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 outstanding postdoc is looking for a research job in Albany, NY. Please forward all leads and RT!
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 PM
My outstanding postdoc is looking for a research job in Albany, NY. Please forward all leads and RT!
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Online now: B cell-intrinsic IL-2 signaling regulates inflammation by promoting IL-10 expression in CD25+ age-associated B cells
B cell-intrinsic IL-2 signaling regulates inflammation by promoting IL-10 expression in CD25+ age-associated B cells
B cells transiently increase interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expression upon activation. Gauthier et al. examine the B cell-intrinsic role of IL-2 and define an IL-2-MAF axis that promotes the differentiation of CD25+ age-associated B cells toward a regulatory, IL-10-producing phenotype that is protective in neuroinflammation.
dlvr.it
January 31, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Online now: B cell-intrinsic IL-2 signaling regulates inflammation by promoting IL-10 expression in CD25+ age-associated B cells
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Fascinating obituary of Peter Duesberg who went from renowned scientist discovering the first viral oncogene to HIV denialist who influenced Thabo Mbeki and HIV policy in S. Africa which led to millions dying.
Human beings are complex creatures indeed.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/s...
Human beings are complex creatures indeed.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/s...
Peter H. Duesberg, 89, Renowned Biologist Turned H.I.V. Denialist, Dies
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Fascinating obituary of Peter Duesberg who went from renowned scientist discovering the first viral oncogene to HIV denialist who influenced Thabo Mbeki and HIV policy in S. Africa which led to millions dying.
Human beings are complex creatures indeed.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/s...
Human beings are complex creatures indeed.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/s...
An incredible life and legacy
“He said the strategy — now known as ‘ring vaccination’ — was based on principles he learned when he spent summers fighting wildfires in the American West as a younger man.”🧪🩺
“He said the strategy — now known as ‘ring vaccination’ — was based on principles he learned when he spent summers fighting wildfires in the American West as a younger man.”🧪🩺
William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:09 PM
An incredible life and legacy
“He said the strategy — now known as ‘ring vaccination’ — was based on principles he learned when he spent summers fighting wildfires in the American West as a younger man.”🧪🩺
“He said the strategy — now known as ‘ring vaccination’ — was based on principles he learned when he spent summers fighting wildfires in the American West as a younger man.”🧪🩺
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Distinct phenotypes and repertoires of bronchoalveolar and airway mucosal T cells in health and allergic asthma from @rodrahimi.bsky.social and colleagues: www.mucosalimmunology.org/article/S193...
January 23, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Distinct phenotypes and repertoires of bronchoalveolar and airway mucosal T cells in health and allergic asthma from @rodrahimi.bsky.social and colleagues: www.mucosalimmunology.org/article/S193...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Thrilled to share our new preprint showing that dietary amino acids license the NLRP3 inflammasome via mTOR-dependent mRNA translation! Congrats to co-1st authors @mikelhaggadone.bsky.social, Brian Goldspiel, co-senior author @metabailism.bsky.social & collaborators! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 21, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Thrilled to share our new preprint showing that dietary amino acids license the NLRP3 inflammasome via mTOR-dependent mRNA translation! Congrats to co-1st authors @mikelhaggadone.bsky.social, Brian Goldspiel, co-senior author @metabailism.bsky.social & collaborators! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
This is a cool paper
"The targeting of CD44 by CMV reveals CD44 as a molecule that is essential to the functioning of the FRC network and uncovers a previously unrecognized stroma-based mechanism that is critical for the generation of effective T cell responses." #Immunology
"The targeting of CD44 by CMV reveals CD44 as a molecule that is essential to the functioning of the FRC network and uncovers a previously unrecognized stroma-based mechanism that is critical for the generation of effective T cell responses." #Immunology
Fibroblastic reticular cells direct the initiation of T cell responses via CD44 - Nature
CD44 expressed by fibroblastic reticular cells in secondary lymphoid organs regulates trafficking of dendritic cells, and thus has an essential role in the priming of T cells and the adaptive immune r...
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:43 PM
This is a cool paper
"The targeting of CD44 by CMV reveals CD44 as a molecule that is essential to the functioning of the FRC network and uncovers a previously unrecognized stroma-based mechanism that is critical for the generation of effective T cell responses." #Immunology
"The targeting of CD44 by CMV reveals CD44 as a molecule that is essential to the functioning of the FRC network and uncovers a previously unrecognized stroma-based mechanism that is critical for the generation of effective T cell responses." #Immunology
“In every field, elite youth performers and elite adults were almost entirely separate groups…It is not just that exceptional performance in childhood did not predict exceptional performance as an adult. The two were actually negatively correlated, says Dr Güllich.”🧪
Why child prodigies rarely become elite performers
Hot-housing promising youngsters works—but not as well as you might think
economist.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:48 PM
“In every field, elite youth performers and elite adults were almost entirely separate groups…It is not just that exceptional performance in childhood did not predict exceptional performance as an adult. The two were actually negatively correlated, says Dr Güllich.”🧪
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Thrilled to share our latest work: Fine-tuning BACH2 dosage balances stemness and effector function to enhance antitumor T cell therapy - now online in Nature Immunology. Led by Alberto Conti, Alex Evans and Teresa von Linde in the lab. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Thrilled to share our latest work: Fine-tuning BACH2 dosage balances stemness and effector function to enhance antitumor T cell therapy - now online in Nature Immunology. Led by Alberto Conti, Alex Evans and Teresa von Linde in the lab. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Don’t forget that the 1961 triplet code paper only became elegant when it was written! The experiments were all a bit of a mess... I suspect the same was true of the other classic papers!
