Category Archives: research

On January 4th and 5th, 2018, leading researchers in the field of cellular immunology participated in an interactive workshop entitled “Prospects for designing and testing vaccines to elicit cellular immunity against HIV”, hosted by the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard.   The meeting focused on how cell-mediated immunity can be incorporated into the […]

Vivian Chou | Harvard Medical School In a recent report in Cell, researchers at the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, MA and their collaborators announced a groundbreaking new model of how immunity is initiated in response to viral infections. Achieving broad and long-lasting protection against viruses such as influenza, HIV, and Zika has been a longstanding […]

“Mosaic” vaccine designed to respond to many viral strains, address challenge of genetic diversity. Sue McGreevey | Massachusetts General Hospital A phase 2b clinical trial of a novel preventive HIV vaccine regimen developed by researchers at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MIT and Harvard, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and partners has […]

An international team of scientists has developed a method to rapidly produce specific human antibodies in the laboratory. The technique, which will be described in a paper to be published July 24, 2017 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, could speed the production of antibodies to treat a wide range of diseases and facilitate the […]

Ragon Institute Instructor, Zaza M. Ndhlovu, PhD, is one of forty-one scientists from 16 countries who have been chosen as International Research Scholars through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).   HHMI, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation developed this award in order to recognize […]

More diverse vaginal microbiomes in South African women may underlie increased risk   CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard has found that the most common bacterial community in the genital tract of healthy South African women is associated with […]

Targeting human genes required for viral reproduction but not for T cell survival would avoid inducing treatment resistance   BOSTON – Investigators from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have used the revolutionary new gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 to identify three promising new targets for treatment […]

A study led by investigators from the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard finds evidence that antibody protection may help control infection with the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB).  In their study receiving online publication in Cell, the research team describes finding consistent differences in both the structure and function of antibodies targeting the […]

The Ragon Institute of Mass General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard has a dual mission to contribute to the accelerated discovery of an HIV/AIDS vaccine and subsequently to establish itself as a world leader in the collaborative study of immunology. Thus, the vast majority of studies require the use of peripheral blood cells such as B […]

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 […]