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New details behind the body’s response to tuberculosis could lead to a more effective vaccine

Apr 27, 2022

Image from Immunity, courtesy of Elsevier BOSTON – More than 1.7 billion people—or a quarter of the world’s population—are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterial strain that causes tuberculosis (TB). For years, scientists have been working to develop an effective vaccine, but current TB vaccines are only partially protective. New research by a team including investigators at […]

Running the Marathon of Life (with a little help from Mass General)

Apr 15, 2022

When world-record holding marathoner Susan Ragon hit a bump in the road, she looked to Massachusetts General Hospital. In turn, her generosity and tenacity has inspired others in the Mass General community to lace up and join “Team Susan.” Read about Susan Ragon’s passion for running and how she inspired her care team at Mass […]

Safety and tolerability of AAV8 delivery of a broadly neutralizing antibody in adults living with HIV: a phase 1, dose-escalation trial

Apr 11, 2022

BOSTON – Since the first reports of HIV infection in the early 1980s, multiple clinical trials have tested potential vaccines against the virus, but unfortunately, HIV has numerous defense mechanisms that prevent a person’s immune system from mounting an effective response following HIV vaccination. An alternative anti-HIV strategy called vectored immunoprophylaxis (VIP) designed by researchers at […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Galit Alter

Apr 6, 2022

Galit Alter, PhD, a Core Member of the Ragon Institute, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Co-Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research, is an immunologist and virologist who has never been one to back down from a challenge. As an undergraduate at McGill University, Alter chose microbiology immunology from her […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Kristen Massimine

Apr 4, 2022

Executive Director Kristen Massimine worked as a theatrical lighting designer throughout her formative years. Now, she uses a theater analogy to describe the importance of administration and operations at the Ragon Institute. “The audience comes to a play to see the actors,” she says, “but the actors need to be illuminated to support the story; […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Marina Boyarina

Mar 30, 2022

Administrative Director for Research Marina Boyarina is the woman behind all the Ragon Institute’s research. It’s just that she doesn’t wear a white coat. There are currently 26 individuals with labs onsite at the Ragon, and just about all of these labs are funded by grants Boyarina and her staff of four oversee from initial […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Alison Ringel

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 […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Makhosi Tholakele Memela

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. […]

Ragon Institute Women Make a Difference: Claire Brewer

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 […]

AI/ML/Human Immunology Collaborative Initiative: Spotlight on Regina Barzilay

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 […]

New research findings could help improve bone marrow and stem cell transplantation for patients with blood-related diseases

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 […]

Could a Cure for HIV Be a Cure for a Lot More?

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

Most people with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination have T cell immune responses against Omicron variant despite low antibody responses

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 […]