A breakthrough from 60 years ago: “General nature of the genetic code for proteins” (1961)
In 1961, Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner, together with two Cambridge colleagues, published an article in Nature that used simple genetic experiments to demonstrate that the genetic code was almost ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Don’t forget that the 1961 triplet code paper only became elegant when it was written! The experiments were all a bit of a mess... I suspect the same was true of the other classic papers!
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
New paper alert! We show essential role of #fibroblasts derived #complement C3 in maintaining #Il33-#ILC2 hub during airway #allergy. Congratulations to hard working Ph.D. Students @atakkatan.bsky.social @aishwaryamagesh.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-reports... @johnshopkinsmmi.bsky.social
Complement-producing adventitial fibroblasts form an IL-33 alarmin hub that maintains ILC2s during airway allergy
Atakkatan et al. identify a distinct subset of C3+IL-33+ adventitial fibroblasts (AFs)
that drives allergic inflammation by maintaining ILC2 responses. In turn, ILC2-derived
IL-13 supports AF function...
www.cell.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:29 AM
New paper alert! We show essential role of #fibroblasts derived #complement C3 in maintaining #Il33-#ILC2 hub during airway #allergy. Congratulations to hard working Ph.D. Students @atakkatan.bsky.social @aishwaryamagesh.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-reports... @johnshopkinsmmi.bsky.social
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Our cool new paper depicting fibroblasts more than a scaffold during airway allergy. #Il33 #ILC2 #complement
New paper alert! We show essential role of #fibroblasts derived #complement C3 in maintaining #Il33-#ILC2 hub during airway #allergy. Congratulations to hard working Ph.D. Students @atakkatan.bsky.social @aishwaryamagesh.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-reports... @johnshopkinsmmi.bsky.social
Complement-producing adventitial fibroblasts form an IL-33 alarmin hub that maintains ILC2s during airway allergy
Atakkatan et al. identify a distinct subset of C3+IL-33+ adventitial fibroblasts (AFs)
that drives allergic inflammation by maintaining ILC2 responses. In turn, ILC2-derived
IL-13 supports AF function...
www.cell.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Our cool new paper depicting fibroblasts more than a scaffold during airway allergy. #Il33 #ILC2 #complement
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
🪱 Biologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado loves planarians. To be fair, these tiny flatworms do embody the ultimate growth mindset: buff.ly/ky5PM6u
January 11, 2026 at 3:33 PM
🪱 Biologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado loves planarians. To be fair, these tiny flatworms do embody the ultimate growth mindset: buff.ly/ky5PM6u
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Monogenic disorders of immunity: Common variants are not so rare: Cell Genomics www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Monogenic disorders of immunity: Common variants are not so rare
While monogenic disorders of immunity typically involve rare alleles, some arise from
alleles common in specific populations. Examples include IFNAR1/2 null alleles in
the Arctic/Pacific and PTCRA hyp...
www.cell.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Monogenic disorders of immunity: Common variants are not so rare: Cell Genomics www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
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
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
January 6, 2026 at 11:29 PM
If you are submitting an NIH grant in February, you will be required to use SciENcv to prepare you biosketch.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
IT IS MUCH WORSE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
Set aside *at least* 4 hours just to transfer an existing an biosketch into SciENcv.
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
💥New paper alert!💥 What’s better than starting 2026 with an @annualreviews.bsky.social #Immunology, often a once-in-a-life honor ❤️?! Check it out if you want to know everything about type III interferons #IFN! Thanks to my wonderful team for their amazing work 🤗 doi.org/10.1146/annu...
Molecular, Cellular, Tissue, and Organismal Functions of Type III Interferons
Type III interferons are essential immune mediators playing pleiotropic roles during health and disease. In this review, we highlight the molecular and cellular pathways that lead to the production of...
doi.org
January 5, 2026 at 5:50 PM
💥New paper alert!💥 What’s better than starting 2026 with an @annualreviews.bsky.social #Immunology, often a once-in-a-life honor ❤️?! Check it out if you want to know everything about type III interferons #IFN! Thanks to my wonderful team for their amazing work 🤗 doi.org/10.1146/annu...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
Novel Method to Spur Lung Blood Vessel Growth to Treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia @mingxiagu.bsky.social @cincyresearch.bsky.social
scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/study-reveal...
