Immune

On this episode of Immune, the team explores two fortuitous discoveries: caspase inhibitors that hitch a ride through gasdermin D pores to selectively shut down proinflammatory cytokine secretion, and human monoclonal antibodies against malaria that were repurposed to block allergic antibody binding to red meat allergens in alpha-gal syndrome.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• GasderminD pores deliver drugs (Nature, 2026)
• Potential alpha-gal syndrome treatment (J Clin Immunol, 2026)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Immune logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Tulika Singh joins Immune at AAI2026 to talk about the international partnerships that advance research on immunity to emerging flaviviruses and her research on the impact of prior Zika virus infection on susceptibility to Dengue virus disease.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Tulika Singh

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Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Harris Research Lab
• 2025 STAT Wunderkind award to Dr. Singh
• Neutralization of Zika with IgM developed in pregnancy (Cell, 2022)
• Infection history shapes Dengue response (Nat Comm, 2024)
• Longitudinal profiling of antibodies following Dengue infection (Nat Comm, 2026)
• Exposure to Zika and risk for Dengue (Sci Transl Med, 2024)
• AAI Public Policy Fellows Program
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Carla Rothlin joins Immune at AAI2026 to talk about her career studying inflammation regulation and how she co-founded the Global Immunotalks virtual seminar series.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Carla Rothlin

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• TAM receptor signaling in immune homeostasis (Annu Rev Immunol, 2015)
• MerTk in retinal pigment epithelial cells (Sci Adv, 2023)
• Modifiers determine MerTk function (Elife, 2022)
• Re-evaluating MerTk knockout mice (Int J Mol Sci, 2024)
• TAMs for checkpoint blockade in cancer therapy (Immunol Rev, 2017)
• Global Immunotalks on YouTube
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Immune tackles papers on the breadth of human B cell responses following mRNA vaccination and on the role of mitochondria and reactive oxygen species in plasma B cell maintenance.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• mRNA flu vaccine expands B cell breadth (Nat Immunol, 2026)
• Mitochondrial ROS and plasma cells (Nat Commun, 2026)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Immune logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Tanya Mayadas joins Immune to talk about her road to study neutrophils and her research findings on neutrophil antigen presentation and novel neutrophil targeting therapies.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Tanya Mayadas

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Tanya recently appointed department chair and director
• Neutrophils, von Willebrand factor and P-selectin (Cell, 1991)
• P-selectin knockout mouse (Cell, 1993)
• Neutrophils as antigen presenting cells in cancer (Nat Comm, 2021)
• Neutrophils elicit broad anti-tumor immunity (Cancer Res Comm, 2026)
• FcR-mediated neutrophil recruitment (Circulation, 2009)
• Neutrophil classification and heterogeneity (Immunity, 2025)
• Neutrophils in Lupus (Curr Op Rheumatol, 2019)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Adam Waickman discusses the unusual reason he got into studying immunology just in humans, his important studies on Dengue virus vaccine antibodies, and the problematic phenomenon of antibody dependent enhancement.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Adam Waickman

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Waickman Lab Website
• Dengue virus human infection model (Sci Trans Med, 2022)
• mRNA vectored antibody against Dengue (Antiviral Res, 2025)
• B cell receptor enhancement of Dengue (PLoS Path, 2024)
• Dengue infection macrophage transcriptional profiles (J Virol, 2025)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Immune reviews new research that shows a boost in T cell function after eating and the potential for the cGAS-STING pathway to be a new lupus therapeutic target.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• T cell immunity boosted after eating (Nature, 2026)
• Inhibiting autoimmunity through TLR7-cGAS (Nat Comm, 2026)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Immune logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Stacy Horner discusses her work on innate detection of viruses, viral countermeasures, and the role of m(6)A RNA modifications in regulating antiviral immunity.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Stacy Horner

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Hepatitis virus proteases block host response (J Virol, 2012)
• Host RNA binds to MAVS (Science, 2024)
• m6A modifications modify innate response to viruses (Cell Chem Biol, 2024)
• UFMylation coordinates MAVS assembly for antiviral responses (bioRxiv, 2025)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Scott Smith talks about his research on cloned individual antibodies and how those studies have shifted his thoughts on the role of IgE in parasite defense and food allergy.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Scott Smith

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Complement control proteins in poxvirus evasion (J Virol, 2000)
• Complement control protein reduces xenotransplant rejection (Transpl Proc, 2002)
• Engineering therapeutic antibodies (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2023)
• Antigens in peanut allergy anaphylaxis (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2025)
• Using human antibodies to identify parasite antigens (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2022)
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Kathryn Knoop and Marion Brunck join the Immune team to talk about their research and their podcast "Mucosal Immunology".

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Kathryn Knoop and Marion Brunck

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Immune!

Links for this episode

• MicrobeTV Discord Server
• Knoop: Oral tolerance in early life review
• Knoop: Gamma delta T cells in neonatal sepsis
• Knoop: EGF and IgA in breastmilk
• Brunck: FcGR's in PMNS
• Brunck: CRISPR KO to study FcGR's in human PMN
• Brunck: Leukocytes in breastmilk review
• Mucosal Immunology podcast
• Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Immune logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to [email protected]

Information on this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.