Ryan McNamara
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ryanmcnamara.bsky.social
Ryan McNamara
@ryanmcnamara.bsky.social
Immunologist, avid baker, dog dad, and definitely above average husband. PI in the Dept. of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Views mine.
Pinned
I got friends in blue places
Happy to share our latest collaborative effort: "An intramuscular prime and mucosal boost vaccine regimen protects against lethal clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 challenge in cynomolgus macaques". It is open-access, so anyone can access it anywhere on any device. (1/4)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An intramuscular prime and mucosal boost vaccine regimen protects against lethal clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 challenge in cynomolgus macaques
Mucosal delivery of a rhesus adenovirus–vectored H5N1 influenza vaccine confers protection against lethal challenge in cynomolgus macaques.
www.science.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Chicken wings smoking while writing some papers.
September 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Not sure who needs to hear this, but you can’t have an effective “biothreat radar system” (pathogen early warning system aka biosurveillance) if you decimate the CDC (capacity for detection, data analysis/dissemination, and response).
Sincerely,
a biosurveillance nerd/epi
September 2, 2025 at 6:11 PM
To those claiming that scientists are part of some conspiracy for group think and agreement on issues...

Have y'all ever tried writing a paper with a just a few co-authors?
a man wearing glasses and suspenders is saying i 'm going to have to go ahead and sort of
ALT: a man wearing glasses and suspenders is saying i 'm going to have to go ahead and sort of
media.tenor.com
August 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
This decision is objectively pro-disease.

The mRNA vaccine platform allows for rapid deployment and continuous updates. The development of the COVID-19 vaccines, several of which were mRNA-based, saved millions of lives and many more hospitalizations.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
RFK Jr. cuts $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts, dealing major blow to promising area of research
The cuts add to mounting evidence that Kennedy is pursuing an aggressive anti-vaccine agenda.
www.nbcnews.com
August 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Our latest open access manuscript has been published! In this article, we find that a single-dose, combinatorial Adenovector + soluble RSV Fusion Glycoprotein vaccination approach yields a persistent, functional antibody response against RSV-A and RSV-B in adults > 60 years.
Frontiers | Adenovectored RSV prefusion glycoprotein + soluble glycoprotein combination immunization establishes persistent opsonophagocytic antibody response through IgG3
IntroductionRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes significant lower-respiratory-tract disease in high-risk groups. A phase IIb trial showed that a combina...
www.frontiersin.org
July 29, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Our latest collaborative effort has been published. It's open-access, so anyone can read it anytime on any device.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Adenovirus and mRNA vaccines as well as mucosal boosting improve protective efficacy against influenza virus challenge in macaques
Mucosal delivery and gene-based vaccines can both enhance boost responses for influenza vaccination in cynomolgus macaques over available vaccines.
www.science.org
July 11, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Check out our latest study, led by grad student Ryan McCool @rmccool.bsky.social‬, in collaboration with Vaccine Company. We were able to stabilize EBV gB in the prefusion conformation, determine its cryo-EM structure to 3.1 A, and assess its immunogenicity in mice. www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
May 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Happy to share our latest publication "Acute infectious mononucleosis generates persistent, functional EBNA-1 antibodies with high cross-reactivity to alpha-crystalline beta" in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social. It's open-access!
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Acute infectious mononucleosis generates persistent, functional EBNA-1 antibodies with high cross-reactivity to alpha-crystalline beta
Ganta et al. report that durable EBNA-1 antibodies mediating phagocytosis and complement deposition are detected after infectious mononucleosis (IM). Antibodies primarily target a region of EBNA-1 tha...
www.cell.com
May 15, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Our department chair, Dr. Sarah Fortune, and her lab are at the forefront of life-saving research on tuberculosis. Read the latest article featuring #SarahFortune, along with links to her insightful recent interviews: hsph.harvard.edu/news/tubercu....
Tuberculosis scientist speaks out on importance of research after ‘stop-work’ order | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
After immunologist Sarah Fortune received a “stop-work” order from the federal government on April 15 instructing her to halt her world-class tuberculosis research, she began speaking out about why he...
hsph.harvard.edu
May 5, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The McNamara Lab website is up! Many thanks to @harvard-iid.bsky.social!

We will continue prioritizing publishing in open-access journals, and links are on the website. Lots of work on ongoing!
April 27, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Always love going to the finish line the weekend before the race.
#BostonStrong 💪
April 19, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Happy to have contributed to this large collaborative effort "Preclinical development of a replication-competent vesicular stomatitis virus-based Lassa virus vaccine candidate advanced into human clinical trials" that was just published. www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
Preclinical development of a replication-competent vesicular stomatitis virus-based Lassa virus vaccine candidate advanced into human clinical trials
The VSVΔG-LASV-GPC clinical candidate elicited immunity that protected 10 of 10 vaccinated macaques from disease supporting its use in a clinical development program, which recently progressed to phas...
www.thelancet.com
April 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A child in Texas passed away today due to measles, a virus declared eliminated from the US in 2000.
February 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
I think people both within science and outside science don’t fully appreciate the miracle that were the Covid-19 vaccines. How much courage it took to get the sequence out, how much work had already gone into figuring out the best viral antigen and how best to present it. 1/
February 23, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
We’re experiencing perhaps the worst flu season in 25 years, with severe cases also rising, and young children and seniors faring the worst. One in six of all ER visits in the 0-17 age groups are now for influenza.

www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...

h/t @cmyeaton.bsky.social
February 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Good morni...

No.
January 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The Fenway Bowl was an incredible experience.
#GoHeels!
December 29, 2024 at 9:35 PM
"Why'd he let go of the football before crossing the plane to the endzone?! That's crazy!"

Many of the people saying this are now trying to get rid of the polio vaccine.

And they cannot see the parallels.
December 15, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, have jumped 14-fold since 2023, alarming state health officials.

As of Dec. 8, there were 1,578 confirmed cases of pertussis in Michigan, compared to 110 for the full year of 2023.

www.bridgemi.com/michigan-hea...
Whooping cough cases skyrocket in Michigan, as vaccinations decline | Bridge Michigan
A potentially deadly disease in infants, whooping cough — pertussis — has exploded in Michigan this year, in part because of decreased vaccination rates.
www.bridgemi.com
December 14, 2024 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Introducing the new hsph.harvard.edu! Teams at #HarvardChan have created a new website experience to showcase our outstanding research, world-class educational programs, and commitment to implementation + impact while centering our vision of a world with health, dignity, and justice for every human.
Home | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Harvard Chan School seeks to build a world where everyone can thrive.
hsph.harvard.edu
December 9, 2024 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Scientists, academics, researchers: We’re excited to share that @altmetric.com is now tracking mentions of your research on Bluesky! 🧪
There are already many articles for which there is more attention on Bluesky than on other comparable micro-blogging sites, meaning the academic community and the general public have clearly adopted Bluesky as one of its core places to disseminate and discuss new research.

A Place of Joy.
December 3, 2024 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Simply amazing to think how much has happened in 5 years.

Five years ago, #COVID changed the world. We remember the lives lost, the resilience shown, and the lessons learned. Here’s to continued progress, health, and unity as we move forward. 🌍
December 2, 2024 at 4:48 AM
Reposted by Ryan McNamara
Umm, can’t believe that I have to say this in (checks phone) 2024, but no we do not need to run a “natural experiment” on raw milk consumption.

We did. It was called the 1800s.

Anyway, the IRR in this paper is so high if a student turned it in to me, I’d have them re-run the data.

#IDSky #EpiSky
Outbreak-Related Disease Burden Associated with Consumption of Unpasteurized Cow's Milk and Cheese, United States, 2009-2014 - PubMed
The growing popularity of unpasteurized milk in the United States raises public health concerns. We estimated outbreak-related illnesses and hospitalizations caused by the consumption of cow's milk an...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 27, 2024 at 10:32 PM