Ragon Institute

An Interview with Eric Sun, PhD – A Computational Biologist Decoding the Mysteries of Aging

Jan 26, 2026 Features

The Ragon Institute recently welcomed Eric Sun, PhD, a computational biologist whose research sits at the intersection of machine learning and the biology of aging. Joining Ragon from Stanford University, where he completed his PhD, Sun brings a uniquely interdisciplinary approach (spanning chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, and biomedical informatics) to understanding why and how we […]

Ragon Institute Researcher Sophia Liu Awarded $750K Grant from Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to Build Immune Response Map for Antigen Prediction

Jan 20, 2026 Features

Project leverages a collaboration with Portal Bio and other researchers to develop predictive frameworks for improving vaccines and immunotherapies CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophia Liu, PhD, an Early Independence Fellow and Core Faculty Member at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard, has been awarded $749,760 through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) […]

Ghebremichael Lab Develops Statistical Framework for Evaluating Longitudinal Biomarkers in Clinical Studies

Dec 23, 2025 Features

A new study from the Ghebremichael Lab at the Ragon Institute, published in the Journal of Applied Statistics, introduces a statistical framework that enables researchers to properly evaluate the diagnostic performance of biomarkers measured repeatedly over time. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are a standard tool for assessing how well a biomarker distinguishes between patient groups. However, ROC […]

Shalek Lab Study Reveals How Liver Cells Under Chronic Stress Prime Themselves for Cancer Years Before Tumors Form

Dec 22, 2025 Features

A new study led by the Shalek Lab at the Ragon Institute, published in Cell, shows that liver cells facing prolonged metabolic stress—like that seen in steatotic liver disease—activate cancer-associated programs long before any tumors appear. Beyond genetic mutations, these early cellular changes may also explain why some patients progress to liver cancer. The team tracked how […]

Batista Lab Study Shows B Cells Must Clear Damaged Mitochondria by Autophagy to Produce Antibodies

Dec 17, 2025 Features

A new study from the Batista Lab at the Ragon Institute, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, reveals that B cells depend on a cellular cleanup process to successfully transform into the plasma cells that produce protective antibodies. When B cells encounter a pathogen, they must rapidly shift their metabolism, which includes increasing their number of mitochondria. […]

An Interview with Eric Dang, PhD — The newest Ragon faculty member exploring how everyday fungi shape human health

Dec 8, 2025 Features

The Ragon Institute faculty recently expanded with the addition of Eric Dang, PhD, a renowned microbiologist whose work on fungi broadens our research to new areas. Coming to Ragon from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he is expanding a research program that bridges fundamental immunology with microbial genetics, with a growing focus on how […]

Walker Lab Researchers Identify Why Some People With HIV Achieve Remission After Antibody Treatment

Dec 1, 2025 Features

Key takeaways Researchers led by a team from Mass General Brigham and the Ragon Institute have discovered why some people living with HIV who are given a treatment called broadly neutralizing anti-HIV antibodies (bNAbs) can safely stop taking standard, lifelong HIV medications and maintain control of the virus for years, while others given the same treatment do not achieve this […]

Bryson Lab Study Defines TB Vaccine Targets Directly From Infected Human Cells and Shows How to Deliver Them With mRNA

Nov 6, 2025 Features

A new study led by the Bryson Lab at the Ragon Institute and published in Science Translational Medicine lays out a practical roadmap for making better tuberculosis (TB) vaccines by starting from what infected human immune cells actually show to CD4 T cells. The team used a technique called immunopeptidomics to see which TB proteins infected human immune […]

Kwon and Xavier Labs Map How HIV and Antiretroviral Treatment Alter the Gut Microbiome Across Continents

Oct 30, 2025 Features

A large international study, published in Nature Microbiology and led by the Kwon Lab at the Ragon Institute and the Xavier Lab at the Broad Institute, shows that HIV infection and common antiretroviral drugs change the gut microbiome in distinct, geography-dependent ways. These changes notably may help explain ongoing inflammation and heart-disease risk in people living with HIV. The team analyzed […]

Barczak Lab Leads Study Showing Omicron Subvariants Shed Virus for Similar Periods and Symptoms Alone Do Not Signal Safety

Oct 22, 2025 Features

A new JCI Insight study led by the POSITIVES team and the Barczak Lab at the Ragon Institute followed people with mild COVID-19 to see whether newer Omicron subvariants behave differently over time. Despite ongoing viral evolution, the team found core features—how much viral nucleic acid is found in the nose and how long people […]

Scientific Director Facundo Batista, PhD, elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Oct 21, 2025 Awards

The Ragon Institute is proud to share that Scientific Director Facundo Batista, PhD, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the highest honors in health and medicine. Election to NAM recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and a commitment to service. Batista is internationally recognized for pioneering research […]

Ragon–Scripps Collaboration Shows Single mRNA Shot Can Start Several HIV-Blocking Antibody Paths at Once

Oct 20, 2025 Features

A new study co-led by the Batista Lab at the Ragon Institute and Scripps/IAVI shows that a single mRNA-based vaccine mix can jump-start the early steps toward several promising HIV-fighting antibodies at the same time. Because HIV is extremely diverse, a successful vaccine would likely need to train the immune system along multiple routes, not […]

Garcia-Beltran Lab Awarded NIH High-Risk, High-Reward Award to Engineer NK-Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors

Oct 14, 2025 Awards

The Garcia-Beltran Lab at the Ragon Institute, led by Wilfredo Garcia-Beltran, MD, PhD, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) Program award to propel a new project that retools natural killer (NK) cells to better locate, enter, and destroy solid tumors. The HRHR program, part of the NIH Common Fund, […]

W.M. Keck Foundation to support Ringel Lab research on healthy aging at MIT – MIT Biology

Oct 10, 2025 Features

A prestigious grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to Assistant Professor of Biology Alison Ringel will support groundbreaking healthy aging research at MIT. Ringel, also a Core Member of the Ragon Institute, will draw on her background in cancer immunology to create a more comprehensive biomedical understanding of the cause and possible treatments for aging-related decline. “It is […]

Ghebremichael Lab Study Offers a Fairer Way to Judge Medical Tests, Helping Spot Reliable Biomarkers

Sep 29, 2025 Features

A new paper by Ragon Institute biostatisticians in the Ghebremichael Lab introduces and tests a flexible way to grade medical tests like blood-based biomarkers so scientists can more confidently tell which ones truly separate “sick” from “healthy.” That clearer yardstick matters for immunology, where research teams must decide which candidate markers deserve scarce time and funding. Published […]

Ndhlovu Lab Study Maps How HIV Evades Immune Attack in Lymph Nodes

Sep 22, 2025 Features

A new Cell Reports study from the Ndhlovu Lab with partners in South Africa and Malawi explains how HIV survives in lymph nodes during treatment. The team shows that the virus weakens nearby “killer” CD8 T cells right where HIV concentrates most, inside B cell follicles. Researchers examined lymph node tissue from people with and […]