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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

This was a collaborative project involving my lab, Boyd lab, Wilson lab, Ward lab, Le Sage lab, Martin lab, Monto lab, and Lakadawala lab supported by
@ceirrnetwork.bsky.social
Penn-CEIRR. Special thanks to
@cambupenn.bsky.social
student Grace Li for leading the effort. Such a cool story! 6/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

Remarkably, we found that H1N1 viruses are now currently evolving within the human population to abrogate the binding of these antibodies. So, this antibody response was primed in the 1990s by H3, boosted recently with H1, and now H1N1 viruses are evolving to escape the response. Remarkable. 5/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

We also found these H1/H3 cross-reactive antibodies in polyclonal sera, but only in samples from individuals born in the 1990s. Ferrets sequentially exposed to an H3N2 virus from the 1990s and a contemporary seasonal influenza vaccine produced the same type of H1/H3 cross-reactive antibodies. 4/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

Even more surprising, we found that these cross-subtype antibodies targeted an HA head epitope that was partially conserved between H3N2 viruses from the 1990s and contemporary H1N1 viruses. 3/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

We found that a large proportion of monoclonal antibodies isolated from individuals immunized with the 2021-22 seasonal influenza vaccine bound to an epitope on the HA head of both the H1N1 vaccine strain and H3N2 strains from the mid-1990s. 2/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · 12d

I'm proud of our new study showing that some people born in the 1990s have high levels of antibodies that cross-react to H3 viruses from the 1990s and....contemporary H1N1 viruses. Such a surprising story led by Grace Li, in collaboration with many Penn-CEIRR labs. 1/
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Childhood immunological imprinting of cross-subtype antibodies targeting the hemagglutinin head domain of influenza viruses

Influenza virus cross-subtype antibodies targeting the hemagglutinin (HA) head are rare. Here, we found that a large proportion of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated from individuals immunized with...

www.medrxiv.org

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Lieutenant Governor Austin A. Davis @lgaustindavis.bsky.social · 19d

Pennsylvania has now joined with our other northeastern states to create the Northeast Public Health Collaborative to protect public health, provide vaccine recommendations and share expertise.

Protecting public health only works when we’re united.

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Demetre Daskalakis @drdemetre.bsky.social · 19d

In June, an ACIP member said that 250 pediatric flu deaths were no big deal. Maybe today we will find out that a handful of hepatitis B related cancers, transplants, and deaths are also not a big deal to them either. Welcome to the new public health. We are aligned to a manifesto, not science.

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Bloom lab @jbloomlab.bsky.social · Sep 8

In new study led by @ckikawa.bsky.social, we provide near real-time data on human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza by measuring ~26,000 titers to >100 recent viral strains

Data can inform vaccine selection & evolutionary/epidemiological modeling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Near real-time data on the human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza virus to inform vaccine-strain selection in September 2025

The hemagglutinin of human influenza virus evolves rapidly to erode neutralizing antibody immunity. Twice per year, new vaccine strains are selected with the goal of providing maximum protection again...

www.biorxiv.org

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 8

A few months ago, when asked if his Nobel prize changed his science, David Baltimore said "I got into science because I love data. And the only thing I really care about in my life is data. And for that reason I didn't stop doing science because I won an award."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqUK...

CSHL Keynote, Dr. David Baltimore, Caltech

YouTube video by CSHL Leading Strand

www.youtube.com

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 4

Taken together, it is becoming clear that different influenza virus exposures in childhood elicit varying levels of long-lived cross-reactive HA and NA antibodies against newly emerging pandemic viruses. These data will be useful for risk assessment of new viral strains with pandemic potential. 5/5

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 4

These new NA studies complement our recent publication that demonstrates that immune imprinting (in that case, H1 or H2 infection) primes cross-reactive H5N1 HA antibody responses. 4/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Immune history shapes human antibody responses to H5N1 influenza viruses - Nature Medicine

H5N1 strain-specific antibodies are higher in older individuals and correlate more with birth year than with age, suggesting that younger individuals are potentially more likely to benefit from H5N1 v...

www.nature.com

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 4

While young children rarely possessed cross-reactive NA antibodies, we found that childhood infections with contemporary H1N1, but not H3N2, viruses can elicit them. 3/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 4

We measured anti-NA antibodies in sera from 155 individuals born between 1927 and 2016 and found that those predicted to be 'imprinted' (i.e., initially infected) in childhood with H1N1 had higher levels of cross-reactive H5N1 NA antibodies compared to those imprinted with H2N2 or H3N2. 2/

