Immune
Health, Fitness & Longevity
About
A podcast about the body's defenders against disease.
Episodes
- Immune Booster 28: Immunometabolism, Inflammation, and Building Biotechs with Luke O'Neill
Luke O'Neill details his work on the TLR signaling pathway, his entrepreneurial ventures in biotech, and his perspective on scientific inquiry.
- Immune Booster 27: Interferons, JAKs, and STATs with George Stark
George Stark shares his career journey from biochemistry to interferon signaling research, including his contributions to establishing the JAK-STAT pathway principles and exploring interferon's role in cancer.
- Immune 103: Cytokines 101
Hosts Vincent Racaniello, Cindy Leifer, and Brianne Barker discuss cytokines. They cover what cytokines are and how immunotherapies targeting them are used to treat diseases. Indexed from public RSS feeds.
- Immune Booster 26: Immune defense against parasitic worms with Irah King
Irah King explains how the immune system detects parasitic worm infections and how these worms can alter immune responses. He also explores how these mechanisms could be used to develop treatments for inflammatory diseases.
- Immune102: Living longer without B cells
On Immune 102, the hosts discuss a study on how aging B cells negatively impact T cells and longevity. They also cover a novel vaccine strategy designed to foster competition among gut bacteria.
- Immune Booster 25: Out of the anti-vax woods with Ellen Woods
A former anti-vax mom talks about going down the rabbit hole, her mindset shift, the importance of doctors who are willing to talk with patients about vaccines, and why she is now a vaccine advocate. Host: Cindy Leifer Guest : Ellen Mary W…
- Immune Booster 24: Tolerating pregnancy with Gabrielle Rizzuto
Gabrielle Rizzuto from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center discusses her work on the curious immunology of pregnancy and how a woman tolerates a genetically different baby but quickly rejects a mismatched organ donation. Host: Cindy Lei…
- Immune 101: Ink and immunity
Immune discusses how tattoo ink accumulates in lymph nodes, promotes inflammation and influences response to two different vaccines. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Po…
- Immune Booster 23: Critical windows during immune system development with Anna Beaudin
Anna Beaudin from University of Utah talks about the key thread of her career, development, and how that influences her research on the events happening during critical prenatal windows shapes everything from the developing immune system t…
- Immune Booster #22 T cell signaling and selection with Leslie Berg
Leslie Berg talks about her career studying T cell receptor signaling, T cell development, and the importance of mentors in her career. Host: Cindy Leifer Guest: Leslie Berg Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , RSS , email Become a patron of…
- Immune 100: Immune turns 100!
The whole Immune gang gathers with special guests Gretchen Diehl and Shruti Naik at The Incubator with an audience to celebrate the 100th episode. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Stephanie Langel, and Brianne Barker Guests: Gret…
- Immune Booster 21: Origins of antigen receptors with David Schatz
David Schatz talks about his discovery of Rag genes that are critical for antigen receptor development and how that discovery depended on taking high risks and using approaches that everyone thought could never work. Host: Cindy Leifer Gue…
- Immune 99: A Nobel for immune tolerance
The Immune team discusses the groundbreaking discoveries of regulatory T cells, which was the topic of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Po…
- Immune Booster 20: Lipid GPS for T cells with Susan Schwab
Susan Schwab talks about how she got the research bug, bugs she ate, and her research on how the lipid S1P helps T cells decide- should I stay or should I go. Host: Cindy Leifer Guest: Susan Schwab Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , RSS ,…
- Immune 98: T cells on the brain
Immune discusses cross-reactive antibodies to avian influenza neuraminidases and a role for gut-derived T cells in the brain to regulate eating behavior. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Steph Langel , and Brianne Barker Subscrib…
- Immune Booster 19: Virus-immune Tug-of-war with Kristian Andersen
Kristian Andersen from Scripps Research Institute joins Cindy to talk about how he got interested in virus evolution, how the immune system drives viral adaptation, and what we can learn from this research to better prepare us for the next…
- Immune 97: Bystander B cells go bananas
Cindy and Steph discuss a paper that challenges the textbook dogma that B cells must first bind to an antigen for antibody affinity maturation to occur, and a snippet on dysfunctional T cells during bacterial vaginosis. Hosts: Cindy Leifer…
- Immune Booster 18: From Stars to cells with Bali Pulendran
Cindy sits down with Bali Pulendran at the AAI 2025 meeting where he told the story of how a childhood fascination with the cosmos grew into a career addressing fundamental questions about the human immune response, and how when an antigen…
- Immune Booster #17: From unvaccinated to vaccine advocacy with Liz Marnik
