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Immunology Highlights

2024

– KTVU FOX 2

Stanford researchers make critical COVID-19 discovery

After 5 years with COVID-19, health experts say there is still much to learn about the virus that causes the disease. At the height of the pandemic, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients with severe cases of the respiratory virus including life-threatening complications. It was believed that a certain type of lung cell made some people more susceptible to severe infection but now that is no longer the case. KTVU's Heather Holmes speaks with Stanford scientists Catherine Blish and Mark Krasnow about their critical new research that found a different suspected source of vulnerability.

– News Center

Stanford Medicine study flags unexpected cells in lung as suspected source of severe COVID

A previously overlooked type of immune cell allows SARS-CoV-2 to proliferate, Stanford Medicine scientists have found. The discovery has important implications for preventing severe COVID-19.

– Pipelinereview

Tr1X Announces FDA Clearance of First Investigational New Drug Application for TRX103, an Allogeneic Regulatory T-Cell Therapy to Treat Autoimmune Diseases - Pipelinereview

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA I April 10, 2024 I Tr1X, Inc., an autoimmune and inflammatory disease cell therapy company focused on the development of novel

– Bitterroot Star

Collaborative research provides clues to immunity, longer life - Bitterroot Star

by Michael Howell Feeling old and especially vulnerable in the face of the many variations of Flu and RSVP viruses going around? There is good reason to be concerned. Recent […]

– Medscape

Multiple Sclerosis and Epstein-Barr Virus: What Do We Know?

Research suggested that EBV is the primary cause of MS. What are the clinical implications, and could this transform treatment and prevention of this neurodegenerative condition?

– News Center

Old immune systems revitalized in Stanford Medicine mouse study, improving vaccine response

Those with aging immune systems struggle to fight off novel viruses and respond weakly to vaccination. Stanford Medicine researchers were able to revitalize the immune system in mice.

– Ark Invest

The Power Of Fitness Wearables with Stanford’s Dr. Michael Snyder

On this episode of FYI, hosts Nemo Marjanovic and Charles Roberts speak with Professor Dr. Michael Snyder, a leading figure in genomics and personalized medicine.

– Healthier, Happy Lives Blog

Remission Holds Fast After Five Relapses for Young Woman With Leukemia

None of the treatments designed to fight Camille's acute lymphocytic leukemia worked, until an innovative stem cell transplant at Stanford.

– Earth.com

Your microbiome contains trillions of bacteria and is unique like your fingerprint

Trillions of bacteria inhabiting our bodies -- collectively known as the microbiome -- are as unique to an individual as their fingerprint.

– The Scientist Magazine®

The Resilience of Monoclonal Antibodies and their Makers

The road to developing monoclonal antibodies for effectively targeting cancer was paved with tenacity, passion, and strokes of luck.

– Nature

CD22 CAR T cells demonstrate high response rates and safety in pediatric and adult B-ALL: Phase 1b results - Leukemia

Leukemia - CD22 CAR T cells demonstrate high response rates and safety in pediatric and adult B-ALL: Phase 1b results

– Healthier, Happy Lives Blog

Remission Holds Fast After Five Relapses for Young Woman With Leukemia

None of the treatments designed to fight Camille's acute lymphocytic leukemia worked, until an innovative stem cell transplant at Stanford.

– Stanford News

This protein pic could help develop new cancer treatments

A molecular “snapshot” of a protein can be critical to understanding its function. Scientists at Stanford and NYU have published and investigated a new structure of the protein LAG-3 which could enable the development of new cancer treatments.

– Scope

Unconventional Paths: How she flipped traditional genomics analysis on its head

Statistics expert Julia Salzman returned to biology and has married her two areas of expertise to design a new form of genomics analysis.

– Scope

Going beyond B cells in the search for a more multi-targeted vaccine

The ultimate goal: a vaccine with coverage so broad it can protect against viruses never before encountered.

– Scope

Searching for vaccine variability in the land of the flu

The ultimate goal: a vaccine with coverage so broad it can protect against viruses never before encountered.

– Scope

The hunt for a vaccine that fends off not just a single viral strain, but a multitude

Stanford Medicine researchers are designing vaccines that might protect people from not merely individual viral strains but broad ranges of them. The ultimate goal: a vaccine with coverage so broad it can protect against viruses never before encountered.

– Nature

Discovery of sparse, reliable omic biomarkers with Stabl

Stabl selects sparse and reliable biomarker candidates from predictive models.

