Ragon Institute MIT NEWS – New Ragon Institute building opens in the heart of Kendall Square
Jun 25, 2024
https://news.mit.edu/2024/new-ragon-institute-building-opens-in-kendall-square-0621
News
Charles Evavold Awarded Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation Faculty Research Fellowship
Jun 25, 2024 Features
Ragon faculty member and Early Independence Fellow Charles Evavold, PhD, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious 2024-2025 Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation Faculty Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School. The fellowship selection committee was deeply impressed by Evavold’s accomplishments and his potential for leadership in cancer research. Evavold was also invited to […]
Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard celebrates opening of new headquarters
Jun 20, 2024
The new building in the heart of Kendall Square will support the Institute’s research to harness the power of the human immune system to prevent and cure disease The Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard celebrated the official opening of its new headquarters in Cambridge with two ribbon-cutting ceremonies this past week. […]
Ragon at Pride for the People 2024
Jun 13, 2024
Celebrating Pride Month, we are delighted to share moments from the Boston Pride for the People Parade that took place on June 8. Members of the Ragon community joined the vibrant event, celebrating the history and meaning behind this month. At the Ragon Institute, we are proud to support the LGBTQ+ community, advocating for equality […]
Research shows early life immunity increases HIV cure/remission in male infants
Jun 10, 2024 Features
New research published today by scientists at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT and Harvard, the University of Oxford, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the African Health Research Institute in South Africa, shows that male infants are more likely to achieve HIV cure/remission than females. The peer-reviewed study, published by Nature Medicine, assessed […]
New target in sight for HIV vaccine development
May 30, 2024 Features
Batista Lab postdoctoral fellow Rashmi Ray, PhD, was the first author of the paper published in Nature. Decades into the HIV epidemic, there is as yet no effective vaccine to prevent new cases. In a recent Nature Immunology article (Ray et al.), the Batista lab of the Ragon Institute has preclinically validated a new HIV […]
Alejandro Balazs Receives NIH Avant Garde Award for Innovative HIV and Substance Use Disorder Research
May 28, 2024 Features
Ragon faculty member Alejandro Balazs, PhD, has been awarded a prestigious Avant-Garde Award for HIV and Substance Use Disorder Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This award is part of the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award mechanism, which supports individual scientists of exceptional creativity who […]
Ragon Grad Student Awarded Jeffery Modell Prize
May 23, 2024 Features
We are proud to recognize Sophie Giguere, PhD, a Batista Lab graduate student who has been honored with the prestigious 2023 Jeffrey Modell Prize. This award, conferred jointly by the Jeffrey Modell Foundation and the Harvard Medical School Graduate Committee of Immunology, recognizes HMS graduates for outstanding achievements in their doctoral research and overall excellence […]
A boost for HIV vaccine research
May 20, 2024 Features
HIV has proven a hard target for vaccine design. The most promising approach, germline-targeting (GT), proposes a series of immunizations: a first shot to activate inexperienced B cells—antibody-producing white blood cells—followed by a sequence of immunogens that are more and more like the HIV Envelope (Env) protein. The ultimate goal of GT immunization is to […]
Ragon Faculty Present at 2024 ATI Consensus Workshop
May 10, 2024 Features
The second installment of the event aimed to create new guidelines for ATIs, including pediatric ATIs In a significant follow-up to the groundbreaking 2018 Consensus Symposium on HIV Analytical Treatment Interruption (ATI) hosted at the Ragon Institute, several faculty members helped organize and participated in the 2024 ATI Consensus Workshop held this week in Nairobi, […]
Ragon Faculty Study Identifies Novel Immunization Strategy for Broad Influenza Protection
Apr 29, 2024 Features
Researchers at the Ragon Institute have developed a novel immunization strategy that shows promise for protecting against both group 1 and group 2 influenza A viruses. The strategy, detailed in their recent study, relies on eliciting a single amino acid change in antibodies to generate broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). Ragon faculty members Daniel Lingwood, PhD, […]
Ragon Study Finds Key Mechanism of Immune Evasion by SARS-CoV-2
Apr 23, 2024 Features
A collaborative research study led by Ragon Institute faculty member and Early Independence fellow Wilfredo F. Garcia-Beltran, MD, PhD, and Ragon Biosafety Level 3 Core co-director Julie Boucau, PhD, has uncovered a critical mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 evades one of the body’s key immune responses, providing new insights that could lead to novel treatments. Their […]
Ragon faculty sheds light on intricate functions of Resident Tissue Macrophages (RTM’s) which extend beyond immune defense
Apr 15, 2024 Features
The lab of the Ragon Institute faculty member Hernandez Moura Silva, PhD, recently published a review in Science Immunology regarding resident tissue macrophages (RTMs), shedding light on their multifaceted roles in organ health. RTMs, integral components found abundantly across various organs, have traditionally been recognized for their immune defense functions. However, this review highlights their contributions extend […]
‘Evolution of an Epidemic’ Returns — Taking Students Across South Africa to Learn the Real-World Impact of HIV and COVID-19
Apr 1, 2024 Features
After three years off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ragon-MIT course HST.434 returned this January to provide 24 students a once in a lifetime learning experience Education is a crucial element of the Ragon Institute’s global mission, a vital asset in giving the next generation of researchers the tools to combat diseases like HIV, […]
Brandon DeKosky one of five MIT faculty members awarded by Cancer Grand Challenges
Mar 29, 2024 Features
The team will receive $25 million to work towards treatments for cancer Ragon core member and MIT associate professor of chemical engineering Brandon DeKosky, PhD, was one of five MIT faculty members recently awarded $25 million to take on Cancer Grand Challenges. Cancer Grand Challenges announced five winning teams for 2024, which included DeKosky and […]
Ragon Faculty, Postdoc Present at 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Mar 20, 2024 Features
Boris Juelg, MD, PhD, and Toong Seng Tan, PhD, each presented papers at the event. Research from other faculty was also represented. Earlier this month, Ragon faculty member Boris Juelg, MD, PhD, spoke at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in Denver, Colorado from March 3 – March 6. Juelg, pictured […]