Elizabeth Marnik, also known as Science Whiz Liz, grew up unvaccinated, yet she is now an immunologist, science communicator, and advocate for vaccines–this is her story. Host: Cindy Leifer Guest: Elizabeth Marnick Subscribe (free): Apple…
- Immune 96: How to floss a mouse
Immune discusses the potential future of delivering vaccines by flossing your teeth and how antibodies in human milk shape the normal immune responses in newborns. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Steph Langel , and Brianne Barke…
- Immune Booster #16: Teaching and communicating immunology with Aimee Pugh Bernard
Cindy speaks with Aimee Pugh Bernard from University of Colorado about her career and her passion for teaching and communicating immunology to the public. Host: Cindy Leifer Guest: Aimee Pugh Bernard Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts , RSS…
- Immune 95: Mitochondria for everyone
Immune discusses how cancer cells swap mitochondria with T cells and then digs in for a discussion of an unusual checkpoint blockade that failed for cancer but could be repurposed for autoimmune inflammation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Ci…
- Immune Booster #15 Vaccine ground rules with Shane Crotty
Cindy talks with Shane Crotty about his teenage days driving 3 ½ hours every weekend to have his first research experience in marine biology, how that eventually led to studying how vaccines work and how we can make them better, and how im…
- Immune 94: The nose knows
The Immune team goes up the nose to discuss cytotoxic T cells activating complement through secretion of granzyme K to drive inflammatory nasal polyps and how IgA-producing B cells are made in the nose. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Le…
- Immune Booster #14: In the eye of immune responses with Darren Lee
From the 2024 Society for Leukocyte Biology meeting, Cindy and Brianne talk with Darren Lee to discuss his career, how he got interested in immunology of the eye, and how his team visualizes immune responses of the eye in real time with th…
- Immune 93: Macrophages managing memory B cells
Vincent and Cindy discuss differences between MPox-specific T cell responses following infection and vaccination, and lymph node macrophage control of memory B cell localization and trafficking that might be important for choosing which ar…
- Immune Booster #13 Microbiome and regulation of gut inflammation with Justin Wilson
From the 2024 Society for Leukocyte Biology meeting, Cindy and Brianne sit down with Justin Wilson to talk about how he got into research and his more recent studies on innate immune sensors and the interaction between the gut microbiome a…
- Immune 92: Gut symbiont breaks antibody
Steph talks about identification of gut bacteria that can digest protective mucosal antibodies and Vincent covers a new paper on Zika virus that implicates fetal phagocytes in brain invasion, which may provide insight into the devastating…
- Immune Booster #12: Innate immunity to Archaea with Holger Heine
From the 2024 Society for Leukocyte Biology meeting, Immune talks with Holger Heine about the discovery of immune recognition of bacterial lipopolysaccharide and innate immunity to organisms within the kingdom Archaea. Hosts: Cindy Leifer…
- Immune 91: People, parasites, plagues, and podcasts
Immune talks with David Peterson and Kim Klonowski from the University of Georgia about their careers, their People, parasites, and plagues podcast, placental malaria immunity, and and how interferons in the thymus affect T cell repertoire…
- Immune Booster #11 Immunity to Fungi with Amy Hise
From the 2024 Society for Leukocyte Biology meeting, Immune talks with Amy Hise about her career in science, her current research using mouse models for investigating fungal immunity and navigating the challenges of being a mom in science.…
- Immune 90: Immunology of Injury
Immune 90: Immunology of Injury March 25, 2025 From the 2024 Society for Leukocyte Biology meeting at Michigan State University, home of the Spartans, Immune's Cindy and Brianne talk with Liz Kovacs and Jim Lederer about their careers, dir…
- Immune Booster #10 HIV in the brain with Amanda Brown
Immune Booster #10 HIV in the brain with Amanda Brown March 18, 2025 From the The Society for Leukocyte Biology 2024 conference at Michigan State University, Cindy and Brianne sit down with Amanda Brown from Johns Hopkins School of Medicin…
- Immune 89: Misplaced antibodies and foreign food foes
Immune discusses how non-neutralizing antibodies can still be protective…intracellularly, and a technically innovative paper that uses Lipstic to label antigen-presenting cells responsible for gut tolerance to food antigens. Hosts: Vincent…
- Immune 88: Bespoke antibodies and stinging erythropoiesis
Immune describes the use of bespoke antibodies to characterize immune cell populations in cave nectar bats, and co-option of retrotransposons to activate hematopoietic stem cells and erythropoiesis. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer…
- Immune 87: When the immune system misbehaves
Immune discusses basophils as regulators of of lung inflammation over space and time, and neoself-antigens as the primary target for autoreactive T cells in human lupus. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Steph Langel , and Brianne…
- Immune 86: Where did the SARS-CoV-2 antibodies go?
