"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle

This week, we have a very large timeline update from Immigration and smaller updates from Food Safety, Medicaid, and Federal Workforce. Our weekly briefing covers all four at highest speed: unbreaking.org/blog/briefin...

@scripps.edu PhD candidate Dom Haas received the @societymucosalimm.bsky.social Young Investigator Award to present his work at #ICMI2026 👏

#ICMI2026 Reviews from the speakers! Sing Sing Way @babiesresearch.bsky.social discusses “Learning immunology from mothers and babies“. Catch his talk on Thursday and read his review: www.mucosalimmunology.org/article/S193...

#ICMI2026 kicks off tonight! If you’re in Montreal, please find me and say hi!

The serious looming further threat to US science www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Nadine Cerf-Bensussan, longtime Mucosal Immunology editor, has been awarded the Brian Kelsall Medal for her work with the journal. Thanks Nadine for all your efforts! #ICMI2026

I am so proud to be apart of @societymucosalimm.bsky.social. Everything I do for the @mucosalimmunol.bsky.social journal and podcast, I do to learn and share all of the amazing science🧪 from the many fantastic researchers 👩‍🔬 in this community. Thank you 💚 #ICMI2026

When 91 degrees feels surprisingly comfortable!

🔬 Announcing our newest awardees! 🌟 These brilliant minds are pushing boundaries across microbiology, immunology, infectious disease, earth systems, and neuroscience. Celebrate with us as we highlight their projects today👇 in our 🧵: 1/ bit.ly/HFAwardees

NIH Grants Management people are truly heroic (as are Program officers)--mine is emailing at 8:50 PM--they are working overtime to keep science in operation in the US.

The latest Mucosal Immunology Podcast episode is live! @societymucosalimm.bsky.social @marionbrunck.bsky.social @kknoop.bsky.social www.iheart.com/podcast/269-...

8th annual ‘Zackular Spectacular’!! Very fortunate to have such an amazing team!

IgA is necessary and sufficient to prevent norovirus infection in mice @wilenlab.bsky.social @aryaokten.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Introducing MicFly MicFLY, single-cell technology that quantifies bacterial abundance & links bacterial identity to viability, mRNA expression & Ab binding. Application to preterm infant cohort reveals ⬆️IgA/IgG-unbound Enterobacteriaceae associate w/NEC www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

After all this time looking for it! #humor #math #foundontheinternet #nerdhumor

New in PLOS Global Public Health: we traced a Klebsiella pneumoniae outbreak in a Botswana NICU (41 cases, 10 deaths) to contaminated shared IV fluid bags. The strain was drug-susceptible, so MDR colonization screening missed it. A 24-hr discard policy ended it. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Enteropathy produced in mice by intergenerational transmission of small intestinal microbiota from undernourished children @natmicrobiol.nature.com @kalipruss.bsky.social @washumedicine.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is one of the most exciting IBD papers of 2026 so far!!! 👇🏼 Every now and then, a study comes along that fundamentally changes how we think about disease mechanisms. This is one of them. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Super proud of Zackular Lab postdoc @shealynicg.bsky.social for receiving @bwfund.bsky.social PDEP! This is well-deserved recognition of Nic's incredible work and potential.Thank you to @bwfund.bsky.social for supporting Nic and this amazing cohort of future leaders! www.bwfund.org/news/2026-po...

Top leaders at the American Diabetes Association have resigned in wake of the huge outpouring of support for the 5 scientists — incl an ADA flagship journal editor — that the ADA forcibly removed from the annual meeting for disturbing an editorial from the ADA’s own flagship journal.

