Now that I am no longer dealing with an infant with an infection (non-staphylococcal), time for a proper 🧵! If you’re interested in some combination of Staphylococcus aureus, innate immune sensing of bacteria, inflammasomes, and cell wall modifications, read on…

Thrilled to share my work from the @jkagan1.bsky.social lab! TLDR: O-acetylation and wall teichoic acid compete for space on S. aureus peptidoglycan. This competition regulates DNA release, and thus immune receptor activation, during infection! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #microsky #immunosky

meta-PAMPs: A new class of immunostimulatory molecules that control the ability of bacterial factors to operate as PAMPs. Jordan Jastrab reveals that wall teichoic acid (WTA) is a key regulator of inflammasomes and interferons during infection. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Abstract submissions are open for the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists @midwinter-immun.bsky.social!! www.midwconfimmunol.org The Early Bird Registration deadline is Nov 14, 2025. There will be lots of Selected Abstract talks so submit an abstract to be considered!

TLR4 endocytosis continues to be the centerpiece of TRIF-Interferon signaling. Kasper et al report diverse structures of Bacteroides LPS and their impact on TLR4 endocytosis and signaling. Functional consequences on Treg induction in the gut. www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

What is cell death? Honored to participate in this article where the question was posed to a dozen experts. Thanks to the fantastic team at Nature Structural & Molecular Biology for organizing this discussion. rdcu.be/eG1Nm

More than a decade ago, I started making tutorial videos on how to use Adobe illustrator, targeted at scientists that needed to make figures and cartoons for talks or papers. Now I'm getting started again, but this time with the free and open source vector editor Inkscape 🧪 youtu.be/E7n6SDni28Q

Coming early 2026: Conference on Gene Expression & Signaling in the Immune System A world-class lineup of interesting and interested scientists will convene at the historic Cold Spring Harbor Lab to discuss all things immunology. share.google/m7eZmUxm0TVh...

💥 #ImmunometabolismPower! Excited to have this officially out @cp-immunity.bsky.social 💥 We show that pathogens induce the host to produce oxidized lipids which rewire the #metabolism of #macrophages, causing #epigenetic modifications which dampen anti-inflammatory IL-10, exacerbating #inflammation!

An NLRP3 stimulatory universal influenza vaccine. We report an NLRP3 stimulus that generates hyperactive dendritic cells (hDCs). journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Finally officially out in the latest issue of @cp-cell.bsky.social as a #free #featured #LeadingEdge paper: everything you wanted to know about #InterferonPower! ❤️ @danielboehmer.bsky.social @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

If you've been looking for a big, juicy, up-to-date review on interferons, incorporating the latest understanding about how IFN-lambda fits into the picture... well, here it is!👇 (Thanks to @lozanzi.bsky.social and @danielboehmer.bsky.social for writing it!)

So excited that this study is now online! It's been a pleasure to work with BioAge Labs and our collaborators on this story. We characterise a new class of #NLRP3 inhibitors with translational potential for so many inflammatory diseases.

Increasing evidence that innate immune pattern recognition receptors do not sense productive infections. DeRisi lab finds that RSV does not induce IFNs in productively infected cells. Only bystander/non-productively infected cells produce IFNs. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Gianna Hammer & I are thrilled to co-Chair the 64th @midwinter-immun.bsky.social Conference of Immunologists Jan. 24-27, 2026. Join us & an amazing lineup of speakers including Carla Rothlin as Dan Campbell memorial lecturer for some exciting science in lovely Asilomar, CA! www.midwconfimmunol.org

RFK Jr. Cancels Promising Work on Cancer Vaccine #maha l.smartnews.com/p-64tUnVbG/P...

mRNA technologies: Unlimited potential to improve human health. I spoke with the fantastic Erin Shumaker at POLITICO to discuss this topic and its applications to cancer, autoimmunity and beyond. @erinlschumaker.bsky.social @politico.com @cornertx #mRNA #Cancer politi.co/3VjfRvu

#InterferonPower! Thrilled for our latest work @cp-cell.bsky.social! With @danielboehmer.bsky.social, we dug into tons of papers & created what we hope will be a go-to resource for immunologists & non-immunologist about type I, II, III (& IV😉) #interferons! Free👉 authors.elsevier.com/a/1leKGL7PXu...

‘In national security terms, mRNA is the equivalent of a missile defense system for biology. The ability to rapidly design, produce and deploy medical countermeasures is as vital to our defense as any military capability.’ www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

mRNA--an app for human health. To learn more, see my interview below with LABIOTECH www.labiotech.eu/trends-news/... @Labiotech_eu #mRNA #CancerFree

The MAHA Mantra: Embrace natural foods and natural medicines. Want to know the most natural medicine? mRNA. It is in every cell in every organism in nature. And it has the potential to cure cancer. See commentary below. #MAHA #cancer www.biospace.com/drug-develop...

mRNA, a natural molecule found in every cell in our body, can unlock new ways to treat cancer. Grateful to the fantastic @emilymullin.bsky.social for the opportunity to speak on this topic. See link below www.wired.com/story/rfk-jr...

TIR-specific functions of lupus-linked Toll-like Receptors. Shlomchik et al describe TLR7 and TLR9 knockin mice where the TIR domains are swapped, resulting in swap of function. Discoveries provide important insight into autoimmunity. www.jci.org/articles/vie...

