Marion Pepper
@marionpepper.bsky.social
Immunologist. Immune memory.👩🏻🔬
Reposted by Marion Pepper
A bad thing is unfolding at NIH this week: It looks like the Trump administration is trying to replace key civil servant scientific leaders, the Institute Directors, with political hires. These directors control the NIH budget, tens of billions.
A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪
A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪
November 13, 2025 at 10:31 PM
A bad thing is unfolding at NIH this week: It looks like the Trump administration is trying to replace key civil servant scientific leaders, the Institute Directors, with political hires. These directors control the NIH budget, tens of billions.
A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪
A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Congratulations to Karel Svoboda and @jshendure.bsky.social on their election to the National Academy of Medicine (@nam.edu)! Election to the Academy is one of the highest honors in health and medicine. #NAMmtg
More on their journeys to this achievement: alleninstitute.org/news/karel-s...
More on their journeys to this achievement: alleninstitute.org/news/karel-s...
Karel Svoboda and Jay Shendure elected to National Academy of Medicine
The honor recognizes leaders who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and made lasting contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health
alleninstitute.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Congratulations to Karel Svoboda and @jshendure.bsky.social on their election to the National Academy of Medicine (@nam.edu)! Election to the Academy is one of the highest honors in health and medicine. #NAMmtg
More on their journeys to this achievement: alleninstitute.org/news/karel-s...
More on their journeys to this achievement: alleninstitute.org/news/karel-s...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Super excited about first Shendure/Baker Lab collaboration & preprint on a multiplex sequencing-based strategy for screening de novo proteome editors in mammalian cells. Kudos to the brilliant Chase Suiter (not here) & @greenahn.bsky.social on the work! Preprint here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Super excited about first Shendure/Baker Lab collaboration & preprint on a multiplex sequencing-based strategy for screening de novo proteome editors in mammalian cells. Kudos to the brilliant Chase Suiter (not here) & @greenahn.bsky.social on the work! Preprint here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Nobel Prize given for showing the importance of investing in science for innovation and long-term economic growth. Basically the opposite of what the US is doing. 😭
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.
go.nature.com/4hj9NNV
go.nature.com/4hj9NNV
Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.
go.nature.com
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Nobel Prize given for showing the importance of investing in science for innovation and long-term economic growth. Basically the opposite of what the US is doing. 😭
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute, intermittent, recurrent episodes of airway inflammation. A decade of work developing the tools, techniques and collaborations needed to figure out how CD4+ T cells in the lungs propagate disease can be found here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells
Tissue-resident memory CD4+ T cells (TRM) are key sentinels of the adaptive immune response that provide a rapid, robust inflammatory response upon reactivation in non-lymphoid tissues. While CD4+ TRM...
www.biorxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by acute, intermittent, recurrent episodes of airway inflammation. A decade of work developing the tools, techniques and collaborations needed to figure out how CD4+ T cells in the lungs propagate disease can be found here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
More coming on what this means but this was one of those stories that took almost a decade to come together but was well worth the time. Also check out a companion piece on @biorxiv by Patrick Brennan!
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social Tertiary lymphoid structures support the development of allergen-specific progenitor CD4+ T cells @marionpepper.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 9, 2025 at 2:38 AM
More coming on what this means but this was one of those stories that took almost a decade to come together but was well worth the time. Also check out a companion piece on @biorxiv by Patrick Brennan!
Reposted by Marion Pepper
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥
We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪
Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇
open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪
Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇
open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
October 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥
We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪
Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇
open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪
Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇
open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Neat study—following 320 healthcare workers for almost a year, with 152 of them being infected, the authors examined whether or not COVID-19 associates with more upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). It didn't (yay!).
But, having a kid <5 associated with a 74% increase in the risk of URTIs.
But, having a kid <5 associated with a 74% increase in the risk of URTIs.
Is COVID-19 Associated With an Increased Risk of Subsequent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Adults? A Prospective Cohort Study
AbstractBackground. In Autumn 2022, a surge in upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) was observed worldwide. Individuals anecdotally reported increase
academic.oup.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Neat study—following 320 healthcare workers for almost a year, with 152 of them being infected, the authors examined whether or not COVID-19 associates with more upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). It didn't (yay!).
But, having a kid <5 associated with a 74% increase in the risk of URTIs.
But, having a kid <5 associated with a 74% increase in the risk of URTIs.
Excited to be here! Have to admit John Denver was running through my head as we wound our way through the country roads of West Virginia.
We are thrilled to have @marionpepper.bsky.social from @uwdeptmedicine.bsky.social joining us to give the keynote presentation!
September 25, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Excited to be here! Have to admit John Denver was running through my head as we wound our way through the country roads of West Virginia.
