Nice to see that our own Institute of Medical Virology @virology.uzh.ch could contribute to the first genetic sequencing of the Andes hantavirus strain from the ongoing cruise ship outbreak. @med.uzh.ch @uzh-ch.bsky.social

Nick Loman@pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 3mo ago

First genome sequence from Andes hantavirus strain from ongoing ship outbreak posted on Virological: virological.org/t/complete-s... courtesy Swiss National Reference Centre for Emerging Viral Infections, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Zurich

‘Influenza A virus NS1 sequesters RNA:DNA hybrids to evade RNase H1-dependent innate immunity' - a project from Florence Kwaschik, who defends her PhD in a few months, is now preprinted. Thank-you to co-authors Ian Pichler, José Ruiz, Verena Kufner & Michael Huber. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

15/ Finally, @benhale.bsky.social showed in a beautiful longitudinal study that once they appear, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs persist and diversify (rupress.org/jem/article/...).

Loss of tolerance precedes triggering and lifelong persistence of pathogenic type I interferon autoantibodies

Rare autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs can underlie viral disease severity. Here, the authors dissect immunological and age-related factors associate

rupress.org

Pleased to have contributed to this work by providing samples from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study - a powerful longitudinal biobank that has been running for almost 40 years & which is an amazing resource for studying both HIV pathogenesis & many other aspects of aging biology in human health & disease

Casanova Lab@casanovalab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

1/ We are thrilled to share our collaborative study of B cells producing auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in @cellpress.bsky.social (www.cell.com/cell/abstrac... ).

15/ Finally, @benhale.bsky.social showed in a beautiful longitudinal study that once they appear, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs persist and diversify (rupress.org/jem/article/...).

Loss of tolerance precedes triggering and lifelong persistence of pathogenic type I interferon autoantibodies

Rare autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs can underlie viral disease severity. Here, the authors dissect immunological and age-related factors associate

rupress.org

🔬 We’re hiring in Zürich🇨🇭! My lab is recruiting a new PhD student in molecular immunology (interferons, autoantibodies & viral disease). Position is fully-funded. Starting date anticipated to be late 2026/early 2027. Further details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/IMVPhD2026 Deadline 1st May 2026.

🔬 We’re hiring in Zürich🇨🇭! My lab is recruiting a new PhD student in molecular immunology (interferons, autoantibodies & viral disease). Position is fully-funded. Starting date anticipated to be late 2026/early 2027. Further details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/IMVPhD2026 Deadline 1st May 2026.

In a new article with Kevin Groen, we review the most recent scientific developments relating to autoantibodies targeting type I interferons and their impacts on severe viral disease: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

Increased prevalence of #autoantibodies neutralizing IFNλ2/3 in young individuals with #CysticFibrosis. New report from Kevin Groen, Emanuela Bruscia, Marc Emmenegger, Benjamin Hale @benhale.bsky.social and colleagues: rupress.org/jhi/article/... #Autoimmunity #Infections

Happy to join @jem.org as an Associate Editor for 2026 and to contribute to the journal’s publishing process and community!

Journal of Experimental Medicine@jem.org · 7mo ago

📢 JEM is delighted to introduce the 2026 Associate Editors: Semir Beyaz, Coco Chu, Erin M. Gibson (@erinmgibson.bsky.social), Benjamin G. Hale (@benhale.bsky.social), Guideng Li, Esther Obeng, João Pereira, and Pamela Rosato. Welcome! 👉 rupress.org/jem/pages/as...

Groen, @benhale.bsky.social et al. @virology.uzh.ch identify interferon-λ #autoantibodies in 11.8% of those with #CysticFibrosis, a prevalence >10-fold higher than expected. In vitro & clinical analyses suggest the antibodies may impact mucosal pathology. rupress.org/jhi/article/...

Type I interferon autoantibody footprints reveal neutralizing mechanisms and allow inhibitory decoy design. From Kevin Groen, Benjamin Hale (@benhale.bsky.social) and colleagues 👉 rupress.org/jem/article/... 📘 Part of 2025: The Year in Experimental Medicine rupress.org/jem/collecti... #Autoimmunity

Nice to see our study led by Kevin Groen included in the 2025 ‘Best of JEM’. We dissected the mechanisms by which pathogenic autoantibodies block IFN-I function and used the information to design decoy molecules that might form the basis for future therapies. rupress.org/jem/article/...

Journal of Experimental Medicine@jem.org · 8mo ago

The 2025 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘌𝘔 highlights research in basic #immunology, #immunotherapy & #TumorImmunology, #InbornErrorsOfImmunity, #neurodegeneration, & #inflammation. We remain grounded in our commitment to publishing studies that push the boundaries of our knowledge forward 👉 rupress.org/jem/collecti...

How does fever work? Our new Science paper shows how elevated body temperature can protect against severe influenza and that avian-origin viruses escape this defence. This is likely one reason why bird flus and some pandemic influenzas can be so severe.🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals

Host body temperature can define a virus’s replicative profile—influenza A viruses (IAVs) adapted to 40° to 42°C in birds are less temperature sensitive in vitro compared with human isolates adapted t...

science.org

I very much enjoyed my time in St Andrews, Scotland as a PhD student. If I was still considered an Early-Career Researcher just starting my own laboratory (in my head, I am!), I would certainly be interested in this fellowship opportunity...

