The flu sickens millions of people in the U.S. every year, and the past year has been particularly tough. Although infections are trending downward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called the winter of 2024-2025 a 'high severity' season with the highest hospitalization rate in 15 years. Since early 2024, a different kind of flu called bird flu, formally known as avian influenza, has been spreading in birds as well as in cattle. The current bird flu outbreak has infected 70 Americans and caused two deaths as of April 8, 2025. Public health and infectious disease experts say the risk to people is currently low, but they have expressed concern that this strain of the bird flu virus may mutate to spread between people. As a doctoral candidate in immunology, I study how pathogens that make us sick interact with our immune system. The viruses that cause seasonal flu and bird flu are distinct but still closely related. Understanding their similarities and differences can help people protect themselves and their loved ones....

In the fast-changing world of biotechnology, engineers need more than technical expertise ' they need the ability to collaborate across disciplines, tackle complex problems, and define the challenges of tomorrow. That's the mission of MIT's class 20.051 (Introduction to NEET: Living Machines), a course within the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program. The course offers undergraduates a sweeping introduction to the life sciences and biotech industry, equipping them with design, simulation, and experimental methods while fostering the interdisciplinary mindset needed for success. 'Probably the most valuable aspect of 20.051,' says chemical-biological engineering major Grace Yang, 'was the breadth of topics introduced. The life sciences/biotech industry is incredibly varied, but it's sometimes hard to learn what the different paths are, especially if you're just starting out. Being introduced to different fields ' synthetic biology, immunology, etc. ' definitely helps with exposure to different possibilities.'Yang adds, 'On the more technical side, there are skills like CAD or microfluidics design that I definitely wouldn't have learned without the class.'...

For now, Philadelphians can take some comfort in knowing that, at least in the startup sphere, the City of Brotherly Love remains leagues ahead of Kansas City. In particular, the city and its environs boast a booming biotech scene that has long attracted hefty venture funding. (However, some of the actual Chiefs players are also players in the venture world.) A scan of the biggest Philly-area funding rounds of the past two years shows that, once again, life sciences and health reigns supreme, per Crunchbase data. The biggest standout for 2024 was Uniquity Bio, a developer of therapeutics based on advances in immunology that raised $300 million from Blackstone Life Sciences in May. In recent months, startup funding has continued to show Eagles-like momentum, including some pretty large rounds. This includes XyloCor Therapeutics, a startup focused on gene therapy for cardiovascular disease that secured $67.5 million in a Series B early this year. The second-largest round went to Vitara Biomedical, developer of a therapeutic platform for premature infants that raised a $50 million Series B in November. Other good-sized funding recipients include ConnectDER, a maker of adapters for solar panels and EV chargers that secured $35 million, and GemmaBio, a gene therapy startup that launched in December with $35 million in initial funding....

In medical school, Matthew Dolan '81 briefly considered specializing in orthopedic surgery because of the materials science nature of the work ' but he soon realized that he didn't have the innate skills required for that type of work. 'I'll be honest with you ' I can't parallel park,' he jokes. 'You can consider a lot of things, but if you find the things that you're good at and that excite you, you can hopefully move forward with those.' Dolan certainly has, tackling problems from bench to bedside and beyond. Both in the United States and abroad through the U.S. Air Force, Dolan has emerged as a leader in immunology and virology, and has served as director of the Defense Institute for Medical Operations. He's worked on everything from foodborne illnesses and Ebola to biological weapons and Covid-19, and has even been a guest speaker on NPR's 'Science Friday.' He notes that the challenges that were the most rewarding in his career were also the ones that MIT had uniquely prepared him for. Dolan, a Course 7 major, naturally took many classes outside of biology as part of his undergraduate studies: organic chemistry was foundational for understanding toxicology while studying chemical weapons, while pathogens like Legionella, which causes pneumonia and can spread through water systems such as ice machines or air conditioners, are solved at the interface between public health and ecology....