Microbe Talk

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  Episode 186: Breaking down biofilms with gas 25.08.2026 17min

  This month, Lilly welcomes Dr Jason Brown from the University of Glasgow to discuss his latest research findings using cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), a form of ionised gas, against biofilms in wound infections. Listen in to hear their discussion of what CAP therapy is, how it works, and why this treatment could be a useful alternative to antibiotics. Read Jason's latest research paper in the Journal of Medical Microbiology here, doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.002193, or by visiting our website.
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  Episode 185: What can we learn from involving the public in microbial genomics research? 09.07.2026 14min

  📣 Episode 185 is out now! This month, Lilly welcomes Dr Hannah Trivett from the University of Birmingham to the podcast, to discuss her latest publication bringing patient and public involvement (PPI) and microbial genomics research together for the first time ever. Listen in to hear their discussion of what the public think about effective science communication and how researchers can benefit from incorporating this into their work.Read Hannah's latest research paper here doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001691, or by visiting our website. 
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  Episode 184: Building a sense of belonging with the Pride in Microbiology network 15.06.2026 31min

  This Pride Month, Dr Bruno Francesco Rodrigues de Oliveira and Dr Landon Getz, two of the founders of the Pride in Microbiology network, join Lilly to discuss why their work to harness community and professional development opportunities for LGBTQ+ scientists around the world is as important as ever. 
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  Episode 183: Annual Conference 2026: Meet the Panel behind the programme 24.04.2026 32min

  Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes planning our flagship Annual Conference? Listen in as Lilly talks to Chairs of the Scientific Conferences Panel during the four day event in Belfast, about the challenges and joys of putting together the exciting programme. Interested in joining? Visit our website to find out more about how to apply for vacancies in our governance structure.
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  Episode 182: Sepsis, superbugs, and antibiotic stewardship 26.03.2026 43min

  "I often like to say that we're not the antibiotic police, but we're the antibiotic sommelier. So, you have a bug and we have the drug, and we try to find the best fit."In this month's Microbe Talk, Charlotte Holtum (Head of Engagement & Storytelling) welcomes guests Dr Alicia Demirjian (UK Health Security Agency and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust) and Dr Yoann Personne (bioMérieux), to explore an underdiscussed corner of the antimicrobial resistance conversation: its management with sepsis. They discuss what underpins the real-world relationship of AMR and sepsis, improving antibiotic stewardship in hospitals, and addressing these issues sooner rather than later.If you would like to read the ESPAUR report 2024 mentioned in this episode, please find it here.
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  Episode 181: Sexual health and the vaginal microbiome 13.02.2026 16min

  What does a healthy vaginal microbiome look like? Are store-bought vaginal probiotics backed by science? How do these microbes interact with sexually transmitted infections (STIs)? 🦠Research is uncovering more and more about the relationship between the vaginal microbiome and sexual health. That's why this month, I spoke with Prof Wilhelmina Huston, a microbiologist specialising in STIs at the University of Melbourne, Australia, to discuss what science knows so far. 🎧Listen in wherever you get your podcasts🔗If you’d like to read the review in Microbial Genomics you can do so by following this link https://microb.io/46tUCxaA full, auto generated, transcript of the podcast is available on our website here https://microb.io/3M7M7B7
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  Episode 180: Society Staff Reflect on 2025 29.12.2025 19min

  In this episode of Microbe Talk, we meet some members of staff at the Microbiology Society to reflect on 2025 and look at ways to get involved in 2026. 
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  Episode 179: Hidden Companions: how parasites are adapting to a changing world 17.12.2025 25min

  The relationship between humans and parasites is changing along with the climate crisis, globalisation, and innovations in science. In this month's Microbe Talk, we chat to expert Kinga Kowalewska-Grochowska at the University of Alberta, Canada, about the evolutions in how we look at parasites, where they are found, and what the future holds for diagnosing and treating these illnesses. This follows Kowalewska-Grochowska's latest review of the same topic published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.If you’d like to read the paper, you can do so by following this link. Stay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about exciting new research in the world of microbiology.You can download a full, auto generated transcript of the podcast here.
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  Episode 178: The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: From discovery to community 06.11.2025 17min

  In 2019, a mysterious shape appeared on a petri dish in a Birmingham lab. Its surprising appearance, similar to noodles, intrigued researchers to find out more about it. They consulted other scientists online at the time, which sparked an idea to start an online club dedicated to sharing laboratory contaminants.Now, the team finally publish their research characterising this contaminant as a new species of bacteria, Kocuria rhizophila, in our journal Microbial Genomics. Researchers Rob Moran and Greg McCallum join Communications and Media Officer Lilly Tozer to talk about their journey from discovery to publish.If you’d like to read the paper, you can do so by following this link: microb.io/47L8aoYStay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about exciting new research in the world of microbiology.You can download a full, auto generated transcript of the podcast here: microb.io/3J6DUf3
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  Episode 177: Chemical Conversations: Exploring the gut:brain link in bipolar treatments 28.07.2025 30min

  In this episode of Microbe Talk, Clare talks to An Bui from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta about their paper published in Microbiology, the first systematic review of the potential effects of psychotropics (the drugs used to treat bipolar disorder) on the gut microbiome of treated and untreated bipolar individuals.A full transcript of this episode is available on our website. 
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  Episode 176: From workshop to publication: discussing microbiome safety with Lindsay Hall and Aline Metris 27.06.2025 22min

