Ragon Institute

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Ragon Grad Students Awarded Jeffrey Modell Prize

May 8, 2025 Features

The Ragon is proud to recognize graduate students and alumni Anusha Nathan of the Gaiha Lab and Leonard Zettey of the Shalek Lab, who have each been honored with the prestigious Jeffrey Modell Prize. The ceremony presenting the award was held April 30 on the Harvard campus. This award, conferred jointly by the Jeffrey Modell […]

Alter, Idris Joint Study Shows Engineered Antibodies Improve Malaria Protection

Apr 24, 2025 Features

A recent study published in Science Translational Medicine, co-authored by Ragon Institute faculty members Azza Idris, MD, PhD, and Galit Alter, PhD, demonstrates that engineering antibodies to enhance Fc receptor binding can significantly improve their effectiveness against malaria infection. The researchers tested modified versions of human monoclonal antibodies, CIS43LS and L9LS, which target a protein […]

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Schmidt Honored with HMS Everett I. Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award

Apr 15, 2025 Features

The Ragon Institute is delighted to congratulate Aaron Schmidt, PhD, a core member at the Ragon and an associate professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, on being selected as one of the honorees of the 2024-25 Everett I. Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award. Presented annually by the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of […]

Global Ragon-Africa Scholars Program Launched for Internal Community

Apr 8, 2025 Features

The Ragon Institute is proud to announce the launch of our new initiative, the Global Ragon-Africa Scholars Program (GRASP), generously supported by the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation. GRASP provides scholarships of up to $5,000 in travel and seed funding, offering Ragon-based graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists, and administrative staff opportunities to directly engage with […]

New Study Offers Hope in Reducing HIV Risk for Young Women in South Africa

Apr 4, 2025 Features

A healthy vaginal environment dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus is associated with a lower risk of HIV acquisition among women. However, only a fraction of women worldwide, and even fewer in Africa, have vaginal microbiomes dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus. Now, a groundbreaking study led by Drs. Anke Hemmerling and Craig Cohen from UCSF’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive […]

Lingwood Honored with MGH Research Scholar Award

Apr 3, 2025 Features

The Ragon Institute is proud to announce that faculty member Daniel Lingwood, PhD, has been selected as a 2025 MGH Research Scholar. The MGH Research Scholars program provides exceptional scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital with unrestricted funding, enabling visionary research into new scientific frontiers that traditional funding avenues might not readily support. Funds can be used […]

Biohaven Leadership Visits Ragon Institute

Mar 17, 2025 Features

Earlier this month, the Ragon Institute welcomed leadership from Biohaven for an insightful visit and discussion with our team. Biohaven CEO Vlad Coric, MD, and board member John Childs toured the Institute and met with Bruce Walker, MD, the Ragon Institute’s founding director, to explore mutual interests and opportunities in the fields of immunology, infectious […]

Ragon Institute Launches Scientific Editing Platform

Mar 14, 2025 Features

The Ragon Institute is pleased to announce the launch of our internal Scientific Editing Platform. Created with the support of the scientific director Facundo Batista, PhD, the platform aims to assist our research community in developing impactful and compelling grant applications. The platform provides scientific editing to enhance our Institute’s grant submissions. The services are […]

New Study Reveals How Regulatory T Cells Prevent Autoimmune Attacks Without Weakening Immunity

Feb 27, 2025 Research Highlights

A new study published in Science by researchers from the Ragon Institute, NIH/NIAID, and the University of Chicago reveals a critical function of the immune system: how regulatory T cells (Tregs) selectively suppress autoimmune reactions while allowing protective responses against infections. The immune system must constantly balance two opposing forces—attacking harmful invaders while preventing damage to healthy […]

Yu to Speak at IAS 2025: Advancing HIV Science on the Global Stage

Feb 13, 2025 Features

Xu Yu, MD, a faculty member at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard, and Harvard Medical School, has been selected as a Featured Speaker at IAS 2025, the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science.  This prestigious international event, taking place from July 13–17 in Kigali, Rwanda, brings together leading HIV scientists […]

DeKosky Honored with AAI ASPIRE Award for Excellence in Immunology Research

Feb 11, 2025 Awards

The Ragon Institute is proud to announce that faculty member and Early Independence Fellow Brandon DeKosky, PhD, has been awarded a prestigious AAI ASPIRE Award by the American Association of Immunologists (AAI). This award recognizes outstanding early-career investigators who have made significant contributions to immunology research and demonstrate exceptional promise in the field. The AAI […]

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Vaccine Development: A Ragon-MIT Advancement in T cell Epitope Prediction

Jan 29, 2025 Research Highlights

An exciting collaboration between the Ragon Institute and the Jameel Clinic at MIT has achieved a significant milestone in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to aid the development of T cell vaccine candidates. Ragon faculty member Gaurav Gaiha, MD, DPhil, and MIT Professor Regina Barzilay, PhD, AI lead of the Jameel Clinic for AI and Health, […]

Shalek Co-Authors Nature Immunology Study on Nasal Immunity and SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Jan 27, 2025 Research Highlights

A recent study published in Nature Immunology, co-authored by Ragon Institute faculty member Alex K. Shalek, PhD, provides critical insights into how SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination status shape immune responses in the nasal mucosa. This research, which utilized advanced single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) approaches, explores how cellular responses in the human nasal cavity differ across […]

Amy Barczak Awarded CFD Excellence in Mentoring Award

Jan 13, 2025 Awards

We are delighted to celebrate Ragon faculty Amy Barczak, MD , for receiving the CFD Excellence in Mentoring Ally for Women Faculty Award! This prestigious recognition, presented by the MGH Center for Faculty Development, honors her extraordinary commitment to supporting and advancing women faculty. Amy’s dedication to mentorship is evident in her tireless efforts to […]

HHMI News —Witness to a Pandemic: Bruce D. Walker

Dec 26, 2024 Features

Bruce Walker, MD, the founding director of the Ragon Institute, has dedicated his career to advancing our understanding of HIV and harnessing the immune system to combat infectious diseases. His impactful work has shaped the field of immunology and global health, and his leadership continues to drive scientific innovation. In a compelling profile by the […]