Jamie Heather
@jamieheather.bsky.social
🇬🇧 immunulogist in 🇺🇸 | instructor @ MGH/HMS | TCRs and pMHC
Technically a James | ʤeɪmi hɛðə˞ | he/him
@jamimmunology in the old place
papers, tools, & 3d printed labware here: https://jamieheather.github.io/
Technically a James | ʤeɪmi hɛðə˞ | he/him
@jamimmunology in the old place
papers, tools, & 3d printed labware here: https://jamieheather.github.io/
Pinned
I've got a PSA to the T cell receptor researchers of #immunosky to let you know about a new paper we've just got out: doi.org/10.1016/j.im...
This covers how our field is handling the sets of germline #TCR genes used in our research. Maybe not the most glamorous topic, but it’s kind of a big deal…
This covers how our field is handling the sets of germline #TCR genes used in our research. Maybe not the most glamorous topic, but it’s kind of a big deal…
Reposted by Jamie Heather
This won’t come as a surprise to the TCR-antigen gurus, but I did want to share some lessons we learned re: partial TCR sequence alignments as predictions for antigen specificity from this study 1/
Overjoyed to share our new work exploring the antigen specificity of CSF-expanded CD8+ T cells in #multiplesclerosis #EBV in @natimmunol.nature.com #immunology 🧪🧵1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Antigen specificity of clonally enriched CD8+ T cells in multiple sclerosis - Nature Immunology
Sabatino and colleagues examine expanded CD8+ T cell clonotypes from a small cohort of multiple sclerosis patients. They identified several cognate peptide epitopes that derive from Epstein–Barr virus...
www.nature.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:55 PM
This won’t come as a surprise to the TCR-antigen gurus, but I did want to share some lessons we learned re: partial TCR sequence alignments as predictions for antigen specificity from this study 1/
Reposted by Jamie Heather
As mentioned in another thread, four UKRI leaders spoke to journalists this morning about changes to research council funding
They addressed stories broken by RPN that STFC has to find £162m of costs savings by 2029-30, and that major physics infrastructure projects have been shelved
...
They addressed stories broken by RPN that STFC has to find £162m of costs savings by 2029-30, and that major physics infrastructure projects have been shelved
...
‘Difficult’ two years ahead for physics, warns STFC boss.
Michele Dougherty confirms withdrawal from LHC upgrade and indicates scant money for new projects.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Michele Dougherty confirms withdrawal from LHC upgrade and indicates scant money for new projects.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
‘Difficult’ two years ahead for physics, warns STFC boss - Research Professional News
Michele Dougherty confirms withdrawal from LHC upgrade and indicates scant money for new projects
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:06 PM
As mentioned in another thread, four UKRI leaders spoke to journalists this morning about changes to research council funding
They addressed stories broken by RPN that STFC has to find £162m of costs savings by 2029-30, and that major physics infrastructure projects have been shelved
...
They addressed stories broken by RPN that STFC has to find £162m of costs savings by 2029-30, and that major physics infrastructure projects have been shelved
...
Reposted by Jamie Heather
Update from MRC re funding
They've separately said:
Our transition to new ways of working also means we unfortunately expect to make a reduced number of awards to applications currently being assessed by our four research boards and developmental pathway funding scheme.
www.ukri.org/blog/mrc-fun...
Our transition to new ways of working also means we unfortunately expect to make a reduced number of awards to applications currently being assessed by our four research boards and developmental pathway funding scheme.
www.ukri.org/blog/mrc-fun...
MRC funding update
An update on MRC funding during UKRI’s transition, what’s changing, and the next steps for paused opportunities and reopening timelines.
www.ukri.org
February 5, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Update from MRC re funding
My brain tried to read this like a Lou Bega song
February 5, 2026 at 3:36 AM
My brain tried to read this like a Lou Bega song
Reposted by Jamie Heather
Unleashing live-cell imaging for the masses!
Adapting the OpenFlexure Microscope for Affordable Live-Cell Imaging www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fits into existing incubators for time-lapse experiments & feeds into existing bioimaging analysis pipelines.
