trees with leafs changing colors.

Announcing the 4th Lakeside Conference on Protein Toxins and Effectors 2026 Registration/Abstract Submission is OPEN (#lakesidePTE)! Come join this premier event on the structure, biochemistry, and cell biology of Microbial Protein Toxins Oct 12-15, 2026. event.fourwaves.com/lakesidepte2...

Free registration is now open for the: Inositol Phosphates 2026, the more, the merrier – 6th edition, a virtual international meeting on inositol phosphates across organisms -March 25-27, 2026- Schedule and registration link on our website:
castagnerlab.com/inositol-pho...

MIX-MB (Minimum Information about Xenobiotics-Microbiome Biotransformation) - Community Consensus Survey This survey aims to establish the Minimum Information about Xenobiotics-Microbiome Biotransformation (MIX-MB) reporting standards. As we move toward an era of AI-driven discovery, the structural and f...

🚨 Do you work on microbial-mediated biotransformation of chemical compounds?
🧪 We would value your input to help us develop a standardized reporting framework for Xenobiotics–Microbiome interactions!

👉 Take the short survey (6–8 min): forms.gle/JNATejDrV2LR...

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack ~ On January 29, McGill will honour the memories of the victims with a special ceremony and lecture, Impacts of Islamophobia on Muslim Mental Health, by McGill psychiatry professor Salam El-Majzoub, MD. 🔗https://ow.ly/BzwB50XY29F

Rencontre concernant la piste cyclable sur Atateken, lundi prochain à 18h30 à la salle du conseil de Ville-Marie. Cette piste devrait servir de détour de la piste Berri durant environ 2 ans. Je vous invite à assister si vous avez des opinions sur cette piste!

Just out in npj Biofilms & Microbiomes! Reilly Pidgeon and Arianna Giurleo complete another piece of the puzzle of polyphenol metabolism by the gut microbiome. Here they uncover a new 10-hydroxy urolithin dehydroxylase encoded by some Enterocloster spp.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Structure-guided design of a synthetic bile acid that inhibits Clostridioides difficile TcdB toxin - Nature Microbiology A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated Clostridioides difficile infection in mice.

#NewResearch

A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice.

#MicroSky 🦠💊

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Flyer with text: Inositol Phosphates 2026, The more, the merrier - 6th edition A virtual international meeting on inositol phosphates across organisms  · March 25-27, 2026 · Deadline for oral presentation abstract submission: December 7. https://castagnerlab.com/inositol-phosphates-2026/

Calling Inositol Phosphate enthusiasts!
The free virtual international meeting on inositol phosphates across organisms - Inositol Phosphates 2026 - will take place on March 25-27, 2026. Currently accepting abstract for oral presentation until Dec. 7.
castagnerlab.com/inositol-pho...

Continuons d'avancer! 🚲

Le REV Saint-Denis, une piste cyclable qui atteint des sommets www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/chr...

This! Let's resist the politicization of science! 🇨🇦

Thanks for flagging this! This initiative seems indeed set on attacking EDI and academic freedom under the guise of promoting excellence. They are digging obscure projects and then asking how this helps Canadians, as if this was not already an important criteria adjudicated by actual expert.

Microbiome Metabolism and Metabolites: Discovery and Function in Health and Disease | Keystone Symposia Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Microbiome Metabolism and Metabolites: Discovery and Function in Health and Disease, January 2026, in Banff, with field leaders!

Two conferences, one reg! Sign up for Microbiome Metabolism & Metabolites + get Human Microbiome FREE. Joint keynotes: Emily P. Balskus & Mohamed S. Abou Donia. keysym.us/KSMicroMetab26 @pieterdorrestein.bsky.social @mfgrp.bsky.social @inesthiele.bsky.social #KSMicroMetab26 #KSMicrobiome26

We are nice colleagues (if I may say so) and we are located in the amazing city of Montréal in Canada. Come and talk to us! #McGillU @healthsciences.mcgill.ca

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pluripotent Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine (L000066) Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...

We are hiring! Tenure track position in the area of Pluripotent Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...

The gut microbiome has a key role in shaping the immune response to cancer and influencing the efficacy of immunotherapy. Read about advances in targeting the microbiome in cancer treatment in this Review in the September issue
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eD8M5

Schemes showing Urolithins M6 released by Gordonibacter bacteria and taken up by Entercloser and metabolized into urolitin A by its two regioselective dehydroxylases Ucd and Uxd, that are close in the genome.