The recent cuts to federal mRNA research funding are killing our best chance to cure cancer. Read my OP-ED on this topic in BioSpace, linked below. www.biospace.com/drug-develop...

Congratulations to my postdoc @mikelhaggadone.bsky.social on receiving the inaugural Penn Postdoctoral Association Mentorship Award! Truly well-deserved recognition of his dedication to mentoring a cohort of Penn undergraduates in the First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences program!

Please share my 1 min video on the importance of maintaining NIH funding of infectious diseases and drug discovery research vs rising antibiotic resistance Drastic budget cuts harm our health and imperil the next generation of scientists More @UCSanDiego “Behind Every Breakthrough” bit.ly/3FlXQs3

Why does RNA undergo glycosylation? Excited to have our paper out. We in collab w/ Ryan Flynn @raflynn5.bsky.social show N-glycans on glycoRNA hide self-RNA from endosomal TLRs promoting silent removal of dead cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @uconnresearch.bsky.social @uconnhealth.bsky.social

“A second person has now died and more than 50 people have fallen ill as part of a growing Legionnaires' cluster in Harlem, city health officials reported… The cases from the cluster have been found in five Harlem ZIP codes: 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039, along with the bordering communities”

Sometimes the news is actually worth reading. "Senate panel rejects Trump cuts to NIH, other health agencies" l.smartnews.com/p-5Vc5EAFi/f...

Everything you wanted to know about oxidized lipids & immunity, in one review. We explain how oxidized lipids impact inflammation, dendritic cells, anti-tumor immunity and more. Kudos to Joon Choi for his exceptional work. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Meet my lab, friends! www.linkedin.com/posts/mgbres...

MyD88 cell biology explored in yeast. The fantastic @VictorJCid and colleagues reveal an unexpected variety of organelles MyD88 can bind in budding yeast. Kudos to all authors on this exciting finding. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Discovery of a pH sensor that regulates inflammation. Zhou and Medzhitov provide a mechanistic tour-de-force in defining how BRD4 links changes in pH to inflammatory gene expression. Kudos to the authors on this exciting finding. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#EpigeneticPower! 💥 #NewPaperAlert! We show @cp-immunity.bsky.social that endogenous oxidized lipids decide whether host survives or dies during #sepsis, #ARDS, or Staph infection! Ox lipids bind & inhibit #AKT, boosting inhibitory H3K27 methylation via EZH2 & blocking #IL10!

A new function for an ancient innate immune stimulus. Zanoni et al report that oxidized lipids control IL-10 expression, impacting host defense and disease. Kudos to the authors on this important discovery www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Thank you @inflammasomelab.bsky.social and @s-burgener.bsky.social for the invitation to visit the IMB@UQ in Brisbane! I had a fantastic time presenting my postdoc work in the Kagan lab (@jkagan1.bsky.social) and talking science!

RFK Jr. makes the most basic mistake in all of epidemiology:

Explore breakthroughs in #cancer #immunology with global leaders. #CellSymposia: The cancer-immunity cycle Keynotes: Ira Mellman & Carl June Abstract submission deadline: July 25 Sitges, Spain | Nov 2–4, 2025 http://dlvr.it/TLX7WT

Want to learn how we can use mRNA to cure cancer? I discuss this topic and more with Drug Discovery World. Thanks to the fantastic Megan Thomas for a terrific interview. cornertx.com #mRNA #immunotherapy #CancerResearch www.ddw-online.com/in-conversat...

#Cytokines & #gut #inflammation, what’s better?! 😉 Join us tomorrow @focisimmunology.bsky.social #focis2025, 8am at the @cytokinesociety.bsky.social symposium!

Alert! The abstract deadline for the Microbial Pathogenesis & Host Response meeting has been extended to July 7 meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...

Want to know how mRNAs can be used to program tumor immunity? Join us tomorrow at FOCIS. @focisimmunology.bsky.social #focis2025 www.linkedin.com/posts/corner...

Thrilled that our latest paper showing that DCs undergo either pyroptosis or apoptosis upon bacterial blockade of host translation to restrict Legionella is now online at the @asm.org journal mBio! Congrats to 1st author @vvazquez.bsky.social & co-authors! 🎉 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

SP140–RESIST pathway regulates interferon mRNA stability and antiviral immunity @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

mRNAs encoding adjuvant proteins boost immunity. A fantastic study from Hunter et al shows the value of IL12. Study validates original work on this concept, ref below. Kudos to the authors on this exciting discovery! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

History. The best predictor of the future. It's the economy stupid. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

One-quarter of all billion-dollar U.S. start-ups have a founder who attended a U.S. university as an international student. In other news... www.nbcboston.com/news/local/h...

Harvard Dean George Daley inspiring a new generation of PhD scientists at graduation today. The talent of these doctors is as large as their potential impact on the future. #Harvard @harvardmed.bsky.social

NLRP3 inflammasomes can assemble on most organelles. A beautiful study by Hafner et al demonstrate the flexibility of organelles that can support inflammasome activation. Kudos to the authors on an intriguing study. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @ivahb.bsky.social @elvirab.bsky.social