A massive analysis of immune cells in human tissue is yielding clues to the root cause of lung and autoimmune diseases 🫁 🧬 🔬 LJI scientists investigated the role of specialized “tissue-resident” immune cells in inflammation and disease development. 1/🧵 @natimmunol.nature.com #Health #Medicine

FITdb, a one-stop shop for immune functional genomics so you can query, browse, and analyze your favorite genes and pathways across multiple contexts in mouse and human immune cells. #immunefunction visit fitdb.lji.org

FITdb, an Integrated Functional Immunogenomics and Transcriptomics Database

Genetic screens in immune cells enable the systematic interrogation of gene function at scale, uncovering key regulators of cell functions such as tumor cell killing and persistence. However, existing...

biorxiv.org

New in @natimmunol.nature.com LJI scientists investigated the role of specialized “tissue-resident” immune cells in #inflammation and lung 🫁 disease development — They uncovered stark differences when they compared cells from female and male study volunteers bit.ly/4wNQBi4 #Health #Medicine

Immune cells in human lung tissue may drive the development of autoimmune disease

LJI scientists investigate how “tissue-resident” immune cells contribute to lung and autoimmune diseases.

bit.ly

Prof. Shane Crotty (@profshanecrotty.bsky.social) has made groundbreaking discoveries in B cell immunity, vaccine responses, and immune memory. Now he's officially joined the @aai.org Council! Learn more about his goals with AAI: news.aai.org/2026/07/30/m... #immunology #ImmuneSystem

Meet New AAI Councilor Shane Crotty, PhD - AAI News

Shane Crotty, PhD, joined the AAI Council on July 1. We spoke with him about his research, his goals for his term, and writing a biography.

news.aai.org

#Inflammation does a lot of good—and it can do a lot of bad. 🏥 In this great new article, Dr. Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) speaks on cutting-edge research to understand chronic inflammation. bit.ly/4g57oav #AutoimmuneDisease #Health #Medicine #ChronicDisease

Inflammation Keeps Us Alive. It's Also Making Us Sick.

The discovery that chronic inflammation is a cause of myriad illnesses could be this century's biggest medical breakthrough.

bit.ly

In contrast to mice, human lungs retain a stable and varied pool of pathogen-specific TRM cells www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natimmunol.nature.com @lji.org

LJI scientists are working to prevent lung infections — In a new study, an LJI team reports that "tissue-resident" memory T cells build up immunity to defend human lungs from a huge range of viruses, bacteria + even fungi 🦠 bit.ly/3RZQZuQ #health #medicine #InfectiousDisease #SanDiego #immunology

Building your immunity: Tissue-resident immune cells defend human lungs from viral, bacterial, and fungal infections

LJI scientists are the first to provide a comprehensive look at how tissue-resident memory T cells combat infections in human lung tissue

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LJI scientists lead fascinating new study on tissue-resident memory T cells: Human lungs maintain tissue-resident memory T cells against a broad spectrum of pathogens 🫁https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-026-02592-6 #health #medicine #immunology #InfectiousDisease #Tcells #AdaptiveImmunity

Human lungs maintain tissue-resident memory T cells against a broad spectrum of pathogens - Nature Immunology

Unlike in other tissues, lung-resident memory T cell populations are not well maintained in mice. Here the authors show that this is not the case in human lungs, where tissue-resident memory T cells s...

nature.com

#Cyclosporiasis is making headlines, but what should people actually know about this illness? UC San Diego parasitologist Conor Caffrey explains how the parasite spreads, symptoms to watch for and how to reduce risk. Read more: https://bit.ly/4fGYsYE #UCSanDiego #UCSDResearch

"For years, HIV has resisted traditional vaccine strategies... "A team led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and Scripps Research now reports a potential breakthrough..." bit.ly/3QKjwEl #Health #Medicine #HIV #VaccineResearch #Viruses #Immunology #Antibodies #ImmuneSystem

Germline‑Targeting HIV Vaccine Generates Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies in Primates

To test this strategy, the team engineered protein immunogens that mimic key HIV envelope structures known to initiate bnAb development.

bit.ly

Germline-targeting sequential immunization generated functional bnAbs in serum that neutralized many HIV strains in lab tests. Published in Nature with the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Emory University, IAVI and others, the study shows the vaccine strategy can guide antibody evolution.

Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains

LA JOLLA, CA—HIV is globally so diverse, consisting of hundreds of thousands of different strains, that antibodies capable of blocking one strain may not recognize another. This strain variability has been one of the greatest barriers to developing a vaccine that can provide broad protection against…

ow.ly

New #HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study bit.ly/4fjL1Oi Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology, @scripps.edu, and IAVI show that vaccine approach yields high numbers of HIV-neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates — published in @nature.com #health #medicine

New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study

Vaccine approach yields high numbers of HIV-neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates

bit.ly

We're proud to share that LJI scientist and pediatric oncologist L. Benjamin Hills has received the @cancerresearchinst.bsky.social Irvington Postdoctoral Award to study immune cells in young #cancer patients bit.ly/4eHRHWd @ucsdmedschool.bsky.social #oncology #PediatricCancer #SanDiego #Health

Immunologist L. Benjamin Hills launches new investigation to help pediatric cancer patients

