How Our Genes Predispose Us to Infection with Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD

Why does one person become critically ill from a virus while another person exposed to the same microbe remains completely healthy?

This is the "infection enigma," and Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD, has spent his career trying to solve it. A French pediatrician and immunologist, Casanova is the winner of Northwestern University's 2026 Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science.

In this episode, Casanova discusses his paradigm-shifting discoveries and what they reveal about immunity, genetic predisposition and why some people develop life-threatening infections while others do not.