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Reposted by Ben Gern

Mucosal Immunology @mucosalimmunol.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Expression of CD103 facilitates localization and activation of CD4+ T cells within Mycobacterium tuberculosis lung-lesions from @rmortensenssi.bsky.social and colleagues www.mucosalimmunology.org/article/S193...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Will Branchett @wjbranchett.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Pleased to see this out now in @jem.org 🔬 We characterise the early immune response during M. tuberculosis infection in mouse models and demonstrate a detrimental role for type I interferon activated neutrophils in TB lesions. Thanks to all involved @crick.ac.uk and i3S, Porto.

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Will Branchett @wjbranchett.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

A nice discussion here of our work on the early immune response in M. tuberculosis infection and the great recent paper from @bengern.bsky.social et al

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Journal of Experimental Medicine @jem.org · 28/10/2025

Insights from Andrea Cooper: Mtb drives expression of type I IFN–mediated #neutrophil accumulation, which limits interaction btwn CD4 T cells & macrophages. Failure to limit type I IFN very early in the process allows rapid progression of disease rupress.org/jem/article/... #Tuberculosis

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Clinical Infectious Diseases @cidjournal.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Asymptomatic Tuberculosis in Children with Household Exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis ✅ Just Accepted #IDSky 🔗 bit.ly/47csDBA

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Marion Pepper @marionpepper.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

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...

biorxiv.org

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...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Tom Scriba @tomscriba.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

We are inviting applications for postdoctoral fellows in immunology of TB at the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, University of Cape Town. For more information see the attached ad: idm.uct.ac.za/media/739223

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Journal of Experimental Medicine @jem.org · 06/10/2025

Our October issue is here! rupress.org/jem/issue/22... The cover image shows the lung of a mouse infected with M. #tuberculosis stained for #neutrophils (orange) normal lung parenchyma (blue), collagen (white) and CD4 T cells (green). See @bengern.bsky.social et al. rupress.org/jem/article/...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Science in Seattle @scienceinseattle.com · 09/09/2025

A recent study from the Gerner and Urdahl labs at UW and @seattlechildrens.org uncovers fundamental determinants of tuberculosis lung pathology. This has important implications for new strategies to prevent or treat tuberculosis. 🧐 See the abstract in @jem.org : bit.ly/41IdeHA

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Biomedical Picture of the Day BPoD @bpodaily.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Conflict between the innate & adaptive immune system responses determines the kind of damage lungs suffer when infected with TB Image made with @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social microscopy 📷 @bengern.bsky.social et al @seattlechildrens.org in @jem.org ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Alissa Rothchild @alissarothchild.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Happy to share our new pre-print, led by PhD student Linh Pham! We examine inhibition of MHC II expression by NRF2 during Mtb infection and its impact on innate-adaptive crosstalk. Special thanks to the Behar lab who helped us set up a T cell co-culture system for the project! #TB #immunology

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Joanne Flynn @joanneflynn19.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Journal of Experimental Medicine @jem.org · 15/08/2025

#WomenInSTEM becoming independent: People should feel free to be themselves and do great science. We asked ten women researchers about their science and the process of setting up a lab as an independent researcher: rupress.org/jem/article/...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Journal of Experimental Medicine @jem.org · 06/08/2025

Early and opposing #neutrophil and CD4 T cell responses shape pulmonary #tuberculosis pathology, say Benjamin Gern @bengern.bsky.social, Michael Gerner, Kevin Urdahl et al. rupress.org/jem/article/... #TB

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Rockefeller University Press @rupress.org · 30/07/2025

In @jem.org, @bengern.bsky.social et al. show that the early interplay between #neutrophils & CD4 T cells is pivotal in determining #TB pathology, and that depleting neutrophils can improve outcomes even at late timepoints, which has therapeutic relevance rupress.org/jem/article/...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Journal of Experimental Medicine @jem.org · 30/07/2025

@bengern.bsky.social et al. show that the early interplay between #neutrophils & CD4 T cells is pivotal in determining #TB pathology, and that depleting neutrophils can improve outcomes even at late timepoints, which has therapeutic relevance rupress.org/jem/article/...

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Ben Gern @bengern.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

I’m excited to announce that our paper, describing early and opposing roles for neutrophils and CD4 T cells in determining #TB lesion structure, is out at @jem.org ! Huge thanks to my lab, and the Urdahl, @michael-gerner.bsky.social, and Aitchison labs who made this possible doi.org/10.1084/jem....

