Greetings from our lab retreat. With our new lab T-shirts!
Caetano Reis e Sousa
@reisesousalab.bsky.social
We are the Immunobiology Lab at the Francis Crick Institute (@crick.ac.uk). We study how the body detects and responds to infection, cancer and tissue damage.
An international team of scientists, led by @charlesswanton.bsky.social lab at the Crick and @ucl.ac.uk and funded by @cancerresearchuk.org, have identified a signature of 14 proteins in the blood that can predict lung cancer risk over five years before diagnosis. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-06...
We are very happy to announce the 90 outstanding researchers from across the world who have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society this year, in fields from astronomy and cancer research to mathematics and biotechnology. #RSFellows royalsociety.org/news/2026/05...
Exceptional scientists elected as Fellows of the Royal Society | Royal Society
Over 90 outstanding researchers from across the world have this year been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
royalsociety.org
Many congratulations to Jean and Michael!
The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 2mo agoCongratulations to Jean Langhorne and Michael Way on being elected as Fellows of the Royal Society in recognition of their outstanding contributions to science. Read more about Jean and Michael’s election and their work: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-05...
Most amusing: my name as one of the possible answers on the Portuguese version of “Who wants to be a millionaire?” 😂
Many congratulations!
The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 3mo agoCongratulations to all six Crick scientists who were recently elected to the @acmedsci.bsky.social: Sonia Gandhi, @dr-james-lee.bsky.social, Nic Tapon @taponlab.bsky.social, Samra Turajlic @turajliclab.bsky.social, Pietro Fratta @frattalab.bsky.social and Edith Heard www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-05...
Delighted that our paper is out @natcancer.nature.com. Research led by Tom Castro-Dopico in partnership with Adendra Therapeutics reporting on a means to increase presentation of antigens from cancer cells. Read it for free at www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Coupling dead cell recognition to Fcγ receptors augments anticancer immunity - Nature Cancer
Castro-Dopico et al. report the design of reagents to bridge F-actin and Fcγ receptors, endowing a range of antigen-presenting cells with the ability to cross-present antigens from dead tumor cells an...
nature.com
The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 3mo agoResearchers at the Crick have found a way to redirect immune cells using F-actin exposed from dead cancer cells, reducing tumour growth in mice. The technique opens new avenues for developing immunotherapy treatments that complement existing clinical approaches. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-05...
Celebrating #worldimmunologyday @crick.ac.uk with a distinguished panel discussing “Inflammation: the good, the bad and the chronic”.
Nice celebration @reisesousalab.bsky.social of our recently published or in press papers. L-R: Tom Castro-Dopico, Oliver Schulz, @drjonlim.bsky.social and Mike Buck. See earlier and forthcoming posts for paper details.
Very pleased to share our collaborative work with Ilaria Malanchi's lab. We have combined our lab's specialities and studied respiratory viral infections, type I IFNs and metastatic cancer spread to the lung. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @ila07.bsky.social @imperialnhli.bsky.social
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
pnas.org
Researchers at the Crick and @imperialnhli.bsky.social have discovered that mice with a cold virus infection were less susceptible to the spread of breast cancer cells into their lungs. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-04...
Solving a ‘cold’ case: how viral infections could protect against cancer spread
The immune response to respiratory viruses in mice may hold the answers to inhibiting the spread of breast cancer.
crick.ac.uk
Excellent talks by Yasmine Belkaid @belkaidlab.bsky.social and Fiona Doetsch @doetschlab.bsky.social at the Louis-Jeantet and the Colleen-Jeantet 2026 Prize award ceremony @louisjeantetfdn.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s official: scientists aren’t funny. But it doesn’t have to be this way | Helen Pilcher
It’s a world of bottom quarks and arsole compounds – so why is science still so serious? Levity can make it all a lot easier to understand, says science writer Helen Pilcher
theguardian.com
An important piece on the threats to fundamental research in the UK. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Higgs Boson was UK triumph, but British physics faces 'catastrophic' cuts
Britain is preparing to cancel its contribution to one of the Large Hadron Collider's next major upgrades.
bbc.co.uk
Here is a blurb with excerpts from an interview I gave about serendipity in science and the importance of supporting discovery research. www.the-scientist.com/can-science-...
