Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
@immunofever.bsky.social
Immunoengineer at MIT BE developing predictive diagnostics. Captivated by #inflammation, #SexDifferences #Lyme, #COVID, #IACI, #IACC and #onehealth. Mom of 2. prev/ PhD in Immunology @Yale; PostDoc @Stanford
https://talresearchgroup.mit.edu/
https://talresearchgroup.mit.edu/
Pinned
I'm an immunologist who is trying to understand why not everyone recovers from an infection, and why the infection-associated chronic illnesses skew female. I run a lab @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social, the clinical study MIT MAESTRO, and am building a mouse model of #chronicLyme. Will pin threads here.
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
MIT's MAESTRO study is looking for a few more #LongCovid male participants in the 18-28 yrs & 56-65 yrs brackets. See below screenshots for more info on Long Covid research study from posts by @immunofever.bsky.social & talresearchgroup.mit.edu/mitmaestro #medsky
January 15, 2026 at 4:37 AM
MIT's MAESTRO study is looking for a few more #LongCovid male participants in the 18-28 yrs & 56-65 yrs brackets. See below screenshots for more info on Long Covid research study from posts by @immunofever.bsky.social & talresearchgroup.mit.edu/mitmaestro #medsky
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
I'm just delighted to announce our new preprint on genome-scale perturb-seq in CD4+ T cells. We learned both general lessons about the power of perturb-seq, and specific lessons about T cell biology.
Led by amazing postdocs Emma Dann and Ronghui Zhu, with my wonderful collaborator Alex Marson.
Led by amazing postdocs Emma Dann and Ronghui Zhu, with my wonderful collaborator Alex Marson.
Together with @ronghuizhu.bsky.social, we are thrilled to present our new perturb-seq study of 22M primary CD4+ T cells, across donors and timepoints – the result of a decade-long collaboration between the Marson @marsonlab.bsky.social and Pritchard @jkpritch.bsky.social labs 🧵 tinyurl.com/gwt2025
Genome-scale perturb-seq in primary human CD4+ T cells maps context-specific regulators of T cell programs and human immune traits
Gene regulatory networks encode the fundamental logic of cellular functions, but systematic network mapping remains challenging, especially in cell states relevant to human biology and disease. Here, ...
tinyurl.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:27 PM
I'm just delighted to announce our new preprint on genome-scale perturb-seq in CD4+ T cells. We learned both general lessons about the power of perturb-seq, and specific lessons about T cell biology.
Led by amazing postdocs Emma Dann and Ronghui Zhu, with my wonderful collaborator Alex Marson.
Led by amazing postdocs Emma Dann and Ronghui Zhu, with my wonderful collaborator Alex Marson.
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
New preprint on the impact of vitamin D in regulating T cell migration to the brain. Great collaboration with Britta Engelhardt 😊
Vitamin D differentially modulates effector and regulatory T-cell migration across the blood-brain barrier https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.09.692504v1
December 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
New preprint on the impact of vitamin D in regulating T cell migration to the brain. Great collaboration with Britta Engelhardt 😊
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
In this study, we highlight a sex difference in Type I regulatory T cells, with potential translational application in MS to be further explored.
www.neurology.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
@saniya-kari.bsky.social @sexdiffimmunity.bsky.social
www.neurology.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
@saniya-kari.bsky.social @sexdiffimmunity.bsky.social
Sex Bias in IL-10 Production by Type I Regulatory T Cells Regulated by PI3K/mTOR Signaling | Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
Background and ObjectivesMultiple sclerosis (MS) is more prevalent in women, with a female-to-male ratio of
3:1. The molecular mechanisms driving this sex difference are still mostly unknown.