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Gabriele Pollara @gpollara.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Tuberculosis continues to impair quality of life long after the antibiotics have finished... Need to work out how to prevent and treat these post-TB sequelae. #IDSky #TBSky

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Erin McCaffrey, PhD @erin-mccaffrey.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Happy to share a preprint from the Angelo lab many years in the making. Read on for a saga of multiplexed imaging, immunometabolism, and TB granulomas with some fun side quests into the realms of geographical information sciences and transcriptomics… (1/20) doi.org/10.1101/2025...

doi.org

The immunometabolic topography of tuberculosis granulomas governs cellular organization and bacterial control

Despite being heavily infiltrated by immune cells, tuberculosis (TB) granulomas often subvert the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and support bacterial persistence. We prev...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD @mayerbarber.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Best #Nikolaus 🎅! Our paper on how the 🫁 microenvironment can shape #innate immunity against #viruses is out @sciimmunology.bsky.social This was a herculean effort brilliantly led by @pauljbaker.bsky.social who singlehandedly established the model in the lab during the pandemic. 🧪 #Immunosky 1/9

Graphical summary of our paper. In mice, prior lower airway exposure to diverse inflammatory stimuli, including chronic bacterial infections such as M. tuberculosis, acute bacterial infections such as pulmonary S. aureus, viral infections such as Influenza A, type-II allergic responses such as the OVA-Alum model, activation of pulmonary TLR9 by CpG or pulmonary TLR1/2 by Pam3CSK4
leads to reduced viral burden upon subsequent infection with SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2). (2) This SCV2 restriction occurs prior to induction of SCV2-specific adaptive immune responses
and is mediated through innate immune responses, including the induction of IFN-I, TNFα and IL-1 and sustained changes to the TRM (Tissue resident macrophage) cellular
compartment and the pulmonary epithelium. (3) Innate cytokine and TLR signaling to both recruited immune cells and the pulmonary epithelium creates a microenvironment in the
lung that limits early replication of SCV2. IFN-I signaling to pulmonary ECs (epithelial cells) increases expression of interferon-stimulated genes, that likely cell-intrinsically limit viral
replication. TNF- or IL-1 suppress SCV2 independently of IFN-I signaling. TNF acts exclusively through radio-resistant cell types such as the lung epithelium, whereas IL-1 affords
control both direct and indirectly, through either stromal and hematopoietic cell types, to restrict overall early SCV2 burden.

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Reposted by Ben Gern

John Green @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

My new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis, explores the history of our deadliest infectious disease. It's also about our horrifying present: TB still kills kills over a million people per year, even though it's been curable since the 1950s. Signed copies can be ordered at everythingistb.com

yellow book cover reading Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection Signed Edition

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Matthew Sinton 🏳️‍🌈 @mcsinton.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Ok, in time for the International Day of Pride in STEM, here's a starter pack of LGBTQ+ immunologists. Since not everyone is open (or able to be open) about their identities, we're only adding people by request, so let me know if you'd like to be added #Immunosky #PrideInSTEM 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ go.bsky.app/7WTavcd

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Ben Gern @bengern.bsky.social · 14/10/2024

We are hiring a technician! This position is a great fit for motivated individuals who plan on going to graduate/medical school and want to study host-pathogen interactions using advanced imaging and immunologic tools. Please spread the word! seattlechildrens.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Alissa Rothchild @alissarothchild.bsky.social · 28/05/2024

So happy to share the latest preprint from our lab, led by grad student @PameliaLim9! Pamelia set out to study alveolar #macrophage innate sensing and found that lack of c-Maf and IL-10 enables Type I IFNs to enhance responses to low-dose LPS. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Absence of c-Maf and IL-10 enables Type I IFN enhancement of innate responses to low-dose LPS in alveolar macrophages

bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

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Ben Gern @bengern.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

I’m excited to share that this collaborative effort with Kevin Urdahl, Michael Gerner, and many others is out! We show that preexisting immunity-driven CD4 T cells and neutrophils are opposing forces in determining tuberculosis lesion structure and pathogenesis. #tuberculosis

biorxiv.org

CD4-mediated immunity shapes neutrophil-driven tuberculous pathology

bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

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Reposted by Ben Gern

Prof Tanya Parish @proftanya13.bsky.social · 15/12/2023

Are you a faculty member at a SEATRAC affiliated institution (UW, Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s) - check this out seatrac.uw.edu/funding/n2tb #TBResearch #WomenInSTEM

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Ben Gern @bengern.bsky.social · 07/07/2023

Hello! I’m a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician-scientist at Seattle Children’s. My lab studies spatially resolved host-pathogen interactions in order to understand how to better treat infection diseases, focusing on tuberculosis. I’m looking forward to building the scientific community here!

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