IMMUNOLOGY2026™: Day 3

In this special episode of The Immunology Podcast, Dr. Jason Goldsmith and Dr. Brenda Rout recap Day 3 of Immunology 2026 in Boston, highlighting groundbreaking research on the intersection of metabolism, immunity, and disease. Key themes include how dietary fats—particularly animal fats like butter—impair T-cell function through lipid remodeling, mitochondrial dysfunction, and accumulation of long-chain acyl carnitines, while cholesterol plays a critical role in exacerbating immune exhaustion and inflammation. The episode also explores how neutrophils use lipid-specific signaling via TLRs to alter actin dynamics and contribute to atherosclerosis, and how ketogenic diets and bacterial ceramides enhance cutaneous wound healing via gamma-delta T cells and IL-1 signaling. A major focus is on the microbiome’s role in immune regulation, with studies showing that microbial tryptophan metabolites (like indole lactate) suppress pathogenic TH17 cells in multiple sclerosis, suggesting therapeutic potential for ketogenic diets and supplements like 13BD. The hosts also spotlight two standout talks: Brandon Dikowski’s work on engineering broadly neutralizing antibodies against malaria through multi-axis Fab-Fab interactions, and David Masipist’s research on expanding human tissue-resident memory T cells for use in 'peptide alarm therapy' to convert cold tumors into hot ones. These advances underscore the growing power of synthetic immunology and metabolic reprogramming in next-generation therapies.