  In January 2024, Aline Metris and Lindsay Hall hosted an academic-industry workshop at the Microbiology Society offices to discuss the potential long-term implications of microbiome perturbations. Since then, they’ve published a comprehensive summary of the findings from the workshop in Microbial Genomics. We invited them back to the Microbiology Society offices to chat with Clare about their experiences hosting the workshop and share their insights from the paper. If you’d like to read the review in Microbial Genomics you can do so by following this link. Stay tuned to the Microbiology Society socials to be the first to hear about Lindsay and Aline’s further work and our other projects on the microbiome. You can also read a full auto generated transcript of the podcast on our website here. 
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  Episode 175: Dr Beth Mills and Akpan Friday on international collaboration and mentorship 28.05.2025 22min

  In this episode, Adam discovers how two microbiologists from opposite sides of the world formed a collaboration and mentorship that has greatly benefited them both.When in-person classes were suspended during the 2020 lockdown, Akpan Friday, a student from Nigeria, reached out on social media seeking support to continue his and his classmates’ learning. Dr Beth Mills from the University of Edinburgh responded to the call and began delivering free online lectures to the students.Although they have yet to meet in person, their relationship has developed into a mentor–mentee partnership, and both were delighted to share their story.Music: Instant Crush – Corbyn KitesYou can download a full transcript of the podcast by visiting our website here. 
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  Episode 174: Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Andrew Spicer 03.04.2025 20min

  We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.We’re closing up with a chat with Andrew Spicer who is looking at the algae Chlorella in a new light. His invited talk ‘Reimagining Chlorella as a food and beverage ingredient suited for everyday foods’ was on Tuesday afternoon at the Annual Conference in the Microbes to meals session.
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  Episode 173: Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Guilherme Neumann 02.04.2025 9min

  We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.For the penultimate episode of our miniseries for annual conference Clare spoke to Guilherme Borba Neuman about his research titled ‘Characterizing Retroviral Integrations and Their Impact on Koala Populations: Implications for Health and Conservation’ which he presented earlier today at our Annual Conference in Liverpool. Listen to find out how Guilherme is able to see the results of his research come to fruition in captive Koala populations. 
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  Episode 172: Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Elizabeth O'Gorman 01.04.2025 14min

  We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.For the second episode of our miniseries for Annual Conference Clare spoke to Elizabeth O’Gorman about her research titled ‘Adaptation of Campylobacter to Sodium Chloride Alters Phenotypes Associated with Human Disease’ which she will be presenting at the infection forum tomorrow afternoon. Elizabeth and Clare chat about food safety and how consumer trends might be altering the of bacteria on our meat.
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  Episode 171: Our miniseries for Annual Conference 2025: Phoebe Crossley 31.03.2025 13min

  We're in Liverpool this week, hosting our annual conference and meeting our members, collaborators and authors.We know that there will be a lot of exciting conversations, interesting presentations and vital networking opportunities happening all over the and wanted to make sure you could keep the excitement going even after the events of the day have finished.So, across the four days of annual conference we'll be bringing you mini episodes of Microbe Talk, each featuring a presenter from the programme.For the first of our mini-series, Clare spoke to Phoebe Crossley who will be presenting her research 'Multi-omic analysis of the vaginal microenvironment reveals mechanisms of vulvovaginal and sexual health symptoms in women with benign gynaecological conditions' at the Urogenital Microbes in Health and Disease session tomorrow afternoon.
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  Episode 170: Microbiome and thermal tolerance: a new frontier in climate resilience? 26.02.2025 19min

  In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare speaks to Judy Li, author on the latest Microbial Primer: Microbiome and thermal tolerance – a new frontier in climate resilience? Clare and Judy chat about the paper, the relatively new field of study and the possible mechanisms of microbes buffering organisms against temperature changes.If you'd like to Judy's paper, published in Microbiology you can do so here. You can also download a full transcript of the podcast on our website.Music: Documentary_Tidal by Comma-Media via Pixabay.
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  Episode 169: Coccus Pocus A microbiology inspired scary story competition 22.01.2025 12min

  In this episode, Adam talks to Dr Georgios Efthimiou from the University of Hull.  Georgios has created a nationwide ‘spooky’ short story competition called Coccus Pocus. This project links outreach and Halloween with microbiology.  This creative competition has had a clear impact on 12 – 18-year-olds who find the competition a good way to discover an interest in microbiology and have had a lot of fun writing the stories.  Join Adam as he learns more about this Microbiology Society-funded project (and you may hear from a few society staff members reading some of this year's winners along the way).
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  Episode 168: Exploring the science of wellness, ageing and death with John Tregoning 06.01.2025 25min

  For the first episode of Microbe Talk in 2025, we’re bringing you something fascinating and a bit different— non-communicable diseases. In this special episode, Clare chats with Professor John Tregoning, a Professor in Vaccine Immunology, about his new book, 'Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death'. Clare and John chat about why he's writing about non-communicable diseases, the processes behind his book and any public engagement advice he'd give to our community.Find out where you can buy a copy of Johns book by clicking here. You can also download a transcript of the podcast from our website here. Johns other work can be found here. Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay
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  Episode 167: Antimalarial drug resistance: current challenges and future solutions 20.12.2024 21min

  In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare spoke to Adam Aspinall who's Senior Director in the Access and Product Management team at Medicines for Malaria Venture. They discuss Malaria, antimalarial drug resistance and the work that Medicines for Malaria Venture is doing to support new drug discovery.If you'd like to find out more about the Microbiology Society's Knocking Out AMR project, you can do so here.If you'd like to find out more about the work that Medicines for Malaria do, take a look at their resources here: MMV website: http://mmv.orgSevere Malaria Observatory : severemalaria.orgMusic: Blue Dot Sessions - Blue Latex