Uli Schwarz-Linek@ulischwarzlinek.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Are you an ECR considering a #fellowship as the next step? We are holding a competitive fellowship day in January 2026. Our priority areas: host-pathogen interactions, synthetic biology, enzymology, systems biology, chemical biology. #ScienceCareers biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/2025/11...

Thank-you @casanovalab.bsky.social for the kind invitation to be a participant at your celebratory Novo Nordisk Prize Symposium. I appreciated being able to present alongside a great array of leading researchers, & to meet so many welcoming people in the field of Inborn Errors of Immunity! Congrats!

Casanova Lab@casanovalab.bsky.social · 10mo ago

1/ We are celebrating the Novo Nordisk Prize Symposium: Inborn Errors of Immunity – a huge success yesterday at the @institutimagine.bsky.social in Paris featuring talks by 19 leading European researchers on human IEI

'TRIM28 is a target for paramyxovirus V proteins'. Work led by Gauthier Lieber seeks to address whether host activation of endogenous retroelements contributes to antiviral defences. In support of this idea, he describes a viral mechanism that might limit this host response. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

TRIM28 is a target for paramyxovirus V proteins

Author summary Host recognition of viral nucleic acids is fundamental for stimulating antiviral immunity. To prevent aberrant immune activation, cells must precisely differentiate “non-self” from “sel...

doi.org

Regulated localization of transposable element #RNA during #influenza A #virus #infection. -> www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Ben Hale@benhale.bsky.social · last yr.

Now in press: Marie Lork & our collaborators studied host transposable elements during influenza A virus infection. We found evidence that some produce dsRNA, but that these host dsRNAs are limited from reaching the cytosol by the viral NS1 protein. @emboreports.org www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Now in press: Marie Lork & our collaborators studied host transposable elements during influenza A virus infection. We found evidence that some produce dsRNA, but that these host dsRNAs are limited from reaching the cytosol by the viral NS1 protein. @emboreports.org www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Regulated localization of transposable element RNA during influenza A virus infection | EMBO reports

imageimageInfluenza A virus infection increases host transposable element (TE) expression. This study provides evidence that some infection-induced TEs form double-stranded RNAs that accumulate in the...

embopress.org

A nice photo from last week’s ’Celebration of 50 years of Virology’ in St Andrews - marking a milestone in the distinguished career of Rick Randall - a great virologist, colleague and friend - congratulations Rick!

Anti-interferon autoantibodies are always on my mind....even at Easter!

Type I interferon autoantibody footprints reveal neutralizing mechanisms and allow inhibitory decoy design. New study from Kevin Groen, Benjamin Hale (@benhale.bsky.social) and colleagues @virology.uzh.ch: rupress.org/jem/article/... #Autoimmunity #Immunodeficiency #InfectiousDisease

An atlas of protein phosphorylation dynamics during interferon signaling @benhale.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A follow up on @benhale.bsky.social and colleagues' research published in @jem.org : How "decoy molecules" intercept harmful auto-antibodies, restoring antiviral immunity. www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/...

AutoAbs neutralizing IFN-Is exacerbate severe viral diseases. Groen, @benhale.bsky.social et al. @virology.uzh.ch identify IFN-I regions commonly targeted by these autoAbs and develop a proof-of-concept decoy strategy to alleviate pathogenic effects. rupress.org/jem/article/...

Interferon research has a long history at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Charles Weissmann, Professor of Molecular Biology, led the group that first cloned interferon genes. This allowed large-scale production and facilitated the medical use of interferon. @uzh-ch.bsky.social

1981 / 1986 News@40yearsago.bsky.social · last yr.

[January 16th, 1980] Scientists at Biogen have successfully produced human interferon, a natural virus fighter, in a laboratory using gene-splicing techniques, potentially making it a more affordable treatment for various viral infections and cancers. #history #1980s

In our most recent work, Kevin Groen from the lab made AIR cells for rapid & sensitive functional detection of interferon types I, II & III. AIR cells can be used with a live cell luciferase substrate, are highly sensitive & can detect autoantibodies neutralising interferons. doi.org/10.1002/eji....

Highly sensitive reporter cell line for detection of interferon types I–III and their neutralization by antibodies

Interferons (IFNs) are a critical component of innate immune defenses and limit viral disease severity. To advance studies on IFNs and their neutralization by pathogenic autoantibodies, we generated ...

doi.org

Congratulations to Samira Schiefer from the lab whose use of proximity proteomics to comprehensively survey and characterise the type I interferon signalling pathway has just been published. Many new associations found. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Proximal protein landscapes of the type I interferon signaling cascade reveal negative regulation by PJA2 - Nature Communications

Type I IFN is vital for antiviral defense. Here, the authors use TurboID-based proximity labeling to comprehensively map the protein landscapes surrounding core IFN signaling members. Among factors un...

nature.com