New paper by the Varani lab on a double antibody to defeat Zika virus
on September 21, 2017 The prestigious scientific journal Cell today published a study resulting from a collaboration between the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) affiliated to Università della Svizzera Italiana, Humabs Biomed SA and the Duke National University of Singapore. The researchers developed an innovative “double” antibody that protects from Zika virus infection. Zika, […]
New paper by the Lanzavecchia Lab on antibody engineering by nature
on August 28, 2017 A publication in the renowned scientific journal Nature describes two new types of non-conventional antibodies that are frequently produced by malaria-exposed individuals and that contain an extra fragment targeting malaria parasites. The study was conducted at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), which is affiliated to the Università della Svizzera […]
Cristina Leoni awarded PhD
on August 11, 2017 Cristina Leoni successfully defended her PhD thesis, which was presented at the University of Bern on August 7th, 2017. Her thesis title was “DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation regulate mast cell proliferation and effector functions” and the work has been done in the Molecular Immunology laboratory of Silvia Monticelli. Her co-advisor was […]
New paper by the Varani Lab
on July 26, 2017 The human immune system is trained to recognize and attack foreign pathogens such as viruses or bacteria but it often fails to recognize cancer cells. In recent years, scientists have been able to construct “artificial” immune cells, called Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR), with the ability to target cancers. Malignant cells have […]
New paper by the Thelen Lab
on June 29, 2017 The paper published in the journal Oncotarget unveils an important role of the atypical chemokine receptor ACKR3 in tissue infiltration of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The receptor is expressed in a variety of DLBCL. The group focused on human VAL cells, which express functional ACKR3 on the plasma membrane. […]
Prof. Antonio Lanzavecchia receives the 2017 Robert Koch Award
on June 19, 2017 The Robert Koch Foundation is jointly awarding the 2017 Robert Koch Award to Professors Antonio Lanzavecchia and Rafi Ahmed. The award recognizes the two immunologists’ pioneering research on regulation of immune system and their ground-breaking contributions on the development of new vaccines and immunotherapies. Prof. Antonio Lanzavecchia from the Institute for […]
Gianluca D’Agostino and Tobias Wolf IRB Student awardees 2016-2017
on May 12, 2017 During the annual IRB Student Retreat, which took place on May 8 – 10 in Weggis, Gianluca D’Agostino (Chemokines in Immunity Lab) and Tobias Wolf (Immune Regulation Lab) were announced as the grantees of the fifth IRB student award. This award is meant to acknowledge the students’ participation, effort and improvements […]
New paper by the Cavalli Lab
on May 11, 2017 Cytochromes P450 (CYP450s), in particular, CYP19A1 and CYP17A1, are key clinical targets of breast and prostate anticancer therapies, critical players in drug metabolism, and their overexpression in tumors is associated with drug resistance. In these enzymes, ligand (substrates, drugs) metabolism occurs in deeply buried active sites accessible only via several grueling […]
New paper by the Lanzavecchia Lab on the discovery of a new vaccine against RSV virus in the cattle
on April 4, 2017 The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, USA), together with the Pirbright Institute (UK) and Humabs BioMed SA, a Swiss company active in the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic purposes, have developed a new vaccine that protects calves […]
New paper by the Cejka Lab
on March 24, 2017 The laboratory of Prof. Cejka studies how cells repair damaged or broken DNA. DNA can break as a result of exposure to radiation, chemicals or errors during natural cellular processes such as DNA replication. A failure to repair broken DNA may result in cell death, while incorrect repair may give rise […]
