A selection of publicly available research projects that we have contributed to, highlighting the different approaches and data types we have worked on previously. Specifically we showcase the application of machine learning, multiscale modelling, metagenomics, network analyses and spatial statistics to make sense of a wide array of imaging, cytometry, clinical, sequencing and -omics datasets. Collectively, these case studies highlight the essential role of computational biologists in understanding the immune system in health and disease, in identifyng novel targets and biomarkers, and in characterising microbial communities to fuel the development of new medicines and biotechnologies.