Andrew S. MacDonald
@profandrewmac.bsky.social
Prof at Edinburgh University. #Immunologist. #Inflammation, #infection, #helminths, #allergy, #metabolism and the #microbiome.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gcuDni4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Not interested in pitchfork politics of any flavour…
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gcuDni4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Not interested in pitchfork politics of any flavour…
Pinned
SOX9 plays an essential role in myofibroblast driven hepatic granuloma integrity and parenchymal repair during schistosomiasis-induced liver damage
Author summary Mammalian infection with schistosome worms results in the deposition of parasite eggs in the liver, where they secrete organ damaging toxins. In response, the liver generates a cellular...
dx.plos.org
Delighted to share our paper on the role of SOX9 in liver #fibrosis and #granuloma formation during #schistosome infection - a really great collaboration over the past few years with the Piper Hanley lab! #ImmunSky 🪱🧪
dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Birds but they get spookier each time. 🎃👻
Enter if you dare...🚪
Enter if you dare...🚪
October 31, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Birds but they get spookier each time. 🎃👻
Enter if you dare...🚪
Enter if you dare...🚪
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Insights from Andrea Cooper: Mtb drives expression of type I IFN–mediated #neutrophil accumulation, which limits interaction btwn CD4 T cells & macrophages. Failure to limit type I IFN very early in the process allows rapid progression of disease rupress.org/jem/article/...
#Tuberculosis
#Tuberculosis
October 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Insights from Andrea Cooper: Mtb drives expression of type I IFN–mediated #neutrophil accumulation, which limits interaction btwn CD4 T cells & macrophages. Failure to limit type I IFN very early in the process allows rapid progression of disease rupress.org/jem/article/...
#Tuberculosis
#Tuberculosis
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Thank you to our editor, Kirsty Minton, and the staff at NRI for the opportunity to share our thoughts on this emerging topic.
NEW Perspective by @alazozcan.bsky.social, Tommaso Vicanolo, Veronique Angeli, Yuval Rinkevich & @drusqui.bsky.social presents a model of immune cells as architects of tissue barriers, by depositing matrix components or by interactions with structural cells and the ECM
#structuralimmunity #immunosky
#structuralimmunity #immunosky
Structural immunity: immune cells as architects of tissue barriers - Nature Reviews Immunology
This Perspective presents a framework of ‘structural immunity’ that positions immune cells as architects of tissue structure. Beyond their roles in antimicrobial defence, we posit that immune cells co...
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Thank you to our editor, Kirsty Minton, and the staff at NRI for the opportunity to share our thoughts on this emerging topic.
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Delighted to share this story from my PhD! 🎉 🪱
Latest McSorley lab paper is out! Led by Vivien @vshek.bsky.social, this is a story about the immunomodulators from H. polygyrus bakeri (Hpb), and how their analysis led to the identification of HpBoRB, a secreted protein which binds host RELM-beta www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 29, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Delighted to share this story from my PhD! 🎉 🪱
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
In schistosome 🪱-endemic areas, people are repeatedly reinfected — but we still don’t fully understand how T cell responses develop in these cycles.
In my first ever last-author paper (😱) we investigate this, comparing endemic and repeat controlled human schistosome infection: rdcu.be/exH58
In my first ever last-author paper (😱) we investigate this, comparing endemic and repeat controlled human schistosome infection: rdcu.be/exH58
T cell responses in repeated controlled human schistosome infection compared to natural exposure
Nature Communications - In schistosomiasis-endemic regions, the cyclical nature of infection and treatment complicates understanding of host immune responses. Repeated controlled human Schistosoma...
rdcu.be
July 31, 2025 at 3:15 PM
In schistosome 🪱-endemic areas, people are repeatedly reinfected — but we still don’t fully understand how T cell responses develop in these cycles.
In my first ever last-author paper (😱) we investigate this, comparing endemic and repeat controlled human schistosome infection: rdcu.be/exH58
In my first ever last-author paper (😱) we investigate this, comparing endemic and repeat controlled human schistosome infection: rdcu.be/exH58
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
🚨 Want to find interesting cells in single-cell RNAseq data independently of clusters? Try our method to identify transcriptional shifts using OAR scores!
Pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
R tool and tutorials: sanin-lab.github.io/OARscRNA/
@biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social
1/n
Pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
R tool and tutorials: sanin-lab.github.io/OARscRNA/
@biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social
1/n
Missing data in single-cell transcriptomes reveals transcriptional shifts
Profiling thousands of single cell transcriptomes is routine, yet cell prioritization based on response to biological perturbations is challenging and confounded by clustering, normalization and dimen...
doi.org
August 22, 2025 at 2:11 AM
🚨 Want to find interesting cells in single-cell RNAseq data independently of clusters? Try our method to identify transcriptional shifts using OAR scores!
Pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
R tool and tutorials: sanin-lab.github.io/OARscRNA/
@biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social
1/n
Pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
R tool and tutorials: sanin-lab.github.io/OARscRNA/
@biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social
1/n
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Aberdeen is hiring - Neuroimmunology Lectureship! Really exciting opportunity to join our supportive, collaborative and multidisciplinary Institute to carry out cutting edge translation research. Not to mention the scenery in the North East of Scotland is amazing www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs/vacanci...
Lecturer in Neuroimmunology, Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition (MED243A) | The University of Aberdeen
Browse and apply for current job openings at the University of Aberdeen across various schools, departments and roles, including admin and academic.
www.abdn.ac.uk
September 19, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Aberdeen is hiring - Neuroimmunology Lectureship! Really exciting opportunity to join our supportive, collaborative and multidisciplinary Institute to carry out cutting edge translation research. Not to mention the scenery in the North East of Scotland is amazing www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs/vacanci...
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Fantastic thread on budgeting from @labliston.bsky.social . Great advice for new (and not so new!) PIs. I would add awareness of how psychology impacts spending based on moving from low budget to high budget setting and vice versa....
🧵How to write and manage your first research budgets
The point of funding is to convert it into quality research. A well-spent research budget should fund the idea it was raised on, plus revision experiments, plus preliminary data for the next grant. So you need to spend, while avoiding waste.
The point of funding is to convert it into quality research. A well-spent research budget should fund the idea it was raised on, plus revision experiments, plus preliminary data for the next grant. So you need to spend, while avoiding waste.
September 20, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Fantastic thread on budgeting from @labliston.bsky.social . Great advice for new (and not so new!) PIs. I would add awareness of how psychology impacts spending based on moving from low budget to high budget setting and vice versa....
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
For our #flowcytometry peeps, would you like to have a single fix/perm protocol that is optimised for everything? One that preserves fluorophores while allowing simultaneous TF and cytokine staining? How about 100-fold cheaper?
You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM
For our #flowcytometry peeps, would you like to have a single fix/perm protocol that is optimised for everything? One that preserves fluorophores while allowing simultaneous TF and cytokine staining? How about 100-fold cheaper?
You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
You got it:
currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
A massive thanks to all the #EMDS2025 speakers, delegates, sponsors & @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social staff for making @emds2025.bsky.social such a success.
We had a great time, we hope you did too and your travel home was smooth.
Here's to #EMDS2026 in Amsterdam @immunometlab.bsky.social
We had a great time, we hope you did too and your travel home was smooth.
Here's to #EMDS2026 in Amsterdam @immunometlab.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
A massive thanks to all the #EMDS2025 speakers, delegates, sponsors & @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social staff for making @emds2025.bsky.social such a success.
We had a great time, we hope you did too and your travel home was smooth.
Here's to #EMDS2026 in Amsterdam @immunometlab.bsky.social
We had a great time, we hope you did too and your travel home was smooth.
Here's to #EMDS2026 in Amsterdam @immunometlab.bsky.social
The end of #EMDS2025 - so much amazing science, and great to meet up in person with so many friends and colleagues (and make some new ones!). Very proud of @vshek.bsky.social and @nwasowska.bsky.social winning poster prizes for the team - well done both!
September 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
The end of #EMDS2025 - so much amazing science, and great to meet up in person with so many friends and colleagues (and make some new ones!). Very proud of @vshek.bsky.social and @nwasowska.bsky.social winning poster prizes for the team - well done both!
