iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Don Vinh @donvinh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

(Microbiologically-confirmed) Flu A cases🦠 doubled in the last week. Flu 💉 available in ~3 weeks. Response to 💉 ~2 weeks later. 🦠 vs. 💉 : not looking encouraging (for the humans, but looking great if you're the virus) #PasBon

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

tenuretracker.info @tenuretracker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Kings College London is hiring: Post-doctoral Research Associate | King's College London #postdoc #translationalimmunology #immunology

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Peter Pelka @peterpelka.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Flu and COVID-19 shots are now available for all in Canada, got mine today! For maximum protection during peak flu season it is best to get it sooner rather than later, and it took all of 10 minutes at the pharmacy. For many pharmacies, appointments can be made easily on-line.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Amazing! I have to believe that the macrophage enthusiasts are driving it!

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

The Powrie Lab @powrielab.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Interested in joining the Powrie Lab for a PhD? Applications are open now for two projects with us!👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬 Find out more over at: www.kennedy.ox.ac.uk/study-with-us or via the studentship the links on our lab webpage: www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/research/res... @kiroxford.bsky.social @ndorms.bsky.social

kennedy.ox.ac.uk

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Thanks to the whole team - it was a tremendous amount of work from the logistics of blood delivery from homes in TO to my lab in #HamOnt, to the extensive antibody responses from @gingraslab.bsky.social, Chris Verschoor's most exceptional T cell analysis...14/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

....if you've read this far you love immunology so check out the other neat observations (people who got sick had more anti-Spike Th17 cells and T cell polyfunctionality was not associated with protection - cool, eh?). 13/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

....because it takes about 5-10 days to make and detect a brand new GMCSF producing T cell, our interpretation was that these were preexisting (i.e generated from previous vaccinations or infections), but we can't rule out that people who could fight infections were making these really quickly 12/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

...as one of the 8 (8!) reviewers pointed out, we only got blood from folks after someone in their house was sick and it usually takes 2-3 days for a person to develop symptoms so their housemates may well have been in the early stages of illness before we got their blood....11/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The folks included are young(ish), healthy(ish) and this was mostly during the first Omicron wave. Whether this applies to all COVID infections and all waves remains to be seen...10/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Take home message - we may have found a new correlate of protection against COVID but we still don't know why some people's anti-COVID T cells make GMCSF and others don't. As exciting as this is, there are some caveats to our study...9/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Backstory - this has been a long-time in the making and we are a bit hazy on whose idea it was to check GMCSF and why we included it when the dozens of similar studies did not. There were hints that kicking innate immunity into gear might help so we thought 'worth a shot' and it was! 8/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

...we looked at one less studied cytokine - GMCSF - which T cells make to kick innate immune cells like macrophages into gear during an infection. Guess what seems to be the secret to not getting COVID symptoms? Having anti-COVID T cells that make GMCSF! 7/n

People who got symptoms had fewere GMCSF producing Spike specific T cells

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

...to measure how well a T cell does it's job, immunologists usually measure the cytokines it makes - IL2, TNF, IFNg. Other groups have seen if anti-COVID T cells making these cytokines are the secret to protection and found that they are not. So did we BUT (read on for the grand reveal)...6/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Next stop -T cells and things get interesting. People who got sick have fewer CD8+ T cells (the ones that specialize in killing virus infected cells) against the Omicron variant, but here's the part I'm especially excited about. T cells make cytokines which kick other immune cells into action.. 5/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

First stop antibodies - does making more antibodies or 'stickier' antibodies (i.e. 'neutralizing') more protected from infection? No (although folks who didn't wear masks/ isolate their sick housemate got an antibody boost after exposure). (Neither serum IgG or IgA for the aficionados) 4/n

No difference in antibody levels btw those who did or did not get sick

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Everyone had been vaccinated so they've got antibodies & T cells against the Spike protein. Some folks have T cells that seem to be reactive against related coronaviruses or a previous COVID infection. Our goal - figure out which of these protects people and which are just immunologic noise. 3/n

thelancet.com

Assessing SARS-CoV-2 immune markers in vaccinated asymptomatic adults after household exposure in Canada (AB-PROTECT): a prospective cohort study

Early after household exposure, binding and neutralising antibodies were similar in all participants, but differences in T-cell functional responses were evident in individuals who developed symptoms ...

