📣Seeking highly motivated and creative Postdoctoral Fellow Build on our recent Nature 2026 story on caspase-5. Exciting projects linking innate immunity, regeneration, IBD, & cancer. DM or email: blanderadmin@med.cornell.edu. CV, cover letter, 3 refs. #Postdoc #Immunology #IBD #CancerBiology #Hiring

We did it! We had to pause and go out for a 3-point celebration, again! Kristel Yee Mon being named @bwfund.bsky.social Revson scholar, Chongbo Yang’s @crohnscolitisfdn.bsky.social fellowship, & my @krfoundation.org innovator award renewal. We’re grateful, we will not disappoint! We’re having fun!

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation @krfoundation.org included our work in their Turning Points 2025: Year in Review report. We’re proud to be featured alongside other organizations and researchers who are transforming the understanding of IBD. krfoundation.org/year-in-revi... #Treg #celldeath #IBD #DC

Health Turning Points 2025: Year In Review

Explore grantee stories and pivotal moments or “turning points” from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation's Health Program.

krfoundation.org

Last night our #lab got together over #dinner to #celebrate our @nature.com publication on caspase-5. Raised a glass to 1st co-authors Baosen Jia & Yuhua Shi, and to Chongbo Yang & Dylan Roycroft. Grateful to work with such solid scientists & great people. #Lovemylab. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Caspase 5c, a protease involved in inflammation & cell death, amplifies Wnt signaling to promote intestinal homeostasis, shows J Magarian Blander's Cornell University team. Findings broaden roles of inflammatory caspases beyond innate immunity, uncovering contribution to tissue homeostasis. Nature 🧪

Caspase 5c amplifies Wnt via APC cleavage to promote intestinal homeostasis | Nature

CASP5 is a member of the inflammatory caspase family of cysteine proteases that is involved in inflammation and cell death. CASP5 shares the highest homology with inflammatory CASP4, but whereas CASP4 is essential for noncanonical inflammasome activation, CASP5 is dispensable, and its function remains unknown.

nature.com

CASP5c “the movie” is now playing in the April 30th 2026 issue of @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Extra happy realizing that our new CASP5 paper is accompanied by a News & Views piece that so thoughtfully reflects on its meaning. A huge thank you to Judy Lieberman and Ayijiang Yisimayi for writing such an insightful commentary. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A cell-death protein has an unexpected role in intestinal repair

A form of the inflammatory protein caspase-5 is expressed in immature gut cells, where it promotes proliferation and facilitates tissue regeneration.

nature.com

#discovery from my lab @nature.com. Three isoforms of caspase-5, long known for #inflammation & #celldeath, exist in human #gut. CASP5C uniquely amplifies Wnt to nurse transit-amplifying cells supporting #homeostasis & #regeneration. Implications for #IBD & #CRC www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Caspase 5c amplifies Wnt via APC cleavage to promote intestinal homeostasis - Nature

CASP5 expression is restricted to the human intestinal epithelium, and the CASP5C isoform has a key role in promoting Wnt signalling, which is required for epithelial homeostasis, through binding...

nature.com

Postdoc Opportunity in Neoepitope-based Cancer Immune Interception! Join our @ncicapit.org research at @weillcornell.bsky.social to link immunoprevention targets with preclinical cancer preventive interventions. Apply by emailing blanderadmin@med.cornell.edu. #Postdoc #immunology #cancervaccines

Back from the @ncicapit.org Summit! Honored to contribute to designing vaccines for cancer before it emerges. Advocates J. Ahlstrom @healthtreeorg.bsky.social, E. Krischner (Li-Fraumeni), & R. Dubin @aliveandkickn.bsky.social reminded us why this research matters #CancerPrevention #Lynchsyndrome

Had a fantastic visit to @scripps.edu! Huge thanks to my host Sergio Catz. Loved the outdoor lunch with his team and beach dinner with Sergio, @decarvalhorenan.bsky.social , Hugh Rosen. Great meetings with Darrell Irvine, David Nemazee, Bruno Melillo, Hal Hoffman, Ben Croker, and John Teijaro!

To those of you interested in #inflammation #resolution and #tumormicroenvironment. I recorded this-braving cold windy conditions- to catch your interest. Join us! youtu.be/jxcpEc8I9Eo. Hope it musters your interest! @keystonesymposia.bsky.social Conference Alert ⏰ 🔔: vimeo.com/1136180246/1...

