The Immunology Podcast

Guest:

Dr. Martin Prlic is a Professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. He discusses the challenges of studying human immunology and how his lab uses advanced single-cell technologies to understand T cell responses across healthy, inflamed, and tumor tissues. He also explores the biology of tissue-resident T cells, how inflammation shapes their function, and immune cell interactions at the maternal-fetal interface.

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The Immunology Science Round Up

lncRNA Regulates Gut Immunity – An IBD-associated long noncoding RNA promotes immune tolerance by enhancing regulatory T cell function and limiting inflammatory T cell responses.

Trust in Research Antibodies – An investigation identified nearly 19,000 apparently manipulated antibody validation images across products sold by 15 research antibody vendors.

Targeting Melanoma with mRNA – A Phase III trial found that a personalized mRNA neoantigen therapy combined with KEYTRUDA improved recurrence-free and distant metastasis-free survival compared with KEYTRUDA alone after melanoma surgery.

Beyond Shingles Prevention – A recombinant shingles vaccine was associated with a lower long-term risk of several cardiovascular outcomes, supporting further studies of its potential cardioprotective effects.

Engineering Myeloid Immunotherapy – Expandable granulocyte-monocyte progenitors provide a scalable platform for engineering macrophages that can target blood and solid tumors.

CAR T Cells Meet Glioblastoma – Responses to CAR T cell therapy for glioblastoma are associated with the surrounding immune environment, with NK cells linked to response and regulatory T cells and suppressive myeloid cells linked to resistance.

Image courtesy of Dr. Martin Prlic









































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Guest:

Dr. Miriam Merad is Director of the Precision Immunology Institute and a Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She discusses how myeloid progenitors and macrophages shape the tumor microenvironment, and how dendritic cells support tertiary lymphoid structures and anti-tumor immunity. She also explores the role of chronic inflammation in aging and disease, and shares her perspective on the importance of biomedical research in protecting human health.

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The Immunology Science Round Up

Viral Reactivation in COVID-19 – Chronic viruses frequently reactivate during severe COVID-19, with distinct patterns associated with inflammation, disease severity, recovery, and long COVID.

Safer Antibodies During Pregnancy – Fusing therapeutic antibodies to albumin reduces their transfer across the placenta while preserving prolonged circulation, offering a strategy to limit fetal drug exposure during pregnancy.

Self-Sustaining Regulatory T Cells – Engineering regulatory T cells with a self-sustaining IL-2 signaling system improves their persistence and ability to prevent autoimmune diabetes in mice.

Where Tuberculosis Persists – Mycobacterium tuberculosis persists in lymph nodes by forming infected monocyte-derived niches that evade recognition by Mtb-specific T cells despite activating antimicrobial responses.

Image courtesy of Dr. Miriam Merad.









































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Guest:

Dr. Pere Santamaria is a Professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and Group Leader at the Barcelona Institute. He discusses how his lab studies the mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases, with a focus on regulatory T cell biology and antigen-specific immune tolerance. He also explains how his team developed a nanomedicine platform that reprograms autoreactive T cells into regulatory cells, offering a targeted approach to treating autoimmune disorders without suppressing normal immune function, and shares the challenges of translating this technology from the lab to the clinic.

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The Immunology Science Round Up

Maternal Vaccine Against GBS – A Phase I/II trial shows that a maternal hexavalent Group B Streptococcus vaccine is safe and elicits robust antibody responses in both mothers and infants.

Decoding Treg Differentiation – TCR specificity and antigen presentation context determine regulatory T cell differentiation and phenotype, providing a framework for antigen-specific immune tolerance.

A Microbiota–Autoimmunity Axis – Disrupted dendritic cell development promotes gut dysbiosis that drives inflammatory dendritic cell expansion and systemic autoimmunity.

Programming Regulatory T Cells – Arginine availability regulates MHC class I antigen presentation, influencing antiviral immunity and cancer development.

Image courtesy of Dr. Pere Santamaria.









































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Guest:

Dr. Brian Brown is a Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He discusses how his lab develops innovative technologies to study the immune system and advance new therapeutics, from T cell engineering to mRNA-based medicines. He also explores how microRNA-guided targeting can improve the precision of mRNA therapeutics, how different tissues shape immune responses, and the importance of effective science communication.

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The Immunology Science Round Up

Sindbis in Cerebrospinal Fluid – Scientists have found evidence that Sindbis virus can invade the human central nervous system and cause neurological disease.

A Skin–Lung Reflex – Activation of sensory neurons in the skin suppresses allergic airway inflammation through a vagus nerve–mediated neuroimmune reflex.

Microbiome Enhances Cancer Immunity – Gut bacteria promote anti-tumor immunity by converting tryptophan into indoles that enhance immune responses and inhibit melanoma growth.

Macrophages Drive Healthy Aging – Restoring macrophage clearance of senescent neutrophils reverses age-related decline across multiple organs in mice by blocking EP2 signaling.

Image courtesy of Dr. Brian Brown









































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Guest:

Dr. Andrew Hogan is a Professor and Principal Investigator of the Obesity Immunology Research Group at Maynooth University. He discusses how obesity drives chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction, increasing the risk of diseases such as diabetes and cancer, while highlighting the immune system’s role in disease progression. He also explains how GLP-1 therapies improve both metabolism and immune function, offering new insights into obesity treatment.

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The Immunology Science Round Up

Innate Immunity Predicts Symptoms – Stronger innate immune responses predisposed people to influenza symptoms while also promoting antiviral immune activation.

Broad HIV Neutralization #1 – A novel HIV immunogen induced broadly neutralizing antibodies in macaques, providing a promising blueprint for HIV vaccine development.

Broad HIV Neutralization #2 – A germline-targeting vaccine induced broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies in nonhuman primates.

CAR-T Targets Glioblastoma – A dual-targeting CAR-T therapy achieved durable glioblastoma control in preclinical models.

Image courtesy of Dr. Andrew Hogan









































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