Thanks @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding
Adapting the OpenFlexure Microscope for Affordable Live-Cell Imaging www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fits into existing incubators for time-lapse experiments & feeds into existing bioimaging analysis pipelines.
Thanks @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding
February 3, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Unleashing live-cell imaging for the masses!
Adapting the OpenFlexure Microscope for Affordable Live-Cell Imaging www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fits into existing incubators for time-lapse experiments & feeds into existing bioimaging analysis pipelines.
Thanks @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding
Adapting the OpenFlexure Microscope for Affordable Live-Cell Imaging www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Fits into existing incubators for time-lapse experiments & feeds into existing bioimaging analysis pipelines.
Thanks @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding
Reposted by Jamie Heather
This is finally out.
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Antibody escape drives emergence of diverse spike haplotypes resembling variants of concern in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections
Snell et al. develop sequencing methodology to identify full-length spike haplotypes
and show that persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections drive divergent haplotype emergence,
accelerating viral evolution an...
www.cell.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:09 PM
This is finally out.
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Jamie Heather
I have a 3-year postdoc position available at University of Manchester for a mass spec expert in proteomics. The person will be involved in exciting projects in single cell proteomics, drug discovery and innate immunity - on timsTOF Ultra AIP & HF & Astral Zoom.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ093/r...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ093/r...
Home - Trost Lab
www.trostlab.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:53 PM
I have a 3-year postdoc position available at University of Manchester for a mass spec expert in proteomics. The person will be involved in exciting projects in single cell proteomics, drug discovery and innate immunity - on timsTOF Ultra AIP & HF & Astral Zoom.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ093/r...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ093/r...
Reposted by Jamie Heather
There is a cost to science denial.
January 27, 2026 at 9:29 PM
There is a cost to science denial.
This should be a source of great national shame, and a spur to action.
I sadly suspect it will be neither.
I sadly suspect it will be neither.
BREAKING NEWS: UK loses its #measles elimination status
@benk-d.bsky.social highlights failure to reach 95% measles #vaccine coverage target in UK
+ need for secure funding for vaccine outreach efforts & joined-up #PublicHealth response
Read more: www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
@benk-d.bsky.social highlights failure to reach 95% measles #vaccine coverage target in UK
+ need for secure funding for vaccine outreach efforts & joined-up #PublicHealth response
Read more: www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
January 26, 2026 at 6:19 PM
This should be a source of great national shame, and a spur to action.
I sadly suspect it will be neither.
I sadly suspect it will be neither.
Reposted by Jamie Heather
Delighted that our latest paper is out at @mucosalimmunol.bsky.social. Here, using bronchoscopies and scRNA- and TCR-seq, we found that T cells isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage versus the airway mucosal are surprisingly distinct. Summary of the original preprint below. #Immunology #PCCM
January 9, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Delighted that our latest paper is out at @mucosalimmunol.bsky.social. Here, using bronchoscopies and scRNA- and TCR-seq, we found that T cells isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage versus the airway mucosal are surprisingly distinct. Summary of the original preprint below. #Immunology #PCCM
Assuming this is the right one: www.boom-power.co.uk/content/uplo... ...
... looks like these panels have their axis ~2m off the ground, so the tops of the panels will be that height at sunset/sunrise, when they're at maximum tilt.
... looks like these panels have their axis ~2m off the ground, so the tops of the panels will be that height at sunset/sunrise, when they're at maximum tilt.
www.boom-power.co.uk
January 2, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Assuming this is the right one: www.boom-power.co.uk/content/uplo... ...
... looks like these panels have their axis ~2m off the ground, so the tops of the panels will be that height at sunset/sunrise, when they're at maximum tilt.
... looks like these panels have their axis ~2m off the ground, so the tops of the panels will be that height at sunset/sunrise, when they're at maximum tilt.
