The Sloan foundation has recently announced funding for several new projects in the microbiology of the built environment, we’ll be describing each of them in more detail here. First is a project called “Effect of Pipe Materials, Water Flow, and Chemistry on the Building Plumbing Microbiome”. This work will be performed by Amy Pruden, Marc …
Every day there are numerous news reports dealing with “mold” and the built environment. It’s usually a mix of scaremongering, cleaning suggestions, and the occasional bit of interesting science. Generally we avoid this topic, since surprisingly little is actually known about what fungal species are actually associated with human health impacts. This story just caught …
Interesting article on the possible connection between overworked/burned out nurses and hospital acquired infections: Burned-out nurses linked to more infections in patients – Vitals. Not clear whether any type of causal relationship was established here (though I doubt it). But nevertheless, this is yet another factor to consider when thinking about the transmission of microbes in …
Accidentally wandered into this year old story from what was then MSNBC: Hospital garb harbors nasty bacteria, study says. The story discusses something that is nearly always on my mind when I hear discussions of hospital acquired infections – scrubs. I am amazed, for example, at how many people from the UC Davis Veterinary School/Hospital (which …
Postdoctoral Position in Environmental Metagenomics, Norman Pace Lab, Boulder, CO Available September 1, 2012, three years appointment, NIH salary grades. A three-year Research Associate position is available for participation with a team studying the microbial metagenomics of municipal water distribution systems. Although seemingly a mundane setting, little is known about the microbiology of municipal drinking …
(This is a guest post by David Thaler, who is one of the Sloan-funded investigators working on the microbiology of the built environment. The goal is to spark substantive discussion, so please comment below!) A few thoughts after the Inaugural meeting of Microbiology of the Built Environment Boulder My own opinions on these points are …
Part of our ongoing mission is to get people to look beyond pathogens, to consider the microbiome as a whole (indoors or human), and to not assume all microbes are evil. I was particularly struck yesterday by an article on a “water-less shower” product being hyped on SmartPlanet. Especially this quote: “Though some of you …
Job posting regarding multiple post-doc positions in a multi-discliplnary project managed by the University of California Berkeley (UCB), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and the National University of Singapore (NUS): Up to four postdoctoral scholar appointments are available for a joint new research program between the University of California Berkeley (UCB), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and …
Another just-approved project in the built environment. This project led by Noah Fierer (CU Boulder), Shelly Miller (CU Boulder) and Rob Dunn (North Carolina State) will look at the factors structuring bacterial and fungal diversity in 1,000 homes across the United States. We propose the first continental-scale study testing how and why house-associated microbial communities …
The Sloan Foundation today announced funding for a pilot study looking at the effects of weatherization on the indoor airborne microbiome. This work will be performed by Largus Angenent at Cornell University. The full summary of the project is below: The U.S. Department of Energy has instituted a weatherization program aimed at making homes more …