{"id":54301,"date":"2025-08-14T14:29:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T21:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&p=54301"},"modified":"2025-09-04T15:44:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T22:44:03","slug":"immunologist-jamie-blum-joins-salk-faculty-to-study-the-immune-systems-response-to-food","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/es\/news-release\/immunologist-jamie-blum-joins-salk-faculty-to-study-the-immune-systems-response-to-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Immunologist Jamie Blum joins Salk faculty to study the immune system\u2019s response to food"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA JOLLA\u2014The Salk Institute will welcome immunologist Jamie Blum as a NOMIS Assistant Professor in September 2025. Blum investigates how the immune system interprets what we eat\u2014specifically, why some foods trigger harmful allergic responses while others are accepted as safe.<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/a>
Jamie Blum
Haga clic aqu\u00ed<\/a> para obtener una imagen en alta resoluci\u00f3n.
Credit: Henry Le<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With support from the NOMIS Foundation, Blum\u2019s lab at Salk will continue to explore how immune cells identify and respond to food compounds. While traditional food allergy research focuses on the molecules involved in allergic reactions, Blum\u2019s lab is taking a new approach by exploring the mechanisms of oral tolerance, the immune system\u2019s default, non-inflammatory reaction to most foods. By understanding the signals that help our bodies tolerate most foods, Blum\u2019s work could enable entirely new immunotherapy strategies for preventing or treating food allergies.<\/p>\n

\u201cJamie is an innovative thinker whose work is redefining what we know about food allergies\u00a0and the relationship between diet\u00a0and the immune system,\u201d says Salk President Gerald Joyce<\/a>. \u201cHer discoveries are opening a new frontier in immunotherapy and nutrition science. She will be a\u00a0great\u00a0addition to the immunology,\u00a0plant biology, and molecular science\u00a0communities here at Salk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food allergies are on the rise globally, yet much remains unknown about how and why they develop. Most of what scientists currently understand about food tolerance comes from a limited number of studies on a single protein in eggs. Blum is working to change that. She has already discovered new compounds in staple crops, including corn, wheat, and soy, that help the immune system learn to tolerate these foods. Interestingly, the mechanism for developing tolerance to these foods seems to differ from what\u2019s known about eggs, highlighting the need for more research on this topic. Blum\u2019s ultimate goal is to map the molecular signals that determine whether the body accepts or rejects a food and use that knowledge to inform future therapies for allergy and autoimmune conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that most of us can eat without adverse immune reactions is something we take for granted,\u201d says Blum. \u201cBut tolerance isn\u2019t passive. It\u2019s a highly orchestrated response. We\u2019re trying to understand the cues that shape that response\u2014what molecules are involved, and what context the immune system needs to \u2018see\u2019 food as safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blum earned her PhD in molecular nutrition from Cornell University and completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford University, where she combined immunology, plant biology, and chemical engineering to study the immune system\u2019s interaction with food at the single-cell level. Her research uses cutting-edge tools, including high-throughput T cell receptor screening, antigen mapping, and in vivo<\/em> tracking of immune responses in mouse models.<\/p>\n

Blum\u2019s work has earned her a Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship and support from the National Science Foundation. As a NOMIS Assistant Professor, she will continue pushing boundaries in fundamental immunology while laying the groundwork for new therapeutic and plant-based strategies to address food allergies.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":54303,"template":"","faculty":[610],"disease-research":[],"class_list":["post-54301","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty-jamie-blum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nImmunologist Jamie Blum joins Salk faculty to study the immune system\u2019s response to food - Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/es\/news-release\/immunologist-jamie-blum-joins-salk-faculty-to-study-the-immune-systems-response-to-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Immunologist Jamie Blum joins Salk faculty to study the immune system\u2019s response to food - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LA JOLLA\u2014The Salk Institute will welcome immunologist Jamie Blum as a NOMIS Assistant Professor in September 2025. 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