@megbehri profile picture
Megan Behringer @megbehri

Assistant Professor @VanderbiltU BioSci ⚓️| #FirstGen | Experimental microbial evolution in stressful and structured environments 🧫🧪 🧬| she/her

Joined March 2009
  • Tweets 1,899
  • Following 1,088
  • Followers 1,384
285 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
Megan Behringer@megbehri
11 Dec 2025
This is a huge honor & we’re so excited to get started on this new direction for our group stemming from Ph.D. Candidate William McLaughlin’s work in our lab! Many thanks to our scout, Paul Turner & @hypothesisfund for seeing the potential in this project! Time to get to work!
Hypothesis Fund@Hypothesisfund
11 Dec 2025
Replying to @Hypothesisfund
2/ Awardee @megbehri will study how chaotic dynamics arise in microbial🦠 populations. Her research could transform how we predict and prevent microbiome dysbiosis across human health and the environment.
 🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci
 🙏 #HFScout Paul Turner
2
7
687
Turns out the @CelsiusOfficial I drink while teaching Microbiology at 9 AM has become such a defining trait to my class that they joked about me being sponsored. So just manifesting that to the universe….
2
169
Excited to share this new Preprint from our lab led by PhD Candidate @StarlCone (defending Tues). Here we present a framework for longitudinal rbTn-Seq & apply it to the Microbial growth curve to resolve the fitness seascape through growth, death, & Long-term stationary phase.
bioRxiv Evobio@biorxiv_evobio
Feb 13
Bayesian analysis of longitudinal RB-TnSeq resolves the fitness seascape in fluctuating environments biorxiv.org/content/10.64898… #biorxiv_evobio
1
7
329
When your dream is to be eaten but Protein Strawberry isn’t having any of it. #PopTartsBowl
0:21
14
1,797
Megan Behringer retweeted
CAIRIBU
@CAIRIBU1
12 Dec 2025
IN ONE WEEK: The next URIG Research Hour on Friday, December 19 at 3:00 PM ET (2 PM CT | 12 PM PT) will feature mentor/mentee duo Megan Behringer, PhD and Owen Hale (both at Vanderbilt University). More information: buff.ly/yVd9SrM @megbehri @owenmicro
1
1
122
Great work by @owenmicro, now out in mBio!!
mBio@mbiojournal
14 Nov 2025
Lactic acid bacteria have high mutation rates! Hale et al report the mutation rates of 3 anaerobically cultured lactic acid bacteria & discuss how domestication may contribute to #Lactobacillus acidophilus having one of the highest recorded mutation rates. doi.org/10.1128/mbio.03054-2…
1
1
3
244
Excited to share our latest paper led by Ph.D. Candidate, Owen Hale, titled Elevated rates and Biased Spectra of Mutations in Anaerobically Cultured Lactic Acid Bacteria out now in @mbiojournal ! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128…

Elevated rates and biased spectra of mutations in anaerobically cultured lactic acid bacteria | mBio

Despite Earth’s oxygen-free origins and the abundance of microorganisms that thrive without oxygen, little is known about the rates and patterns of mutations in anaerobic species. This study directly...

journals.asm.org
1
2
78
We found that LAB, and L. Acidophilus in particular, have very high mutation rates. Mutations are quite biased towards G:C ➡️ A:T and A:T➡️G:C; and this is very apparent in L. acidophilus near the ori.
1
60
We suspect that the very elevated mut. rate of L. acidophilus is influenced by its domestication status - we found many losses of DNA repair genes across the species. Mut. rates of L. acidophilus may be actively evolving and an ideal species for studying mutation rate evolution.
58
Our lab is hiring!! We are looking for a research assistant who will be involved with our experimental evolution studies on how stress affects population dynamics in E. coli. Great opportunity for recent grads! E-mail for more info and apply here: ecsr.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/…
1
3
6
788
Always a great night when we can get dressed up, wear goofy flamingo hats, and raise money for an amazing cause! Another great Mad Hatter in the books for @NashvilleSAC ! (Yes, we did win best couple hats!)
1
5
218
Megan Behringer retweeted
bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv_micrbio
1 Jun 2025
An Anaerobic Pathogen Rewires Host Metabolism to Fuel Oxidative Growth in the Inflamed Gut biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/… #biorxiv_micrbio