New preprint on polyphenol metabolism by gut bacteria! We show that released urolithin M6 is metabolized by regioselective dehydroxylases including the novel Uxd present in a subset of Enterocloster spp. Interestingly, Uxd induction is controlled by Ucd substrates.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thiophosphate bioisosteres of inositol hexakisphosphate enhance binding affinity and residence time on bacterial virulence factors Inositol phosphates are essential for mammalian cell signalling with critical roles in cellular processes. The fully phosphorylated inositol phosphate, myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), modulates numerous eukaryotic proteins and bacterial virulence factors. It has been suggested that the high charge density of I

IP6 is cool, but IT6 is cooler 😎

A thiophosphate swap makes inositol hexakisphosphate more stable, more soluble, and stickier to bacterial virulence factors.
Great news for structural bio & drug design!

📖 doi.org/10.1039/D4CB...

Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a...

A new paper in The Lancet, one of the world’s foremost peer reviewed medical journals, estimates that USAID prevented 91 million deaths across 133 countries over 20 years.

The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).

Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Human Immunology - Montréal, Quebec (CA) job with McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences | 12840439 Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Human Immunology (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University)

@mcgill.ca is recruiting an internationally recognized scientist in Human Immunology for the prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chair. Montreal offers a vibrant scientific ecosystem in a fantastic city.
www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Our review on gut microbiome manipulation for cancer immunotherapy is out. Thanks to Arielle Elkrief, Reilly Pidgeon, Saman Maleki Vareki, Meriem Messaoudene, and @bertrandrouty.bsky.social

Email portion that reads: Dear members of the McGill community, Many of us are watching the escalation of human suffering in Gaza with alarm. While thousands of kilometres away, many members of the McGill community are touched at a human level by the scale and impact of the crisis unfolding, which threatens to intensify over the coming days. To reiterate my past messages, McGill, as a university, must remain mindful of its academic mission and refrain from commenting or taking a position on a geopolitical crisis. That said, we will always express compassion for and extend care to our community members affected by international emergencies. If you need support, please do not hesitate to reach out. Resources are set out below. Sincerely, Deep Saini President and Vice Chancellor McGill University

Such a disappointing and infuriating message from @McGill.ca President. McGill is “neutral” in geopolitical crisis and cannot comment, YET they will invest in military weapons and do business partnership with the UAE Army for instance.

Stereoselective chemoenzymatic phytate transformations provide access to diverse inositol phosphate derivatives Phosphorylated myo-inositols (InsPs) are essential cytoplasmic signaling molecules, while their lipidated analogs (PtdInsPs) play a crucial role in membrane signaling. Stereoselective synthesis of the...

An alternative strategy to access inositol derivatives by stereoselective dephosphorylation. Happy to share the work by Markus Haener together with @gabrielschaaf.bsky.social and many others.
chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

In Canadian election, top Conservative candidate vows to end ’woke ideology’ in science funding Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party is trying to topple Liberal government in 28 April election

Echoing Trump, Pierre Poilievre's election pitch includes pledge to end "woke influence" in university research. My story for @science.org 🧪 #cdnpoli
www.science.org/content/arti...

Protecting Africa's children from extreme risk: a runway of sustainability for PEPFAR programmes PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a landmark US foreign health policy, is recognised for saving 26 million lives from HIV. PEPFAR investments have also had life-saving impacts for c...

Evil.

"Without continued PEPFAR programmes, models predict that by 2030, an additional 1 million children will become infected with HIV, 0·5 million additional children will die of AIDS, & 2·8 million children will additionally become orphaned by AIDS."

Study: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🚨We're hiring another tenure-track at McGill University: focus on brain-body science! 👇

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill...

Tracking Anticipated Deaths from USAID Funding Cuts Brooke Nichols has launched online tracking tools that capture estimated increases in mortality and disease spread for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases as a result of the near-total...

Mme Hachey trouve ça amusant, et trouve que les gens exagèrent. Les actions d'Elon Musk ont des conséquences épouvantables. Ça m'enlève le gout de rigoler personnellement. En voici un exemple parmi tant d'autres: www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...

Crystal structure of the C. difficile toxin B (TcdB) showing the beta-flap in its lowered and raised conformation. The inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6) is shown in the holo-raised conformation.

Molecular dynamic simulations led to a better understanding of the C. difficile toxin B (TcdB) allosteric transition induced by inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6). Useful info for drug discovery. Great work by Lauren Finn, Rebecca Cummer, and @bettinagkeller.bsky.social!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

📅 April 24 | Next-Generation #RNA Vaccines & Therapies

This event is organized by McGill's Pharmacology and Therapeutics and will feature lecture speaker Dr. @annablakney.bsky.social from UBC (also a D2R-funded researcher!).

More info: mcgill.ca/pharma/semin...