A fantastic talk from David Russell to end #EMDS2025 - about #macrophage subset responses to #Mycobaterium tuberculosis, and their re-programming to improve drug efficacy in vitro and in vivo
September 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
A fantastic talk from David Russell to end #EMDS2025 - about #macrophage subset responses to #Mycobaterium tuberculosis, and their re-programming to improve drug efficacy in vitro and in vivo
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
A cracking meal complete with piper & Ceilidh to round off the second day of #EMDS2025 in #Edinburgh
September 17, 2025 at 11:37 PM
A cracking meal complete with piper & Ceilidh to round off the second day of #EMDS2025 in #Edinburgh
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
Heading home after a fabulous few days in Edinburgh @emds2025.bsky.social Excellent venue, amazing programme, thanks @bainlab.bsky.social @profandrewmac.bsky.social and Samanta Mariani #EMDS2025 #Macrophage #DCs ♥️
September 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Heading home after a fabulous few days in Edinburgh @emds2025.bsky.social Excellent venue, amazing programme, thanks @bainlab.bsky.social @profandrewmac.bsky.social and Samanta Mariani #EMDS2025 #Macrophage #DCs ♥️
Beautiful data from Franca Ronchese, all the way from @malaghan.bsky.social in New Zealand, about generation and function of subsets of skin #DendriticCells in #allergic responses #EMDS2025
September 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Beautiful data from Franca Ronchese, all the way from @malaghan.bsky.social in New Zealand, about generation and function of subsets of skin #DendriticCells in #allergic responses #EMDS2025
Another great talk from @immunobladder.bsky.social about #macrophage subsets in the #bladder, including in memory response to bacterial infection and key differences in males vs females #EMDS2025
September 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Another great talk from @immunobladder.bsky.social about #macrophage subsets in the #bladder, including in memory response to bacterial infection and key differences in males vs females #EMDS2025
Final day of #EMDS2025 opens with a fantastic talk from Will Wood - beautiful imaging of #macrophage migration following wounding, using the tractability of #Drosophila in ingenious ways to identify key chemoattractants in this process
September 18, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Final day of #EMDS2025 opens with a fantastic talk from Will Wood - beautiful imaging of #macrophage migration following wounding, using the tractability of #Drosophila in ingenious ways to identify key chemoattractants in this process
Reposted by Andrew S. MacDonald
When the PhD student gives a better talk than his promotors! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Spectacular talk from @StijnVerwaerde #EMDS2025 🤩🤩. Very cool collaboration with @bart_lambrecht team. Identification of regulatory circuits switching homeostatic regulons to type 2 inflammatory regulons in AMs
September 17, 2025 at 8:40 AM
When the PhD student gives a better talk than his promotors! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Spectacular talk from @StijnVerwaerde #EMDS2025 🤩🤩. Very cool collaboration with @bart_lambrecht team. Identification of regulatory circuits switching homeostatic regulons to type 2 inflammatory regulons in AMs
Fantastic talk and new data from @lukeanthonyoneill.bsky.social about #mitochondrial control of #inflammation by #itaconate and derivatives in multiple settings #EMDS2025
September 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fantastic talk and new data from @lukeanthonyoneill.bsky.social about #mitochondrial control of #inflammation by #itaconate and derivatives in multiple settings #EMDS2025
Really interesting talk from @chrysothemisbrown.bsky.social about ontogeny, transcriptional regulation and function of subsets of #ThetisCells, including their role in #Treg induction and oral #tolerance #EMDS2025
September 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Really interesting talk from @chrysothemisbrown.bsky.social about ontogeny, transcriptional regulation and function of subsets of #ThetisCells, including their role in #Treg induction and oral #tolerance #EMDS2025
Beautiful and energetic talk from @drpetercook.bsky.social about #DendriticCell uptake of and activation by #fungal spores in #allergic airway #inflammation, and metabolic requirements for this #EMDS2025
September 17, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Beautiful and energetic talk from @drpetercook.bsky.social about #DendriticCell uptake of and activation by #fungal spores in #allergic airway #inflammation, and metabolic requirements for this #EMDS2025
Final talk pre-lunch from @mariolaks.bsky.social defining some of the key #DendriticCell subsets involved in shaping joint #inflammation vs remission, in both human and mouse #EMDS2025
September 17, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Final talk pre-lunch from @mariolaks.bsky.social defining some of the key #DendriticCell subsets involved in shaping joint #inflammation vs remission, in both human and mouse #EMDS2025
