Research Highlights Archives

Balazs Lab Study Reveals HIV Escapes Antibody Therapy Through Predictable Paths, and Blocking Them Can Achieve Sustained Viral Suppression

Feb 25, 2026 Research Highlights

A new study from the Balazs Lab at the Ragon Institute, published in Immunity, demonstrates that HIV escapes broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) through a limited set of conserved mutation paths, and that manipulating the cost of those paths can dramatically improve therapeutic outcomes. Broadly neutralizing antibodies are among the most promising tools for treating and […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Yu Lab Study Finds Sex-Linked Innate Immunity Shapes HIV Reservoirs During Long-Term Therapy

Sep 17, 2025 Features

A new multi-center study led by investigators at the Yu Lab reports that biological sex influences how the body “selects” long-lived HIV reservoir cells during years of effective antiretroviral therapy. The team finds stronger innate immune pressure in females, offering fresh clues for cure-directed strategies. Published in Science Translational Medicine, the study analyzed more than 4,000 […]

Kwon Lab Study Links Gut Immune Cell Metabolism to Barrier Damage in HIV

Sep 11, 2025 Features

A new study led by investigators at the Kwon Lab and collaborators shows how energy use by gut immune cells can weaken the intestinal lining in people living with HIV, even when the virus is controlled by treatment. The work identifies a metabolic switch inside these cells as a promising target to help protect the […]

NPR – Whatever happened to … the race to cure HIV? There’s promising news

Aug 27, 2025 Features

In July 2024, we published a story with the headline: “One of the 7 people cured of HIV tells his story. Can his cure work for others.” This summer, at the International AIDS Society conference, came news of an exciting new development in the the ongoing effort to bring the epidemic to an end. This story is […]

Phase 1 clinical trial of HIV vaccine starts in Africa to evaluate immune responses to highly networked HIV T-cell epitopes

Aug 4, 2025 Research Highlights

Led by a team of African researchers, first doses of the novel T cell-inducing GRAdHIVNE1 vaccine candidate have been given. Harare, Zimbabwe; Rome, Italy; New York, NY, and Cambridge, MA, USA — August 4, 2025 — The Mutala Trust, ReiThera Srl (ReiThera), the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard (the Ragon Institute), […]