NEWS

Vivian Chou | Harvard University   The immune system plays the crucial role of defending the body against pathogens that can cause dangerous and deadly infections. How the immune system performs this incredible function has spurred numerous research questions, many still unanswered. In a recent study published in Immunity, researchers at the Ragon Institute in […]

Bright and early on Sunday, June 3rd, 2018, the members of Team Ragon arrived on the Boston Common for the 33rd Annual AIDS Walk and 5K Run. Representing the Ragon Institute with more than 30 walkers and runners and a combined team fundraising total of $66,145.66, Team Ragon secured its place as the event’s top […]

Alex Cusson, Administrative Manager at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, was nominated for the March 2018 Suggestion of the Month in recognition of a comment he submitted via Isuggest, a platform which aims to implement changes to operational processes across Massachussets General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Partners HealthCare based on […]

From January 19th to 29th, 2018, MIT undergraduates traveled to Durban, South Africa, to study the evolution of the AIDS epidemic. The class, a Health Sciences and Technology (HST) course taught by Dr. Bruce Walker (Ragon Institute) and Dr. Howard Heller (MIT Medical), is in its second year, and aims to examine the AIDS epidemic […]

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 […]

For the first time, long-time participant, the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard is the top fundraising team of the AIDS Walk and 5K Run Boston with a total of  $91,543 raised, the most ever raised by an individual team!     The event was held on Sunday, June 4, 2017 and drew thousands […]

Today– May 18th, 2017– is the 20th annual HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.  It is a day to raise awareness for the need for a vaccine for HIV/AIDS.  It is also a day to recognize and thank the thousands of HIV vaccine clinical trial volunteers, researchers, health professionals, and activists who work together toward this goal. […]

On Wednesday May 10th, 2017, Ragon participated in the Massachusetts General Hospital Global Health Expo, held in the Bulfinch tent on the main MGH campus.   This annual event, sponsored by the Mass General Center for Global Health, offers an opportunity for the MGH community to learn more about the exceptional breadth of global health […]

Dr. Galit Alter, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Ragon Institute, has been named to the 2017 Class of MGH Research Scholars by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).  This is the second time that Dr. Alter has received this award, having been named an MGH Research Scholar in […]

Nineteen MIT undergraduates attended the inaugural Health Sciences and Technology (HST) course “Evolution of an Epidemic”, taught during the 2017 Independent Activities Period (IAP) in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.   Focusing on the HIV epidemic as an example, course directors Dr. Bruce Walker (Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard) and Dr. Howard Heller (MIT Medical) built a curriculum […]

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 […]