Ragon Institute
Aug 27, 2020
Single VH Gene Allows for Broad-Spectrum Antibody Response to LPS Image: Immunoglobulin heavy chain variable domain, VH Daniel Lingwood, PhD, Ragon Group Leader, recently published a paper in Cell Reports entitled, “A single human VH gene allows for a broad-spectrum antibody response targeting 2 bacterial lipopolysaccharides in the blood.” This paper, whose lead […]
Aug 26, 2020
Ragon Institute researchers show elite controllers have HIV viral reservoirs in gene deserts which may help prevent viral rebound and contribute to natural control of HIV. Xu Yu, MD, Ragon Group Leader, recently published a study entitled “Distinct viral reservoirs in individuals with spontaneous control of HIV-1,” in the journal Nature. Yu’s lab, in collaboration […]
Aug 19, 2020
Image: Germinal centers in a lymph node, courtesy of Shiv Pillai Lack of germinal centers in COVID-19 immune response may prevent patients from developing long-lasting immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus Shiv Pillai, MD, Ph.D, Member of the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard and professor at Harvard Medical School, recently published a paper […]
Aug 6, 2020
Results of partnership between the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard and UW Medicine identify five markers of the humoral immune response that may be able to predict COVID-19 patient outcomes. A recent study published in Immunity identifies five immune response markers which, collectively, were able to correctly classify both convalescent COVID-19 […]
Aug 1, 2020
Bronwyn Gunn, Wen-Han Yu, and Galit Alter From 2013–2016, West Africa faced the deadliest Ebola outbreak the world has ever seen. By the time the outbreak was declared over, 11,325 people had died. Antibody therapy is considered among the most promising treatments for the Ebola virus infection, and the hope is that the most effective […]
Jul 30, 2020
by: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Findings lay groundwork for clinical development program [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HPtwB76x4s[/embedyt] Boston, Mass. – The development of a safe and effective vaccine will likely be required to end the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of scientists, led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) immunologist Dan H. Barouch, MD, PhD, […]
Jul 22, 2020
Image: Immune cells in malaria patient. Credit: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH Researchers at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard, in collaboration with the global health non-profit PATH and pharmaceutical company GSK, have discovered two markers of immunity in response to the RTS,S/ASO1 malaria vaccine that correlated strongly […]
Jun 4, 2020 Ragon Culture
To understand how any given disease affects the body, scientists need a wide array of tools. One of the most valuable and indispensable instruments in their toolkit are clinical samples—small amounts of blood, urine, mucus, spit, and tissue that can be used to study a disease in a patient. For COVID-19, a disease that has an […]
May 13, 2020
As part of its COVID-19 response, the Ragon Institute is working within the Massachusetts Consortium for Pathogen Readiness, a multi-institutional initiative convened by Harvard Medical School and the Ragon Institute, to combat the disease and to prepare for future outbreaks. Ragon Institute director, Bruce Walker, MD, serves as co-director and founding member, and many of […]
Apr 22, 2020
Image: Scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 virus emerging from cells. Image courtesy of NIAID Cambridge, MA, April 22, 2020: The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard, a world leader in human immunology and infectious diseases, is leading efforts to understand and combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of the global COVID-19 […]
Mar 30, 2020
Boston, March 30, 2020 – The Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard today announced it has received a gift from Nancy Zimmerman to help fund development of an early response coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic that would support medical and other front-line professionals and help manage the current pandemic. Specifically, the funding from Ms. Zimmerman, […]
Mar 23, 2020
Alex Shalek, Ragon associate member, has a new study published today in Nature Medicine, Integrated Single-Cell Analysis of Multicellular Immune Dynamics during Hyper-Acute HIV-1 Infection. This study uses single-cell RNA sequencing to understand immune system dynamics after acute HIV infection, with samples provided from the FRESH (Females Rising through Education, Support, and Health) study in […]
Mar 2, 2020
The Ragon Institute, with its commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and patient-focused research, has begun a multipronged approach towards understanding, treating, and preventing infections with the new human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Ragon Institute scientists are playing a leadership role in mobilizing an unprecedented Boston-Cambridge consortium dedicated to collaborative efforts to ending the growing pandemic, bringing together Harvard, […]
Feb 21, 2020
Alum for the Ride Darrell Irvine, PhD, Ragon Steering Committee Member and MIT Professor of Materials Science and Biological Engineering, has just published a paper in Nature Medicine showing a way to engineer an increased immune response to the vaccine adjuvant aluminum hydroxide, also known as alum, in an HIV vaccine given to […]
Jan 6, 2020
Galit Alter has published a new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation entitled “Selective induction of antibody effector functional responses using MF59-adjuvanted vaccination.” This study is taking a new approach to determining flu vaccine efficacy, examining not the antigen, a piece of flu virus that is the main component of the vaccine, but the supporting […]
Dec 18, 2019
Ragon faculty member Musie Ghebremichael, PhD, recently published a BMC paper entitled “A comparison of machine learning techniques for classification of HIV patients with antiretroviral therapy-induced mitochondrial toxicity from those without mitochondrial toxicity.” Additional authors include Jong Lee, Elijah Paintsil, and Vivek Gopalakrishnan, of University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Yale University; and The Johns Hopkins University, […]