2023


2022

  • – News Center

    Stanford Medicine teams find biomarkers that predict common, severe pregnancy complication

    Biological molecules in urine and gene-activity signals in blood can predict early in pregnancy which women develop preeclampsia, Stanford Medicine researchers found. “There is really a need to identify those pregnancies to prevent tragic outcomes for mothers, and preterm births for babies, which can be very dangerous," says Ivana Marić. Marić shares lead authorship of the study with Kévin Contrepois, PhD, former scientific director of the Stanford Medicine Metabolic Health Center. The study’s senior authors are Nima Aghaeepour, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine; Brice Gaudilliere, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine; and David Stevenson, MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University School of Medicine, which supported the research.

  • – Scope

    We Are Stanford Med: #ThisIsMyWhy with Preksha Bhagchandani

    Preksha Bhagchandani, a Stanford Medicine MD-PhD student, was inspired to become a diabetes researcher and doctor by her own diagnosis.

  • – Legacy.com

    Shoshana Levy's Obituary (1939 - 2022)

    View Shoshana Levy's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

  • – The Scientist Magazine

    Can We Predict How Well Someone Will Respond to a Vaccine?

    Researchers find signatures pre- and post-vaccination that correlate with a more robust immune response. Two papers published on October 31 in Nature Immunology bring together data from more than two dozen studies to identify the genes that determine how well vaccines in general rev up our immune systems. These findings could be applied to create better, more protective vaccines, researchers suggest. Previously, researchers have tried to answer the question of what genes underlie responsiveness one vaccine at a time, by taking a snapshot of the genes that individuals express before and after a particular shot. “But what’s been missing in the field is to ask: Is there a universal signature that is common to all vaccines that can be used to predict vaccine immunity?” says Stanford University School of Medicine immunologist Bali Pulendran, a coauthor on both of the papers.

  • – Consumer Health News | HealthDay

    Scientists Use 'Gentler' Cell Transplants to Reverse Diabetes in Mice

    Scientists have used a transplant procedure to apparently cure diabetes in lab mice, without the need for immune-suppressing drugs afterward. In studies, patients have successfully received islet transplants from deceased donors that allow them to reduce or stop using insulin. Islets are clusters of pancreatic cells that include ones that produce insulin. But there are some significant hurdles to making that a widely available approach, said Preksha Bhagchandani, an MD/PhD student at Stanford University who worked on the new study.


2021

  • – Scope

    Who's on first? Duking out scientific paper authorship order

    Determining the order of authors on a scientific paper can be tricky. Unless you're a pair of video gaming graduate students. Recently Stanford researcher Garry Nolan, PhD, tweeted about an unconventional way two researchers in his laboratory who had each contributed equally to a study decided who should be listed first on the print version of the paper.

  • – BBC

    BBC Radio 5 live - 5 Live Science Podcast, Life in plastic, is it fantastic?

    As the government moves to Plan B - what actually happens when you catch the new variant?

  • – Stanford Professor Garry Nolan Is Analyzing Anomalous Materials From UFO Crashes

    Stanford Professor Garry Nolan Is Analyzing Anomalous Materials From UFO Crashes

    A Q&A with one of the foremost scientists studying UAPs, and what he hopes to learn by systematically studying bizarre and difficult-to-explain incidents. Dr. Garry Nolan is a Professor of Pathology at Stanford University. His research ranges from cancer to systems immunology. Dr. Garry Nolan has also spent the last ten years working with a number of individual analyzing materials from alleged Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon.

  • – Gizmodo

    The Coronavirus Can Infect and Possibly Hide in Fat Cells, Study Finds

    The preliminary findings could partially explain why people living with obesity are at higher risk of severe covid-19. “This could well be contributing to severe disease,” senior author, Catherine Blish, an immunologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, told the New York Times. “We’re seeing the same inflammatory cytokines that I see in the blood of the really sick patients being produced in response to infection of those tissues.”

  • – Mail Online

    Blood from ultra-fit mice 'could hold the key to staving off dementia'

    Injections of blood from young adult mice that are getting lots of exercise benefited the brains of sedentary mice the same age, according to a study by the Stanford School of Medicine in California. 'The discovery could open the door to treatments that, by taming brain inflammation in people who don't get much exercise, lower their risk of neurodegenerative disease or slow its progression,' said Professor Tony Wyss-Coray, of the Stanford School of Medicine in California, which carried out the research.


