Kerry Hilligan

@kerryhilligan.bsky.social

Immunologist with an interest in respiratory infectious disease 👩‍🔬🔬 🫁 Team Leader @ Malaghan Inst 🇳🇿 🥝 Sher lab alum @ NIH 🇺🇸 Proud dog & cat mum🐱🐶🐶 Views are my own she/her https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eRLabRcAAAAJ&hl=en

Calling all lung immunology enthusiasts 🫁 I’m excited to share this project where we designed and optimised a spectral cytometry platform to study immune responses in the mouse lung at steady-state and during viral infection. We hope this will be a useful resource for the field! Link below 👇

Spatially Resolved Immune Profiling of the Murine Lung Using In Vivo Labeling and Spectral Cytometry

The lung is a structurally and immunologically complex organ, constantly exposed to airborne microbes, allergens, and pollutants. Understanding how diverse pulmonary immune cells respond to these cha....

currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Had a great time presenting my poster at ASI2024 Sydney Australia! We’re studying how the lung’s cellular landscape shifts during infection and influences future infections, using high-dimensional flow cytometry to profile and characterise pulmonary cells at steady state and during infection! 🫁

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Excited to share this paper from my post-doc at @niaidnews.bsky.social out now in Science Immunology! We show that recent or ongoing 🫁 infections or other pulmonary environmental exposures at the time of infection with SARSCoV2 can vastly influence early replication of the virus in mice.

The inflammatory microenvironment of the lung at the time of infection governs innate control of SARS-CoV-2 replication

Recent or ongoing respiratory inflammation in the lung regulates antiviral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.

science.org

Super privileged to have been apart of this amazing tour-de-force study from @pauljbaker.bsky.social, @mayerbarber.bsky.social and team showing how inflammatory history of the 🫁 alters susceptibility to #covid19. Congrats team!! 🎉🎉

Kat Mayer-Barber,PhD@mayerbarber.bsky.social · 2y ago

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.

Friends, it's fun to see the #immunology community continue to grow! I created a 4th Starter Pack to help folks find each other. If you're an immunologist and you don't see yourself on the lists, let me know 🧪 go.bsky.app/PY5tCas go.bsky.app/FmERUoD go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS go.bsky.app/QSEPDoj

Rod Rahimi@rodrahimi.bsky.social · 2y ago

Friends, the second #immunology starter pack filled in 3 days! I started a third to help folks new to BlueSky rebuild their network Below are the links If you're an immunologist and I have missed you so far, let me know 🧪 go.bsky.app/PY5tCas go.bsky.app/FmERUoD go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS

Friends, the second #immunology starter pack filled in 3 days! I started a third to help folks new to BlueSky rebuild their network Below are the links If you're an immunologist and I have missed you so far, let me know 🧪 go.bsky.app/PY5tCas go.bsky.app/FmERUoD go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS

Rod Rahimi@rodrahimi.bsky.social · 2y ago

Wonderful to see the #immunology community growing here. The first starter pack is full (they cap at 150), so I created a second one. Let me know if you'd like to be added go.bsky.app/PY5tCas go.bsky.app/FmERUoD