Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 1d

It is such a fun collaboration. Thank you @heeg.io and Kathleen Abadie!

Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

Our findings argue that modulating TCF1+ Trm will be important for either suppressing chronic inflammatory diseases or boosting long-lived immune protection. Huge thanks to the many people who contributing to this beast and the NIH-funding that supported it.

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

TCF1+ cells in the tissue and highlight the TLS core as an important inhibitory niche otherwise absent in the lung tissue. Additional data from our lab and others supports that these two CD4+ Trm populations exist in multiple tissues in multiple diseases and inflammatory conditions.

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

we could see differences in core signatures at the center of the TLS compared to the outer ring of the TLS, with inhibitory receptor-ligand pairs (PD1/PDL1/PDL2) predominantly expressed in the core. Experiments using PD1 blockade highlight the significant role of PD1 signaling in maintaining...

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

Citeseq data acquired with the ImmGenT consortium (@immgen.bsky.social) and spatial transcriptomics acquired with the @alleninstitute.org, which allowed for the visualization of transcriptional programs expressed by CD4+ Trm across distance from the TLS to the airways. Even cooler...

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

a TCF1+ population that resides in tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) and serves as a memory progenitor population for pathological Th2 effectors that reside at the airway interface. Through a collaborative tour de force, we integrated....

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

What Derek Bangs PhD and colleagues found reveals important insights for treating diseases of chronic inflammation in the tissues. Allergen-specific CD4+ Trm were comprised of two functionally and geographically distinct populations:

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 2d

Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute, intermittent, recurrent episodes of airway inflammation. A decade of work developing the tools, techniques and collaborations needed to figure out how CD4+ T cells in the lungs propagate disease can be found here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells

Tissue-resident memory CD4+ T cells (TRM) are key sentinels of the adaptive immune response that provide a rapid, robust inflammatory response upon reactivation in non-lymphoid tissues. While CD4+ TRM...

www.biorxiv.org

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 4d

More coming on what this means but this was one of those stories that took almost a decade to come together but was well worth the time. Also check out a companion piece on @biorxiv by Patrick Brennan!

Waggoner Lab @labwaggoner.bsky.social · 5d

@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells @marionpepper.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 11d

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · 15d

Neat study—following 320 healthcare workers for almost a year, with 152 of them being infected, the authors examined whether or not COVID-19 associates with more upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). It didn't (yay!).

But, having a kid <5 associated with a 74% increase in the risk of URTIs.

Is COVID-19 Associated With an Increased Risk of Subsequent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Adults? A Prospective Cohort Study

AbstractBackground. In Autumn 2022, a surge in upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) was observed worldwide. Individuals anecdotally reported increase

academic.oup.com

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 18d

Excited to be here! Have to admit John Denver was running through my head as we wound our way through the country roads of West Virginia.

Pitt Department of Immunology @pitt-immunology.bsky.social · 18d

We are thrilled to have @marionpepper.bsky.social from @uwdeptmedicine.bsky.social joining us to give the keynote presentation!

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Sep 11

If you read 1 thing today, please make it this: my so-talented colleague @ericboodman.bsky.social explains why babies in the US are vaccinated at birth against hep B — and what the human costs of changing that policy would be. www.statnews.com/2025/09/11/n...

Dropping hepatitis B shots for newborns would ignore history and endanger children, scientists warn

People who study, treat, or have hepatitis B say ending routine vaccination at birth - as some vaccine critics want - could lead to a resurgence of the virus.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · Sep 2

In a post on Truth Social, the president suggested that the CDC was being “ripped apart” over a question that was answered long ago — whether Covid vaccines work.
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/h...

Trump Wants Proof That Covid Vaccines Work. It’s Easy to Find.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Sep 2

Yesterday the president demanded that evidence about Covid vaccines be shown to the public. Today @apoorvanyt.bsky.social & I run through some of the studies made public over the past 4+ years that show that the vaccines work. Gift link: nyti.ms/46k17Tq

nyti.ms

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · Aug 30

Enormous thanks to @immunologyking.bsky.social and @maurogaya.bsky.social for organizing a vibrant, invigorating #EMBObarriertissues workshop. A poignant reminder of how critical
immunological studies are for ameliorating human disease. And a lot of fun people. 🐟 #wickelfisch

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Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · Aug 30

💔 he did this for so many of us.

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Carolyn King @immunologyking.bsky.social · Aug 26

I only heard tonight that Mike is no longer with us. All credit to him in setting me on this path as an immunologist. The description of his teaching brings back such warm memories. I recognize so many of the scientists on his
collage. What a gift to the world he was.

www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

Michael Cancro (1949–2025)

Just a few weeks ago, researchers and educators connected to immunology lost a wonderful friend and colleague: Michael Cancro, professor of pathology and lab medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Deepta Bhattacharya @deeptabhattacha.bsky.social · Aug 19

We mostly rely on Bayesian guesswork to predict how long antibodies will be produced for new vaccines/infections. Here, we find that some of the key programs are set *really* early. We hope early signatures can be used to predict and engineer durable vaccine immunity. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Early, adjuvant-responsive epigenetic programs in B cells imprint subsequent plasma cell survival and the duration of humoral immunity

The duration of antibody production varies across different infections and vaccines. To define molecular programs that promote durable humoral immunity, we used mice deficient in ZBTB20, a transcripti...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · Aug 27

The ousting of Dr. Susan Monarez as CDC Director, followed within hours by the resignations of Dr. Deb Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, mark a collapse of public health leadership with consequences that reach every American household.

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Karolinska Institutet @ki.se · Jun 25

Applications are now open! We are recruiting 20 Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas. We're looking for early-career researchers with strong scientific merits and future potential.
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Center for Immunology-UMN @cfi-umn.bsky.social · Aug 25

With deep gratitude, we thank Dr. Marc Jenkins for his decades of leadership, mentorship, and dedication to the Center for Immunology. The foundation he built will guide and inspire us for years to come.

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · Aug 24

If you believe that keeping your head down and being quiet will spare you from this fate, you are mistaken. This will be all of us.

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 24

New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Ivan Zanoni @lozanzi.bsky.social · Aug 16

#WeekendRead! #MomIsAlwaysMom! Koch, Shenoy et al show @science.org that, in the first 7 days of life, breast milk IgGs (not IgAs!) recognize microbiota & limit, via Fc receptors, Tfh cell and B cell intestinal expansion, protecting against #colitis & #allergy during weaning!

Breast milk IgG engages the mouse neonatal immune system to instruct responses to gut antigens

Maternal antibodies fundamentally regulate gut immunity in the developing infant, yet the mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. We found that maternal immunoglobulin G (IgG), ingested in ...

doi.org

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Reposted by Marion Pepper

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 14

I have a first serious attempt to estimate the consequences of multi-year funding for July.

For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was

$135 M

The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is

182

1/9

a man in a shirt and tie is touching his forehead

ALT: a man in a shirt and tie is touching his forehead

media.tenor.com

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