October 7, 2021 - The Edge
How can technology help you track real time data about your health and wellbeing? And why should you track anyway? In this episode, Michael Snyder, professor of genetics, talks about how tracking can help you gain deeper understanding of what is going on in your body at a physiological level. Often, illnesses begin developing in our bodies quietly, before any symptoms begin to show up. Snyder’s research shows that by tracking on a regular basis, we can pre-empt diseases. Health data collection using wearable tech can help us take a proactive approach toward prevention of disease. And like they say, prevention is better than cure.

  • – Scope

    What to do (and not do) when you win the Nobel Prize

    Three of Stanford Medicine's Nobel laureates, including Andrew Fire, George D. Smith Professor of Molecular and Genetic Medicine and Professor of Pathology and of Genetics, offer advice to future winners about hearing the news and what to expect next in their careers.

  • – The Scientist Magazine

    When the Immune Response Makes COVID-19 Worse

    If the immune system makes mistake--reacting late or getting the target wrong--it can amplify the damage wrought by SARS-CoV-2.

  • – News Center

    Statins may be effective treatment for patients with ulcerative colitis

    People with ulcerative colitis who are also taking statins have about a 50% decreased risk of colectomies and hospitalization, according to a Stanford Medicine study. Purvesh Khatri, PhD, associate professor of medicine and of biomedical data science, and his team tracked down a connection between a handful of drugs and decreased symptoms of ulcerative colitis.

  • – Business Insider

    Why Stanford is spending millions to incorporate Apple Watches and Fitbits into medical care

    Stanford is exploring consumer wearable devices, including Apple Watches and Fitbits, to monitor heart rates and predict COVID-19 symptoms. Michael Snyder, professor of genetics, leads many of the health systems' wearable projects and says it's up to health systems to quickly figure out whether the data's useful to doctors and how to efficiently extract it from the devices.

  • – Scope

    Blood test predicts chances of lymphoma relapse after therapy

    Stanford Medicine Scientists have devised a blood test to predict some cancer relapses after patients have already been treated.To understand whether ctDNA tracking might hint at relapse, Miklos, who heads Stanford Medicine's Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy division, Matthew Frank MD, PhD assistant professor of medicine, and their labs enrolled 72 patients with large B-cell lymphoma, who had received CAR-T cell therapy, which involves genetically engineering certain immune cells to find and eliminate specific cancer cells.


June 23, 2021 – NBC Bay Area

NBC Bay Area: COVID-19 and brain inflammation

Stanford researchers have found signs of inflammation, genetic changes and impaired circuitry in the brains of people killed by COVID-19, important clues to the mysterious “brain fog” and mental struggles reported by many patients. Tony Wyss-Coray, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford Medicine provides comments.

  • – FierceBiotech

    A cancer vaccine built from stem cells? Stanford candidate shows promise in pancreatic tumors

    A team at Stanford University showed that a cancer vaccine made from induced pluripotent stem cells, together with an immune adjuvant, could protect against pancreatic cancer in mouse models. It induced strong T-cell and antibody responses while dialing down immune suppressor cells. Stanford Immunology researchers include Edgar G. Engleman, professor of pathology and of immunology and rheumatology and Joseph C. Wu, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, professor of medicine and radiology.

  • – Scope

    Evading exhaustion to improve CAR-T cell therapy

    'Resting' exhausted cancer-fighting immune cells enhances their tumor-killing activity, which may help people with blood and solid cancers. Crystal Mackall, the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family professor and professor of pediatrics and of medicine, and instructor Evan Weber are featured in this post.

  • – Scope

    Stanford postdoc enters her youngsters in vaccine COVID trial

    Anxious to protect her children, Stanford immunology researcher Zina Good has enrolled her two young children Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial for kids. Yvonne Maldonado is also quoted in this post.

  • – News Center

    Team science award recognizes 8 pediatric cancer researchers at Stanford

    The team, composed of researchers at nine academic institutions, has published more than 100 papers and treated nearly 1,000 children with cancer in early-phase clinical trials. Eight Stanford Medicine scientists are among a group of pediatric cancer researchers being honored with the 2021 Team Science Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. Stanford Immunology recipients of this year’s award are Crystal Mackall, MD and Jennifer Cochran, PhD.

  • – Scope

    Milestone stem cell transplant helps child beat rare disease

    A revolutionary technique helps cure a 9-year-old girl who was Stanford Children's Health's 1,000th stem cell transplant patient. Alice Bertaina, associate professor of pediatrics in stem cell research, is mentioned in this post.


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