Ragon Institute
Mar 25, 2022
Dr. Alison Ringel didn’t set out to exclusively choose female mentors when she started out in scientific research, but by following her research interests, that’s what happened. “I have been mentored by what I call a dream team of women faculty,” she says. Ringel joined the Ragon in January 2022 as one of three faculty […]
Mar 23, 2022
When the voices of her ancestors called on Makhosi Tholakele Memela to become a sangoma, or Zulu healer, she said yes. Her traditional healer training included “birthing, respecting ancestors, healing people and communities, and suggesting herbal medicines,” but not treating the deadly disease that started killing her patients more than two decades into her practice. […]
Mar 21, 2022
Claire Brewer, the Ragon Institute’s Director of Information Technology since 2019, has been a trailblazer since her early teens. In the mid-1980s, at age fourteen, she was the only girl at her UK school studying computer science. Brewer attributes her early passion for technology to childhood influences both in her community and at home. As […]
Mar 18, 2022 Features
Amy Barczak, MD, has been a physician-scientist at the Ragon Institute since 2015, where she is both a Faculty Member and the Director of the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory for Special Pathogens. Barczak’s lab investigates at the cellular level the fundamental interactions between TB pathogens and the human immune system that could lead to breakthroughs […]
Mar 16, 2022 Ragon Culture
Last Saturday, March 12, the Ragon Institute hosted the first-ever meeting of the PRISM (Program of Ragon and IMES in Science and Medicine) Science Club for high school students. The PRISM Science Club provides opportunities for high school students from underrepresented communities in the Greater Boston area to learn about cutting-edge medical science and careers […]
Mar 8, 2022
Dr. Krista Dong calls her location in Umlazi, outside of Durban, South Africa, the “epicenter of the epicenter” of HIV infection, and it’s there that this Ragon Institute researcher and doctor is making a difference … for science and for humanity. With a medical degree from Brown University, about 32 research papers, and more than […]
Mar 4, 2022
Regina Barzilay, PhD, a recently appointed Associate Member of the Ragon Institute and a MIT School of Engineering Distinguished Professor for AI and Health, is one of the principals of the new Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/human immunology collaborative initiative of the Ragon Institute and the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health and the […]
Mar 1, 2022
Scientists uncover the unique signature of genes expressed by hematopoietic stem cells capable of making healthy blood cells after being transplanted. BOSTON – Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the capacity to both self-renew and differentiate into all mature blood cell types, making them promising treatments for a variety of diseases. However, the mechanisms involved in engraftment—when the cells […]
Feb 28, 2022
“Because of the Ragon Institute’s careful work with HIV elite controllers, scientists now have a better understanding of not just HIV, but the body’s immune system.” Could the Cure for HIV be a Cure for a Lot More? Read the new article from T Brand Studio
Feb 9, 2022
BOSTON – When an individual is infected with the COVID-19–causing virus SARS-CoV-2, the immune system is called into action to produce antibodies and T cells that target viral proteins and clear the infection. It has become clear that the recent Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 can unfortunately escape antibody responses even in many people who have been […]
Feb 3, 2022
The Ragon Institute is proud to recognize and celebrate Black History Month. One of the founding goals of the Institute has been to address the need for greater diversity in science, both in terms of the scientists themselves and in geographic representation. Starting in the late 1990’s, recognition of that need was a major motivator […]
Jan 28, 2022
USA Today article featuring members of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, including Dr. Walker and Dr. Luban
Jan 20, 2022
MIT News article on new research from Ragon associate member Darrell Irvine
Jan 20, 2022
Article in Bloomberg Opinion quoting Gaurav Gaiha about a recent preprint
Jan 20, 2022
Article in The Harvard Gazette featuring Alejandro Balazs and Wilfredo Garcia-Beltran
Dec 22, 2021
New York Times article featuring Dr. Alter, Dr. Lemieux, Dr. Karim