La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)

Rotavirus is a leading cause of life-threatening diarrhea in young children.

In a new paper, LJI scientists and study leaders at @ucsdhealth.bsky.social examine how rotavirus vaccination equips T cells to fight rotavirus infection: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#health #medicine #immunology

LJI Instructor Haoyang Li receives $4.5M to pursue innovative therapeutics for cancers, infectious diseases, and chronic inflammation Li will capture key immune system molecules in action, with a new R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

News: LJI Instructor Haoyang Li receives $4.5M to pursue innovative therapeutics for cancers, infectious diseases, and chronic inflammation

bit.ly/4rTU50k

@niaidnews.bsky.social #immunology #ChronicDisease #CancerImmunotherapies #InfectiousDisease #CryoEM

Processing power Meet the LJI scientists changing medical research through artificial intelligence

Forget ChatGPT and Gemini.

“We don’t have that kind of error tolerance."

Here's how LJI scientists are building new AI tools to advance medical research: mag.lji.org/fall2025/pro...

#DataScience #CompBio #AI #ChatGPT

Dr. Sette currently speaking on how the IEDB’s and CEDAR’s tools can support the development and testing of biologics #festivalofbiologicsUSA

New in @cp-cell.bsky.social — Researchers combine 3D genome organization + RNA processing to shed light on mysterious nuclear "speckles."

doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

#Health #Medicine #Biology #CellularBiology #Imaging

Our most recent work on the “function and evolution” of #nuclear-speckles is now online at Cell @cp-cell.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Read the thread👇 for the highlights of our findings.

A tale of co-evolution: Nuclear speckles aid GC-rich RNA processing Researchers discover how mysterious cell structures nicknamed

Researchers from Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, in collaboration with scientists from LJI and Kyoto University, have discovered how mysterious cell structures nicknamed “speckles” help our cells stay healthy.

bit.ly/4kWMb3A @cp-cell.bsky.social #CellBiology #MolecularBiology

The (microbe) highway to the danger zone LJI Professor Mitchell Kronenberg shows how immune cells defend your most vulnerable organs. His discoveries recently earned top recognition from the American Academy of Microbiology.

Your airways and your gut are high-traffic areas for the microbes of the world. 🦠

For more than 40 years, LJI's Mitchell Kronenberg has studied the T cells that step up to defend our most vulnerable organs.

Now Kronenberg has been elected fellow of the AAM: bit.ly/4rBrcps

@asm.org #microbiology

Renowned immunologist Michael Croft honored as AAI Distinguished Fellow Croft's research led to new approaches for treating harmful inflammation

Big news from @aai.org: Renowned immunologist Michael Croft honored as AAI Distinguished Fellow bit.ly/40eRB09

#Health #Medicine #SanDiego #Immunology #ImmuneSystem

At GVN’s Annual Meeting, “Pandemic Preparedness?”, the session Post-Acute Infectious Syndromes takes place March 4, 2026, featuring talks on long-term impacts of viral infections and post-acute disease.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/Nl7n50Y5C2P #ISIW2026

Valentine's design #1: "You plus me equals thymus" with a graphic of a thymus. The "us" in "thymus" is separated by a hyphen.

Valentines design #2: "I have a high affinity for you" with image of a heart with antibody structure attached to it. Floating antibodies in the background

Valentine's design #3: "I've got my lypho-cytes set on you!" with cartoon of an immune cell in front of a frilly heart. Immune cell has cartoon eyes and a smile.

Valentines design #4: "I'm glycan you a lot! Happy Valentines" with neon colors depicting glycans.

We ❤️ immunology! 🤗

Cell-ebrate your sweetheart this year with our nerdy LJI Valentines! #Immunology #ImmuneSystem #Antibodies #Science #SciArt #Biology #CellularBiology

Redirecting cytomegalovirus immunity against pancreas cancer for immunotherapy Background Immunotherapy has had limited success in pancreatic cancer, largely due to a low mutational burden and immunosuppressive microenvironment. Here we hypothesized that systemic delivery of vir...

New from LJI and @ucsdmedschool.bsky.social scientists:

Using a mouse model of pancreatic #cancer, researchers discovered that CMV-specific viral memory T cells can be re-directed to control a solid tumor: jitc.bmj.com/content/14/2...

#CancerResearch #Health #Medicine @remimarrocco.bsky.social

Now immune cells can see pancreatic tumors—and attack them San Diego scientists harness viral molecules to jump-start battle against pancreatic cancer

New from LJI and @ucsdmedschool.bsky.social scientists:

San Diego scientists harness viral molecules to jump-start battle against pancreatic cancer bit.ly/4rfES9q

#ImmuneSystem #Virology #Immunology #Health #Medicine #Cancer #CancerResearch

Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific blood immune signatures distinguish sarcoidosis from tuberculosis disease - PubMed Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous systemic inflammatory disease predominantly affecting the lungs. It shares histopathological, clinical, and immune features with tuberculosis (TB). There are currently no diagnostic tests to formally identify sarcoidosis; instead, there is a need first to rule out the …

LJI scientists investigate biomarkers that distinguish sarcoidosis from #tuberculosis disease pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41105206/

#health #disease #immunology #ImmuneSystem

Posed photo of scientist Emil Johansson. He is standing next to an easel that holds a large poster with his research results and data.

