On a very different note, it is with great sadness to announce the unexpected passing of one of SMI's true stalwarts, Professor Nils Lycke. Nils, whom I know will be fondly remembered by many of you, contributed many seminal discoveries to our field and was a highly respected and active member of the Society, as well as serving as an editor of Mucosal Immunology for many years. Nils was also a fervent proponent of the field of Mucosal Immunology within Europe and was one of the founders of the highly successful and ongoing European Mucosal Immunology Group meetings. Please keep an eye out for a more in-depth tribute to Nils in Mucosal Immunology in the new year. Our hearts and best wishes go out to Nils's family and close friends during this difficult period.

After a close-run membership pole, the dates for ICMI 2024 in Copenhagen are now fixed! The

meeting will take place July 6-10th at the Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center, a few minutes’ walk from Copenhagen's Central Station. We look forward to a great Congress with you in 2024 - with wonderful options for accommodation in this location.

Please also keep an eye out for the new deadlines for the Technique-Sharing Travel grants and

Mentorship Program applications in early 2023 and don’t forget to renew your SMI memberships by Jan 1st, 2023.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday break!

Bill Agace, PhD

SMI President

SMI salutes, Julia Esser-von Bieren, PhD. With a focus on allergic diseases, Dr. Esser-von Bieren is asking how the innate immune system, particularly macrophages, are reprogrammed or “trained” in type 2 immune settings and how this reprogramming may govern inflammatory diseases such as asthma. Additionally, she seeks to address how helminth molecules can regulate immune responses in the context of inflammatory or infectious diseases, particularly in the lung or gut. Read More

Know an SMI member deserving to be spotlighted? Let SMI know.

SMI proudly supports external and non-SMI meetings with the goal of advancing mucosal immunology in the scientific community at large. This year, SMI supported the Neutrophil 2022 International Symposium and congratulates this year's Travel Award winners.

Appearing from left to right: Julio Castañeda, Eduardo Vadillo, Lenore Monterroza, Tereza

Masonou, Tommaso Vicanolo, Katherine Lodge, Michael Schnoor, Eileen Uribe, Carlos Rosales,

José Antonio Enciso.

Lessons from helminths: what worms have taught us about mucosal immunology

Inside the latest issue of Mucosal Immunology is the Helminth Special Collection, arranged by Georgia Perona-Wright & Henry J. McSorley. Don’t miss these “Lessons from helminths: what worms have taught us about mucosal immunology”. Inside you’ll find, four literature reviews: Every cell is an immune cell; contributions of non-hematopoietic cells to anti-helminth immunity, Tissue-specific immunity in helminth infections, Effects of helminths on the human immune response and the microbiome, Food for thought – ILC metabolism in the context of helminth infections and four primary articles: The IL-25-dependent tuft cell circuit driven by intestinal helminths requires macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), Tissue-based IL-10 signaling in helminth infection limits IFNγ expression and promotes the intestinal Th2 response, Age-dependent rise in IFN-γ competence undermines effective type 2 responses to nematode infection, Microbial regulation of intestinal motility provides resistance against helminth infection.

Microbial antigen in human milk: a natural vaccine?

This comment discusses how breast milk could be used as a natural way to vaccinate infants.



Infants are at high risk for infectious diseases, especially under 5 years of age. Newborn immunization through breast milk could be a new avenue to achieve long-term protection from infectious diseases. Breast milk contains a lot of anti-infective compounds such as maternal antibodies, lactoferrin and human milk oligosaccharides, which may induce passive immunity leading to short-lived protection against pathogens. In addition, several evidences have shown that breast milk also contained pathogen antigens leading to mucosal and systemic immunity. The very low amounts of antigens in human milk and their pre-digestion within the mammary gland may be optimal to induce long-lasting immune responses. The presence of both maternal pathogen-specific antibodies and pathogens in breast milk suggests the presence of pathogen antigen-immune complexes, which could improve the transport of pathogen across the gut barrier using the neonatal Fc receptor. The presence of antigen-presenting cells and extracellular vesicles expressing major histocompatibility complex may also contribute to the induction of immune responses. Finally, the presence of milk bioactive molecules and milk microbiota functioning as infant-tailored adjuvants could also play a role in the activation of the neonatal immune system. Breast milk as a natural way of vaccination should be explored in order to establish whether and how human milk from infected and/or vaccinated mothers can immunize their offspring. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41385-022-00561-4

Microbial host interactions in mucosal sites: Where are we at?

Looking for some exciting reading material for the holidays? Look no further, in the most recent edition of Mucosal Immunology you will find several great reviews written by multiple SMI members. From a deep dive on how the intestinal epithelium provides protection against external insults while developing in early life (Good), to a more inclusive definition of “trained immunity” to include innate immune and epithelial cells (Esser-von Bieren), to how we can start to unravel the complexity of microbial-host interactions using different microbial community models (McCoy), to the arms-race occurring in the intestine between a constantly evolving rapidly replicating bacterial population and the immune system (Slack). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36352099/

• Tenure-track Assistant Professor or Tenured Associate Professor of Immunology - University of Washington
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• Postdoc in Mucosal Immunology

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