Prof. Akiko Iwasaki

To all aspiring young #WomenInSTEM: Mentee: Should I avoid being pregnant while trying to secure a faculty position? Me: Be pregnant & go on interviews. If they don’t welcome you with open arms and offer childcare options, they don’t deserve you. #KnowYourWorth

'STORM' is a short documentary about Scott Hugo. A story of Long COVID's impact on his life and family - a reminder of what is at stake in research on Long COVID. His resilience humbles me. Please watch and share 🙏🏼 youtu.be/rLtXh28Eejw

@ygjumi Yumi さん、ありがとうございます🙏🏼

こうした地道な研究の積み重ねがやがて難病の解明につながっていくんですね。 研究者の方々の飽くことなき追求心と忍耐に心から感謝いたします。

@wortgewalt3 @S_Tabachnikova Yes we did. We did not find correlations with EBV saliva DNA load and LC severity

@VirusesImmunity @S_Tabachnikova Did you take into consideration that higher viral load may just be indicative of immune dysfunction, and higher levels of the dysfunction itself are correlated with higher severity? Did you cross-check for other dormant viruses like EBV or Hepatitis being similarly reactivated?

Is there an association between human herpesviruses (HHVs) reactivation and Long COVID? We analyzed HHV DNA shedding in saliva and found that HHV-6 correlates with Long COVID severity. Claire Laxton, @S_Tabachnikova, Lily Cooke, Kexin Wang et al. medrxiv.org/content/10.648… (1/)

@NeurologistMom @S_Tabachnikova HHV-7 is on the top of our list! Thank you for sharing your story. You’re an amazing mother!

Herpesvirus reactivation is a critically important issue that many clinicians still ignore. Please also look into HHV-7. When HHV-7 antibodies were found in my daughter’s CFS workup, my colleagues dismissed them as an “innocent” finding and said they could not possibly explain her 50 to 100 daily focal seizures. After I started valacyclovir, the seizures “magically” stopped. Thank you for consistently highlighting these overlooked mechanisms and backing patients up with robust literature.

We have known for a while that #LongCOVID pathobiology for many involves reactivation of various herpesviruses. As we continue to validate this it is great to see this work coming out in collaboration with @VirusesImmunity’s incredible team. Here we medrxiv.org/content/10.648… 1/

This is an observational study and not proof of causality, but it highlights a mechanism worth pursuing in longitudinal cohorts and interventional trials. As always, this study is a collaboration with amazing people, including @LeyingGuan @PutrinoLab 🙏🏼@polybioRF for funding

If replicated, these data raise testable hypotheses: could targeting HHV-6 (with antivirals, for example) alleviate a subset of Long COVID? Salivary virome profiling may help identify biologically distinct subgroups who might benefit from tailored interventions. (4/)

Ein sehr guter und wichtiger Beitrag von Akiko Iwasaki @VirusesImmunity zum unvoreingenommen Umgang mit kontrovers diskutierten medizinischen Themen.

Sasha Tabachnikova, PhD 12:40 - 12:50 pm ET (4:40 - 4:50 pm UTC) Salivary shedding of HHV-6, and not EBV, correlates with Long COVID symptom severity Dr. Tabachnikova will discuss a study that measured salivary shedding of human herpesviruses to assess local viral reactivation in individuals with Long COVID. While there was no significant difference in viral shedding between the Long COVID and control groups, salivary HHV-6 DNA was associated with increased Long COVID symptom severity. EBV may still play a role at earlier time points in the disease course, or in compartments not sampled by the team.

@cstroeckw Thank you so much for your kind words @cstroeckw 🤗🙏🏼

Prof. Akiko Iwasaki is, without a doubt, one of the most level-headed and clear-sighted scientists in biomedical discourse. But what really sets her apart is her courage: she goes straight into highly contentious areas and says what others won’t. Compassion in action.

@PutrinoLab Wow! Thank you so much for this generous post @PutrinoLab 🙏🏼 Right back at you!

Fantastic piece from @VirusesImmunity. Thank you for always having the courage to stand up for what is right even when it might be “inconvenient”. You’re an inspiration to our team and to so many others. Proud to be a friend and collaborator 🙏🏻🥹

@Gilbro2010 Thank you for highlighting and sharing this piece, @Gilbro2010 🙏🏼

Science: appel à un débat mature et non toxique. La professeure Akiko Iwasaki, immunologiste renommée à Yale, partage ici son nouvel article publié dans Nature Reviews Immunology le 1er mai 2026, intitulé: «Freedom of scientific inquiry: reclaiming space for controversy» («Liberté d’enquête scientifique: reconquérir l’espace pour la controverse») Les scientifiques doivent rester humbles, admettre qu’ils peuvent se tromper, y compris sur des sujets «gênants» ou minoritaires, et maintenir un dialogue rationnel, respectueux et ouvert sur les sujets controversés. Selon elle, refuser ces discussions érode dangereusement la confiance du public envers la science. Elle donne des exemples concrets: La désinformation sur les vaccins, comme le faux lien entre rougeole et autisme. Les syndromes post-vaccination (PVS) et post-COVID (PACS/COVID longue). Les débats sur l’origine du SARS-CoV-2. Elle critique la pression actuelle qui pousse à rester dans le «consensus» par peur des réseaux sociaux, des conséquences sur les carrières ou des accusations, et appelle à protéger la dissidence scientifique légitime: «Le vrai progrès scientifique dépend d’une culture qui protège la dissidence.» L’article plaide pour une réforme de la culture de la recherche afin de permettre un débat ouvert, honnête et fondé sur les preuves, tout en combattant la désinformation de mauvaise foi. Elle espère que ce texte favorisera un dialogue constructif et respectueux au sein de la communauté scientifique. C’est un plaidoyer fort en faveur de l’humilité, de la liberté de discussion et de la pensée critique en science, surtout sur les sujets sensibles.

@LindaGGriffith1 Thank you so much, Dr. @LindaGGriffith1 🙏🏼

Three cheers for Akiko Iwasaki and her breath of fresh air. If I go out and run 6 miles on a cold windy day, when I feel like I am coming down with the flu, then I get the flu due to overexertion when my metabolic and immune system were overtaxed already, that's on me. But when my PCP insists I need to get the flu vaccine - which I know I normally have a very severe reaction to, under the same conditions (of feeling like I am coming down with the flu) - and I get the flu (and then pneumonia), it is a similar situation: Body overwhelmed and pushed over the brink by a new major insult, in this case, the vaccine. Not really my fault (I agreed, but only after being bullied into it). But when I post on X that I had a vaccine injury, I am ridiculed, just for raising the issue that we should be more thoughtful about vaccine marketing (much of it does come down to marketing). OR - why does CVS substitute an mRNA vaccine WITHOUT SAYING THEY ARE DOING SO when a customer specifically made an appointment for NovaVax? And acts all irritated when the customer notices and insists on not getting the mRNA vaccine, but getting the NovaVax (this really happened, to me and my husband). We need to ask the question: where do we draw the line on how healthy someone must be to get a particular vaccine? Why are there such inadequate data available to the general public on risk-benefit of vaccines? Why is there so much pushback if you just ask these questions? I believe in vaccines and get vaccines. But would prefer to make an informed decision, as I no longer "believe The Science" as it has been twisted too much by marketing.