Inflammatory Content

In this episode of Inflammatory Content, Dr. Kellen Cavagnero explores the debilitating skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and takes a deep dive into a recent Immunity paper that comprehensively examines the role of tertiary lymphoid structures in HS pathogenesis. HS has long defied simple classification, with prevailing disease models emphasizing hair follicle dysfunction, aberrant wound healing, or chronic inflammation. This work adds a new dimension by implicating autoimmunity as a central contributor to HS pathogenesis, further underscoring the complexity of the disease. Relevant Links: • Paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12404358/ • Commentary: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11790253/ If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast! You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com

In this episode of Inflammatory Content, Dr. Kellen Cavagnero breaks down a new Nature paper showing that a subset of skin neutrophils doesn’t just fight bacteria—they also build extracellular matrix (ECM). After injury, these neutrophils rapidly assemble rings of ECM around the wound that strengthen the barrier and limit bacterial entry. This program depends on TGF-β signaling within neutrophils; when that pathway is disabled, the rings fail to form and bacteria penetrate more easily. Relevant Links: • Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40108463/ • Commentary: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-025-01170-5 If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast! You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com

In this episode of Inflammatory Content, Dr. Kellen Cavagnero dives into a landmark 2024 Nature study by Thierry Nordman and colleagues, titled “Spatial proteomics identifies JAKi as treatment for a lethal skin disease.” This cutting-edge research changes the game for patients suffering from toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN)—a devastating cutaneous adverse drug reaction with limited treatment options. Using a powerful approach including spatial proteomics and mouse models of TEN, the authors identify interferon signaling as a key inflammatory pathway driving TEN. Most remarkably, they repurpose an FDA-approved JAK inhibitor to safely and effectively treat patients with TEN in a small clinical trial. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in how ‘omics technologies can rapidly unlock therapies for even the rarest and most lethal diseases. Relevant Links: • Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39415009/ • Commentary: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39501097/ If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast! You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com.

In this episode, Dr. Kellen Cavagnero is joined by Dr. Dequina Nicholas. Dr. Nicholas is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Her laboratory studies endocrine diseases, including type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome. Specifically, her group investigates the intersection of the nutrient environment, the immune system, and metabolic disease using a combination of molecular and cellular biology, transgenic mouse models, cytokine profiling, and flow cytometry. Dr. Nicholas is the recipient of numerous awards including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. In their conversation, Kellen and Dequina discuss type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, lipid antigen presentation, transitioning to independence, DEI, and more. Relevant Links: • Nicholas Lab Website: https://nicholaslab.bio.uci.edu/ • Transitioning to Independence: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35644775/ • TikTok: @NicholasLab • X: @QuinaScience • Bluesky: @quinascience.bsky.social If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast! You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com.

Today we’re going to do a journal club, but it will not be your run of the mill journal club. Everyone who knows me knows I am always searching for the latest technology that can increase my efficiency. Lately, I have been especially attuned to the newest developments in artificial intelligence.Well, I recently discovered a new AI tool by Google called NotebookLM that creates audio overviews of documents. What this means is that it will--within minutes--create a journal club podcast if you upload a research article. It is BANANAS! There are a few minor instances where the speech is buggy and words are mis-pronounced, but, overall, I am super impressed with how well it communicates research findings—very accessible and high fidelity. So today I bring to you an experimental AI generated journal club on my 2 latest research articles. The first article was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in early 2024 and the second was published as a preprint (meaning not yet peer reviewed) on bioRxiv in late 2024. Relevant Links: • Paper 1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38393304/ • Paper 2: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38979312/ If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast. You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X (formerly Twitter) @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn.

One of the most common questions I get from undergraduate and graduate students is: How do I get a Ph.D. fellowship? During my Ph.D., I was fortunate to be awarded two fellowships, and I’ve received two more as a postdoc. In this solo episode, I provide an overview of the who, what, where, when, why, and how of Ph.D. fellowship applications, with the goal of helping you secure a fellowship to support your research. Please reach out to me if you would like the PowerPoint version of The Ph.D. Fellowship Application Survival Guide. Relevant Links: • NOFO Database: https://research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-opportunities/graduate/ • NIH Grant Writing Course: https://bouviergrant.com/ If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast. You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X (formerly Twitter) @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com.

