Magda Ioannou Immunity, Mental health, Neuroscience

How does your immune system “talk” to your brain and vice-versa

Being sick after catching a flu usually comes with a “doing nothing mode”, meaning fatigue, lower mood and lack of motivation to perform day-to-day activities. The close connection between physical illness and behavior might sound counterintuitive if one considers the body and mind as fundamentally distinct in nature. However, it has been repeatedly proven that … Continue reading How does your immune system “talk” to your brain and vice-versa

Tiago Medeiros Furquim Immunity, Neuroscience

Microglia: the nostalgic handymen of the brain

Ok, it is finally time to talk about my favorite cells, which have been the focus of my research for as long as I can remember: the cute little cells in our brains called microglia. If you didn’t know that we have many different cell types in our brain besides neurons, check out my previous … Continue reading Microglia: the nostalgic handymen of the brain

Duy Minh Le Cancer, Immunity

Story of a cancer cell – How I love to play hide-and-seek in your body

How many times did you play hide-and-seek when you were little? What were your favorite hiding strategies? Did you roll under your parents’ bed, hide away in a wardrobe? Or did you disguise yourselves into something invisible? I love to play hide-and-seek, which, every day, I do with my immune foes. I was born as … Continue reading Story of a cancer cell – How I love to play hide-and-seek in your body

Tiago Medeiros Furquim COVID-19, Immunity

Vaccines (part 2): how they are developed and why it takes so long

Featuring Siobhan Brushett Featured image by Arek Socha from Pixabay If you haven't read the first part, check out our previous post - Vaccines (part 1): how vaccines work in your body If you are interested in attending a free, online virtual meeting focused on COVID-19 and hosted by the European Society for Clinical Virology … Continue reading Vaccines (part 2): how they are developed and why it takes so long

Tiago Medeiros Furquim COVID-19, Immunity

Vaccines (part 1): how vaccines work in your body

Featuring Siobhan Brushett While many vaccine trials against COVID-19 progress around the world to ensure their safety - and soon their efficacy - we have recently seen that Russia has become the first in the world to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use. Russia has dangerously rushed this approval since it has not completed large … Continue reading Vaccines (part 1): how vaccines work in your body

fabipuertolas Immunity, Microbiome

The intestinal defense at the gut – what we eat matters

Our body is constantly in contact with the outer microbial world Did you know the intestine represents the largest surface area of the body constantly in contact with microbes with ~30 m2 , 15 times more than the skin and with the equivalent size of half a badminton court? Curiously, and going back to the … Continue reading The intestinal defense at the gut – what we eat matters