Commentary in 2014

Physician scientists bridge the gap between biomedical research and clinical practice. However, the continuing decrease in number of people who choose this career path poses a threat to the advancement of biomedical science and the translation of research findings to clinical practice.

A workshop organized by the Society for Leukocyte Biology offers advice to graduate students on how to navigate educational and professional waters to find success in academia.

Neonates represent a challenging group for vaccination. Effective vaccine programs will need to take into account a number of factors including gender and non-specific vaccine effects.

It is not enough to be a good scientist. One needs to be a good communicator. When publications are clear and a pleasure to read, they will advance both the field and the authors' reputation.

Technological advances in antigen discovery, genomics and immunological monitoring offer tremendous potential for revolutionizing vaccine development. On 5–6 February 2014, 35 leading vaccine scientists met to consider how best to harness these advances and spur innovation.

Live whole-organism vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum malaria and cutaneous leishmaniasis remain the most uniformly effective vaccines against human parasitic diseases. These vaccines are discussed in terms of the requirement for persisting antigen to generate and maintain a protective response.

This Commentary discusses how treatment with antibiotics in infancy shapes host immunity and influences susceptibility later in life to diseases mediated by the immune system.

Proteomics based on high-resolution mass spectrometry has become a powerful tool for the analysis of protein abundance, modifications and interactions. Here we describe technical aspects of proteomics workflows, instrumentation as well as computational considerations to obtain high-quality proteomics data.