⏳ Deadline Jan. 14 (11:59 PM MST)! Submit abstracts/apply for scholarships for Tumor Microenvironment / Inflammation Resolution. 🔗 keysym.us/KSTumorMicro26 | keysym.us/KSInflammati... @coussenslab.bsky.social @sandramcallister.bsky.social @laurakiessling.bsky.social @magarianblander.bsky.social

@drjonlim.bsky.social & @reisesousalab.bsky.social show cDC1s & DNGR1 favor "tethered" neoantigens from F-actin proteins, trapping them in necrotic debris for better cross-presentation! Calls for prioritizing these neoantigens for cancer vaccine design #Immunotherapy www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cross-presentation of dead cell-associated antigens shapes the neoantigenic landscape of tumor immunity - Nature Immunology

Here the authors show DNGR-1 expressed by cDC1s promotes CD8⁺ T cell priming to cytoskeletal neoantigens from dying tumor cells, thereby shaping cancer immune visibility and tumor evolution through im...

nature.com

Very grateful to Prof. Blander & Dr. Jha for a thoughtful @natimmunol.nature.com 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 & 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 piece on our work 🙏 📄 A clear & critical perspective that places our findings in the broader context of dendritic cell biology, cross-presentation, and tumour immunoediting. @reisesousalab.bsky.social

Tethered neoantigens from the dead sculpt tumor fate - Nature Immunology

New data show that DNGR-1 enables type 1 conventional dendritic cells to sculpt cancer immunoediting through selective cross-presentation of F-actin-tethered neoantigens, enriching tumors for immune-e...

nature.com

Secret Santa with our incredible lab family; thoughtful gifts, fresh popcorn, homemade cookies, laughter, and holiday cheer. Wishing everyone a joyful season full of rest, peace, and time with loved ones. Happy Holidays!
#LabLife #SecretSanta #HappyHolidays

Thrilled to announce that my postdoc, Chongbo (Bob) Yang, is a Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Research Fellows Awardee! Meticulous to the core, Bob turns "impossible" into "inevitable" breakthroughs. Bob investigates DC response to RIPK3-driven inflammatory cell death. @crohnscolitisfdn.bsky.social

Good news shouldn’t wait, but it’s been a hectic work-heavy summer. I am delighted and honored to be among the Kenneth Rainin Foundation 2025 Innovator Award Grantees. Thank you to @krfoundation.org for supporting our work. krfoundation.org/news/health/... krfoundation.org/our-work/hea...

Thrilled to see two of my former postdocs, @gaetanbarbet.bsky.social ‬⁩ and Johan Garaude, shining on the speaker list at the @frenchdcsociety.bsky.social Biennial Meeting, @pasteur.fr ! Proud of their amazing work and contributions to the field! #Dendriticcell #ProudMentor

Working with a great team to organize @keystonesymposia.bsky.social “Inflammation Resolution: Emerging Concepts, Mechanisms, and Disease Insights” in Whistler, May 17-20 2026. SAVE THE DATE. Join us! keysym.us/KSInflammati... #KSInflammation26 #inflammation #inflammationresolution #cancer

Also: Loving the collaboration between Johan Garaude @immunoconcept @inserm.fr and Leif Sander @sanderlab.bsky.social on this work. Johan and Leif met in my lab and have been friends and collaborators since (I’ll just say a while ago). Brings a smile to my face! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Macrophages recycle phagocytosed bacteria to fuel immunometabolic responses - Nature

Phagocytosed bacteria can serve as an alternative nutrient source for macrophages, influencing their metabolic and immune responses through the recycling of microbial components, with the process regu...

nature.com

Thrilled for Johan Garaude’s @inserm.fr new work in Nature! I’m proud to see this Blander lab alumnus shine. His group shows bacterial cAMP accumulation signals death, fueling macrophage recycling—a fresh live-vs-dead immune twist. Stellar work with huge impact! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Macrophages recycle phagocytosed bacteria to fuel immunometabolic responses - Nature

Phagocytosed bacteria can serve as an alternative nutrient source for macrophages, influencing their metabolic and immune responses through the recycling of microbial components, with the process regu...

nature.com

Vita-PAMP bacterial mRNA+LPS in sterile tissue = potentially dangerous live bacteria, & like virulence factors, activate the noncanonical NLRP3 inflammasome. Find out the common & distinct features of activating this pathway by a vita-PAMP vs virulence factor: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Grateful to have our newly published work in Nature Immunology highlighted by @weillcornell.bsky.social. Honored to contribute to the amazing research happening here. news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2025/01... #Medicalresearch #cancer #immunology #inflammasome

Macrophages help tumors grow, but what about early on when transformed cells first arise in tissue? Macrophages may collaborate with the cell-intrinsic barriers to transformation in a form of ‘oncogenic monitoring’. Curious? My hypothesis full text here till 2/15 authors.elsevier.com/a/1kKoc3OeyG...

Ever wonder if the innate immune system protects against cancer in premalignancy? My lab reports that the inflammasome in bone marrow stroma suppresses Ras in preleukemic stem cells restraining lymphomagenesis. Happy to share here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A stromal inflammasome Ras safeguard against Myc-driven lymphomagenesis - Nature Immunology

Blander and colleagues report a homeostatic regulatory effect played by inflammasomes in the bone marrow stromal compartment that suppresses premalignant stages of lymphomagenesis.

nature.com