Category: Published Research
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade
Nature Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) extend survival in many patients with cancer but are ineffective in patients without pre-existing immunity1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Although personalized mRNA cancer vaccines sensitize tumours to ICIs by directing immune attacks against preselected antigens, personalized vaccines are limited by complex and time-intensive manufacturing processes10,11,12,13,14. Here we show that mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also […]
Oct 22, 2025
Association of 2024–2025 Covid-19 Vaccine with Covid-19 Outcomes in U.S. Veterans
NEJM We conducted an observational study that used the electronic health records of the Department of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2024–2025 Covid-19 vaccine among veterans who received the Covid-19 and influenza vaccines on the same day (164,132 participants) and in an active-comparator group of veterans who received the influenza vaccine only […]
Oct 15, 2025
Ebola virus in Kasai revives 50-year-old questions on viral latency
The Lancet On Sept 4, 2025, DR Congo declared its 16th Ebola virus outbreak. The epicentre of this outbreak occurred in the Kasai province—the first resurgence in this region since 2008.1 Genomic analysis identified an Ebola virus with more than 99·5% identity to the lineage that was responsible for the first outbreak in Yambuku in 1976.2 Instead […]
Oct 15, 2025
H5N1 influenza virus stability and transmission risk in raw milk and cheese
Nature Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses have recently spread to dairy cattle, with high levels of virus detected in milk from affected animals, raising concern about the risk posed by unpasteurized dairy products consumed by humans. Here we evaluated H5N1 virus persistence in raw-milk cheeses (n = 3 per condition) made with milk acidified to pH […]
Oct 15, 2025
Optical pooled screens shed light on Ebola infection
Nature Filoviruses, a group of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses that encompasses Ebola, Marburg and Sudan viruses, among others, cause frequent deadly outbreaks. While some therapies and vaccines have been developed, treatment options are still limited, and the need to better understand the interplay between host factors and viral infection throughout the viral life cycle is […]
Sep 10, 2025
Pregnancy reduces COVID-19 vaccine immunity against novel variants
Nature Pregnant women are at heightened risk for severe outcomes from infectious diseases like COVID-19, yet were not included in initial vaccine trials, which may contribute to low booster uptake (15% or lower). We explored the serological and cellular responses to COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccines (i.e., ancestral and BA.5) in pregnant and age-matched, non-pregnant females […]
Aug 13, 2025
Accelerated brain ageing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Nature The impact of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic on brain health is recognised, yet specific effects remain understudied. We investigate the pandemic’s impact on brain ageing using longitudinal neuroimaging data from the UK Biobank. Brain age prediction models are trained from hundreds of multi-modal imaging features using a cohort of 15,334 healthy participants. These […]
Jul 30, 2025
Increasing Predominance of Norovirus GII.17 over GII.4, United States, 2022–2025
CDC Norovirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States (1). Genetically, noroviruses are classified into 10 genogroups (GI–GX) and further into 48 genotypes and 60 P-types (2). Most outbreaks are caused by genogroup GI and GII viruses. During 2011–2024, GII.4 viruses have caused >50% of US outbreaks each season (defined […]
Jun 3, 2025
Mpox poses an ever-increasing epidemic and pandemic risk
Nature The human interaction with mpox has changed across its entire endemic range, revealing the endemic and pandemic risk of monkeypox virus and the current knowledge gaps on its biology that hamper virus control. Humans are an ecological niche for orthopoxviruses (OPXV) such as mpox, a niche originally filled by smallpox (variola virus; VARV). Since […]
Apr 1, 2025
Transmission dynamics of the 2022 mpox epidemic in New York City
Nature The 2022 global mpox epidemic was caused by transmission of MPXV clade IIb, lineage B.1 through sexual contact networks, with New York City (NYC) experiencing the first and largest outbreak in the United States. By performing phylogeographic analysis of MPXV genomes sampled from 757 individuals in NYC between April 2022 and April 2023, and […]
Mar 26, 2025