Posed photo of Ginny Chacos, Alessandro Sette and Emil Johansson. They are standing inside a large hallway next to a sign that reads: ALS Network Researchers Summit. Welcome"

LJI scientists joined the ALS Network Summit last week to share their groundbreaking findings on the role of T cells in #ALS.

LJI Prof. Alessandro Sette (@settelab.bsky.social) presented his latest findings, and Emil Johansson presented a poster on his work!

Learn more: bit.ly/4k81Zjr

AAI congratulates 2026 Career Awardees for outstanding research and career achievements! Join us to honor them at IMMUNOLOGY2026™. Learn more: https://ow.ly/CwaR50Y0Rr8.

Since August 2025, graduate students from IPN have been conducting research at LJI as part of a collaborative agreement. Congratulations, and a thank you to the mentors! 🙌 🎉

#SanDiego #STEMCareers #ImmuneSystem #Immunology #Health #Medicine

Posed photo of seven IPN scientists outside the LJI building. From left to right: Jesús Adrián Salgado López, Alejandra Cecilia Herrera Ramírez, Rosa Isabel Cid García, Sofía Nohemí Rodríguez Flores, Mariana Parra González, Oscar Martinez Ceh

On Thursday, students from Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Mexico, presented their final projects to wrap up their 6-month research experience at LJI!

Festival of Biologics - April 2026 The Festival of Biologics is an industry focused conference with an emphasis on antibody design. With over 120 exhibitors, the multi-day event features presentations, panel discussions, and networking...

Learn how @iedb.bsky.social and @cedar-epitopes.bsky.social are powering #immunology breakthroughs!

Visit the IEDB and CEDAR booths at the upcoming Festival of Biologics, from Mar. 4-5, in San Diego! discuss.iedb.org/t/festival-o... #health #antibodies #biotech

LJI Professor Alessandro Sette to receive prestigious AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology Research Sette's research shows how the human immune system fights infections, cancers, and more

Congratulations to LJI Prof. Alessandro Sette (@settelab.bsky.social), winner of the 2026 AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology Research!

Dr. Sette has discovered critical ways that T cells defend our bodies—and what goes wrong in #AutoimmuneDisease: bit.ly/461zkXl @aai.org #Immunology #Health

🪱 🥊 🧠 !

Scientists use spatial transcriptomics to reveal another amazing way that the body fights disease!

Immunology in...SPACE! ✨ Fascinating new study in @plosbiology.org highlights how pathogens adapt to new environments 👇 #Immunology #ImmuneSystem #microbiology #health #disease

Come join next week @lji.org!

We're going to call them crawdads for the sake of promoting a future crawdatabase.

It's fascinating to learn how the immune system has evolved (or stayed the same!) over time!

A place in immunology history After 29 years, Dr. Michael Croft will retire from the LJI faculty

The end of 2025 marked the retirement of renowned immunologist and LJI Professor Michael Croft, Ph.D.

Learn about Dr. Croft's legacy in fundamental immunology, drug development and beyond: bit.ly/3YZveLA #SanDiego #LaJolla #Immunology #STEM #ImmuneSystem #Autoimmunity #Allergy

Kelly Shaffer wins BioLegend Graduate Fellowship to advance global health Shaffer's work may guide the development of life-saving therapies for Ebola virus and other infectious diseases

Congratulations to #Ebola research Kelly Shaffer, who was recently awarded the 2026 BioLegend Graduate Fellowship through @ucsdimmunology.bsky.social!

Shaffer is investigating antibodies that can neutralize Ebola virus and other deadly pathogens. 🦠🔬

bit.ly/4stJF8g #SanDiego #Health #Medicine

Metabolic control of innate-like T cells - Nature Reviews Immunology Functional and metabolic properties of innate-like T cells — namely, iNKT cells, MAIT cells and some γδ T cells — differ from those of conventional T cells. This Review describes how metabolic pathway...

Great @natrevimmunol.nature.com review from LJI immunometabolism experts:

"Immunometabolism, the intersection of cellular metabolism and immune function, has revolutionized our understanding of T cell biology..."

www.nature.com/articles/s41... #immunology #ImmuneSystem #Tcells #health #disease

Happy Holidays 2025-2026 Wishing you fresh inspiration in the new year On behalf of the Institute, LJI President and CEO Dr. Erica Ollmann Saphire wishes you a happy holiday season. We are proud to share with you a handful of...

Happy New Year from La Jolla Institute for Immunology! 🥳

We are proud to share with you just a handful of the Institute’s many highlights from 2025: www.lji.org/happy-holida...

#ImmuneSystem #Health #Medicine #Immunology #SanDiego #Biomed

Immunologist Yi-Tsang Lee wins prestigious Irvington Postdoctoral Award Lee aims to develop new tool to fuel cancer immunotherapy research

LJI Immunologist Yi-Tsang Lee wins prestigious Irvington Postdoctoral Award to advance #cancer #immunotherapy research bit.ly/49rIdM4

#SanDiego #ImmuneSystem #Immunology #CancerResearch

#ICYMI: T cells rise up to fight infections in the gut. Fascinating research led by AAI members Ananda Goldrath, Maximilian Heeg and Miguel Reina-Campos show how a special group of T cells travels through the small intestine to combat pathogens. https://ow.ly/M4rQ50ULWSJ