A new research group on multiscale mechanobiology of tissue organization at CeMM: We wish Abdel Rahman Abdel Fattah a great start into this new role as Principal Investigator and Faculty member at CeMM! 

Abdel’s research interest lies in understanding how cells navigate a mechanical roadmap in order to initiate, achieve, and maintain tissue organization in health and disease. His lab will lead this research direction by building new bioengineering tools, profiling transcriptomic landscapes, and bridging the multicellular and molecular dimensions of mechanoregulation.

The group will investigate trauma-induced tissue disorganization, with a…

The artificial intelligence (AI) model GPT-4, known from its application in ChatGPT, shows impressive capabilities in biomedical research and can be used in many ways for simulations. A simulator developed at MedUni Vienna and CeMM and based on GPT-4 shows increased accuracy in classifying the importance of genes in cancer cells, as well as in the prognosis of cancer patients. The results of the study were published in the journal Computers in Biology and Medicine.

Large language models such as GPT-4 have proven to be extremely useful in various fields, including biomedicine. A research team from MedUni Vienna's Institute of Artificial…

Despite the significant increase in sexually transmitted diseases in recent years, there is currently no vaccine available against common bacterial pathogens such as chlamydia. In the search for ways to prevent infection, a research team from MedUni Vienna and CeMM has identified the active substance pentamidine as a promising candidate for the prophylaxis of chlamydial infections and possibly other bacterial sexually transmitted diseases. The study was recently published in the scientific journal Cell Reports Medicine.

In order to find previously unknown substances for the treatment of chlamydial infections, the scientific team led by Georg…

Giulio Superti-Furga has been awarded the 2024 Lennart Philipson Award at the EMBL 50th Anniversary Scientific Symposium in Heidelberg. The Lennart Philipson Award was created to honour EMBL’s second Director General, Lennart Philipson (1982-1993). The Award recognises outstanding and validated contributions in translational research and/or technology innovation across the complete spectrum of life sciences.

Giulio Superti-Furga received the award for his research achievements, for the methods he developed and shared with the life sciences community, for the companies he had created, and the leaders in science and beyond he has trained…

Disease-causing proteins can be removed from the cell through targeted protein degradation. For this, the protein must be connected to one of the approximately 600 endogenous so-called ubiquitin ligases. So far, clinical success has only been achieved with two of these ligases. A team of researchers at CeMM, led by Georg Winter, has now discovered an adapter for a new ligase, potentially significantly expanding the range of medical applications. Furthermore, the team managed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this adapter, which could lead to a new general strategy for targeted protein degradation. The study was published in Nature…

Nightshade plants produce a diverse array of compounds with therapeutic potential. Researchers at CeMM have now identified an artificial variant inspired by the Withanolides group that acts highly specifically against leukemia cells. Using state-of-the-art chemical and genetic high-throughput analyses, the team led by Georg Winter not only confirmed its effectiveness but also elucidated its mechanism of action: the molecule disrupts the cholesterol metabolism of tumor cells. The study's findings were published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology (DOI 10.1038/s41589-024-01614-4).

While some nightshade plants, such as potatoes, tomatoes, or…

We thank our Scientific Advisory Board members Carl-Henrik Heldin (SAB Chair), Emmanuelle Charpentier, Aaron Ciechanover, Janet Kelso, Hidde Ploegh and Derek Tan for their precious time, fruitful discussions and valuable feedback. Academy President Heinz Faßmann met the SAB to receive feedback and recommendations and we appreciate that he expressed encouraging words to CeMM Faculty.

CeMM’s international Scientific Advisory Board members visit the institute every 18 months, to provide feedback on ongoing projects to discuss future research plans with CeMM Faculty, PostDocs and PhD students and to provide CeMM Management with recommendations…

The Rainbow Alliance for Life Sciences and Medicine is an independent initiative of students, doctors, employees, and scientists at CeMM, the Medical University and AKH Vienna, as well as the research institutes at the Vienna Biocenter. Under the motto "Diversity is in our DNA" the alliance aims to show that while our genome is composed of just four letters — A, T, G, and C — their combinations create an immense complexity and, thus, the wonderful diversity among humans.

The mission of the LSM alliance has two main objectives:

• To highlight the rich diversity of individuals working in science and medicine and to promote equality,…

Thank you to the CeMM Postdoc representatives who organized this year’s Long Night of Research #LNF24 activities at CeMM, and all volunteers who supported this event. It was a pleasure to welcome our visitors and to see their interest in research and medicine.

At various activity stations for children and adults, CeMM members tried to give a glimpse into wet lab methods and introduced Virtual Reality technology for exploring biological data, and to learn more about network science. We also provided general information about CeMM and the EU-LIFE alliance to our guests.

Recent advances in high-throughput technologies have created exciting…

Congratulations to CeMM Director Giulio Superti-Furga, and MPI Director Ferdi Schüth, for receiving the Wilhelm Exner Medal this year.

Wilhelm Exner (1840-1931) was president of the Austrian Business Association. Exner established the modern type of vocational schools in Austria, was one of the creators of the Chamber of Labor and was co-founder of the Vienna Technical Museum. The law for examination and material testing goes also back to him. With the medal bearing his name, the Wilhelm Exner Medal Foundation has since honored eminent scientists whose theories, findings and results have initiated important trade-industrial applications.…