Identifying genetic causes for immune diseases as a way to uncover immune regulatory pathways
Human DEF6 deficiency underlies a novel immunodeficiency syndrome with systemic autoimmunity and aberrant CTLA-4 homeostasis A single gene affected in a young girl resulted in serious autoimmune diseases. By deciphering the underlying mechanism, an international research team led by LBI-RUD Director Kaan Boztug was able to shed some light on the mechanism of autoimmunity in the human body. Based on these findings, an already approved drug has…
CeMM statement about constructive feedback
We are grateful for any constructive criticism and advice to improve CeMM as employer, as collaboration partner and as institute as a whole. Also positive feedback can be helpful as a confirmation for areas that work well, and deserve further investments. There are several channels and platforms to give feedback, and we urge you to do it in a professional and respectful way. Unfortunately, there has been an incident where our standards of open…
Loss of the IL-6 receptor causes immunodeficiency, atopy, and abnormal inflammatory responses
The human immune system is essential for the prevention of infections and the detection of tumor cells, and severe congenital allergic (atopic) diseases can be the result of a genetic disorder effecting the immune system. An international team of researchers from the USA, UK and Kaan Boztug's research group at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) in Vienna has now discovered a novel genetic defect that leads…
Mitochondria: when friends become enemies
A research group from MedUni Vienna and CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has discovered a new mechanism by which cells communicate in inflammatory processes. This involves endogenous mitochondria released from white blood cells turning into initiators of inflammation. It is as if friends turn into enemies. The results have been published in the journal Circulation Research. In collaboration with…
Machine Learning in Medicine & Biology
On June 5, 2019, the “1st Vienna Symposium on Machine Learning in Medicine & Biology” took place at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences bringing together the diverse crowd of Austrian researchers in this rapidly growing field. The event was organized by Georg Langs (Medical University of Vienna) and Christoph Bock (CeMM), with support by the Austrian Platform for Personalized Medicine. Invited…
2nd RESOLUTE Consortium Meeting 3-5 June 2019
RESOLUTE, an European Union IMI2 funded project with 13 partners, CeMM as academic coordinator and Pfizer as EFPIA leader, celebrated the 2nd RESOLUTE consortium meeting from June 3-5, 2019 in Krems an der Donau, near Vienna. More than 65 participants coming from all over Europe and the US joined the meeting. This was a great chance to review the current status of the RESOLUTE project right before completing the first year of collaborations.…
Petition #DEALFORSCIENCE: Keep the EU and UK collaborating in science
EU-LIFE, EuroScience and Wellcome launched a campaign to urge the EU and UK to continue supporting scientific collaboration and to asap sign a research and innovation agreement: #dealforscience Researchers need certainty on scientific collaboration between the UK and EU. Science has been a key success of the EU and must remain a priority to keep Europe competitive. International collaboration makes science stronger and we should not let Brexit…
Robert Kralovics becoming CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator
On June 1st 2019, Robert Kralovics and team members moved to the Medical University of Vienna, to join the Department of Laboratory Medicine (KILM) at the Anna Spiegel Building, which means Robert is now becoming an Adjunct Principal Investigator of CeMM. Robert Kralovics was one of the very first internationally recruited Principal Investigators who started at CeMM in June 2006. At that time CeMM was still a virtual institute, with rented lab…
EU-LIFE Strategy Meeting 2019
Thanks to the Babraham Institute for hosting the annual EU-LIFE Strategy Meeting, bringing together directors and main representatives from the 13 member institutes. CeMM is a proud member of EU-LIFE, profiting from the exchange of best practices and contributing to European research policy. #EULIFEScience #researchexcellence #sciencepolicy >7000 scientists and support personnel, >500 group leaders, >4000 publications, >100 running ERC…
Epigenetic study provides new approaches to combination therapies for aggressive cancers
A recent study by CeMM reveals how the interaction of the epigenetic protein BRD4 with the metabolic enzyme MTHFD1 controls gene expression and cell proliferation. The results of the study have now been published in the renowned journal Nature Genetics. They suggest novel approaches for the development of combination therapies for aggressive cancers. Epigenetic processes enable cells to respond to changes in their environment by regulating the…
Wilhelm Auerswald Prize 2019 awarded to Michel Owusu
On May 21, 2019, Michel Owusu, former PhD Student at Joanna Loizou´s group at CeMM, has been awarded the Wilhelm Auerswald Prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis at an Austrian Medical University. Michel convinced the jury with his study "DNA damage and DNA repair in cancer genomes" and reached the first place in the ranking. Six candidates have been pre-selected and invited to present their work at the Society of Physicians, Billroth House…
Niki Lauda (1949-2019)
Niki Lauda: "Being competent, professional, and very concentrated on one's goals, are key factors to success in sports, business and, I am sure, also in science. From what I know, CeMM is a formula one racing house in medical research that we are already proud of." With great sadness we learned about the decease of F1 Champion and Airline Founder Niki Lauda. We are grateful to Niki Lauda for being a CeMM testimonial and supporter. Our thoughts…
CeMM Scientific Advisory Board Meeting 2019
We thank the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Members Carl-Henrik Heldin (Uppsala University and Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation), Emmanuelle Charpentier (MPI Berlin), Janet Kelso (MPI Leipzig), Hidde Ploegh (Harvard University) and Richard Flavell (Yale University) for visiting CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences from May 19-22, 2019, for listening to more than 30 talks, and for their…
Withering Away: How Viral Infection Leads to Cachexia
Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome that occurs in patients suffering from chronic infections such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. In addition, 50% to 80% of cancer patients are affected by cachexia (Argiles JM et al. Nature Reviews Cancer 2014). Due to reduced food intake and altered metabolism, patients unintentionally lose body weight and lose their strength. Their fat reserves and skeletal muscle mass are progressively depleted, which…
New IDK Board of ÖAW
The conference of the 28 institute directors (Institutsdirektorenkonferenz, IDK) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) have elected their new board members for the next 2 years (May 15, 2019 to May 15, 2021). The IDK advises on common concerns of the ÖAW institutes and assists the Academy with its planning. Barbara Horejs (Chair), OREA Jürgen Eckert (Vice-Chair), ESI Brigit Kellner, IKGA Anita Ender, CeMM The Austrian Academy of Sciences…
