Immune

Latest Episodes:

Immune 108: B cells go broad and live long Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

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

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 37: Secret lives of neutrophils with Tanya Mayadas Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

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

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 35: Human immunology and Dengue virus infection with Adam Waickman Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

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

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Links for this episode

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune 107: Breakfast of champions Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 34: Decoding antiviral signaling networks with Stacy Horner Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

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

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Links for this episode

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 33: Immunity to pesky parasites and peanuts with Scott Smith Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

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

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Links for this episode

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune 106: Science and podcasting with Kathryn Knoop and Marion Brunck Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

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

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Links for this episode

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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 immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 32: Natural infection versus vaccine protection with Jenna Guthmiller Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Jenna Guthmiller talks about how she became interested in immunology and her exciting research on how different responses to vaccines and infection shape future responses to infection.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Jenna Guthmiller

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Links for this episode

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Broadly neutralizing flu antibodies (Nature, 2022)
First exposure antibodies to H1N1 flu (Sci Transl Med, 2021)
Long lasting B cells to chimeric flu vaccine (Immunity, 2025)
Vaccine strategies to target HA anchor epitope (Nat Comm, 2025)
Pre-existing immunity shapes flu response (Sci Trans Med, 2020)
From Immune 35: SARS-CoV-2 infection severity linked to anti-spike (mBio, 2021)
Guthmiller lab
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune 105: Tumor bacteria undermine immunotherapy Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

Immune discusses a snippet on how EBV infection alters the immunopeptidome and promotes multiple sclerosis, and a paper on head and neck cancers harboring bacteria that create an immunosuppressive environment and promote immunotherapy resistance.

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
EBV, Golli-MBP presentation and multiple sclerosis (Cell, 2026)
Intratumoral bacteria promote resistance to cancer immunotherapy (Nat Cancer, 2026)
Time stamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Music by Tatami. Immune logo image by Blausen Medical Send your immunology questions and comments to immune@microbe.tv

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

Immune Booster 31: NOD-like receptor discovery with Gabriel Nunez Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Gabriel Nunez discusses the discovery of NOD-like receptors, NOD1 and NOD2, in inflammatory bowel disease and how travel and taking a moment to enjoy local culture and art influences his creativity.

Host: Cindy Leifer

Guest: Gabriel Nuñez

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

Links for this episode