Tom Riffelmacher

The source of dietary fat influences anti-tumour immunity in obese mice - Nature Metabolism This study shows that animal-based high-fat diets accelerate tumour growth and impair anti-tumour response to melanoma in obese mice, whereas plant-based high-fat diets do not.

This was a labor of love requiring lots of teamwork over years, repeating in 3 locations! Thanks to all the lab over the years, giving their time generously to this team project, & our wonderful collaborators. The source of fat matters for anti-tumor immunity 🐄🐖🧈🌴🫒🥥
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Same! solving IT “issues”, like accessing university email, are my small daily wins in those days

Polyunsaturated fatty acid-induced metabolic exhaustion and ferroptosis impair the anti-tumour function of MAIT cells in MASLD Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells constitute a highly abundant innate-like T cell population in the human liver that is critical for immune surveillance of hepatic cancers but often dysfunct...

Very cool!

www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/S016...

Forget Trump & Musk's bromance...join us at Keystone's Immunometabolism Across Scales: From Cells to Systems to Healthspan!
Super science, discussions and colleagues. Be there- Vancouver, BC Jan 11-14, 2026. Keynotes: Amazing Drs. Dana Pe'er and Marcia Haigis!! Speaker line-up is GOAT!

Openness guides discovery

MAIT cells exacerbate colonic inflammation in a genetically diverse murine model of spontaneous colitis IL-17-producing lymphocytes are involved in both tissue repair and the propagation of inflammation, with their effects highly context-dependent. Mucosal-Associated-Invariant-T-cells (MAIT), a subset of innate-like T cells with features of both Th1 and Th17 lineages, are increasingly recognized for their roles in mucosal immunity. Here, we identified the Collaborative-Cross CC011/Unc strain, which spontaneously develops chronic colitis, as being enriched for MAIT cells. This expansion coincides with an age-related loss of intestinal barrier permeability and colonic inflammation.

Nice paper, out today!

We also see a surge of postdoc applications of highly qualified scientist who normally would pursue their work in the US

Thank you! Sad that I missed your talk on wednesday.

A huge congratulations to LJI's Dr. Tom Riffelmacher! Tom's work has helped reveal a whole new side of T cells, and we are thrilled to see what he does next! 🎉

With nearly all of Harvard Chan School’s direct federal grants terminated, we are relying on philanthropy to power our research and support our educational programs. Every gift, regardless of size, advances our vision of health, dignity, and justice for every human. Support our work: hsph.me/whygive

Thanks, Reika :) I will miss @lji.org

I am not dreaming, it’s official! I am starting my lab as Professor in the department of medicine III at @unicologne.bsky.social
We will explore the immunometabolic control of unconventional lymphocytes in cancer and cardiovascular disease.
WE ARE HIRING AT ALL LEVELS (MTA/BTA, postdoc, PHD)

Patient-Specific In Vivo Gene Editing to Treat a Rare Genetic Disease | NEJM Base editors can correct disease-causing genetic variants. After a neonate had received a diagnosis of severe carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency, a disease with an estimated 50% mortality ...

It’s done 😮

The Professional Self: The Enemy Inside

I'd like to share this short piece on a topic I hope you will find useful. It is the result of a personl journey and many discussions with friends and peers. Let me know your thoughts.

network.febs.org/posts/the-pr...

I am honored to be part of the Gates foundation research consortium on unconventional T cells and grateful for their support.

Great time catching up with friends from near and far, and making new ones at HawAAI #AAI2025 #IMMUNOLOGY2025

HawAAI 2025 in full swing. DM me if you are here and want to catch up or get to know each other! #AAI2025 #Immunology2025 #MAIT #immunometabolism 🌺

Can't make it to #IMMUNOLOGY2025?

Brenda and Jason will be recording from Honolulu to keep you up to date!🎙️

Our first daily episode will be released on May 4. Stay tuned!

#AAI2025

Excited for the start of #AAI2025 #Immunology2025

Can you say the SAME?! 🤚

isn’t zinc important for Treg function, and Lacc1 mediated metabolism supports Tregs - both behcets and crohns disease are linked to a defect in Lacc1 and Tregs.

and dropping zinc levels may aggravate the lacc1 hypomorphic phenotype later in life?

Thank you for sharing your story and insights! Indeed, the association of both Zinc and Lacc1 with Behçet’s disease is intriguing, and it’s true Lacc1 has a zinc binding site. How could this be linked?

Crohn’s Disease-associated variant in laccase domain containing 1 (LACC1) modulates T cell gene expression, metabolism and T cell function - Nature Communications Prior studies implicate an allele near laccase domain containing 1 (LACC1) for risk of Crohn’s disease and decreased LACC1 expression in T cells. Using human genome analyzes and mouse genetic models, ...

Check out this great study by the Kronenberg lab on Fatty acid metabolism immunity nexus (FAMIN) aka LACC1 in T cells impacting IBD!

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

Autophagy repression by antigen and cytokines shapes mitochondrial, migration and effector machinery in CD8 T cells - Nature Immunology Sinclair et al. combine quantitative proteomics and an autophagy flux reporter to map autophagy substrates and triggers during CD8 T cell differentiation. Proteins degraded and fueled by autophagy in ...

I am overjoyed to present our latest paper on Autophagy in CD8 Tcells!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It was, as all ‘sciencing’ is, a huge team effort.

I will try to do it some justice in the following thread 😊 1/n
@cantrell-lab.bsky.social @immpres.bsky.social @ajmhowden.bsky.social

Defenders or Defectors? Read our Review on Mait cells in Autoimmunity!

Free access with this link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1kgmt3OeyG...

👍🏼👍🏼

Which one are you?
Among scientists are collectors, classifiers, and compulsive tidiers-up; many are detectives by temperament and many are explorers; some are artists and others artisans. There are poet-scientists and philosopher-scientists and even a few mystics.
–Peter Medawar

a baby in a car seat is holding a stack of money ALT: a baby in a car seat is holding a stack of money

#Money money 🤑🤑🧵👇
Interviewing season is almost here, so below are some #negotiation tips. How can you get more 💰 to start your lab?
This is based on my experience interviewing in US institutions. 1/n
#NewPI
#SciSky