Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 immunity study finds antibody association with infection risk

New research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has identified immune system changes that can be detected up to 10 years before inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is diagnosed, offering important new insight into how Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis begin. The findings could pave the way for earlier detection, targeted prevention strategies, and interventions before irreversible intestinal damage occurs. Led by Saurabh Mehandru, MD, Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the study found that the immune system begins changing long before patients experience their first symptoms—advancing researchers' understanding of the earliest stages of IBD and opening new possibilities for future prevention. Read more in the comments below.

John Mascarenhas, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses results from the phase 3 #SENTRY trial evaluating #selinexor plus #ruxolitinib in JAK inhibitor–naïve patients with #myelofibrosis. These findings suggest that adding #selinexor may enhance disease control and potentially modify disease biology, supporting further evaluation of this combination in #myelofibrosis. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gQrdQtAX

So thrilled to share our new paper now available online in Biostatistics! A big thank you to Li Cheung and Nicole Campos for introducing me to the important problem of cervical cancer screening and the many opportunities for statistical methods to improve public health decision-making. Understanding how HPV infection progresses to cervical precancer is critical for designing effective screening strategies. A major challenge is that many existing disease progression models rely on rich longitudinal data or calibration procedures, which can be difficult to validate and may face identifiability challenges. In many low-resource settings, only cross-sectional data are available, making it even harder to estimate the population-specific disease dynamics needed for informed policy decisions. In this paper, we develop a new multistate modeling framework that makes it possible to leverage cross-sectional data by combining local observations with transferable information from external studies. This approach enables more reliable estimation of population-specific disease progression while reducing the need for expensive longitudinal studies. Through simulation studies and real-world applications, we demonstrate that the proposed framework performs well and holds the potential to provide a stronger statistical foundation for microsimulation models used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening strategies, particularly in settings where data are limited. Super grateful to my co-authors and the supporting environment of DCEG at National Cancer Institute (NCI) for making this work possible! #HPV #CervicalCancer #CancerScreening #MultistateModeling

#AskDrTim 🔆 COVID-19 reminded us of something medicine sometimes forgets. The virus is only the opening act. What often determines severity is the host response. This paper in Frontiers in Immunology explores an interesting hypothesis: That in some patients, SARS-CoV-2 may trigger autoimmunity involving ACE-2, helping to explain why COVID-19 can affect the lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, heart, liver, and even taste pathways. Not just infection. Immune misdirection. That matters because many of the worst COVID-19 outcomes were never just about “viral load”. They were about inflammation, endothelial injury, clotting, immune exhaustion, and the body turning its defence system into collateral damage. As a clinician, this is the part that always stays with me. The immune system is powerful. But power without regulation can become pathology. That is why medicine must keep moving beyond labels. “Viral illness.” “Inflammation.” “Autoimmunity.” “Long COVID.” These are not separate boxes. They are overlapping biological stories. The deeper lesson? Health is not simply about fighting harder. Sometimes, it is about helping the body respond more intelligently. And that may be where the future of medicine is heading, not just killing pathogens, but understanding the terrain they disturb.

For many people, a cup of coffee a day is a non-negotiable, but new research published by the American Gastroenterological Association reveals that a cup of coffee—or five—per day may have more benefits than just keeping people awake. To draw these conclusions, researchers analyzed more than 355,000 adults’ data from the United Kingdom‘s Biobank over a period of about 13 years. Participants did not have liver cancer or cirrhosis at the start of the study. The study suggests that drinking coffee daily could reduce risk of liver cancer, cirrhosis and liver mortality. Participants in the group drinking more than five cups per day saw risk reductions in all of these areas. “Higher coffee intake was associated with favorable clinical, imaging and proteomic indicators of liver health,” the study reports. These multidimensional findings support moderate unsweetened coffee as a simple strategy for liver disease prevention. https://lnkd.in/gECfZFzW

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗙𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. Very soon we maybe getting closer to the real deal when it comes to management of Sepsis. Recently I came across a fascinating article published in Frontiers in Science 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱: 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆.( Read through the pinned article below). Having witnessed the devastating impact of sepsis firsthand. Too often, especially in my local setting, patients present with severe form of sepsis, and despite our best efforts, many do not survive. This has always made me question whether our current "one-size-fits-all" approach is sufficient to curtail a disease with more than 40% mortality rate. What i found to be most interesting in this paper is its perspective that sepsis is not simply a dysregulated response to infection, but a complex and heterogeneous syndrome in which each patient's immune response may differ significantly. It made me realise why some patients respond remarkably well to interventions such as corticosteroids, while others derive little or no benefit. The paper further highlighted on identifying and classifying patients into endotypes in order to individualise diagnosis and treatment, by leveraging systems immunology, machine learning, transcriptomics, genomics, and other multi-omics technologies rather than using a generalised approach. However, the key challenge is how we translate these scientific advances into resource-limited healthcare settings, where the burden of sepsis is often greatest. #Sepsis #PrecisionMedicine #SystemsImmunology #MachineLearning #TranslationalResearch #GlobalHealth #CriticalCare #MedicalResearch #InnovationInHealthcare.

Longitudinal sequencing studies demonstrate progressive loss of microbial diversity and enrichment of pathogenic organisms during critical illness. These shifts, particularly Enterococcus and Klebsiella overgrowth, correlate with adverse outcomes and may reflect the combined effects of antibiotics, disease severity, and critical care interventions

With a $4M grant from the National Institutes of Health, Chandra Mohan of the UH Cullen College of Engineering is launching a 10-year study set to target the very heart of autoimmune disease – examining what causes the body to attack itself and identifying biological pathways that could become targets for new treatments. #UHResearch https://lnkd.in/eFzuBGTh

Happy to share our latest work in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences MDPI on the role of miR-29a and miR-15b during SARS-CoV-2 Beta and Omicron BA.1 infection in human lung epithelial cells. Rather than acting as straightforward antiviral effectors, these two microRNAs emerged as context-dependent modulators that can paradoxically enhance viral replication. Our findings provide a cautionary note for miRNA-based antiviral strategies: promising in silico predictions must always be supported by functional validation in in vitro infection models. Grateful to all co-authors at Libera Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele and the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" for this great team effort. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dnH4kR4g #Virology #SARSCoV2 #microRNA #MolecularBiology

I’m pleased to share that our research letter has been published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Impact of processing delays on molecular detection of childhood pulmonary tuberculosis from gastric lavage samples 🔗 DOI: https://lnkd.in/gGxTm9am Childhood tuberculosis remains one of the most challenging conditions to diagnose. In this study, we examined how delays in processing gastric lavage samples influence the molecular detection of pulmonary tuberculosis, highlighting the importance of strengthening diagnostic pathways and laboratory practices to improve patient care. I am sincerely grateful to my mentors, co-authors, and colleagues whose guidance and collaboration made this work possible. The full publication is available through the DOI above, and the citation has also been added to the Publications section of my LinkedIn profile. #RespiratoryMedicine #Tuberculosis #Pulmonology #ChildHealth #GlobalHealth #ClinicalResearch #EvidenceBasedMedicine #MedicalResearch #IJTLD