Me before: "this is fun but silly"
Me after: "I think there's something to this you know"
Me after: "I think there's something to this you know"
January 2, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Me before: "this is fun but silly"
Me after: "I think there's something to this you know"
Me after: "I think there's something to this you know"
Is that one sheet stuck to the shaker, with matching cutouts stuck to the bottom of the clamps? Looks like a decent bit of force applied - can you go faster, or do they start to move around? (Wondering what stuff I can start to magnet together)
December 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Is that one sheet stuck to the shaker, with matching cutouts stuck to the bottom of the clamps? Looks like a decent bit of force applied - can you go faster, or do they start to move around? (Wondering what stuff I can start to magnet together)
Reposted by Jamie Heather
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: English hospitals that cut registered nurses saw more deaths while those hiring nurses saw more patients survive. Even when hospitals tried to fill gaps with non-nurses, deaths still went up. Major new study exposes dangerous NHS variation:
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
Death rates rise when NHS cuts back on nursing
Using lower-paid workers to plug the gaps left by a failure to hire registered nurses damages safety, new research has shown
www.thetimes.com
December 21, 2025 at 8:41 AM
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: English hospitals that cut registered nurses saw more deaths while those hiring nurses saw more patients survive. Even when hospitals tried to fill gaps with non-nurses, deaths still went up. Major new study exposes dangerous NHS variation:
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
A copilot button has appeared in all of my work Office programs, without need, want, or license, and without any way to get of it. Not only does IT not have a clue why it's there, no Microsoft resource can explain how to remove it.
At least Clippy had the decency to get lost when you told him to.
At least Clippy had the decency to get lost when you told him to.
December 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A copilot button has appeared in all of my work Office programs, without need, want, or license, and without any way to get of it. Not only does IT not have a clue why it's there, no Microsoft resource can explain how to remove it.
At least Clippy had the decency to get lost when you told him to.
At least Clippy had the decency to get lost when you told him to.
If my surname was Quot I'd definitely consider Alastair / Ally as a first name
December 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
If my surname was Quot I'd definitely consider Alastair / Ally as a first name
Not that I'm in the market, but I'm curious what the (non-chomping) alligator risk is?
December 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Not that I'm in the market, but I'm curious what the (non-chomping) alligator risk is?
May be of interest to note that the US practice of advertising prescription meds to end consumers is seen as pretty odd by a large fraction of the world, where it tends to be much more regulated.
It was certainly one of my unexpected culture shocks when I first arrived!
It was certainly one of my unexpected culture shocks when I first arrived!
December 10, 2025 at 8:58 PM
May be of interest to note that the US practice of advertising prescription meds to end consumers is seen as pretty odd by a large fraction of the world, where it tends to be much more regulated.
It was certainly one of my unexpected culture shocks when I first arrived!
It was certainly one of my unexpected culture shocks when I first arrived!
The annual realisation that no, it's not that all of the appliances' wiring has gone faulty at once, but that your winter thermals have turned you into a walking Van de Graaff generator
December 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The annual realisation that no, it's not that all of the appliances' wiring has gone faulty at once, but that your winter thermals have turned you into a walking Van de Graaff generator
Reposted by Jamie Heather
If you ever need to fuzzy search some DNA, sassy is your tool.
Please spread the word; I think many people just outside my own circle could benefit from this :)
cc @rickbitloo.bsky.social
github.com/RagnarGrootK...
Please spread the word; I think many people just outside my own circle could benefit from this :)
cc @rickbitloo.bsky.social
github.com/RagnarGrootK...
December 10, 2025 at 3:50 PM
If you ever need to fuzzy search some DNA, sassy is your tool.
Please spread the word; I think many people just outside my own circle could benefit from this :)
cc @rickbitloo.bsky.social
github.com/RagnarGrootK...
Please spread the word; I think many people just outside my own circle could benefit from this :)
cc @rickbitloo.bsky.social
github.com/RagnarGrootK...
My nan always said, if you aint delving too deep you aint delving deep enough
December 5, 2025 at 9:35 PM
My nan always said, if you aint delving too deep you aint delving deep enough
Reposted by Jamie Heather
a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...
November 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...
This isn't *why* we should encourage scientists to have interests outside of the lab (they are their own reward), but it's an excellent demonstration of the inspiration that can happen when you do
December 2, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This isn't *why* we should encourage scientists to have interests outside of the lab (they are their own reward), but it's an excellent demonstration of the inspiration that can happen when you do
Reposted by Jamie Heather
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM