Rod Rahimi
@rodrahimi.bsky.social
Physician-Scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Posting about biology (mostly immunology) and medicine
https://www.rahimi-lab.com
https://www.rahimi-lab.com
Pinned
Rod Rahimi
@rodrahimi.bsky.social
· Jan 25
Friends, it's fun to see the #immunology community continue to grow! I created a 4th Starter Pack to help folks find each other. If you're an immunologist and you don't see yourself on the lists, let me know 🧪
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
go.bsky.app/QSEPDoj
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
go.bsky.app/QSEPDoj
Friends, the second #immunology starter pack filled in 3 days! I started a third to help folks new to BlueSky rebuild their network
Below are the links
If you're an immunologist and I have missed you so far, let me know 🧪
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
Below are the links
If you're an immunologist and I have missed you so far, let me know 🧪
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
Hello Friends, I created a 5th #immunology Starter Pack. If you're an immunologist and you don't see yourself on the lists, let me know 🧪
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
go.bsky.app/QSEPDoj
go.bsky.app/Mdbpk7h
go.bsky.app/PY5tCas
go.bsky.app/FmERUoD
go.bsky.app/6aT6qDS
go.bsky.app/QSEPDoj
go.bsky.app/Mdbpk7h
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
My ask of any science enthusiasts who tell the story of Rosalind Franklin:
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Her sister wrote my favorite essay about her. She points out that RF would have been famous even if she'd never looked at DNA
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Remembering my sister Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 aged 37 years. Sympathy and feminism
have combined to give us her familiar image as a downtrodden woman scientist, brilliant
but neglected, a heroine t...
www.thelancet.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:17 AM
My ask of any science enthusiasts who tell the story of Rosalind Franklin:
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
And here's a YouTube link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0P...
"Rovina's Choice" Shows How The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
YouTube video by The New Yorker
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:36 PM
And here's a YouTube link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0P...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Multi-Year funding analysis, a 🧵
I have been trying to find a robust way of quantifying and understanding multi-year (forward funding).
First, some background:
Most NIH grants are for multiple years (2 to 5, typically).
However, the are usually funded on an annual basis.
1/18
I have been trying to find a robust way of quantifying and understanding multi-year (forward funding).
First, some background:
Most NIH grants are for multiple years (2 to 5, typically).
However, the are usually funded on an annual basis.
1/18
November 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Multi-Year funding analysis, a 🧵
I have been trying to find a robust way of quantifying and understanding multi-year (forward funding).
First, some background:
Most NIH grants are for multiple years (2 to 5, typically).
However, the are usually funded on an annual basis.
1/18
I have been trying to find a robust way of quantifying and understanding multi-year (forward funding).
First, some background:
Most NIH grants are for multiple years (2 to 5, typically).
However, the are usually funded on an annual basis.
1/18
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Literal insanity that a company that made a product that saved millions of lives just a few years ago could go out of business www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...
November 4, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Literal insanity that a company that made a product that saved millions of lives just a few years ago could go out of business www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Delighted that this study is finally out @embojournal.org. A detailed analysis of how DNGR-1/CLEC9A signals to promote cross-presentation of dead cell-associated antigens yet does not activate dendritic cells.
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
DNGR-1 signalling limits dendritic cell activation for optimal antigen cross-presentation | The EMBO Journal
imageimageDNGR-1 (CLEC9A) is a C-type lectin receptor of type-1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) with an important role in cross-presentation of dead cell antigens. This study explores how it equips cDC1s with the ability to cross-present such ...
www.embopress.org
November 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Delighted that this study is finally out @embojournal.org. A detailed analysis of how DNGR-1/CLEC9A signals to promote cross-presentation of dead cell-associated antigens yet does not activate dendritic cells.
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
November 2, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
'Upon attending a Baltimore scientific group meeting in 1988, at which the cloning of the immunoglobulin recombinase-activating gene RAG1, characterization of (IκB) & critical functional attributes of the c-ABL & BCR/ABL proteins were presented, sabbatical scientist Harold Varmus emerged gobsmacked'
Remembering David Baltimore (1938–2025)
David Baltimore, one of modern biology’s most influential scientists, passed away
at his home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on September 6, 2025 at the age of 87, leaving
legions of former trainees an...
www.cell.com
November 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
'Upon attending a Baltimore scientific group meeting in 1988, at which the cloning of the immunoglobulin recombinase-activating gene RAG1, characterization of (IκB) & critical functional attributes of the c-ABL & BCR/ABL proteins were presented, sabbatical scientist Harold Varmus emerged gobsmacked'
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
#InflammasomePower! 💥New paper alert💥 How is NLPR3 primed & activated in chronic non-communicable inflammatory diseases? With @oceanedufies.bsky.social &co we show that chronic exposure to oxPAPC drives NRF2 activation that primes & activates NLRP3 sustaining #atherosclerosis in mice & humans! 👇👇👇
Chronic sensing of host-derived lipids is an all-in-one signal that primes and activates NLRP3.
Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome leads to the production of bioactive interleukin (IL)-1β fostering atherosclerosis. The current dogma is that NLRP3 must be first primed by microbial stimuli, know...
www.biorxiv.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
#InflammasomePower! 💥New paper alert💥 How is NLPR3 primed & activated in chronic non-communicable inflammatory diseases? With @oceanedufies.bsky.social &co we show that chronic exposure to oxPAPC drives NRF2 activation that primes & activates NLRP3 sustaining #atherosclerosis in mice & humans! 👇👇👇
“Contrary to the prevailing paradigm of fetal immune quiescence, we uncover widespread memory/activated T cells and tissue-resident memory clones shared across organs, indicating systemic immune activity beyond localized barrier defense.”
'Here, we present a multi-organ single-cell atlas encompassing 23 fetal and adult organs, integrating scRNA-seq & scTCR-seq fm over 2.8 million immune cells across 15 second-trimester fetal & 4 adult donors.'
#Immunology
#Immunology
Systemic immune activity occurs during human immune system maturation
Profiling of immune cells from consecutive developmental time points in second-trimester
fetuses and adults reveals that immune activation, immune tolerance, and hematopoiesis
occur in a systemic way ...
www.cell.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:27 AM
“Contrary to the prevailing paradigm of fetal immune quiescence, we uncover widespread memory/activated T cells and tissue-resident memory clones shared across organs, indicating systemic immune activity beyond localized barrier defense.”
🧪#Immunology
Check out our new study in @ScienceMagazine! Using single-cell transcriptomics, we profile enteric nervous system responses to the microbiota and inflammation, identifying regulators of motor #neuron states and #gut transit time.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Regional encoding of enteric nervous system responses to microbiota and type 2 inflammation
Enteric neurons are essential regulators of intestinal physiology, yet their responses to varying microbial and immune environments along the intestinal tract and or during challenges remain poorly un...
www.science.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:10 AM
🧪#Immunology
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
I've been asked about this paper (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) enough times that I finally had to read it.
The basic claim is that mRNA vaccines had huge synergistic benefit with checkpoint blockade against lung cancer melanoma.
tl;dr it's glam-slop & everyone involved should be embarrassed
The basic claim is that mRNA vaccines had huge synergistic benefit with checkpoint blockade against lung cancer melanoma.
tl;dr it's glam-slop & everyone involved should be embarrassed
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade - Nature
mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
www.nature.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I've been asked about this paper (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) enough times that I finally had to read it.
The basic claim is that mRNA vaccines had huge synergistic benefit with checkpoint blockade against lung cancer melanoma.
tl;dr it's glam-slop & everyone involved should be embarrassed
The basic claim is that mRNA vaccines had huge synergistic benefit with checkpoint blockade against lung cancer melanoma.
tl;dr it's glam-slop & everyone involved should be embarrassed
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
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 Rod Rahimi
#WeekendRead! #InterferonPower! Lin, Sayour, Grippin &co show @nature.com that SARSCoV2 #mRNAvaccines potentiate in cancer patients & mouse models immune checkpoint blockade anti-tumor therapy thanks to increased type I interferon signaling! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade - Nature
mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
#WeekendRead! #InterferonPower! Lin, Sayour, Grippin &co show @nature.com that SARSCoV2 #mRNAvaccines potentiate in cancer patients & mouse models immune checkpoint blockade anti-tumor therapy thanks to increased type I interferon signaling! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Such a clever and impactful idea
“And you don’t have to convince people they need it,” she added. “It takes into account the local practices, that people are already wearing their babies and laying them to sleep in the same cloth.”🧪🩺
“And you don’t have to convince people they need it,” she added. “It takes into account the local practices, that people are already wearing their babies and laying them to sleep in the same cloth.”🧪🩺
'There were 66% fewer cases among those children compared with babies in the untreated wraps. By the end of the six-month study, only 16% of children in the treated wrap group had been sick with malaria, compared with 34% in the untreated wrap group, many of whom had multiple malaria episodes'
In Fight Against Malaria, an Unexpected — and Snuggly — Shield
www.nytimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Such a clever and impactful idea
“And you don’t have to convince people they need it,” she added. “It takes into account the local practices, that people are already wearing their babies and laying them to sleep in the same cloth.”🧪🩺
“And you don’t have to convince people they need it,” she added. “It takes into account the local practices, that people are already wearing their babies and laying them to sleep in the same cloth.”🧪🩺
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Enzymatic and autophagic catabolism of lipid droplets after unsaturated fatty acid uptake induces pathogenic TH2 cells @sciimmunology.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Enzymatic and autophagic catabolism of lipid droplets after unsaturated fatty acid uptake induces pathogenic TH2 cells @sciimmunology.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Review @natimmunol.nature.com