Can Science Still Afford Serendipity?
Serendipitous observations have shaped science for centuries. What happens to such discoveries when the academic atmosphere leaves no room for detours?
the-scientist.com
Wonderful appointment! Look forward to hearing all about Mariana’s adventures in the Belkaid lab.
Belkaid Lab@belkaidlab.bsky.social · 7mo agoWe're excited to welcome @marianapdc.bsky.social to the lab as our newest postdoctoral fellow! We're thrilled to have her expertise in the study of dendritic cells and her energy join the team. 😊 Welcome aboard!
Many congratulations to @belkaidlab.bsky.social and @doetschlab.bsky.social on being named the Jeantet Laureates for 2026!
Louis-Jeantet Foundation@louisjeantetfdn.bsky.social · 7mo ago📢 The Louis-Jeantet Foundation is happy to announce the 2026 #LouisJeantetPrizes, awarded to YASMINE BELKAID @pasteur.fr and to FIONA DOETSCH @doetschlab.bsky.social hlab.bsky.social @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch CONGRATULATIONS!!! 👉 jeantet.ch/en 👇 follow thread
As is tradition we hold our lab Xmas lunch in January with cheese fondue! Thank you to my wonderful team and looking forward to a new year of continued great science.
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
A great summary by @drjonlim.bsky.social!
Jon Lim, FRCP PhD@drjonlim.bsky.social · 7mo agoMy main PhD paper is finally out! 🎉 After ~5 years, it’s published today in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. @natimmunol.nature.com It all started with an unexpected observation 🔍: 👉 Mice lacking the dendritic cell receptor DNGR-1 developed tumours earlier ⏩ and more frequently 📈 than wild-type mice. 1/11 🧵
Absolutely delighted that our latest paper is out today @natimmunol.nature.com. It has taken five years to uncover a role for cross-presentation in shaping the immune visibility of tumour antigens. A labour of love led by @drjonlim.bsky.social and Oliver Schulz. Great start of 2026!
The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 7mo agoResearchers at the Crick have uncovered how certain proteins that become exposed on dying tumour cells can be detected by the immune system, alerting it to the cancer’s presence and prompting an immune response. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-12...
Taking advantage of a natural experiment, this follow-up by @pascalge.bsky.social of their earlier study in Nature on the beneficial effects of shingles vacination on dementia. Very cool stuff! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The effect of shingles vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course
A natural experiment found that herpes zoster vaccination reduced the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment and deaths due to dementia, indicating that the vaccine may slow the progression of dement...
cell.com
Key points on the need for continued animal use in scientific research. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Why we have to continue with animal testing for medical research | Letters
Letters: Dr Robin Lovell-Badge and Prof Emma Robinson respond to an editorial on using new technologies to reduce the reliance on animal experiments
theguardian.com
Last night we held our annual Crick Awards ceremony, presented by our Director Edith Heard, COO Claire Hook and guest host @bobbyseagull.bsky.social to celebrate the amazing people behind everything we do here. Follow the posts below to see this year's winners.
We had another full house at our Annual Science Meeting this week, which featured over 100 posters and 30 talks by our Crick colleagues. These yearly events are a great way for us all to get together and discover what teams from every corner of the building have been working on.
Cool new paper from @drmichaelway.bsky.social. Check it out!
The Francis Crick Institute@crick.ac.uk · 9mo agoResearchers at the Crick have discovered that mice lacking a specific gene responsible for cell structure lose intestinal balance and experience systemic inflammation, mirroring a lethal condition seen in humans. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-11...