Reposted by Marion Pepper
If you read 1 thing today, please make it this: my so-talented colleague @ericboodman.bsky.social explains why babies in the US are vaccinated at birth against hep B — and what the human costs of changing that policy would be. www.statnews.com/2025/09/11/n...
Dropping hepatitis B shots for newborns would ignore history and endanger children, scientists warn
People who study, treat, or have hepatitis B say ending routine vaccination at birth - as some vaccine critics want - could lead to a resurgence of the virus.
www.statnews.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:28 PM
If you read 1 thing today, please make it this: my so-talented colleague @ericboodman.bsky.social explains why babies in the US are vaccinated at birth against hep B — and what the human costs of changing that policy would be. www.statnews.com/2025/09/11/n...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
In a post on Truth Social, the president suggested that the CDC was being “ripped apart” over a question that was answered long ago — whether Covid vaccines work.
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/h...
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/h...
Trump Wants Proof That Covid Vaccines Work. It’s Easy to Find.
www.nytimes.com
September 2, 2025 at 9:20 PM
In a post on Truth Social, the president suggested that the CDC was being “ripped apart” over a question that was answered long ago — whether Covid vaccines work.
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/h...
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/h...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Yesterday the president demanded that evidence about Covid vaccines be shown to the public. Today @apoorvanyt.bsky.social & I run through some of the studies made public over the past 4+ years that show that the vaccines work. Gift link: nyti.ms/46k17Tq
nyti.ms
September 2, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Yesterday the president demanded that evidence about Covid vaccines be shown to the public. Today @apoorvanyt.bsky.social & I run through some of the studies made public over the past 4+ years that show that the vaccines work. Gift link: nyti.ms/46k17Tq
Enormous thanks to @immunologyking.bsky.social and @maurogaya.bsky.social for organizing a vibrant, invigorating #EMBObarriertissues workshop. A poignant reminder of how critical
immunological studies are for ameliorating human disease. And a lot of fun people. 🐟 #wickelfisch
immunological studies are for ameliorating human disease. And a lot of fun people. 🐟 #wickelfisch
August 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Enormous thanks to @immunologyking.bsky.social and @maurogaya.bsky.social for organizing a vibrant, invigorating #EMBObarriertissues workshop. A poignant reminder of how critical
immunological studies are for ameliorating human disease. And a lot of fun people. 🐟 #wickelfisch
immunological studies are for ameliorating human disease. And a lot of fun people. 🐟 #wickelfisch
Reposted by Marion Pepper
I only heard tonight that Mike is no longer with us. All credit to him in setting me on this path as an immunologist. The description of his teaching brings back such warm memories. I recognize so many of the scientists on his
collage. What a gift to the world he was.
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
collage. What a gift to the world he was.
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
Michael Cancro (1949–2025)
Just a few weeks ago, researchers and educators connected to immunology lost a wonderful
friend and colleague: Michael Cancro, professor of pathology and lab medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania...
www.cell.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I only heard tonight that Mike is no longer with us. All credit to him in setting me on this path as an immunologist. The description of his teaching brings back such warm memories. I recognize so many of the scientists on his
collage. What a gift to the world he was.
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
collage. What a gift to the world he was.
www.cell.com/immunity/ful...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
We mostly rely on Bayesian guesswork to predict how long antibodies will be produced for new vaccines/infections. Here, we find that some of the key programs are set *really* early. We hope early signatures can be used to predict and engineer durable vaccine immunity. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Early, adjuvant-responsive epigenetic programs in B cells imprint subsequent plasma cell survival and the duration of humoral immunity
The duration of antibody production varies across different infections and vaccines. To define molecular programs that promote durable humoral immunity, we used mice deficient in ZBTB20, a transcripti...
www.biorxiv.org
August 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM
We mostly rely on Bayesian guesswork to predict how long antibodies will be produced for new vaccines/infections. Here, we find that some of the key programs are set *really* early. We hope early signatures can be used to predict and engineer durable vaccine immunity. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
The ousting of Dr. Susan Monarez as CDC Director, followed within hours by the resignations of Dr. Deb Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, mark a collapse of public health leadership with consequences that reach every American household.
August 27, 2025 at 11:26 PM
The ousting of Dr. Susan Monarez as CDC Director, followed within hours by the resignations of Dr. Deb Houry, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, mark a collapse of public health leadership with consequences that reach every American household.
Reposted by Marion Pepper
Applications are now open! We are recruiting 20 Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas. We're looking for early-career researchers with strong scientific merits and future potential.
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...
June 25, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Applications are now open! We are recruiting 20 Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas. We're looking for early-career researchers with strong scientific merits and future potential.
