Ragon Institute
Nov 18, 2021
BOSTON – During infection, HIV places copies of its genome into the DNA of cells, creating what is known as a viral reservoir. In this state, the virus effectively hides from anti-HIV drugs and the body’s immune response. In most people, new viral particles are constantly made from this reservoir. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) can prevent the […]
Nov 17, 2021
One day, monoclonal antibodies could bridge the gaps in protection left by even highly effective vaccines. BOSTON – Longstanding and equally lethal infectious disease crises have continued unabated in the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the 2020 mortality data is still being assessed, malaria, which kills more than 400,000 people annually, seems to have far […]
Oct 15, 2021
Viral load had no correlation to disease severity in children, but children are potential spreaders of current and emerging variants. BOSTON – Researchers at the Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital have published additional data on several features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in […]
Sep 8, 2021 Features
Ragon researchers find impaired T cells precede loss of HIV control. HIV is a master of evading the immune system, using a variety of methods to prevent the body from being able to find and kill it. The vast majority of people living with HIV require daily medication to suppress the virus and therefore prevent […]
Aug 31, 2021
Today, Johnson & Johnson announced results from the primary analysis of the HIV vaccine trial “Imbokodo,” also called HVTN 705/HPX2008. Overall, the data showed the investigational HIV vaccine, which was tested in young women at high risk for HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa, did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection. While the results suggest some […]
Aug 6, 2021 Ragon Culture
On July 6, 2021, the Ragon Institute launched RISE, the Ragon Institute Summer Experience. Working with local communities, RISE provides an opportunity for local high school students to explore STEM through summer internships at the Ragon. Starting an internship program is never easy, and certainly no less challenging during the latter half of a pandemic. […]
Jul 26, 2021
Image: SARS-CoV-2 on the surface of a cultured cell. (Credit: NIAID) Over the past 18 months, researchers have learned much about COVID-19 and its viral cause, SARS-CoV-2. They know how the virus enters the body, coming in through the nose and mouth and beginning its infection in the mucus layers of the nasal passageway. They know […]
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 […]