Antigen-presenting cells as arbiters of mucosal tolerance and immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Antigen-presenting cells as arbiters of mucosal tolerance and immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Review @natimmunol.nature.com
Antigen-presenting cells as arbiters of mucosal tolerance and immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Antigen-presenting cells as arbiters of mucosal tolerance and immunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Happy to share this review just out in Current Opinion in Immunology on innate immunity in the respiratory tract - also check out the other reviews in this collection on Intrinsic Immunity edited by John MacMicking #ImmunoSky #IDSky #pulmsky #MedSky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Layers of defense: protection from respiratory viruses by epithelial-intrinsic immunity
A central challenge in defending mucosal barriers is protecting against pathogens while also limiting excessive inflammation. Respiratory viruses are …
www.sciencedirect.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Happy to share this review just out in Current Opinion in Immunology on innate immunity in the respiratory tract - also check out the other reviews in this collection on Intrinsic Immunity edited by John MacMicking #ImmunoSky #IDSky #pulmsky #MedSky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED.
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
More than 1,000 CDC staff receive layoff notices during government shutdown
Another round of mass layoffs has struck CDC. The agency had already been cut during a reorganization this year, and more employees are now being shed amid the government shutdown.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED.
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging
Naked mole rats get much older than closely related mamals of a similar size. cGAS mutations may have an important role in this.
www.science.org/doi/...
1/9
Naked mole rats get much older than closely related mamals of a similar size. cGAS mutations may have an important role in this.
www.science.org/doi/...
1/9
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging
Efficient DNA repair might make possible the longevity of naked mole-rats. However, whether they have distinctive mechanisms to optimize functions of DNA repair suppressors is unclear. We find that naked mole-rat cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine ...
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 9:31 PM
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging
Naked mole rats get much older than closely related mamals of a similar size. cGAS mutations may have an important role in this.
www.science.org/doi/...
1/9
Naked mole rats get much older than closely related mamals of a similar size. cGAS mutations may have an important role in this.
www.science.org/doi/...
1/9
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Out today in @nature.com: Together with the Honigmann, Shevchenko, Drobot and Hof labs, we present a general workflow for imaging the localization and transport of individual lipids in cells and mapping their metabolism.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 21, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Out today in @nature.com: Together with the Honigmann, Shevchenko, Drobot and Hof labs, we present a general workflow for imaging the localization and transport of individual lipids in cells and mapping their metabolism.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Dr Ramsdell, whose phone had been on airplane mode when the Nobel committee tried to call him, told the BBC's Newshour Programme that his first response when his wife said, ‘You've won the Nobel prize’ was: ‘I did not.’”🧪🩺🤣
Scientist on three-week off-grid hike finds out he's won the Nobel prize
Dr Fred Ramsdell was "living his best life" offline when the Nobel committee tried to contact him.
www.bbc.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:50 AM
“Dr Ramsdell, whose phone had been on airplane mode when the Nobel committee tried to call him, told the BBC's Newshour Programme that his first response when his wife said, ‘You've won the Nobel prize’ was: ‘I did not.’”🧪🩺🤣
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
PhD opportunity to study intestinal immune cells using our pioneer human organoid models at the Joana F Neves and Robin Dart labs @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social through #MRC Doutoral training program
kcl-mrcdtp.com/project/deco...
Applications opening soon!
#gdTcells #IBD #gut #organoids
kcl-mrcdtp.com/project/deco...
Applications opening soon!
#gdTcells #IBD #gut #organoids
Decoding γδ T cell-epithelial interactions in the human intestine in health and disease - MRC DTP
The human gut epithelium performs vital absorptive functions, while simultaneously forming a physical barrier between the gut contents and the body. As such it is essential for health and its dysregul...
kcl-mrcdtp.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:13 AM
PhD opportunity to study intestinal immune cells using our pioneer human organoid models at the Joana F Neves and Robin Dart labs @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social through #MRC Doutoral training program
kcl-mrcdtp.com/project/deco...
Applications opening soon!
#gdTcells #IBD #gut #organoids
kcl-mrcdtp.com/project/deco...
Applications opening soon!
#gdTcells #IBD #gut #organoids
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”
October 6, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”