Prof Danny Altmann

I’ve been lucky to know many great scientists, but Robin was really way up there as a creative thinker, intellect, pioneer - yet, unusually, managed to combine this with being utterly kind, generous, warm. We’ll miss him

Conserved CD4+ T cell staphylococcal and streptococcal epitopes enable broad-acting vaccines in mice - Nature Microbiology Immunopeptidomics identify CD4⁺ T cell epitopes from the conserved bacterial Hup protein that confer protection against multiple bacterial infections in mice suggesting potential for development of br...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A pen and ink drawing of a dragon by Michelangelo

Michelangelo was born on this day in 1475 in Caprese near Florence, Italy. The painter, sculptor, architect and poet is widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance period.

Immune cells from the gut drive development of Parkinson’s disease in the brain In ‘body-first’ Parkinson’s disease, misfolded proteins propagate from the gut’s nervous system to the brain. Immune-cell activity seems to play a key part in this spread.

Immune cells from the gut drive development of Parkinson’s disease in the brain www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Measles is raging worldwide: are you at risk? Cases in fully vaccinated people are rare and usually mild, but are likely to become more common as exposure to the virus rises.

Measles is raging worldwide: are you at risk? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thanks for getting in touch. We are indeed particularly interested at present in people able to get to us for a blood test. Also, please bring your ‘healthy control’ friends. Contact:
Altmannlongcovidstudy@imperial.ac.uk

Calling family and friends of the @meassociation.org.uk
Your fundraising pays for vital research and services for people with #ME/CFS. Help the charity make a difference in 2026.
From quizzes and head shaves to marathons, they can support you all the way.
Details: meassociation.org.uk/cgnm

COVID-19 vaccination status during pregnancy and preeclampsia risk: the pandemic-era cohort of the INTERCOVID consortium COVID-19 vaccination with a booster reduces the odds of PE by 30% approaching 60% reduction among women with pre-existing morbidities.

COVID-19 vaccination status during pregnancy and preeclampsia risk: the pandemic-era cohort of the INTERCOVID consortium - eClinicalMedicine www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...

There is a measles outbreak in London, which has been widely reported.

Vaccination rates are low.

And we have been warned that an outbreak could be large.

Some of the reasons are due to misinformation and disinformation. Thankfully the Government appears to be waking up.

A thread.

What’s going on with Measles in England? An explanation of where we are, how we got here and what we can do

Excellent from @chrischirp.bsky.social on the current measles outbreak in London and what this says about vaccine uptake and what we can do to address it

Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.

The pandemic preparedness programme at NIAD is to be cut in yet another inexplicable decision by Bhattacharya. Without the research that was done by institutes such as the NIAD that was already looking at coronaviruses we would not have had such speedy vaccine development 🧪🧵 #HealthPolicy

‘We almost lost you in the night’ - the life-threatening rise of measles in the UK It is one of the most infectious diseases around, and can cause blindness and hearing loss – and can also be fatal. Why are cases now soaring and what can be done about it?

Pneumonia, blindness, hearing loss and brain inflammation are just some of the impacts measles can do and these are heartbreaking accounts shared here. Measles is extremely infectious but also preventable by the full course of the MMR vaccine #MMR #Measles

In our lifetimes we’ve witnessed HIV, Ebola, SARS, MERS, Covid and others.
Hard to take that our learning point for the next ones is to close eyes and hope for the best…

Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.

Not preparing for the next pandemic doesn't prevent pandemic from happening.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Daily briefing: Caffeine might reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline Daily cups of coffee and tea have been linked to slower brain ageing. Plus, a view of global hot and cold weather extremes and tips for commanding the conference stage.

Daily briefing: Caffeine might reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline www.nature.com/articles/d41...

FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccines

Vinay Prasad has refused to review Moderna's application to license a new updated flu vaccine for the USA- why - this is puzzling because he basically made up a reason as he claims a trial was not done that was in fact performed. This has huge implications for licensing new vaccines in the States

National Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells,’ alarming career scientists The National Cancer Institute is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official, alarming career scientists.

National Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells,’ alarming career scientists

The NCI director didn’t cite new evidence that prompted the agency to look into it

www.statnews.com/202...
1/4

Tracing the Evolution of Human Immunity Through Ancient DNA Infections have imposed strong selection pressures throughout human evolution, making the study of natural selection's effects on immunity genes highly complementary to disease-focused research. ...

Tracing the Evolution of Human Immunity Through Ancient DNA - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
"Ancient genomics enables tracking of how immunity has evolved across cultural transitions.. and genetic adaptations to epidemics during the Middle Ages and the European colonization of the Americas"

Moderna says FDA refuses its application for new mRNA flu vaccine The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine made with mRNA technology.

It is absolutely outrageous that Moderna’s flu vaccine was met with a “refusal-to-file” even after their approved their protocol with FDA and carried out the trial as agreed. This vaccine works better in older adults than the current flu vaccines.

apnews.com/article/mode...

The immune microenvironment of colorectal cancer - Nature Reviews Cancer In this Review, Kennel and Greten highlight the role of immune cells in colorectal cancer (CRC) development, progression and metastasis as well as the impact of therapies on the immune microenvironment. They emphasize the need for novel strategies to enhance immunogenicity and CRC patient stratification to improve outcomes.

🥳 Our 9th most downloaded #REVIEW in 2025:

The immune microenvironment of colorectal cancer

#TME #colorectalcancer @NatResCancer
#NRCtop10of2025

“I’m really excited [about the shingles research in particular] because it’s big data. These studies are not small or speculative or hypothetical, but solid and credible,” Altmann says…

Should you pay £500 for a shingles jab? As new studies suggest some vaccinations could lower the risk of dementia and heart disease, the experts weigh in on whether it’s worth a shot

Should you pay £500 for a shingles jab?

www.thetimes.com/article/9573...

Segmented filamentous bacteria reprogramming of alveolar macrophages limits postinfluenza bacterial pneumonia SFB colonization phenotypically alters alveolar macrophages, maintaining their antibacterial functions in inflamed interferon-rich lungs.

Segmented filamentous bacteria reprogramming of alveolar macrophages limits postinfluenza bacterial pneumonia | Science Immunology www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Environmentally driven immune imprinting protects against allergy - Nature In a mouse model, environmental immunostimulation in early life led to cross-reactive adaptive immune memory and reduced type II immune responses to allergens, indicating a mechanistic relationship be...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On Being Ill at 100: Virginia Woolf’s ‘best essay’ still shapes how we read sickness Woolf argues that illness is ‘the great confessional’ which is never talked about in literature.

Outstanding article from my friend Lucyl Harrison in @theconversation.com today.

'Human character changed in December 2019, when SARS-CoV-2 was discovered and the COVID pandemic began in earnest'.

theconversation.com/on-being-ill...

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

On this #HMD2026 I think of my survivor Mum, Marlene, liberated on this day, 1945 - offered horsemeat and vodka by the incoming liberators - and words of Ettie Hillesum's Holocaust Diary: 'I find life beautiful and I feel free. The sky within me is as wide as the one stretching above my head.'

Today marks 81 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.

We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust.

#HolocaustMemorialDay

Please please vaccinate your child against measles.

This is from our @independentsage.bsky.social report from last year, led by @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social & @helensalisbury.bsky.social

independentsage.org/wp-content/u...

Long COVID👉 neurological, cardiovascular and immune dysfunction, needs recognition and care pathways.
@virusesimmunity.bsky.social @michaelpelusomd.bsky.social @daltmann.bsky.social @weselymd.bsky.social @nisreenalwan.bsky.social et al
@nature.com
Vol 11, 92, 2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...