@mucosalimmunol.bsky.social @cincyresearch.bsky.social @babiesresearch.bsky.social @lukeocyte-bio.bsky.social Learning immunology from mothers and babies www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The White House Office of Management and Budget is moving to take more control of billions of dollars in federal grants. Critics say the proposed change would jeopardize the integrity of U.S. science. n.pr/4uNA78T

Donnie Dania took this brilliant photo in 2025. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Goodnight

Join us next Tuesday (May 19, 11am ET) for the Colton Consortium Virtual Seminar featuring Montserrat Anguera, PhD (Penn Vet) who will be covering "Sex Differences in Autoimmune Disease: Xist RNA-Mediated Mechanisms That Influence B Cell Function." Registration required: https://bit.ly/4wwhLdP

Protective maternal gut instincts www.nature.com/articles/d41... So thankful to @nature.com for the opportunity to highlight another exciting example of immunology learned from mothers, “protective maternal gut instincts” by @aiinglim.bsky.social @princetonmolbio.bsky.social

Such a fantastic week at #KSBeyondAntibiotics26! Amazing science, timely conversations about AMR & bacterial infections, and AWESOME people. Thanks to my co-organizers and everyone who joined us in beautiful Breckenridge! @dariavantyne.bsky.social @maribyndloss.bsky.social @kimingeneva.bsky.social

Early life γδT cell activation enforces intestinal barrier integrity during intergenerational C. difficile colonization https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.28.721483v1

Excited to share the final part of my postdoc work, where we investigate the impact of antimicrobial treatment on susceptibility to hospital-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia. Thanks to our amazing group of collaborators for their contributions to this study! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Yesterday we moved into the new Morgan Center for Research and Innovation at @childrensphila.bsky.social. This new space will be home to the Moustafa Lab, the CHOP Microbiome Sequencing Core, and CMM @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social. We are already getting ready to be back at the bench next week.1/2

Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR. We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets. Thread + link below.

And don’t forget to register for #ICMI2026!!

Had a great time talking C. diff on the #MattersMicrobial podcast! Thanks so much to @markowenmartin.bsky.social for being such a fantastic host and for the great conversation!

This week, our Data Security team added 25 events to the timeline, shining a spotlight on the Trump administration’s efforts to grab yet more personal data from Americans.

Today, the 2026 Penn Colton Center for #Autoimmunity Symposium brings together the Penn #autoimmune research community—spanning diverse disease areas and the full continuum of discovery—to share new insights in diagnosing, treating, and preventing autoimmune diseases.

Tomorrow is the last day to submit an abstract for @keystonesymposia.bsky.social meeting Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies Combating Bacterial Infections. It is going to be an amazing meeting and we have a few slots left! keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26

Dysbiosis is not a change in the microbiota composition, it is a change in the host environment and compositional changes are secondary to this underlying cause

Thanks for highlighting our work with the other outstanding recent discoveries

Back story (link.growkudos.com/1pt9jbrx24g) behind our recent publication... Maternal Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2)+ CD4 T cells promote fertility and fetal tolerance | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Enhancing Diabetic Wound Healing: A little help from Alcaligenes faecalis? #Microbiome #ActAgainstAmputation diabeticfootonline.c...

Another twist to why newborn babies more vulnerable to infection. Beyond immune cell immaturity, layering, active suppression... maternal pathogen-targeted antibodies still protect. Grateful @Nature sharing this hopefully uplifting glass half (99.9%)-full perspective www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Orlaith Keenan in the Zackular lab (@joeyzacks.bsky.social) defends her thesis tomorrow!

Why Do Women with IBD Face Higher Risk of Pregnancy Complications? @babiesresearch.bsky.social @cincyresearch.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @pnas.org scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/why-do-women...

A different perspective. Always helpful.

Excited to see this story published! Congrats @jeylee.bsky.social and @abaumler.bsky.social!

❤️An important message from our CSO, EVP, & team captain Dr. Sue Furth! Dr. Furth + the Research Institute team will be joining April's I ♥ CHOP Run, Walk & Virtual Challenge presented by Philadelphia Insurance Companies. Join us, support, or learn more: chop.donordrive.com/teams/CHOPRe...

Natural maternal immunity protects neonates from Escherichia coli sepsis @cincyresearch.bsky.social @babiesresearch.bsky.social @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Felt good to Stand Up For Science today in Seattle🔬🧬🧪💪 @standupforscience.bsky.social