Georg Winter, CeMM's new Principal Investigator, wins ASCINA award
Endowed by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and awarded by the Network of "Austrian Scientists and Scholars in North America" (ASCINA), the prize rewards outstanding scientific achievements of Austrians performed in the United States.
During the 13th Austrian Research and Innovation Talk (ARIT), on October 22nd, 2016, in Toronto, Georg Winter, as well as two other Austrian scientists who worked in the USA, received the ASCINA award from Mag. MA Barbara Weitgruber, Director General for Scientific Research and International Relations, Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. The prize, endowed with €…
Read moreMyelopro Diagnostics and Research GmbH obtains an exclusive worldwide license from CeMM to develop therapeutics, targeting mutated calreticulin protein in malignant diseases
CALR mutations have been discovered by the research team of Robert Kralovics at CeMM as highly disease-specific markers to a blood cancer called myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Recently, the relevance of CALR mutations have been recognized by the WHO, including them as one of the major diagnostic criteria.
As a unique, disease-specific peptide, mutated CALR is also an attractive target to develop therapies. “This licensing agreement enables Myelopro to continue research on the therapeutic exploitation of mutated CALR in a disease area with an unmet medical need. We are making excellent progress and are very excited to partner with CeMM,…
WWTF Life Science Call 2016 for Precision Medicine - Two grants awarded to research teams coordinated by Giulio Superti-Furga and Kaan Boztug
We are happy to announce that Giulio Superti-Furga, CeMM´s Scientific Director, and Kaan Boztug, Director of the newly founded Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) and Adjunct PI at CeMM, together with their teams consisting of researchers from different biomedical disciplines and clinical scientists were awarded with 2 WWTF grants for precision medicine.
This Life Science call addressed universities and non-university research institutions in Vienna who want to conduct a cutting-edge research project with a major focus on precision medicine based on ‘Omics’ technologies and patient cohorts. In total, 5…
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Christine Mannhalter becomes Head of Genom Austria
Christine Mannhalter, Professor of Molecular Diagnostics at the Medical University of Vienna and until recently interim president of the Austrian Science Fund is now Head of Genom Austria. The citizen science project of CeMM and the Medical University of Vienna has been launched in November 2014 and aims to explore the scientific, educational, philosophical, ethical, and social implications of personal genome sequencing. For this purpose Genom Austria is inviting volunteers to analyze their personal genomes and share the data with the public. More than 800 volunteers have registered in the pilot phase, 20 of them were randomly selected and…
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How Macrophages Settle Down
Tissue-resident macrophages are pivotal cells of the immune system. They exist in many shapes, and it has so far remained unclear how they colonize the body and give rise to the observed variety. In a study published in Science, the underlying differentiation and specification mechanisms are unraveled.
Macrophages engulf and destroy everything that is not clearly marked as a healthy part of the organism. For example, they target fragments of dead cells, invading microbes, and cancer cells. But the capabilities of macrophages go further: They also play a key role in the recruitment of cells of the adaptive immune system and undertake a…
ERC Proof of Concept Grant for Giulio Superti-Furga
CeMM-Director Giulio Superti-Furga receives another ERC funding worth 150.000 Euro to further foster the development of precision medicine.
Hematological malignancies like leukemia tend to be heterogeneous and genetically complex, which makes it difficult for the treating physician to find the right drug at the right time. This is even more true when it comes to a relapse of the disease that requires the use of off-label drugs. With a new technique, developed at CeMM, available drugs can be screened for their effect on the cells of a diseased individual in real time, with the goal of improving the treatment prediction and providing an…
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Epigenetics: New Tool for Precision Medicine
In a series of four papers, published in Nature Biotechnology and Nature Communications, an international group of scientists led by CeMM’s Principal Investigator Christoph Bock and Stephan Beck (University College London, UCL) have marked the feasibility of epigenetic analysis for clinical diagnostics and precision medicine.
Epigenetic changes occur in all cancers, and in various other diseases. Measuring these changes provides unprecedented insights into the disease mechanisms at work in individual patients, which is important for better diagnosis and patient-specific treatment decisions.
The now published studies constitute a…
EU-LIFE Science and Strategy Meetings 2016 at CeMM in Vienna
The EU-LIFE Scientific Workshop organized by the translational research working group of the EU-LIFE institutes took place from May 12-13, 2016 at CeMM in Vienna. Following successful meetings on “Biology of Cancer” (2014, CRG) and “Epigenetics and Disease” (2015, BRIC), this year’s topic was on "Inflammation and Immunity in Health and Disease". Three sessions explored autoimmunity, T-cells in cancer immunology, and innate pathways in cancer immunology.
The meeting format of “tandem talks” had been pioneered in the previous scientific meetings: Two speakers are exploring one topic or closely related concepts from two different perspectives.…
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Red glowing cells reveal new epigenetic targets against leukemia
Epigenetic modifications are an important factor in cancer development and a promising target for its treatment. With red glowing cells, CeMM researchers in collaboration with groups at Oxford University and IMP Vienna found new small molecules, which trigger specific epigenetic modifications and thus are promising compoundsforthe treatment of blood born cancers. Their study was published in Nature Chemical Biology.
For Stefan Kubicek, red light means hitting the bull´s eye: His research group at CeMM developed fluorescent cell lines which signal the inhibition of specific epigenetic modifications by bright red radiance. When a substance…
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10th CeMM Landsteiner Lecture by Emmanuelle Charpentier
Emmanuelle Charpentier held the 10th CeMM Landsteiner Lecture on May 6, 2016, in the festive hall of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, which was filled up to the last place. Her magnificent talk on the CRISPR technology delighted scientists and lay audience alike and was also broadcasted via live stream.
"A fast and easy tool was needed - and that's was CRISPR brought. The CRISPR-Cas technology allows precise gene surgery in any cell and organism" – with those almost casual sounding phrases, Emmanuelle Charpentier summed up her discovery which has revolutionized biomedical research within only a few years and will have a fundamental impact…
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