An Anaerobic Pathogen Rewires Host Metabolism to Fuel Oxidative Growth in the Inflamed Gut

To colonize their host and cause disease, enteric pathogens must deploy their virulence factors to establish distinct nutrient niches. How obligate anaerobic pathogens construct nutrient niches in...

biorxiv.org
6
9
1,080
Rage bait, but I’m very thankful to the NIH. They funded large portions of my predoctoral & postdoctoral training, as well as my current lab with our R35. My career as a biologist would not be possible in its current form without the opportunities provided by the NIH.
This tweet is unavailable
4
662
Megan Behringer retweeted
derek guy
@dieworkwear
3 Nov 2024
I can think of two examples, both men who happen to be brothers. The first is Dr. André L. Churchwell, Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University; the second is Dr. Keith Churchwell, President of the American Heart Association.
33
131
4,291
312,085
Megan Behringer retweeted
Michael Neugent PhD
@MikeNeug
31 Oct 2024
What an amazing conference! #chsmicrobiome is one of my fav meetings bc the basic science creativity is so strong. I always leave with new ideas and a new colleagues! @cshlmeetings I have a goal for the next meeting! Have a super strong #WomensHealth representation! I’ll be encouraging our community to show up in force :)
1
3
17
3,006
In today’s publishing landscape, it’s pivotal that grant reviewers to pay close attention to the authorship footnotes. Co-firsts are increasingly common & dinging people because their name comes second will hurt many women and URMs, who are more prone to offer to share credit.
MurawalaLab@PMurawala
23 Oct 2024
Dear Reviewer, You have one job and that is to read grant properly. In case you are on X, here is my first author publication during my postdoc. science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/…
1
5
662
Introducing our lab’s newest Ph.D candidate William McLaughlin. William is doing an awesome microbial systems ecology project that’s already turning out some cool results. Keep an eye out for this rising star.
9
649
Megan Behringer retweeted
Matthew Hahn@3rdreviewer
18 Oct 2024
🚨🚨🚨Jobs at IU!🚨🚨🚨 Multiple positions in computational biology, broadly interpreted. Positions can be in multiple depts, including Biology, Informatics, and CS. Please apply--we want new colleagues! jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/…

Multiple, Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Positions in Computing in Biology, Health, and Wellness -...

Invite applications for multiple tenure /tenure-track positions at the Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor ranks

jobs.sciencecareers.org
2
32
36
10,297
Megan Behringer retweeted
EvolutionVU@EvolutionVU
17 Oct 2024
📢 Announcing the #ScopesSymposium! A deep dive into evolution, science, and the historic trial that shaped #evolution #education. Join us as we explore Truth, Evidence, and Discovery. Mark your calendars! @NCSE
A promotional graphic for the Scopes Symposium featuring the words “Truth, Evidence, Discovery” in bold, black font across a banner at the top. The background depicts the Dayton, Tennessee courthouse from the 1925 Scopes Trial, with scientific symbols such as DNA strands, microscopes, and molecular structures overlaid in muted tones of black and gold. At the bottom of the image, text reads: "Join us July 12-13, 2025, Vanderbilt University." The overall color scheme is black, gold, and white, reflecting Vanderbilt University’s branding.

ALT A promotional graphic for the Scopes Symposium featuring the words “Truth, Evidence, Discovery” in bold, black font across a banner at the top. The background depicts the Dayton, Tennessee courthouse from the 1925 Scopes Trial, with scientific symbols such as DNA strands, microscopes, and molecular structures overlaid in muted tones of black and gold. At the bottom of the image, text reads: "Join us July 12-13, 2025, Vanderbilt University." The overall color scheme is black, gold, and white, reflecting Vanderbilt University’s branding.
1
1
288
This is a formal plea for VUMC catering to bring back breakfast pizza. 🍕
7
500
Load more