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Let's start with study design. Someone tests positive for COVID so we get blood as quick as we can from all the adults who live with them. Everyone in that household is going to be exposed so we want to figure out which immune responses protect those who don't get sick versus those who do. 2/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

New Publication alert (and this one has got some immunologic hidden gems!) - "Assessing SARS-CoV-2 immune markers in vaccinated asymptomatic adults after household exposure in Canada (AB-PROTECT): a prospective cohort study" By Drs J. Breznik & C Kandel & team @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social 1/n

Screen shot of manuscript "Assessing SARS-CoV-2 immune markers in vaccinated asymptomatic adults after household exposure in Canada (AB-PROTECT): a prospective cohort study" in Lancet Microbe

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Cold & flu season is ramping up so it's a good time to revisit this review we wrote which argues that that COVID vaccination should be as comprehensive as flu vaccination and has benefits that extend beyond reducing acute infections.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Great quote (h/t @economist.com newsletter) for those of us in higher education " Good teachers make the best of a pupil’s means: great teachers foresee a pupil’s ends." —Maria Callas

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hey #HamOnt! Bring your SK-Grade 5 student on Oct 28th - Dec 1 for an evening filled with hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math activities. Wholesome family fun (secretly, engineering is just crafting with epic materials & tools) @macchemeng.bsky.social @mcmasteru.bsky.social

eng.mcmaster.ca

Early engineers

Discover McMaster Engineering’s Early Engineers program, designed to engage young learners in STEM through hands-on activities.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hey #HamOnt! If you know a grade 7-12 girl/gender diverse kid who is interested in engineering and wants to learn and have fun in a supportive environment, I can't recommend this program enough. Engineering is for everyone! @mcmasteru.bsky.social @macchemeng.bsky.social

eng.mcmaster.ca

Girl initiatives

Find out more about McMaster Engineering’s girl initiatives involving fun collaboration and excitement in engineering.

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Peter Pelka @peterpelka.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My department and the University of Manitoba is hiring a structural virologist/vaccinologist for a tenure-track position at assistant or associate level, if you know of someone or are interested the details can be found in this job ad: jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/679829/a...

jobs.sciencecareers.org

Assistant or Associate Professor in Vaccinology or Biologics - Winnipeg (Region), Manitoba job with The University of Manitoba Department of Microbiology | 679829

The candidate will be expert in applied vaccinology or therapeutic biologics related to human/zoonotic viral pathogens.

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Paper Skygest Team @paper-feed.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

**Please repost** If you're enjoying Paper Skygest -- our personalized feed of academic content on Bluesky -- we'd appreciate you reposting this! We’ve found that the most effective way for us to reach new users and communities is through users sharing it with their network

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I see his point on the arms-race that is racking up publications just to get a residency, but hospitals w/ embedded clinician-scientists have better outcomes and I always say that Nobel prizes aren't won by doing meta-analyses - deep understanding of pathophys are desperately needed.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Agreed! I spend so much of my timeT #TheFirestone fighting for dedicated funding for clinician-scientists (although I'm a PhD myself) bc there is SOOO much data on the value of their science. It does not help when someone with that kind of platform pooh-poohs the value of clinical research!

