Working on immunometabolism? Or looking for people who do? Then here’s the starter pack for you! 😊 #Immunosky go.bsky.app/MvxkA4Q

“I trust my immune system. I don’t need a vaccine.” Ok, I trust mine to protect me too. Which is why I trained it extensively on what the virus looks like so it can handle it. Boxers don’t enter the ring without a plan. It’s the punch you don’t see coming that knocks you out.

A history of alcohol use disorder increases the risk of death from sepsis. Researchers found that the HIF-1α-PFKP axis regulates glycolysis and phagocytosis in ethanol-exposed macrophages and is a potential therapeutic target in ethanol with sepsis: ow.ly/S5AQ50WOgnB.

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs Note: This concerns many infections (inflammation, trauma), including respiratory viruses and is NOT specific for SARS-CoV-2 as some claim. www.nature.com/artic... 1/9

ICYMI:

@unmc.bsky.social SUARP program ended yesterday, and our undergraduate student who was such a pleasure to have with us this summer presented a wonderful poster on how alcohol affects the metabolic capacity of the gut microbiome! See more about his experience here: www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam... 🧪

Just submitted my application and working model for my NIH F31 for #BioRenderForGrants! This model has implications not only in alcohol research, but also in various other fields. If we can force cells to “reroute” to a different metabolic pathway, we may be able to restore effector function.

A US Senate committee endorsed maintaining the NIH's structure and increasing its funding by US$400 million, or about 1% go.nature.com/4mg193S

If you've ever *benefitted* from NIH research (big population), CALL YOUR SENATOR now to let them know. ⏰ Tmrw morning, Senate appropriators will mark up NIH's FY26 budget. Personal examples help. My own case: decades of *sustained* investment in NIH-funded cancer research saved my life.

HOW COOL IS THIS? Researchers have developed a DENTAL FLOSS that can DELIVER vaccines THROUGH the gums, a method that could one day offer a NEEDLE-FREE alternative for vaccination. This approach effectively stimulated immunity AND provided FULL protection against a lethal strain of influenza. 🧪🧵⬇️

My first review paper got its first citation today! To celebrate, I’m putting it back on everyone’s feed: an overview of the microbiome in allergy, asthma, and occupational lung disease: link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ImmunoSky #MicrobiomeSky #AllergySky 🧪

🚨🚨🚨PUI TT Job Alert!! My dept at TCNJ is hiring a tenure track cell and molecular biologist. Come join my supportive colleagues, helpful staff, & fabulous students! We're surprisingly well resourced w/excellent equipment (confocal, SEM etc) and research w/students counts towards our teaching load!

My university has announced a special international graduate fellowship for PhD students whose acceptance at a US university has been rescinded. Check it out: grad.uwo.ca/finances/wes...

As the US breaks a 3-decade milestone for measles cases in one year, I'm reflecting on my worst timed paper ever. I still stand by the points made here. The world, but one leader, remains ready for the endgame. The resonance of the abdication of US leadership is deafening.

We’re doing a July 4 feature all week highlighting how funding science is patriotic (and the incredible researchers doing life changing, tax payer funded research!) Give us a follow!

Microbial Tryptophan Metabolism Activates Host Lysosomal Activity to Facilitate Lipid Breakdown and Ameliorate Hepatic Steatosis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.28.662086v1

Multiomics Approach to Regionally Profile Zinc-Driven Host-Gut Microbiome Interactions in the Intestinal Tract https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.02.662895v1

Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate PFAS in dense cluster aggregates; PFAS levels in gnotobiotic mouse GI tract & feces is microbiota-dependent Via @natmicrobiol.nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Preprint: PD-L1 ligation on NK cells induces a metabolic shift from glycolysis to fatty acid oxidation, enhancing tumor infiltration and control www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

To all US citizens: now is the moment to call both your Senators and your Congressional Rep, tell them to vote NO to this atrocity and let them know you are following their every move and it doesn’t matter if they are D or R just blow up their phones. GO. www.congress.gov/members/map?...

Abx ➡️ ↓ AhR ligands ➡️ microglia activation ➡️ ↑ inflammation Very interesting publication!

PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️ Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

Are you an immunologist working towards your first R01? Please join @aai.org and take advantage of programs like our Grant Review for Immunologists Program www.aai.org/Careers/GRIP We pair early career principal investigators with established mentors. Send me a chat for more info

Had some really good conversations at the poster session today at #RSA_ISBRA2025! Thank you to everyone who came and chatted with me! 🥂

Hey #alcohol researchers, what are non-NIH funding mechanisms to support alcohol research? Please share any information #rsa2025 #rsa_isbra2025

Very excited to fly out to #NOLA tomorrow for the annual Research Society on Alcohol meeting! I will be giving a talk at the Alcohol Immunology Research Interest Group satellite meeting this Saturday and will be presenting a poster this coming Monday on both myeloid and lymphoid cells!

#Butyrate enhances CD56-bright #NK cell-driven killing of #activated #Tcells and modulates NK #cell #chromatin #accessibility #Genes & #Immunity @springernature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It took longer than I expected, but today I finally came across my first peer-reviewed, published, chat GPT-written scientific article organically. 🧵

Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3 www.science.org/content/arti...

A study in Nature Communications shows that some gut microbial tryptophan metabolites are different in autism and are associated with autism symptoms and activity in interoceptive brain regions. go.nature.com/4jZ9Z55 #AusRes 🧪

NKp46 Recognizes the Hyphal Form of Candida albicans and Mediates Protective Antifungal Immunity www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out this new program recently launched by Shaun, it’s free and not only alerts you of potential tick-borne pathogens you might be exposed to but it helps scientists learn more about tick-borne illnesses! More details can be found on the UNMC website: www.unmc.edu/publichealth... 🧪

Excited to announce that my research group is launching a *FREE* tick testing program called Nebraska Tick Testing (NeTT). We accept any ticks, both inside and outside Nebraska. We will identify the tick, screen it for pathogens, and provide a report. For more information visit: go.unmc.edu/nett

Excited to share an article that was published today from a group I was in a couple years back at @unmc.bsky.social, specifically monitoring COVID-19 strain-specific outbreaks particularly at different occupational places regionally and on campus. www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

Tufts University petitions a federal judge to release student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was grabbed off the street by immigration officials. The move is some of the strongest public pushback by a school against the Trump administration's arrests of foreign students.

🔬Do NK cells need to persist & expand in blood to fight leukemia? Maybe not! New research suggests transferred non-genetically modified NK cells can show clinical activity without long-term persistence. 🦠 Read more in Immunotherapy Advances 👉 doi.org/10.1093/imma... #Immunotherapy

With 23AndMe going belly up, anybody who used them may have their genetic data sold to the highest bidder, to do with as they please. There is a way out - the linked article shows how you can delete your data from their database. DO IT NOW! archive.is/iNFaf

I’m also very excited to report that #NIAAA F31 scores came back this week after much speculation that meeting groups were cancelled. It was my first time as a student composing a federal grant application and I am happy to say that it was scored upon first submission :) 1/

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to close out our GRC conference last night. The alcohol research field is full of incredible individuals doing cutting edge research and I am so very lucky and blessed not only to know these people but give them insight on my own endeavors. Until 2027 ❤️🥂