In this episode, Kellen is joined by Dr. Aaron Oom, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the lab of Dr. Mark Mulligan at NYU Langone Health. Aaron is an expert in virology and immunology. He completed his Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. John Guatelli’s at UC San Diego. Aaron has made significant contributions to our understanding of viruses including HIV, Zika, and Dengue. Now, as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Mulligan lab, he’s focused on Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), which has recently re-emerged as a major global health threat. In this conversation, Kellen and Aaron discuss Aaron’s recent mpox publication, the challenges of transitioning to independence, the tough decisions around “killing” projects that aren’t working, and much more. Relevant Links: • Mulligan Lab Website: https://med.nyu.edu/research/mulligan-lab/ • Aaron’s MedRxiv preprint: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.28.24301893v1 • Mpox review: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-022-00775-4 If you enjoy Inflammatory Content and want to help me keep the conversations going, consider supporting the podcast! You can write a review, share this episode with friends and colleagues, or make a donation to help keep the show ad-free and thriving. Your contributions, big or small, go directly toward covering production costs and allow me to bring you even more Inflammatory Content. You can donate directly here: https://venmo.com/Kellen-Cavagnero. I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with questions, feedback, or topic suggestions via email at kcavagnero@gmail.com, on X (formerly Twitter) @KellenCavagnero, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Stay curious and keep exploring at www.inflammatorycontent.com.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of disease-associated genetic variants. Many of these variants lie in non-coding regions of the genome, making interpretation of GWAS difficult and leading to poor translation into therapeutics. In this episode, Kellen reviews an exciting original article published in Nature in June 2024 titled, “A disease-associated gene desert directs macrophage inflammation through ETS2”. Here, Stankey et al. use a cutting-edge functional genomic strategy to identify a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38839969/ To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or X (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

Dr. Miguel Reina-Campos is an Assistant Professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in La Jolla, California. The Reina lab seeks to understand the underlying principles governing tissue immune networks that enable robust and long-term protection against infection and tumors. In this conversation, Miguel and Kellen talk about cancer, metabolism, tissue resident memory T cells, spatial transcriptomics, advice for postdocs pursuing academia, and much more. Reina Lab: https://www.lji.org/labs/reina-lab/ Reina BioRxiv 2024: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38585842/ Reina Nature 2023: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37648857/ Reina Cancer Cell 2019: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30827887/ Reina Nature Reviews Immunology 2021: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33981085/ Twitter/X: @MReinaCampos To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or X (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

Dr. Gur-Cohen is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Regenerative Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Gur-Cohen’s work has unearthed the lymphatic capillary network as a novel stem cell niche component, and her multidisciplinary strategy has advanced our knowledge of how stem cells synchronize and coordinate tissue regeneration. In this conversation, Shiri and Kellen talk about stem cells, lymphatics, and microscopy. As a relatively new principal investigator, Shiri has a lot of advice for trainees in regards to choosing a postdoc, and she talks with Kellen about the topic at length in this conversation. Gur-Cohen lab website: https://gurcohenlab.com/ Lymphatics stem cell interaction paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31672914/ To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

In this episode, Kellen speaks with Dr. Mitchell Kronenberg. Mitch is the chief scientific officer of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, an adjunct professor at UC San Diego, and the co-director of a collaborative effort between the La Jolla Institute and UC San Diego called the Program in Immunology. Mitch and Kellen talk about unconventional T cells, autoimmunity, barrier immunity, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, and the future of immunology. They also discuss Mitch’s philosophies related to science, mentorship, and life. Recent Kronenberg lab paper with intravital microscopy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35905286/ Kronenberg lab website: https://www.lji.org/labs/kronenberg/ Mitch’s Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Kronenberg Correction: When Kellen mentioned the published CAR T trial in human autoimmunity, he misspoke and said multiple sclerosis (MS) but the trial he was referring to was in patients with lupus. That said, published preclinical data suggests CAR T therapy may also work in MS patients. CAR T cell therapy in patients with lupus: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36109639/ CAR T cell therapy in MS mouse model: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36206355/ Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI! To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

In this episode, Kellen speaks with Dr. Amir Zarrinpar. Amir is a board-certified gastroenterologist and an assistant professor at UC San Diego in the department of medicine. He completed his undergrad at Harvard, M.D. and Ph.D. at UCSD, and postdoc at the Salk Institute in Satchin Panda’s lab. In this conversation, Amir and Kellen talk about diabetes and obesity, time-restricted feeding, and engineered native bacteria—highlighting the Zarrinpar lab’s recent paper published in the journal Cell. Kellen and Amir also dig into Amir’s philosophies related to science, mentorship, and life. Live bacterial therapeutics paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35931082/ Zarrinpar Lab website: https://zarrinparlab.org/ Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI! To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

In this episode, Kellen speaks with Dr. David Gonzalez. David is an associate professor at UC San Diego in the pharmacology department of the school of medicine and the Skaggs school of pharmacy. He’s also the founder and director of the UCSD collaborative center for multiplexed proteomics. The Gonzalez lab researches host-microbe interactions and specializes in proteomics approaches. Kellen and David talk about David’s inspirational journey to becoming a principal investigator. They also discuss proteomics, mentorship, and two of the Gonzalez lab’s recent publications related to inflammatory bowel disease (linked below). IBD proteomics papers: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35999575/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35087228/ Gonzalez lab website: https://www.gonzalezlab.org/ Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI. Please take a few minutes to write us a review wherever you listened to this podcast—it will help us communicate great science. Finally, we would love to hear from you. Please send any questions or comments to @KellenCavagnero on Twitter.

