Each of us is carrying about 100 trillion microbes in our gut. They're tiny and squirmy, but if you could line them all up end …
Category: Immunology
Microbiome explorations stoke researcher’s passion
Start talking with physician-scientist Ami Bhatt, MD, PhD, about the microbiome -- the vast community of bacteria, fungi, and life that live on the body …
A blood test that monitors for post-lung-transplant rejection and infection
A team under the direction of Stanford bioengineer Steve Quake, PhD, has shown that a noninvasive blood test can accurately diagnose lung-transplant rejection. The test also …
A Stanford dietician talks food sensitivities
Ever wondered what the difference between a food allergy and a food sensitivity is? Neha Shah, MPH, RD, CNSC, a registered dietician at the Stanford …
Researchers tackle unusual challenge in polio eradication
Polio is a tricky foe. One of the biggest hurdles in the World Health Organization's polio eradication campaign is that the virus causes no symptoms …
Drugs for bugs: Industry seeks small molecules to target, tweak and tune up our gut microbes
My first encounter with microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg, PhD, came when I was researching "Caution: Do Not Debug," an article I wrote five years ago for …
Peanut products and babies: Now okay?
Updated 2-25-15: Allergy expert Sharon Chinthrajah, MD, discussed the study and its implications on KQED's Forum today: *** 2-24-15: Any parent of young children is …
A discussion of vaccines, “the single most life-saving innovation ever in the history of medicine”
In a recent, in-depth interview with KCBS Radio, now available online, Stanford immunologist Mark Davis, PhD, called vaccines “the single most life-saving medical innovation ever …
With a Gates Foundation grant, Stanford launches major effort to expedite vaccine discovery
The vaccine field got a major boost today with the announcement that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $50 million in a new …
Is honey the new antibiotic?
...Well, not quite. But recent research shows that honey does have infection-fighting properties surprisingly similar to the common antibiotic ampicillin. And even more importantly, honey …
A look at our disappearing microbes
Could obesity, asthma, allergies, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer all share a common epidemiological origin? NYU microbiologist Martin Blaser, MD, thinks so – he …
Blocking a receptor on brain’s immune cells counters Alzheimer’s in mice
Attention, nerve cells: It's not all about you. As a new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation led by Stanford neuroscientist Kati Andreasson, MD, …
Stanford-developed smart phone blood-testing device wins international award
When I worked as an epidemiologist, one of my jobs was with a program that prevented perinatal hepatitis B infections. That’s when a woman with …
Paradox: Antibiotics may increase contagion among Salmonella-infected animals
Make no mistake: Antibiotics have worked wonders, increasing human life expectancy as have few other public-health measures (let's hear it for vaccines, folks). But about …
Stanford Medicine magazine traverses the immune system
If you want to understand the human immune system, try studying humans - not mice. That's what Mark Davis, PhD, urges in a special report …
Ivy and Bean help encourage kids to get vaccinated
Last week, I took my two little boys to get their shots, including the MMR vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Although, as …