MS resul...
www.neurology.org
January 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
In this study, we highlight a sex difference in Type I regulatory T cells, with potential translational application in MS to be further explored.
www.neurology.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
@saniya-kari.bsky.social @sexdiffimmunity.bsky.social
www.neurology.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
@saniya-kari.bsky.social @sexdiffimmunity.bsky.social
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
@lshtm.bsky.social will be running a 3-day online short course on using multiple imputation to handle missing data on 23-25th June 2026. Teaching staff include James Carpenter, Ruth Keogh, Clémence Leyrat, and myself. Further details about the course at www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/course...
Statistical Analysis with Missing Data Using Multiple Imputation | LSHTM
www.lshtm.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 9:37 AM
@lshtm.bsky.social will be running a 3-day online short course on using multiple imputation to handle missing data on 23-25th June 2026. Teaching staff include James Carpenter, Ruth Keogh, Clémence Leyrat, and myself. Further details about the course at www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/course...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Ultimately I don't think it's a branding problem BUT I do think that people really don't understand how vaccines work or what they do, so there is some merit in a straightforward description...
January 3, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Ultimately I don't think it's a branding problem BUT I do think that people really don't understand how vaccines work or what they do, so there is some merit in a straightforward description...
What if we rebranded/reconceived/reformatted vaccines as immune stimulants? They stimulate community immunity. Are you yay or nay
January 3, 2026 at 5:39 PM
What if we rebranded/reconceived/reformatted vaccines as immune stimulants? They stimulate community immunity. Are you yay or nay
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
NVC test shows significant microvascular damage in #LongCovid patients vs matched healthy controls. Dilated capillaries, microhaemorrhages, abnormal shapes and reduced capillary density are still detectable in LC 12 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection
rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2...
rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2...
Multicentre retrospective detection of nailfold videocapillaroscopy abnormalities in long covid patients
Background SARS-CoV-2 induces acute non-specific endothelial/microvascular alterations that have been identified by nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC). Details on NVC abnormalities in long covid (LC) ...
rmdopen.bmj.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:44 PM
NVC test shows significant microvascular damage in #LongCovid patients vs matched healthy controls. Dilated capillaries, microhaemorrhages, abnormal shapes and reduced capillary density are still detectable in LC 12 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection
rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2...
rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
From a Nancy Klimas team in Florida, USA
Inefficient energy consumption is related to post exertional malaise during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in long COVID
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
#LongCovid #PEM #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #PostCovidSyndrome
Inefficient energy consumption is related to post exertional malaise during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in long COVID
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
#LongCovid #PEM #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #PostCovidSyndrome
December 22, 2025 at 11:49 PM
From a Nancy Klimas team in Florida, USA
Inefficient energy consumption is related to post exertional malaise during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in long COVID
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
#LongCovid #PEM #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #PostCovidSyndrome
Inefficient energy consumption is related to post exertional malaise during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in long COVID
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
#LongCovid #PEM #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #PostCovidSyndrome
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
#MicroSky: Clinical Treatments: In Crohn’s disease, gut bacteria may shape response to biologic therapy. Patients with more Fusobacterium were less likely to improve on ustekinumab, hinting that the microbiome could help predict who benefits most. Read Wang et al. doi.org/10.1111/1751...
November 17, 2025 at 11:01 AM
#MicroSky: Clinical Treatments: In Crohn’s disease, gut bacteria may shape response to biologic therapy. Patients with more Fusobacterium were less likely to improve on ustekinumab, hinting that the microbiome could help predict who benefits most. Read Wang et al. doi.org/10.1111/1751...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
The Long COVID Treatment Trial – Tirzepatide (LoCITT-T) is officially open for enrollment for people with Long COVID in:
Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
1/16
Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
1/16
LoCITT-T - Long COVID Treatment Trial
longcovid.scripps.edu
October 30, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The Long COVID Treatment Trial – Tirzepatide (LoCITT-T) is officially open for enrollment for people with Long COVID in:
Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
1/16
Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
1/16
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Looks like OpenFold3 has been formally released in a public "preview". Not quite on parity with AlphaFold3 on a few benchmarks shown, in particular for antibody interactions. All info on the github link. I am sure we will hear more about this from the developers github.com/aqlaboratory...
