As part of our work investigating how symbiotic associations shape host physiology, including immunity, we are investigating the link between bleaching and disease in immunity. We hypothesize that the dynamic changes in symbiosis associated with bleaching and subsequent recovery have significant impacts on host immunity and response to pathogens. Preliminary work using the Aiptasia model system has supported this hypothesis. New funding from the NSF (RAPID; BIO-OCE directorate) is supporting investigation of this association in natural systems, leveraging the 2023 coral bleaching event and our historical coral disease susceptibility data.