Kaan Boztug takes over professorship in the subject field Paediatrics and Inflammation Research in MedUni Vienna
CeMM Principal Investigator Kaan Boztug, consultant in paediatrics and adolescent medicine and internationally renowned expert in rare haematopoietic and immunological diseases, has accepted a professorship (§ 99 Para. 4 UG) in the subject field Paediatrics and Inflammation Research at the Medical University of Vienna's Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine with effect from 01 December 2021. During the course of his medical and…
From the god of sun to immunodeficiency: international research team identifies new rare disease affecting hematopoiesis and immunity
A disturbed Helios-dependent epigenetic regulation mechanism causes T and B cell defects in an inborn immune disease. Together with international collaborators, scientists at the St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute discover a new inborn error of hematopoiesis and immunity, caused by an inherited genetic defect of the transcription factor Helios. In their research project, the team was able to define previously unknown roles of Helios…
Prompt initiation of antiretroviral therapy reduces cancer risk in HIV patients
HIV patients have an increased risk of developing skin and mucosal cancers, even though HIV is no longer detectable in their blood due to antiretroviral therapy. A new study by MedUni Vienna's Department of Dermatology, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) and the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences now shows that the time of starting antiretroviral therapy can…
Multiplex network improves diagnosis and analysis of rare diseases
Rare diseases are usually caused by a single genetic defect. Nevertheless, the search for the cause and the assessment of the effects is highly complex and difficult. Scientist Jörg Menche, Adjunct Principal Investigator at the CeMM, Professor at the University of Vienna and Research Group Leader at the Max Perutz Labs, and his team have now developed a multiplex network that maps all genes and their interactions on multiple levels and improves…
1st REsolution Consortium Meeting 21 October 2021
On 21 October 2021, the REsolution consortium held its first consortium meeting online with 30 participants. The REsolution consortium is a public-private research partnership supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), with nine partners from academia and the pharmaceutical industry. With a duration of two years, the project aims at…
Artist Adriana Czernin designed chair’s backrest for CeMM’s Brain Lounge
On 19 October 2021, CeMM welcomed artist Adriana Czernin for the inauguration of the new chair’s backrest that she has specially designed for CeMM’s Brain Lounge. During the event, Adriana Czernin presented her piece of art entitled “4-sided 3-angle”, and discussed with CeMM PhD students the design process, and the combination of abstract art with the idea of perspective in her work. CeMM’s Brain Lounge is located on the 8th floor of CeMM’s…
Obituary David M. Livingston
It is with great sadness that we learn of the decease of Prof. David M. Livingston, former Deputy Director, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston, USA. David Livingston was the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of CeMM from its very beginning until 2018, and had a huge influence on the development and success of our institute. We lose an extraordinary scientist and highly esteemed advisor. His constructive criticism, encouraging words…
Stem cell transplant: How skin-derived T cells can damage other organs
More than 40,000 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants are carried out worldwide every year, mostly for patients suffering from leukemia or other diseases of the hematopoietic system. Very often, the so-called graft-versus-host reaction occurs, an inflammatory disease that can affect different organs and is caused by an unwanted defense reaction of the donor cells and the body’s own T cells. Scientists at CeMM, Medical University of…
First worldwide personalized-medicine study using a functional test demonstrates clinical feasibility and efficacy of individualized therapy in leukemia and lymphoma patients
Standard therapy for advanced recurring aggressive, hematological malignancies, such as leukemias and lymphomas, have a limited effect with patients experiencing short survival times. A study at the Vienna General Hospital conducted by physicians and scientists from Medical University Vienna and CeMM, as well as ETH Zurich for the first time demonstrated that therapy selection based on results from a functional test is clinically possible and…
6th RESOLUTE Consortium Meeting in Basel
RESOLUTE is a public-private partnership with 13 partners from academia and industry with an overarching goal: To trigger an escalation in the appreciation and intensity of research on solute carriers (SLCs) worldwide and to establish SLCs as a tractable target class for medical research and development. The project is coordinated by CeMM and Pfizer. From 4th to 7th October 2021, Novartis and Vifor Pharma hosted the 6th RESOLUTE Consortium…
Cachexia: How do immune responses contribute to weight loss?
Cachexia is the name of a syndrome that is associated with numerous chronic diseases. It refers to weight loss induced by shrinkage of both fat reserves and muscle tissue. Although the occurrence of cachexia can have serious implications on patients’ health and survival, there are many aspects of this syndrome that are unknown and therapeutic options remain very limited. Scientists from Andreas Bergthaler's research group at CeMM emphasize the…
Meet CeMM at BIO-Europe Digital on 25-28 October 2021
As a pioneering institute with the goal of achieving maximum scientific innovation in molecular medicine to improve healthcare, CeMM is fully committed to identifying, supporting, and developing its research discoveries into impactful solutions for society. In line with this, once again this year on 25-28 October, CeMM will be joining the BIO-Europe Digital conference, the meeting point for global biopharma and investment leaders to build…
Eco-friendly process for synthesizing organic materials developed for high-performance materials industry
Until now, the production of materials from organic substances was only possible with the use of highly toxic solvents. A team led by chemist Miriam Unterlass, Professor at the University of Konstanz and Adjunct Principal Investigator at CeMM, has now developed a method for making organic substances suitable for use as high-performance materials in an eco-friendly and completely non-toxic way by generating them in only hot water. The study…
Seitenwechsel candidate Alexandra Schmidl joins CeMM for a year
On 6 September 2021, schoolteacher Alexandra Schmidl joins CeMM as part of the Seitenwechsel program, which fosters fruitful exchanges among companies and teachers in Austria. During the next year, she will have a full immersion in the scientific environment at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where she will benefit from daily interactions with CeMM researchers. The knowledge and new techniques…
Kaan Boztug receives the "Işil Berat Barlan Award for Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases"
Congratulations to Kaan Boztug, Scientific Director of the St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases and CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator, who has been awarded the Işil Berat Barlan Award for his outstanding research in the field of primary immunodeficiencies, which will be presented for the first time this year at the European Congress of Immunology (ECI). The…
