Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social

Research Scientist. Infectious Diseases Physician. Professor. MD-PhD Program Director. Innate immunity, intestinal epithelial cells and worms. UMass Chan.

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Thrilled to share companion stories from our lab, out today in @ImmunityCP and @CellReports . We characterize an enzymatic TIR protein as an immune sensor in animals. See tweetorial from @UMassChan @UMassMDPhD student @tse_elegans
https://t.co/u7KXNkJypa
https://t.co/JPRIcp9Wi0

[Sammy Tse @tse_elegans]

Stoked to share our companion stories, now out in @ImmunityCP and @CellReports! We characterize an enzymatic TIR protein as an immune sensor in animals, showing that it is a guard protein in an effector-triggered immune response. https://t.co/BQ42MDdvzx https://t.co/w6ff47pAdd 1/

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Congratulations to this 🌟!! @UMassChan @UMassMDPhD student @tse_elegans has achieved every measure of success possible during her MD and PhD training, culminating the the Dean's Award for best PhD thesis. Congrats Sammy. I couldn't be more proud. #UMassChan2026

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

#PhDone! Congrats to @UMassChan @UMassMDPhD student Akshay Alaghatta on his successful defense today! PhD #6 for the @RPWLab

[UMass Chan MD/PhD Program @UMassMDPhD]

Check it out!! Stellar matches for our MSTP students!! Congrats to our double docs on this milestone in their professional careers as physician-scientists! These sites are so lucky to have you. We are immensely proud! #Match2026 #MDPhD #UMassChanMatch

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

@BostonChildrens @MayoClinic x 2 @bcmhouston @BrighamWomens @MaineMed ! Incredible @UMassMDPhD graduates are heading your way!!

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Beaming with pride this afternoon for @tse_elegans, a star MD-PhD student from my lab, and 5 other @UMassChan @UMassMDPhD students after INCREDIBLE Match Day Success! Sammy heading to the Pediatric Residency at Boston Children's Hospital!

[UMass Chan MD/PhD Program @UMassMDPhD]

New publication alert! Five MD/PhD students on the same paper? Now that's what we call collaboration! Congrats to our students, alum, and co-director Dr. Mark Johnson on their new publication!

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

2025 RPW Lab Outing! This year, a hike up Mt. Watatic on a blue bird day. Love our lab!!! :-)

[UMass Chan Medical School @UMassChan]

Read Pukkila-Worley, MD, is the new director of the MD/PhD program: https://t.co/qj36rYHf8M

Dr. Pukkila-Worley has mentored dozens of MD/PhD graduate students since joining @UMassChan in 2014. The @RPWLab studies host-pathogen interactions and bacterial pathogenesis. @UMassMDPhD

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Check out the cover of @TrendsImmuno !! Art by lab alumna @tse_elegans to highlight our lab's review in the issue by Khursheed Wani on enzymatic TIR proteins in innate immunity!!! https://t.co/tYg3QoXAp8

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Incredibly proud of @Mo_AliNasrallah , a @UMassChan @UMassMDPhD graduate from my lab. So much fun to celebrate his accomplishments and those of his classmates this weekend. #UMassChan2025

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Excited to share another review from the lab, out this week in @TrendsImmuno . Join us for a fun tour of what we think are the coolest proteins in all of innate immunity! https://t.co/tYg3QoXAp8

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Excited to share our recent review out in @NatRevImmunol . We discuss mechanisms that identify patterns of pathogenesis -- specific ligands or symptoms in the host that indicate active infection with an infectious microorganism. @UMassChan

[Nature Rev Immunol @NatRevImmunol]

Patterns of pathogenesis in innate immunity: insights from C. elegans https://t.co/aEAyS1pzWB

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Back-to-back @UMassChan Dept of Medicine Halloween Party Costume Award Winners!!!

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Absolutely bursting with C. elegans, @UMassChan , @MGHMolBio , Simches 7 pride this morning!!! Congrats Victor and Gary!!!!

[Kate Fitzgerald @FitzgeraldKate]

Looking for an up to date review on dna sensors and their role in autoinflammatory diseases check out this review from @Mingqi7up 👇

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Welcome Karthik!!!

[Kate Fitzgerald @FitzgeraldKate]

We are super excited to be welcoming @karthik_varanas to the Division of INnate Immunity @UMassChan this November to start his lab @UMassChanPII ---welcome to @UMassChan @UMassChanGSBS #newPI

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

Sharing a nice write-up from @UMassChan highlighting @tse_elegans and her recent companion papers from my lab that were published last week in @ImmunityCP and @CellReports . https://t.co/b1F0t5fyi7

[Immunity @ImmunityCP]

Online now: Intestinal immunity in C. elegans is activated by pathogen effector-triggered aggregation of the guard protein TIR-1 on lysosome-related organelles https://t.co/j97OO8cpEZ

[Pukkila-Worley Lab is also @rpwlab.bsky.social @RPWLab]

SARM - an enzymatic TIR protein. Perhaps the most ancient immune regulator in the Tree of Life and the origins of innate immunity itself. But, is it an immune sensor in animals?