Tailored small molecules that bind to cancer-causing proteins and neutralize tumor cells—this is the specialty of Georg Winter, Principal Investigator at CeMM, who has established himself as a global leader in the field. His latest ERC CoG project proposal, GE|NEomorph, will take his research to a new level. Instead of marking cancer proteins for cellular degradation, as in previous approaches, Winter’s designer molecules now target transcription factors. These molecules aim to reprogram the genetic activity of cancer cells—a promising new strategy for developing innovative therapies. The European Research Council (ERC) agrees, awarding €1.9…

A study on "The Contribution of Basic Research Projects Funded by the Austrian Science Fund to Economic and Societal Impacts” has been published by WIFO, Joanneum Research and IHS. Proxygen, a CeMM OeAW spin-off company founded in 2020 is a great example for basic research & innovation. 

Link to Study: https://www.wifo.ac.at/publication/274018/
Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Institute for Advanced Studies, Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Policies, Institute for Economic, Social and Innovation Research 

Link to Proxygen: https://proxygen.com/
„We founded Proxygen because we felt a strong need for the industrial…

Secondary lymphoid organs are specialized regions in the body where immune cells multiply and develop to respond to new pathogens like viruses and bacteria. An international team led by Kaan Boztug, CeMM Adjunct PI, Scientific Director of the CCRI and Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, has identified a completely new form of a rare disease that affects these organs, shedding light on the significance of these structures for the human immune system. A genetic defect – discovered by the researchers – leads to either the absence or significant dysfunction of these organs in several children. As a result, affected children suffer from…

From 21-22 November 2024, the directors and main representatives of the 15 EU-LIFE member institutes came together to reflect on the activities, challenges and achievements of 2024, and to talk about the action plan and priorities for 2025. EU-LIFE Chair Giulio Superti-Furga, CeMM, and EU-LIFE Vice-Chair Marta Miączyńska, IIMCB, will now follow up on the decisions made with the help of the EU-LIFE office under the leadership of Marta Agostinho, and the different working groups.

On top of creating an ambitious EU-LIFE action plan for 2025, and the exchange of best practices, two very interesting panel discussions took place in Copenhagen. The…

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) supported by an international hiring committee of top scientists and entrepreneurs is seeking an outstanding scientist and visionary leader to serve as the SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR (F/M/X) of CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine. The candidate will follow the founding Director Giulio Superti-Furga, a renowned molecular biologist who will become Director of the Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center in Sicily.

The Scientific Director of CeMM will share the management and CEO leadership role with Anita Ender, Administrative Director of CeMM, who is also the Managing Director of AITHYRA, a…

Rapid demographic changes are a central cause of the societal and political phenomena of our time, leaving “the world in pieces.” This key argument was compellingly elaborated by Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, at the 13th CeMM S.M.A.R.T. Lecture held on 30 October 2024.

Before a packed audience, Krastev explored the complex interplay between demographic challenges, migration, and populist politics, particularly in Eastern Europe. He argued that many European nations are facing shrinking populations due to low birth rates and…

Cell division is a pivotal moment in the life cycle of a cell: when things go wrong, the cell typically triggers growth arrest or its own self-destruction. Researchers in Austria and Italy have now discovered a previously unknown process that initiates cancer cell death in two distinct ways. This newly uncovered mechanism could help fighting blood cancer, as many modern therapies target the last step in cell division in tumor cells. The study was published in Science Advances.

Unseen and ongoing, thousands of times every second: to keep a complex organism like humans alive, an immense number of new cells must be continuously produced. Up…

On 4 October 2024, the CeMM Outing took place. Each year we try to combine social activities with an informative and educational approach.

In times of escalating conflicts in the world, we thought it would be important to reflect on Austrian, European and World history, and went to the Vienna Arsenal which houses the Austrian Museum of Military History. We learned that a multi-nation multi-ethnic multi-religion multi-language empire had a detailed military apparatus over centuries, and wanted to understand how it “slipped” into two major global wars.

Soon we will also have a S.M.A.R.T. Lecture on "World in pieces. Elections, wars,…

Congratulations to CeMM Adjunct PI Miriam Unterlass, who will take over the leadership of Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg. 

The chemist and materials scientist, who has previously taught as Professor of Solid State Chemistry at the University of Konstanz and the TU Vienna, brings her focus on the synthesis of new functional materials to Würzburg, enriching the portfolio of the Fraunhofer ISC and the University of Würzburg, where she will simultaneously take on the Chair of Chemical Technology of Materials Synthesis. Nonetheless, Miriam remains closely connected to CeMM as an Adjunct PI.

With previous academic…

We received the sad news that architect Ernst M. Kopper passed away. The CeMM building was designed by architect Kopper who created a structure full of light with much open space for the needs and comfort of modern molecular biology laboratories, for the work and life of scientists, as well as room to house sophisticated high-tech scientific equipment.

Ernst M. Kopper was born 1945 in Schulberg near Graz. After studying architecture at Graz University of Technology he spent some diploma and internship years in Rome and Munich. Since 1975 he has lived in Vienna. Since 1984 he worked as an independent architect, but also in co-operations,…