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Sep 4

A new study led by @cambupenn.bsky.social Jordan Ort in my lab was posted on medRxiv. We found that humans infected with H1N1 viruses in childhood have high levels of Abs that cross-react to the NA of H5N1 viruses...decades after their childhood H1N1 infections. 1/

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cross-reactive human antibody responses to H5N1 influenza virus neuraminidase are shaped by immune history

H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses have spread globally and pose a risk for a human pandemic. Prior studies suggest that early life exposures to group 1 influenza viruses (H1N1 and H2N2) p...

www.medrxiv.org

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Aug 13

Looks like one of our ‘imprinting’ papers was cited in the HHS data package, despite our conclusion that people receiving an ancestral mRNA vaccine were better at producing antibodies against variants compared to unvaccinated people.

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Aug 13

The "data" package Secretary Kennedy used to bolster his argument for discontinuing #BARDA funding for #mRNA research doesn't support his argument. @jakescottmd.bsky.social lays it out in a must read for @statnews.com. www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...

Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence

“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.

www.statnews.com

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Aug 11

“Dr. Bhattacharya might not realize that many human vaccines are based on live attenuated viruses, where we similarly cannot definitively quantify antigen amounts produced in recipients. The mRNA and live attenuated vaccine platforms have both proven to be safe and effective in clinical studies.”

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Aug 11

#NIH director Jay Bhattacharya says the #BARDA mRNA contracts were terminated because the platform isn't viable because people don't trust it.
Experts question some of the claims Bhattacharya made. www.statnews.com/2025/08/11/m...

NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya offered an explanation for the cancellation of mRNA vaccine contracts that didn't align with that of his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

www.statnews.com

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Aug 6

Science and health shouldn’t be wrapped up into politics. This leaves the US woefully unprepared for the next pandemic.

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · Aug 6

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for developing mRNA vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/h...

Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · Jul 26

The former NIH director on the catastrophe unfolding for American research. youtu.be/lW9c6t4potU

A Scientific Brain Drain Has Followed Trump’s Gutting Of The NIH - Dr. Francis Collins

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

youtu.be

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Dr. Tom Frieden @drtomfrieden.bsky.social · Jun 10

Dissolving ACIP is an absolute mistake. We need accurate information—not fringe theories—guiding government recommendations on which vaccines to give which people.

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · Jun 9

Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is now the definitive source for evidence-based vaccine recommendations in North America.

www.canada.ca/en/public-he...

National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI): Statements and publications - Canada.ca

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) makes recommendations for the use of vaccines currently or newly approved for use in humans in Canada, including the identification of groups at ...

www.canada.ca

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Jun 9

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Jun 9

This is the big one: Kennedy is firing the entire #ACIP in a move he says is needed to restore confidence in vaccines.
"It scares me to think of what’s ahead,” Mike Osterholm of CIDRAP told me. www.statnews.com/2025/06/09/r...

Health secretary RFK Jr. abruptly fires CDC vaccine advisory panel

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the extraordinary step of firing the expert panel that advises the CDC.

www.statnews.com

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Jun 6

Happy to be part of @kingofpathogens.bsky.social study showing mRNAs encoding IL-12 enhance CD8 T cell responses to co-administered HA mRNA vaccines. Study led by Emily Aunins and Anthony Phan from the Hunter lab @upenn.edu

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An Il12 mRNA-LNP adjuvant enhances mRNA vaccine–induced CD8 T cell responses

IL-12 is dispensable for CD8 T cell responses to mRNA vaccination, but an Il12 mRNA-LNP enhances CD8 T cell memory and protection.

www.science.org

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Hensley Lab @scottehensley.bsky.social · Jun 3

Anyone that has been around a lab knows that the trainees really drive the research, while most professors just sort of guide the ship. Most innovation comes from our trainees.

Old professors like me will be able to survive these cuts, but our young scientists and our future will be destroyed.

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Reposted by Hensley Lab

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · Jun 2

Once viewed as the path out of the pandemic, mRNA vaccines are now being vilified — & not just by fringe figures. The attack on this important platform could render the US far more vulnerable in the next pandemic & trailing China in the field of scientific advances. www.statnews.com/2025/06/02/m...

mRNA, once lauded as a scientific marvel, is now a government target

The sharp turnaround on mRNA vaccines shows the unprecedented rise of anti-vaccine activists to power

www.statnews.com

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