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Co-first author Rico Chandra Ardy (left) and senior author Kaan Boztug (right)

Newly discovered rare disease helps understand the complexity of bowel homeostasis

A single-gene mutation may cause a severe bowel disease in children. This could be shown in a recent study by an international research team led by Kaan Boztug at CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) together with Michael Lenardo, National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda.

The newly discovered alterations lead to total loss of a protein called CD55, causing life-threatening bowel inflammation, chronic diarrhea and vascular thrombosis. The researchers unraveled the underlying molecular mechanisms and discovered…

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Order of Merit of the Italian Republic awarded to Giulio Superti-Furga

On June 7th, 2017 Giulio Superti-Furga was awarded the title of Commendatore (Commander) dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) by HE Giorgio Marrapodi, Ambassador of Italy.

The order was given by decree of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, who had visited CeMM together with Austria´s former President Heinz Fischer during his first official states visit to Austria in 2015. The Order of Merit is the highest-ranking honor system of the Italian Republic and is awarded for "merit acquired by the nation" in the fields of literature, the arts, economy, public service, and…

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(c) Nature Chemical Biology  / Stefan Kubicek

A CLOUD of Possibilities: Finding New Therapies by Combining Drugs

The CeMM Library of Unique Drugs (CLOUD) is the first condensed set of FDA-approved drugs representing the entire target and chemical space of all clinical compounds. Its potential was shown in a combinatorial high throughput screen at the CeMM chemical screening platform and published in Nature Chemical Biology: A pair of hitherto unrelated drugs proved to be highly effective against multiple prostate cancer cell lines. 

(Vienna, May 22, 2017) The synergy of two combined pharmaceuticals assessed in an experimental setting can reveal completely new therapeutic options. Nevertheless, finding a novel combination of drugs for a given disease…

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Foto: Klaus Pichler

Taking out the Cell Garbage with Chemical Degraders

The 11th CeMM Landsteiner Lecture, held by James “Jay” Bradner, President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) on May 15, 2017, was a truly memorable event: with enthusiasm and with great incisiveness, Dr. Bradner illustrated for the audience principles and examples of medical innovation and eloquently argued about their impact on the whole of humankind.

This year’s CeMM Landsteiner Lecture was accompanied by the wonderful accordionist Otto Lechner, whose music evoked many stimulating emotions in a short time and left the audience of more than 400 people prepared for more virtual adventures. CeMM Scientific Director…

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Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the European Research Council in Vienna with ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon

On May 10, 2017 Austria celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the European Research Council (ERC) in Vienna in the presence of ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. The festive program “Cultivating Talents - the next ERC Decade” organized by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW), the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and masterfully moderated by former ERC President and Chair of the ERA Council Forum Austria Helga Nowotny, took place in the “Haus der Europäischen Union”, and the celebration continued with a networking event in the “Börsensäle Wien” afterwards.

The program…

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Kaan Boztug with LBI-RUD SAB members William Gahl, Cynthia Morton, Barbara Prainsack and Matthias Baumgartner (from left to right)

LBI-RUD opening celebration

On May 9, 2017 the opening celebration of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) took place at CeMM with keynote speaker and LBI-RUD Scientific Advisory Board Chair Prof. William Gahl (NIH) and special guest Prof. Jean -Pierre Bourguignon (ERC President).

We thank Kaan Boztug and his LBI-RUD team for the wonderful party and wish them all the best for their research endeavours!

LBI-RUD will establish coordinated research efforts on the genetic and functional basis of rare diseases. The Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, CeMM the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the…

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Next-Generation Microscopy with Pharmacoscopy

A novel microscopy method, developed and patented by scientists from CeMM, allows unprecedented insights into the spatial organization and direct interactions of immune cells within blood and other liquid multi-lineage tissues. The assay, called Pharmacoscopy and published in Nature Chemical Biology, is able to determine the immunomodulatory properties of drugs within large libraries on immune cells in high resolution and high throughput. 

The search for new drugs, small molecule or biologicals, that influence the immune system in a desired manner is challenging: immune signaling, often a combination of communication via soluble proteins and…

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7th CeMM S.M.A.R.T. Lecture with Hermann Hauser

In CeMM’s 7th S.M.A.R.T. Lecture, Hermann Hauser held a fascinating talk on how “Machine learning is changing everything” – from every day communication technologies to transportation habits to business strategies. 

“Machine learning is the most powerful tool that mankind developed so far” – with these words, Hermann Hauser, physicist and extremely successful serial entrepreneur at Cambridge, opened his Lecture on one of the fastest developing technologies of our times. In contrast to similar sounding but refuted predictions on artificial intelligence, Hermann Hauser emphasized, the progress of machine learning clearly shows the real impact…

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ERC’s 10th anniversary: EU-LIFE statement on the need for increased ERC budget

EU-LIFE, the alliance of research centres in life sciences congratulates the European Research Council (ERC) on its 10th anniversary and wishes to acknowledge publicly the key role of this European Commission initiative in promoting excellent basic research.

In only a decade, the ERC has become a flagship for excellent scientific research in - and for - Europe which is key to innovation.  This is particularly relevant because even though- and mainly because of- its impact is initially unpredictable, basic research is the most certain way to major innovation for the benefit of the society.

The ERC has proven very successful in attracting top…

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Kickoff for Pharmacoscopy – a novel tool for precision medicine

In light of the importance of research on precision, molecular, and personalized medicine, CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna hosted on March 6, 2017 a kick off meeting to celebrate the start of Pharmacoscopy, a novel high-content screening and imaging platform to break resistance of relapsed and refractory hematological malignancies - a true bench-to-bedside circle.

This meeting presented and celebrated the collaborative project between the Superti-Furga and Kubicek laboratories at CeMM and the Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology, Department of Internal Medicine I of the medical University of Vienna. The Pharmacoscopy platform…

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