Mike Barnkob
banner
mikebarnkob.bsky.social
Mike Barnkob
@mikebarnkob.bsky.social
M.D, PhD with a day job as a clinical immunologist, but moonlights as a CAR-T researcher. Interested in: synbio, cancer & cellular therapies.
Patients with CVID are at increased risk following infection with virus, due to poor B cell function.

The pandemic allowed us to examine how CVID patients reacted to a novel antigen.

Here we characterized B cell function. across multiple immunization events.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
BAFF-R and CD21 dysregulation inhibits memory B cell persistence in patients with common variable immunodeficiency
Background Individuals with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) are at increased risk of respiratory infections such as SARS-CoV-2 infection due to poorly understood defects within the memory B ce...
www.medrxiv.org
May 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
#LocationLocationLocation! Wang Eisenstein Waizman @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social &co show @ Science Immunology that physical, chemical, & radiation skin damage induces IL33 activating ILC2 & transferring to distal barrier tissues the capacity to induce antibodies causing #allergic responses!
Skin damage signals mediate allergic sensitization to spatially unlinked antigen
Skin injury releases damage-encoded systemic signals that can initiate immunity to novel antigens introduced at distal barrier sites.
www.science.org
April 4, 2025 at 8:06 PM
CAR NK cells are being explored as an off-the-shelf cell-therapy. How and against what are they being tested?

Lasse and Emil from our group did a fantastic deep dive into all clinical trials being conducted using CAR NKs. Check out our review: link.springer.com/article/10.1... #CAR #NK #Immunology
The clinical landscape of CAR NK cells - Experimental Hematology & Oncology
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) NK cell therapy has emerged as a promising alternative to CAR T cell therapy, offering significant advantages in terms of safety and versatility. Here we explore the cu...
link.springer.com
April 3, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Assessing CAR T cells cytotoxic capacity at the single-cell level can be tricky.

Here we provide a method for encapsulating >500.000 single CAR T cells with single target cells in droplets together with reagents to examine killing using standard flow cytometry:

app.jove.com/t/67657/drop...
March 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
A detailed look at fresh samples taken from asteroid Bennu confirms that organic chemistry (and the molecules of life) are everywhere:
Fresh Asteroid, Getcher Fresh Asteroid Here
www.science.org
January 31, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
Tumours escape the immune system by mutating to decrease their immunogenicity. In this study, now in
@natcomms.bsky.social, we described that immune cells can adapt to IFNg-driven escape, enhancing their fitness and thereby counteracting tumour escape www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Remodelling of the immune landscape by IFNγ counteracts IFNγ-dependent tumour escape in mouse tumour models - Nature Communications
Losing sensitivity to IFNγ may contribute to tumor immune escape, but containment of IFNγ-insensitive tumors is also reported. Here the authors show, by analyzing immune landscape differences between ...
www.nature.com
January 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Fantastic photo and super cool work. It reminds me of this study from 2012 where the authors compare T cell movement to sharks: www.nature.com/articles/nat... and youtu.be/0uf6vJq8lQY?.... I wonder how this study holds up against all these new fancy ways to track sharks
December 25, 2024 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
We’re excited to announce the winning entries of the #RSPPhotoComp 2024! Follow along as we reveal the beautiful winning images of each category. Starting with #Behaviour and overall winner, 'The Hunt from Above' by @albiangela.bsky.social, with the help of drone pilot, @augustpaula.bsky.social.
December 11, 2024 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
This is a concerning update about the ongoing status of #H5N1:

"In nature, the occurrence of this single mutation could be an indicator of human pandemic risk"

#IDSky #InfectiousDiseases #EpiSky #Epidemics

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin switches specificity to human receptors
In 2024, several human infections with highly pathogenic clade 2.3.4.4b bovine influenza H5N1 viruses in the United States raised concerns about their capability for bovine-to-human or even human-to-h...
www.science.org
December 6, 2024 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
Here are the videos... congrats to the authors seems like a really fun project to be working on. As a paraglider, I would love to see it navigating air space, finding thermals and landing!
December 4, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
New post on some preliminary – but troubling – signals about the direction H5N1 might be taking: kucharski.substack.com/p/h5n1-influ...
H5N1 influenza: some troubling preliminary signals
A few data sources to keep an eye on
kucharski.substack.com
November 27, 2024 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
The strain on scientific publishing: we set out to characterise the remarkable growth of the scientific literature in the last few years, in spite of declining growth in total scientists. What is going on?

direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
November 19, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
CD20-CD19 tandem CAR R/R DLBCL @niravshahmd #ASH24:
- 69 pts, 27% 3+ LOT, no bridging in 14d between apheresis & infusion
- 91% got fresh product
- ORR 73%, CR 49%
- 1-yr PFS/OS 42%/72%, mDOR 11 mos
- all CRS G1-2, 3 pts G3 ICANS
Reducing V2V & B2V time always good! #lymsm #celltherapy
November 20, 2024 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
Since I've been here for a while… here are some useful features on Bluesky that you might not have discovered yet! 🧵
November 20, 2024 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
Lady Mary Montagu’s role in promoting smallpox inoculation in Britain under the Hanoverians comes up in this edition from 2006 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
In Our Time - Immunisation - BBC Sounds
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the search for immunisation and its impact on society.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2024 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Mike Barnkob
Hey peeps, skeeps, skypes, whatever we are - I made a couple lists. Check them out and make suggestions for #celltherapy #genetherapy #immunotherapy must follows
November 21, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Interesting new paper utilizing NK receptors on T cells as a way to improve therapeutic efficiency against solid tumors: www.cell.com/cell-reports... #CART #immunology
Solid tumor immunotherapy using NKG2D-based adaptor CAR T cells
NKG2D ligands are widely expressed by solid tumors providing an attractive targeting opportunity with NKG2D-based CAR T cells. Here, Obajdin et al. show that this is optimally achieved using an adapto...
www.cell.com
November 21, 2024 at 9:18 AM