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Who's writing, anyways?

it's me, Alex

This is me as an E. coli being infected by a T4-bacteriophage (a type of virus that only infects bacteria). That might be about all you need to know about me.

Nice to meet you! My name is Alex Cloherty. I am an award-winning science communicator, I hold a PhD in immunology, and I am a passionate ambassador for the TOPX Network for women in life sciences. I love to talk about and teach science, and it has become my #1 hobby (alongside my loves for long-distance tandem cycling and sustainable fashion).

 

Microbial Mondays in its current form was born back when I was a Master student. One Monday night, I sat down after a day in the lab and thought, "Wouldn't it be awesome if more Mondays were microbial?" To answer my own question, yes, it is awesome. To this day, you can visit me here to read all about microbes, written in plain and understandable English. 

If you're looking for somebody to host a workshop on science communication, give a jargon-free talk about microbes or immunology, submit a guest scicomm article, or moderate a popular science event, you've come to the right place. Reach out to me today to start discussing how I can support you!

 

And lastly, where do I get all this information from? It's a mixture of information from the papers cited in the posts, fun facts I've picked over many years of studying science, lecture notes (especially from Dr. Kluftinger and Dr. Plunkett's excellent courses at the University of British Columbia in Canada), and of course some Wikipedia (or MicrobeWiki) here and there. If you have a question about a source, or if some information is unclear, let me know and I'll be happy to clarify!

Back the Bugs!

Do you like what I do? Consider supporting me on Patreon! You can become a fan of fungus, an algae enthusiast, or a bacterial benefactor with just a few clicks. 

My CV at a glance

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PUBLICATIONS (from most to least recent)

Cloherty APM*, Rader AG*, Patel KS, Pérez-Vargas J, Thompson CAH, Ennis S, Niikura M, Wildenberg ME, Muncan V, Schreurs RRCE, Jean F, & Ribeiro CMS. Berbamine suppresses intestinal SARS-CoV-2 infection via a BNIP3-dependent autophagy blockade (2023). Emerging Microbes & Infections 12:1. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2195020

 

Schreurs, RRCE, Koulis A, Booiman T, Boeser-Nunnink B, Cloherty APM, Rader AG, Patel KS, Kootstra N, Ribeiro CMS. Autophagy-enhancing ATG16L1 polymorphism improves clinical outcomes and promotes superior T-cell immunity in chronic HIV-1 infection (2023). Preprint from Research Square. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2616340/v1.

Kurtz D, Janke R, Barry J, Cloherty A, Shahram SZ, Jones, CA (2022). "Learning from “Our Relations” Indigenous Peoples of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and United States: A Review of Culturally Relevant Diabetes and Obesity Interventions for Health. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2022.13.1.14041

Cloherty APM, Rader AG, Compeer B, Ribeiro CMS (2021). Human TRIM5α: Autophagy Connects Cell-Intrinsic HIV-1 Restriction and Innate Immune Sensor Functioning. Viruses, 13(2), 320. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020320

Cloherty APM, van Teijlingen NH, Eisden TJTHD et al.  (2021). Autophagy-enhancing drugs limit mucosal HIV-1 acquisition and suppress viral replication ex vivo. Sci Rep 11, 4767. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84081-4

Cloherty APM, Olmstead AD, Ribeiro CMS, Jean F (2020). Hijacking of Lipid Droplets by Hepatitis C, Dengue and Zika Viruses—From Viral Protein Moonlighting to Extracellular Release. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(21), 7901. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21217901

Hovingh ES, de Maat S, Cloherty A, Johnson S, Pinelli E, Maas C, & Jongerius I (2018). Virulence Associated Gene 8 of Bordetella pertussis Enhances Contact System Activity by Inhibiting the Regulatory Function of Complement Regulator C1 Inhibitor. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 1172. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01172

Bottorff JL, Oliffe JL, Sarbit G, Kelly MT, & Cloherty A (2015). Men's Responses to Online Smoking Cessation Resources for New Fathers: The Influence of Masculinities. JMIR research protocols, 4(2), e54. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.4079

... And more to come ;)

 

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