GitHub - aqlaboratory/openfold-3: OpenFold3: A fully open source biomolecular structure prediction model based on AlphaFold3
OpenFold3: A fully open source biomolecular structure prediction model based on AlphaFold3 - aqlaboratory/openfold-3
github.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Looks like OpenFold3 has been formally released in a public "preview". Not quite on parity with AlphaFold3 on a few benchmarks shown, in particular for antibody interactions. All info on the github link. I am sure we will hear more about this from the developers github.com/aqlaboratory...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Pre-print alert! And this one really is a must read for anyone that does spectral #flowcytometry. It is a complete, fully-automated spectral unmixing pipeline that reduces error up to 9000-fold.
Want to get a tough sample, like lung, looking like this? Read more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Want to get a tough sample, like lung, looking like this? Read more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Pre-print alert! And this one really is a must read for anyone that does spectral #flowcytometry. It is a complete, fully-automated spectral unmixing pipeline that reduces error up to 9000-fold.
Want to get a tough sample, like lung, looking like this? Read more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Want to get a tough sample, like lung, looking like this? Read more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
It should be noted that Google has noticed the backlash enough that they quietly published a code that would removed AI results for their searches.
An enterprising person built a default site to search without AI, and the results are goddamn refreshing as hell.
udm14.org
An enterprising person built a default site to search without AI, and the results are goddamn refreshing as hell.
udm14.org
&udm=14 | the search engine Konami code
A quick way to get an AI-free search without any extra work.
udm14.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:36 AM
It should be noted that Google has noticed the backlash enough that they quietly published a code that would removed AI results for their searches.
An enterprising person built a default site to search without AI, and the results are goddamn refreshing as hell.
udm14.org
An enterprising person built a default site to search without AI, and the results are goddamn refreshing as hell.
udm14.org
Sex differences matter!
www.sciencealert.com/half-of-hear...
www.sciencealert.com/half-of-hear...
Half of Heart Attacks in Younger Women Aren't From Clogged Arteries
Traditionally, most heart attacks have been blamed on clogged arteries causing atherothrombosis – where blood clots block flow to the heart.
www.sciencealert.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Sex differences matter!
www.sciencealert.com/half-of-hear...
www.sciencealert.com/half-of-hear...
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Epstein–Barr virus exploits desmocollin 2 as the principal epithelial cell entry receptor | @natmicrobiol.nature.com
sco.lt/6i4kd6
sco.lt/6i4kd6
Epstein–Barr Virus Uses Desmocollin 2 to Infect Cells | Virus World
In a groundbreaking advancement in virology, scientists have unveiled the elusive mechanism by which Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), a pervasive human herpesvirus, infects epithelial cells. This discovery c...
sco.lt
September 27, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Epstein–Barr virus exploits desmocollin 2 as the principal epithelial cell entry receptor | @natmicrobiol.nature.com
sco.lt/6i4kd6
sco.lt/6i4kd6
My cousin died from a vaccine preventable illness, and that's part of why it's so important to me to work on the immunology of infectious disease. I know what's on the line.
"If you're not vaccinated...there may not be any time."-Michal Tal
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
Vaccines save lives
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtube.com
September 20, 2025 at 12:10 PM
My cousin died from a vaccine preventable illness, and that's part of why it's so important to me to work on the immunology of infectious disease. I know what's on the line.
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
September 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal
Immune Booster #2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
"If you're not vaccinated...there may not be any time."-Michal Tal
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
Vaccines save lives
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtube.com
September 19, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"If you're not vaccinated...there may not be any time."-Michal Tal
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
From Immune Booster 2: Sex differences in immune responses with Michal Tal (@immunofever.bsky.social )
Hosts:
@cindyleifer.bsky.social @bioprofbarker.bsky.social
Reposted by Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
Doubling down as a Toxicologist. The benefits far outweigh the harms.
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
September 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Doubling down as a Toxicologist. The benefits far outweigh the harms.
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
September 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule