Michal Caspi Tal, PhD
@immunofever.bsky.social
Immunoengineer at MIT BE developing predictive diagnostics. Captivated by #inflammation, #SexDifferences #Lyme, #COVID, #IACI, #IACC and #onehealth. Mom of 2. prev/ PhD in Immunology @Yale; PostDoc @Stanford
https://talresearchgroup.mit.edu/
https://talresearchgroup.mit.edu/
2/ The TL/DR is that I think this paper is both very informative, and very important. However, it needs to be contextualized as a deep study of blood from a recovery cohort, which is then being compared to public data from tissue from cohorts where many did not recover.
Add your comments to discuss
Add your comments to discuss
October 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
2/ The TL/DR is that I think this paper is both very informative, and very important. However, it needs to be contextualized as a deep study of blood from a recovery cohort, which is then being compared to public data from tissue from cohorts where many did not recover.
Add your comments to discuss
Add your comments to discuss
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
1/ This is my first time posting a comment on a bioRxiv manuscript, but since I've been asked my opinion on this one a bunch, and I was actually one of the reviewers and waived my anonymity in review, I decided to post my review as a comment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Linking to my full post from that time when I was faced with a measles outbreak with a kid that was below the recommended age for MMRV. I'm so sorry for the parents who will lose access to lifesaving vaccines for their babies.
September 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Linking to my full post from that time when I was faced with a measles outbreak with a kid that was below the recommended age for MMRV. I'm so sorry for the parents who will lose access to lifesaving vaccines for their babies.
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
September 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
What if this was your kid, you ask? I'll tell you. As an infectious disease immunologist, I protect my kids through vaccination. A measles outbreak reached my county when I had an infant. Knowing the risk for severe outcomes, I read the literature, vaccinated him EARLY and then rejoined the schedule
You've never seen anything like this before. Come see for yourself! mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
July 23, 2025 at 12:51 AM
You've never seen anything like this before. Come see for yourself! mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
Want to see the universe within?
Join us at MIT where you'll get to peak under our microscopes at the bacteria that cause #Lyme disease and even get to view YOUR own capillaries to see a bit of what we look at in our clinical study MAESTRO. July 24th RSVP: mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
Join us at MIT where you'll get to peak under our microscopes at the bacteria that cause #Lyme disease and even get to view YOUR own capillaries to see a bit of what we look at in our clinical study MAESTRO. July 24th RSVP: mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
July 17, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Want to see the universe within?
Join us at MIT where you'll get to peak under our microscopes at the bacteria that cause #Lyme disease and even get to view YOUR own capillaries to see a bit of what we look at in our clinical study MAESTRO. July 24th RSVP: mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
Join us at MIT where you'll get to peak under our microscopes at the bacteria that cause #Lyme disease and even get to view YOUR own capillaries to see a bit of what we look at in our clinical study MAESTRO. July 24th RSVP: mitnano.mit.edu/events/studi...
I took this picture in my garden with my cell phone. Looking at it now, I see things I didn't/couldn't see by eye in the moment. The dragonfly wing cast a shadow on the leaf below. As a tool, this is exactly how I'm thinking of using AI. A way to capture and see more/different features.
July 13, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I took this picture in my garden with my cell phone. Looking at it now, I see things I didn't/couldn't see by eye in the moment. The dragonfly wing cast a shadow on the leaf below. As a tool, this is exactly how I'm thinking of using AI. A way to capture and see more/different features.
Tomorrow is talk #1 of a summer season of Tick Talks I'll be giving in the Boston area. Do you have questions for me? Let's talk! Let's raise awareness! If you have an additional venue for us to reach more people let us know!
July 2, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Tomorrow is talk #1 of a summer season of Tick Talks I'll be giving in the Boston area. Do you have questions for me? Let's talk! Let's raise awareness! If you have an additional venue for us to reach more people let us know!
I'll be giving Tick Talks around Boston this summer to raise awareness about #Lyme disease and our clinical study MAESTRO. First up, July 2nd 1-2 pm at the Roxbury branch, and coming soon after July 9th 12:30-1:30pm at the Chinatown branch. More coming soon! talresearchgroup.mit.edu/mitmaestro
June 28, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I'll be giving Tick Talks around Boston this summer to raise awareness about #Lyme disease and our clinical study MAESTRO. First up, July 2nd 1-2 pm at the Roxbury branch, and coming soon after July 9th 12:30-1:30pm at the Chinatown branch. More coming soon! talresearchgroup.mit.edu/mitmaestro
I'm so PROUD of my lab making waves at #FOCIS2025!!! Grace Loeser gave an incredible talk on Borrelia causing trouble in the connective tissue and Mita Singh got poster of merit!!!
June 27, 2025 at 12:07 AM
I'm so PROUD of my lab making waves at #FOCIS2025!!! Grace Loeser gave an incredible talk on Borrelia causing trouble in the connective tissue and Mita Singh got poster of merit!!!
For everyone who will be at #focis2025 you're not going to want to miss the session with @akassogloulab.bsky.social and then Grace Loeser from my lab presenting her incredible work on Lyme disease and the connective tissue. This is going to blow everyone away!!!
June 26, 2025 at 2:05 AM
For everyone who will be at #focis2025 you're not going to want to miss the session with @akassogloulab.bsky.social and then Grace Loeser from my lab presenting her incredible work on Lyme disease and the connective tissue. This is going to blow everyone away!!!
Book research on how names shift science.
How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome now ME w/ #ChronicLyme to #IACI following #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!!
How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome now ME w/ #ChronicLyme to #IACI following #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!!
May 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Book research on how names shift science.
How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome now ME w/ #ChronicLyme to #IACI following #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!!
How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome now ME w/ #ChronicLyme to #IACI following #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!!
Book research on how names shift science. How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Lyme became #IACI in the wake of #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Lyme became #IACI in the wake of #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!
May 31, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Book research on how names shift science. How do controversial ideas become accepted in medical research and medicine?
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Lyme became #IACI in the wake of #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!
T-suppressor cells were "debunked" and then rebranded as #Tregs.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Lyme became #IACI in the wake of #LongCOVID.
I want to hear your stories!
1/ A long standing paradox in my mind (from always seeing immune "strength" or reactivity drawn as a spectrum from immunodeficiency to autoimmunity) was resolved this year at #AAI #Immunology2025. WHY do SO many people have both simultaneously? Each infection brings risk of developing autoimmunity!!
May 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM
1/ A long standing paradox in my mind (from always seeing immune "strength" or reactivity drawn as a spectrum from immunodeficiency to autoimmunity) was resolved this year at #AAI #Immunology2025. WHY do SO many people have both simultaneously? Each infection brings risk of developing autoimmunity!!
1/ My group is at #IMMUNOLOGY2025 presenting our research. For those of you following along from home I want to share 1 min videos of each presenting their posters. @PaigeSHansen did an incredible job here presenting her about Lyme disease and gynepathologies.
May 6, 2025 at 8:51 AM
1/ My group is at #IMMUNOLOGY2025 presenting our research. For those of you following along from home I want to share 1 min videos of each presenting their posters. @PaigeSHansen did an incredible job here presenting her about Lyme disease and gynepathologies.
I see I became an avid listener of @nightsciencepod.bsky.social in January and the hypothesis as a liability podcast was the first one I started raving about on our slack channel with the Lauffenburger and Griffith Labs. But I think one of the episodes I most often recommend is the decision tree.
March 25, 2025 at 11:52 PM
I see I became an avid listener of @nightsciencepod.bsky.social in January and the hypothesis as a liability podcast was the first one I started raving about on our slack channel with the Lauffenburger and Griffith Labs. But I think one of the episodes I most often recommend is the decision tree.
Ewan Birney and the outliers on the X- chromosome!!! I started listening regularly recently and so I'd been working backwards from the most recent. But after the hypothesis liability episode I skipped back to the 30s to find Ewan's episode and it was as excellent and fascinating as the teaser.
March 25, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Ewan Birney and the outliers on the X- chromosome!!! I started listening regularly recently and so I'd been working backwards from the most recent. But after the hypothesis liability episode I skipped back to the 30s to find Ewan's episode and it was as excellent and fascinating as the teaser.
Which of these two logos do you like better?
March 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Which of these two logos do you like better?
Registration is LIVE!!! Join us in-person or online for the launch of Menstruation Science—exploring the complexities of the far-reaching effects of sex hormones on human physiology in sickness and in health. April 9th cgr.mit.edu/2025/03/17/s...
March 21, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Registration is LIVE!!! Join us in-person or online for the launch of Menstruation Science—exploring the complexities of the far-reaching effects of sex hormones on human physiology in sickness and in health. April 9th cgr.mit.edu/2025/03/17/s...
I just got a special request.
Fading hope fuels a plea for expert videos for #LongCOVID Awareness Day (March 15). Share your lab's progress and offer hope in a 1-5 min clip. Join a powerful social project started by @neurologistmom.bsky.social
I'm in! Who's posting #HopeVideos with me?
Fading hope fuels a plea for expert videos for #LongCOVID Awareness Day (March 15). Share your lab's progress and offer hope in a 1-5 min clip. Join a powerful social project started by @neurologistmom.bsky.social
I'm in! Who's posting #HopeVideos with me?
March 11, 2025 at 12:49 AM
I just got a special request.
Fading hope fuels a plea for expert videos for #LongCOVID Awareness Day (March 15). Share your lab's progress and offer hope in a 1-5 min clip. Join a powerful social project started by @neurologistmom.bsky.social
I'm in! Who's posting #HopeVideos with me?
Fading hope fuels a plea for expert videos for #LongCOVID Awareness Day (March 15). Share your lab's progress and offer hope in a 1-5 min clip. Join a powerful social project started by @neurologistmom.bsky.social
I'm in! Who's posting #HopeVideos with me?
NIH didn't even make the cartoon?
March 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
NIH didn't even make the cartoon?
Older female mice, who are past their reproductive age, showed more disease when infected with Lyme compared to younger female mice. Age is a key factor in how Lyme affects the body. - In fact we have more work on this topic spearheaded by @bleeeve243.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Older female mice, who are past their reproductive age, showed more disease when infected with Lyme compared to younger female mice. Age is a key factor in how Lyme affects the body. - In fact we have more work on this topic spearheaded by @bleeeve243.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Lyme disease isn't just skin and joints. It can cause serious, long-term damage to the female reproductive tract. This is important. Special imaging showed #Lyme causing bacteria glowing in mice uteruses. We tracked the infection for months. bsky.app/profile/immu...
March 6, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Lyme disease isn't just skin and joints. It can cause serious, long-term damage to the female reproductive tract. This is important. Special imaging showed #Lyme causing bacteria glowing in mice uteruses. We tracked the infection for months. bsky.app/profile/immu...
Mice with Lyme got cysts & tissue damage in their uterus and ovaries. The older the mice, the worse the damage was. We then studied 100,000s of human health records. People with Lyme had much higher rates of endometriosis & other problems. 📊👩⚕️
March 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Mice with Lyme got cysts & tissue damage in their uterus and ovaries. The older the mice, the worse the damage was. We then studied 100,000s of human health records. People with Lyme had much higher rates of endometriosis & other problems. 📊👩⚕️