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
With deep gratitude, we thank Dr. Marc Jenkins for his decades of leadership, mentorship, and dedication to the Center for Immunology. The foundation he built will guide and inspire us for years to come.
August 25, 2025 at 12:06 PM
With deep gratitude, we thank Dr. Marc Jenkins for his decades of leadership, mentorship, and dedication to the Center for Immunology. The foundation he built will guide and inspire us for years to come.
Reposted by Marion Pepper
If you believe that keeping your head down and being quiet will spare you from this fate, you are mistaken. This will be all of us.
New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
[Gift Link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
August 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
If you believe that keeping your head down and being quiet will spare you from this fate, you are mistaken. This will be all of us.
Reposted by Marion Pepper
#WeekendRead! #MomIsAlwaysMom! Koch, Shenoy et al show @science.org that, in the first 7 days of life, breast milk IgGs (not IgAs!) recognize microbiota & limit, via Fc receptors, Tfh cell and B cell intestinal expansion, protecting against #colitis & #allergy during weaning!
Breast milk IgG engages the mouse neonatal immune system to instruct responses to gut antigens
Maternal antibodies fundamentally regulate gut immunity in the developing infant, yet the mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. We found that maternal immunoglobulin G (IgG), ingested in ...
doi.org
August 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM
#WeekendRead! #MomIsAlwaysMom! Koch, Shenoy et al show @science.org that, in the first 7 days of life, breast milk IgGs (not IgAs!) recognize microbiota & limit, via Fc receptors, Tfh cell and B cell intestinal expansion, protecting against #colitis & #allergy during weaning!
Reposted by Marion Pepper
I have a first serious attempt to estimate the consequences of multi-year funding for July.
For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was
$135 M
The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is
182
1/9
For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was
$135 M
The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is
182
1/9
a man in a shirt and tie is touching his forehead
ALT: a man in a shirt and tie is touching his forehead
media.tenor.com
August 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I have a first serious attempt to estimate the consequences of multi-year funding for July.
For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was
$135 M
The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is
182
1/9
For new R01s, the amount of additional expenditure was
$135 M
The number of additional R01s that could have been funded is
182
1/9
Reposted by Marion Pepper
The "data" package Secretary Kennedy used to bolster his argument for discontinuing #BARDA funding for #mRNA research doesn't support his argument. @jakescottmd.bsky.social lays it out in a must read for @statnews.com. www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.
www.statnews.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The "data" package Secretary Kennedy used to bolster his argument for discontinuing #BARDA funding for #mRNA research doesn't support his argument. @jakescottmd.bsky.social lays it out in a must read for @statnews.com. www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
By entirely funding more awards up front, the NIH is on track to fund just 1 in 25 applications
Such a payline “would chase a lot of people out of science” former NCI director Ned Sharpless told us 🧪🔬
www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/n...
Such a payline “would chase a lot of people out of science” former NCI director Ned Sharpless told us 🧪🔬
www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/n...
NIH is shrinking the number of research projects it funds due to a new Trump policy
NIH plans to shrink the share of grant applications it will award for the remainder of the fiscal year, in some cases by more than half.
www.statnews.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:18 PM
By entirely funding more awards up front, the NIH is on track to fund just 1 in 25 applications
Such a payline “would chase a lot of people out of science” former NCI director Ned Sharpless told us 🧪🔬
www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/n...
Such a payline “would chase a lot of people out of science” former NCI director Ned Sharpless told us 🧪🔬
www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/n...
Reposted by Marion Pepper
No better time to call or email your members of Congress. Next year’s NIH budget is being debated in the Senate. A new nonpartisan campaign is making it easy to defend science and protect America’s innovation. Just follow this link to contact your representatives: www.protectscienceandinnovation.org
July 22, 2025 at 8:58 PM
No better time to call or email your members of Congress. Next year’s NIH budget is being debated in the Senate. A new nonpartisan campaign is making it easy to defend science and protect America’s innovation. Just follow this link to contact your representatives: www.protectscienceandinnovation.org
Reposted by Marion Pepper
🎉 Over the moon to share the first paper from my lab!! We discovered an unexpected role for the cytokine OSM in lung epithelial homeostasis and repair. 🧵 1/n www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Macrophage-derived oncostatin M repairs the lung epithelial barrier during inflammatory damage
Tissue repair programs must function alongside antiviral immunity to restore the lung epithelial barrier following infection. We found that macrophage-derived oncostatin M (OSM) counteracted the patho...
www.science.org
July 11, 2025 at 1:03 AM
🎉 Over the moon to share the first paper from my lab!! We discovered an unexpected role for the cytokine OSM in lung epithelial homeostasis and repair. 🧵 1/n www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...