Physician-scientist L. Benjamin Hills wins prestigious Irvington Postdoctoral Award to study immune cells in young cancer patients

lji.org

The La Jolla Immunology Conference is happening Oct. 6-8 at @salkinstitute.bsky.social 📆 The speaker list is now live, and registration/abstract submissions are open! www.lajollaic.org #LaJolla #SanDiego #immunology #health #medicine #ImmuneSystem

Vaccination elicits HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies in primates @natbiotech.nature.com @scripps.edu @profshanecrotty.bsky.social @lji.org www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New in @nature.com: Preclinical trial led by La Jolla Institute and Scripps Research scientists shows that new #HIV vaccine yields high numbers of protective antibodies in non-human primates: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Health #Medicine #Virology #Vaccines @profshanecrotty.bsky.social

Excited to share our new Nature paper published today: Vaccination elicits HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies in primates www.nature.com/articles/s41... A project 14 years in the making with an outstanding team at @lji.bsky.social, @scrippsresearch.bsky.social and many collaborating institutions

To stop deadly infections, LJI scientists Dr. Alessandro Sette (@settelab.bsky.social) and Dr. Alba Grifoni (@albagrifoni.bsky.social) investigation what immune responses to #measles and #Nipah viruses have in common bit.ly/4f8IVk5 #Health #Medicine #Viruses #Immunology #Tcells

Our new paper is out this week in Nature Immunology. This work was preformed at @lji.org, in collaboration with the Irvine and Schief labs at Scripps Research, and guided by my mentor, @profshanecrotty.bsky.social . Grateful to be able to finally share it publicly! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Rapid boosting increases germinal center responses to sequential vaccines - Nature Immunology

The authors explore the potential of changing vaccination schedules combined with ‘germline targeting’ to increase the generation of broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV. In mice, they find tha...

nature.com

Allergy research begins with the immune system! At LJI, breakthroughs in immunology are helping make Life Without Disease possible. Learn how to support this research: www.lji.org/support/ #WorldAllergyWeek #Allergies #LifeWithoutDisease

A warm welcome to our 2026 LJI summer interns! 🎉 Every year, we welcome university and high school interns who come from across #SanDiego County to learn, connect, grow, and inspire us with their enthusiasm for science! We can't wait to see what our 2026 interns accomplish! #STEMCareers #Health

Congratulations to LJI’s own Jeffrey King for being selected by @ash.hematology.org to receive the ASH HIP Graduate Student Award, part of ASH’s investment in research and the next generation of hematologists! 🩸🔬 bit.ly/44gvrN2 #ASHAwards #Fight4Hematology #Health #Medicine #SanDiego #hematology

NYT science writer @carlzimmer.com highlights the race to develop vaccines and treatments for #Ebola and #Bundibugyo viruses 🔬 LJI's Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire discusses key differences between these closely related viruses — and what's need to halt outbreaks 💊

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 2mo ago

Scientists are scrambling to test vaccines and drugs that can work against the Bundibugyo virus. Here's my story on some of their prime candidates. Gift link: nyti.ms/4u7cN4A

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Teddy Rosenbluth at The New York Times about our work on measles. The article covers our efforts and those of others in the field who are working toward anti-measles therapeutic solutions. You can read it here: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/w...

With Measles Roaring Back, the Search for a Treatment Is On

nytimes.com

New from ScienceNews — Here's how LJI's #measles research can deliver virus-fighting monoclonal antibody therapeutics. "You can think of monoclonal antibodies as kind of an on-demand immunity..." www.sciencenews.org/article/meas... #virology #health #medicine

Measles has no treatments. Changing that may not be easy

Vaccination remains the priority, but some researchers are looking for drugs to fight the virus in people who don't get the shot.

sciencenews.org

We have no treatments for measles infection — but it doesn't have to be that way. @nytimes.com explains how research led by LJI's Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire and Dr. Dawid Zyla could help #measles patients across the U.S. bit.ly/4ekMeTU #Immunology #Health #Medicine #SanDiego #InfectiousDisease

With Measles Roaring Back, the Search for a Treatment is On

nytimes.com

New investigation by @settelab.bsky.social and @albagrifoni.bsky.social shows how T cells target conserved epitopes on #measles and Nipah viruses. Findings could guide development of vaccines against broad paramyxovirus family: www.lji.org/news-events/... #health #medicine #immunology

T cells may be key to stopping measles virus—and its deadly relatives

LJI researchers discover that 'cross-reactive' T cells can recognize measles and the highly lethal Nipah virus

lji.org

New T cell research shows how we could develop #hantavirus vaccines and therapies: bit.ly/4fkseTs Key findings from @settelab.bsky.social, @albagrifoni.bsky.social and @iedb.bsky.social #health #medicine #VaccineResearch #Andeshantavirus

How our immune cells combat Andes hantavirus

LJI scientists lead pandemic preparedness as they develop strategies for stopping rodent-borne viruses

bit.ly

Big Friday #immunology news! Turns out macrophages give pigeons a superpower! 🪶

Science Magazine@science.org · 2mo ago

Iron-rich immune cells within homing pigeons’ livers seem to give the birds their magnetic compass. https://scim.ag/4tYuK5r

How do our immune cells combat Andes hantavirus? LJI scientists lead pandemic preparedness as they develop strategies for stopping rodent-borne viruses www.lji.org/news-events/... #Hantavirus #SanDiego #Medicine #Health #VaccineResearch #Tcells

How our immune cells combat Andes hantavirus

LJI scientists lead pandemic preparedness as they develop strategies for stopping rodent-borne viruses

lji.org