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social
scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/study-reveal...
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social
Study Reveals Novel Method to Spur Lung Blood Vessel Growth to Treat BPD - Research Horizons
scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org
January 4, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Novel Method to Spur Lung Blood Vessel Growth to Treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia @mingxiagu.bsky.social @cincyresearch.bsky.social
scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/study-reveal...
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social
scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/study-reveal...
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
@drjonlim.bsky.social & @reisesousalab.bsky.social show cDC1s & DNGR1 favor "tethered" neoantigens from F-actin proteins, trapping them in necrotic debris for better cross-presentation! Calls for prioritizing these neoantigens for cancer vaccine design #Immunotherapy www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cross-presentation of dead cell-associated antigens shapes the neoantigenic landscape of tumor immunity - Nature Immunology
Here the authors show DNGR-1 expressed by cDC1s promotes CD8⁺ T cell priming to cytoskeletal neoantigens from dying tumor cells, thereby shaping cancer immune visibility and tumor evolution through im...
www.nature.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:19 PM
@drjonlim.bsky.social & @reisesousalab.bsky.social show cDC1s & DNGR1 favor "tethered" neoantigens from F-actin proteins, trapping them in necrotic debris for better cross-presentation! Calls for prioritizing these neoantigens for cancer vaccine design #Immunotherapy www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
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!
Researchers 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...
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-12...
Lifting cancer’s invisibility cloak
Dying tumour cells alert the immune system to fight cancer.
www.crick.ac.uk
January 2, 2026 at 5:26 PM
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!
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
New @science.org today
Discovery of a genomic variant that protects against blood cancer by reducing risk of CHIP (blood stem cell mutation clones, common with aging)
@bloodgenes.bsky.social
@kharaslab.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Discovery of a genomic variant that protects against blood cancer by reducing risk of CHIP (blood stem cell mutation clones, common with aging)
@bloodgenes.bsky.social
@kharaslab.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Inherited resilience to clonal hematopoiesis by modifying stem cell RNA regulation
Somatic mutations that increase the fitness of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) drive their expansion in clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and predispose individuals to blood cancers. Population variation in t...
science.org
January 1, 2026 at 7:03 PM
New @science.org today
Discovery of a genomic variant that protects against blood cancer by reducing risk of CHIP (blood stem cell mutation clones, common with aging)
@bloodgenes.bsky.social
@kharaslab.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Discovery of a genomic variant that protects against blood cancer by reducing risk of CHIP (blood stem cell mutation clones, common with aging)
@bloodgenes.bsky.social
@kharaslab.bsky.social
science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
The @natureportfolio.nature.com published a really good spotlight on #influenza two weeks ago. I have not read all the articles yet (but I will). The ones I have read are great, learned a lot. Highly recommend checking them out. #IDSky
www.nature.com/collections/...
www.nature.com/collections/...
Influenza
Every year, there are about one billion cases of influenza globally, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths.
www.nature.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The @natureportfolio.nature.com published a really good spotlight on #influenza two weeks ago. I have not read all the articles yet (but I will). The ones I have read are great, learned a lot. Highly recommend checking them out. #IDSky
www.nature.com/collections/...
www.nature.com/collections/...
It's always difficult to pick one favorite paper from the past year, but this one is on my short list. Very elegant experiments that changed the way I think about peripheral tolerance. #Immunology 🧪
Regulatory T cells constrain T cells of shared specificity to enforce tolerance during infection
During infections, CD4 Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells must control autoreactive CD4 conventional T (Tconv) cell responses against self-peptide antigens while permitting those against pathogen-derived “nonself” peptides. We defined the basis of ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
December 31, 2025 at 7:17 PM
It's always difficult to pick one favorite paper from the past year, but this one is on my short list. Very elegant experiments that changed the way I think about peripheral tolerance. #Immunology 🧪
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
New post!
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
Medical breakthroughs in 2025
... and a happy new year.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev
December 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New post!
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
Reposted by Rod Rahimi
'The presence of CD8+ T cells coexpressing residency and exhaustion molecules in chronic diseases often correlate with clinical outcomes; however, the relationship between these cells and conventional tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells or exhausted CD8+ T (TEX) cells is unclear.'
#Immunology
#Immunology
Tissue-resident exhausted and memory CD8+ T cells have distinct ontogeny, function and role in disease - Nature Immunology
Here the authors show that persistent antigen stimulation drives the generation of CD8+ tissue-resident exhausted T cells with distinct developmental origins, function and therapeutic responsiveness w...
www.nature.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:49 PM
'The presence of CD8+ T cells coexpressing residency and exhaustion molecules in chronic diseases often correlate with clinical outcomes; however, the relationship between these cells and conventional tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells or exhausted CD8+ T (TEX) cells is unclear.'
#Immunology
#Immunology