Immune explains how distinct olfactory mucosal macrophage populations mediate neuronal maintenance and pathogen defense, and failure to establish durable SARS-CoV-2-specific plasma cells in the bone marrow long-lived compartment after mRNA…
- Immune 85: Immune trade-offs
Immune explores the immunological diversity in the upper airway, including memory B and T cells and germinal center B cells, and how chronic infection with Plasmodium parasites leads to development of B cell cancers. Hosts: Vincent Racanie…
- Immune 84: Gender-affirming therapy and immune responses with Petter Brodin
Petter Brodin joins Immune to discuss immune system adaptation in individuals assigned female sex at birth and undergoing gender affirming testosterone therapy (trans-men). Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Cindy Leifer , Steph Langel , and Bria…
- Immune Booster #9: Autoimmune diseases with Mark Shlomchik
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Steph meet up with Mark Shlomchik to talk about his career and the research of his laboratory on systemic autoimmune diseases, long-lived B cell immunity,…
- Immune Booster #8: Immunology, metabolism, and exercise physiology with Heather Caslin
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Brianne meet up with Heather Caslin to talk about her training and the research of her laboratory on how diet and exercise affect innate immune cells in h…
- Immune 83: Immune cells eating other cells
Immune discusses two stories of immune cells eating other cells: microglia engulfing brain neurons to shape cortical development and behavior, and mast cells trapping neutrophils to increase their functional and metabolic fitness. Hosts: V…
- Immune Booster #7: Emerging viruses with David Martinez
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Steph meet up with David Martinez to talk about his career, the research of his laboratory on viral pathogens of global health importance, and his advice…
- Immune Booster #6: From Ghana to heat shock with Robert Binder
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Brianne meet up with Robert Binder to talk about his career, the research of his laboratory on the role of heat shock proteins in cancer immunosurveillanc…
- Immune Booster #5: Infections and the gut microbiome with Rafael Polidoro
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Steph meet up with Rafael Polidoro to talk about his career, the research of his laboratory on how the gut microbiome modulates the local and systemic imm…
- Immune 82: Bat antibodies are hot
Immune reviews the local and systemic responses after human SARS-CoV-2 challenge infection, and how bat antibodies display elevated antigen binding strength and diversity at higher temperatures that are characteristic of flight. Hosts: Vin…
- Immune Booster #4: Human autoimmunity with Jane Buckner
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Steph meet up with Jane Buckner to talk about her career, and the research of her laboratory on mechanisms by which regulation of the adaptive immune resp…
- Immune Booster #3: NKT cells and cancer, and DEI in research with Tonya Webb
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Brianne meet up with Tonya Webb to talk about her career, the role of NKT cells in cancer, and her efforts to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in r…
- Immune Booster #2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Brianne meet up with Michal Tal to talk about her career, sex differences in immune responses, and how one giant mouse uterus changed the trajectory of he…
- Immune Booster #1: From bench to bedside to beat HIV with Luis Montaner
From the American Association of Immunologists 2024 conference in Chicago, Cindy and Brianne where meet up with Luis Montaner to talk about his career and his research on boosting the immune system to combat viral diseases or cancer progre…