Ragon Institute
Jul 2, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson Key Takeaways • Using a method developed for HIV, researchers have identified stable T cell vaccine targets in SARS-CoV-2. • These stable targets, known as highly networked epitopes, are highly likely to be stable in different variants of the virus. • The results provide a path forward for a broadly […]
Jun 11, 2021
By: Beth Israel Deaconess Health Center, used with permission. Image credit: NIAID In the three months since Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, more than 10 million Americans have received the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The single-shot viral vector […]
Jun 4, 2021
BOSTON – The rapid development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent the Zika virus (ZIKV) is a global priority, as infection in pregnant women has been shown to lead to fetal microcephaly and other major birth defects. The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus epidemic a global public health emergency on February […]
Jun 3, 2021 Features
A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine, led by researchers Todd Allen, PhD, a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Group Leader at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard, and Jim Riley, PhD, a professor of Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, […]
May 19, 2021
Pregnant women show robust immune response to COVID vaccines, pass antibodies to newborns. In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard have found the new mRNA COVID-?? vaccines to be highly effective in producing antibodies […]
May 7, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson. Image Credit: Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436 Ragon scientists discover epigenetic changes unique to B cells and B cell subtypes. Antibodies are a vital part of our immune system, but they don’t just appear when they’re needed. They […]
May 4, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson. Image credit: Christinelmiller, wikicommons Ragon scientists discover elite controllers have myeloid dendritic cells that display characteristics of trained innate immune cells Most discussions around immunity center around the adaptive immune response, the part of the immune system made up of antibodies and T cells that learn to fight specific pathogens […]
Apr 29, 2021
Single-cell analysis of autopsy samples from COVID-19 patients shows how the lungs repeatedly tried, and failed, to repair themselves. By Stephanie M. McPherson, Broad Institute Image credit: Domenic Abbondanza Image description: Researchers profiled lung tissue from deceased COVID-19 patients and zoomed in on key regions and structures of interest. A group of scientists from several […]
Mar 25, 2021
by: Julie Cunningham, MGH. Image credit: Galit Alter/Cell Pregnant women show robust immune response to COVID vaccines, pass antibodies to newborns In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard have found the new […]
Mar 16, 2021 Ragon Culture
Image courtesy of: Cambridge Science Festival The Ragon Institute, as part of its educational and community-building initiatives, is participating in Cambridge Science Festival 2021, a virtual event held throughout the month of April. The Science Festival is a celebration showcasing the leading edge in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Based out of the MIT Museum, the festival, […]
Mar 12, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson. Image courtesy of: iSO-FORM LLC Researchers at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard and at Massachusetts General Hospital find that neutralizing antibodies raised by COVID-19 vaccines are not as effective at neutralizing some new, circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has mutated throughout the […]
Mar 10, 2021 Ragon Culture
image credit: Lisa Ferdinando, Office of the Secretary of Defense As part of its commitment to science education, the Ragon Institute had the unique opportunity of working with the Cambridge Public Library to bring COVID-19 information straight from researchers to the public. Ragon Director Bruce Walker, MD; Harvard postdoctoral fellow Zuri Sullivan, PhD; and Josefine […]
Feb 23, 2021 Ragon Culture
The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard is collaborating with the Cambridge Public Library on “Vaccines and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Primer for the Public,” as part of the Cambridge Public Library’s Our Path Forward Series. The event, which features Bruce Walker, MD, Director of the Ragon, and Zuri Sullivan, PhD, will take […]
Feb 22, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson. Image credit: MRI Scan, courtesy of the NIH. A stroke, like any traumatic event in the body, triggers an immune response and understanding this immune response is critical to improve patient outcomes and nominate new therapeutics. But immune responses in the brain are difficult to study in humans, because the brain is […]
Feb 18, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson; image credit: Illustration from Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site Researchers at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital show that levels of specific antibodies developed in the immune response may influence COVID-19 outcomes in both children and adults. COVID-19, the source of the current pandemic, may […]
Feb 15, 2021
by: Rachel Leeson. Image credit: antibody opsonization, Maher33 While PCR testing has been used widely for COVID-19 diagnosis, it only provides information on who is currently infected. Antibody testing can tell who has been previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, a metric that is essential for tracking spread across a population. […]