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Me every other day: ugh between secession and Islamophobia do we have to talk about Que— Me today: JE SUIS UN HOMME DU NORD, MORT AUX AMERICAINS

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Oh they will! I was just visiting there and was amazed at how many high-tech ‘made-in-china’ instruments they make but don’t necc sell to the international market (yet). I’m sure they’ll become our suppliers but not by Sept 8th.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

... or tap into EU suppliers, but the speed of shipping is really important for so many of the labile components we use. Keeping things frozen over the Atlantic is not easy. On Monday my lab manager & I are going to have to have a serious talk about budgets. Sigh. #elbowsup 🍁

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

...and if that supplier is American, I'm not sure what the work around is. I wondering if granting agencies will accept higher budgets. In the long-term, I hope that we build high-end manufacturing capability here as well as bio-engineering for reagents and tools in Canada...3/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

..because aluminum & steel countertariffs increased the price and there was no mechanism to get more grant money to cover them (thank you dear McMaster for the bailout). So much of what we use in the lab is hyper-specialized and only has one supplier world wide..... 2/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

In my personal life, I've got my elbows way up, but in my professional life I know that tariffs are going to massively increase the cost of doing research and I won't have the ability to buy Canadian. In the first Trump presidency I almost lost a grant to buy a specialized piece of equipment ....1/n

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Thank you so much for the donation- I really appreciate it!

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I've been on an immunologic side-quest lately supporting my @machealthsci.bsky.social colleague's research on immunotherapies for multiple myeloma. It's remarkable watching these transform care & outcomes. I'm #MyelomaMarch -ing w/them to raise funds -sponsor me here? tinyurl.com/4rtennff

AI image (don't hate me) of me standing at my lab bench with my favourite immune cells - macrophages and the caption "I'm just an immunogist standing in front of a formidable cancer foe, asking immunotherapies release a can of whoop-ass.Please sponsor me at the Myeloma March and let’s make it happen."

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Ever wondered why it’s okay to take your dog for a walk during wildfire season, or why zoo animals don't need to go inside when the air quality is bad? Turns out it's all in our genes. I explain our #NSERC funded research on the relationship btw infection & air pollution youtu.be/0upxdha-F7k?...

youtu.be

Here's why humans are uniquely sensitive to wildfire smoke

YouTube video by McMaster University Health Sciences

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Anh Hoang Le, PhD 🏳️‍🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇻🇳 @anhhle2702.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Happy #FluorescenceFriday. Embryonic myeloid cells are curious. They emerge early during development and disperse throughout an embryo. During this journey, they interact with different cell populations. This myeloid cell 🔴 is seemingly probing ectoderm cells 🔵 to the point of warping their nuclei.

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Reposted by Dr. Dawn Bowdish

BCCHR ResDev (DM) @resdevbcch.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

twas the night before #CIHR NODs & all ‘cross the nation most researchers weren’t hoping for grant celebration the ones who scored at 90% were the only ones assured that they’d get a present those who scored at the level below will get a surprise of a yes or a no. best wishes everyone!

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

If you are looking for a deep dive on the relationship between vaccines, infection, and dementia, this talk I gave includes current theories (and their limitations) and many references www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqOY...

youtube.com

[Health & Wellness] Is dementia a vaccine-preventable condition? with Dr. Dawn Bowdish

YouTube video by McMaster Alumni

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Could a routine vaccine help protect your brain? Explore emerging research on the association between shingles vaccination and reduced dementia risk with me, Ron Swan, Jay Ingram & @asek47.bsky.social. Tune in at defydementia.org, or wherever you get your podcasts. www.baycrest.org/podcast/epis...

Poster for the Baycrest Defy Dementia Podcast "A shot at prevention? The Shingles Vaccine & Dementia Risk".

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

It has been an emotional journey of a morning with the CIHR notifications (but not funding decisions) coming out -the adrenaline of waiting for ResearchNet 2FA, reading the tea leaves of the SO notes from my grants, and checking in on friends & colleagues - it's a lot. #ifyouknowyouknow #fundscience

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I think I’m going to give this a try.

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Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Thanks so much for coming today - I love the HTAL crowd for trying out new material!

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