In this episode, Kellen interviews Dr. Victor Nizet, a distinguished professor of pediatrics and pharmaceutical sciences at UCSD and the vice chair of basic research in the department of pediatrics at UCSD. Kellen and Victor discuss one of the Nizet lab’s recent publications (led by Josh Sun, Pharm.D. Ph.D.) identifying novel treatment strategies for Staph aureus-induced sepsis. Kellen and Victor also talk about Victor’s career path and scientific philosophies. S. aureus-induced sepsis paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9121309/ Nizet lab website: http://nizetlab.ucsd.edu/ Victor’s Twitter handle: @victornizet Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI! To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

In this episode, Kellen sits down for a conversation with Richard Daneman, an associate professor of neurosciences and pharmacology at UCSD. Kellen and Rich discuss the Daneman lab’s recent paper identifying a novel role of fibroblasts in the central nervous system as well as Rich’s philosophies about science and mentorship. CNS fibroblast paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7877789/ Daneman website: https://www.danemanlab.com/ Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI! To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

In this episode, Kellen is joined by his thesis advisor Dr. Richard Gallo, a Distinguished Professor and the Founding Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Diego. Kellen and Rich discuss two recent publications from the Gallo lab related to the host defense process “reactive adipogenesis” and also talk about Rich’s background, advice for trainees, and more. Acne paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35171653/ Skin-gut paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34720087/ Thank you to our sponsors, NCI & CCMI. Please take a few minutes to write us a review wherever you listened to this podcast—it will help us spread science! As always, please send any questions or comments to @KellenCavagnero on Twitter.

Omental adipose tissue has been considered an important component of host defense since at least 1906 when it was deemed “the policeman of the abdomen”. The precise mechanisms underlying omental host defense, however, remain elusive. Here, Kellen discusses a recent publication investigating how omental host defense works. The report titled “Stromal cells covering omental fat-associated lymphoid clusters trigger formation of neutrophil aggregates to capture peritoneal contaminants” was written by Lucy Helen Jackson-Jones et al. and published in Immunity April 2020. Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7156918/ Commentary: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32294403/ Thank you to our new sponsors, NCI & CCMI! To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

This is a special episode of Inflammatory Content as it is our first episode with a guest! Dr. Alan O’Neill, Ph.D. joins Kellen to discuss his work on microbiome therapeutics—highlighting his recent report in eLife (link below)—as well as his overall scientific journey. Dr. O’Neill’s recent publication (open access): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8592530/ Dr. O’Neill graciously offered to provide his personal email (aloneill@health.ucsd.edu) to anyone wanting to get in contact with him. To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

Getting physically injured is no fun—it can often take long periods of time to recover. What if we could accelerate the wound healing process? Here, Kellen dissects an original article, titled “The commensal skin microbiota triggers type I IFN-dependent innate repair responses in injured skin”, that reveals mechanisms underlying skin injury and identifies novel therapeutic approaches to speed up healing. The report was written by Jeremy Di Domizio et al. and was published in Nature Immunology in July of 2020. Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-020-0721-6 Commentary: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-020-0755-9?proof=t To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.

Cutting-edge approaches to combat tumor development involve transplantation of anti-tumor T cells and natural killer cells. Natural killer (NK) cells belong to a greater family of innate lymphoid cells which includes the more recently described group 1, 2, and 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). Unlike NK and T cells, the role of non-NK ILCs in tumor immunity remains unclear. In this episode, Kellen highlights a 2020 report in Nature describing the role of ILC2s in pancreatic cancer. The article was written by John Alec Moral and colleagues and is titled “ILC2s amplify PD-1 blockade by activating tissue-specific cancer immunity”. Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2015-4 Review: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30209347/ To help us spread science, please consider writing a review, sharing this episode with your friends and colleagues, or donating to support our work (Venmo @Kellen-Cavagnero). Please reach out to us via email (kcavagnero@gmail.com) or Twitter (@KellenCavagnero) with any questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc.