CeMM

07/01/2026

🧬 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹’𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗽 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲

An international research team led by CeMM, AITHYRA, and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology has introduced a powerful new concept in drug discovery: a new class of small molecules that harness the cell’s natural protein degradation machinery to accelerate the removal of an immune-modulating enzyme called IDO1.

Published in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, the study identifies these newly discovered molecules, called iDegs, that combine inhibition and elimination in one step to promote the degradation of IDO1, which tumors and viruses use to suppress immune responses.

This dual mechanism could help overcome the limitations of traditional inhibitors and open new avenues for a new generation of degraders, and for targeting of proteins long considered undruggable.

➡️ Read more: https://bit.ly/4sfU6w7
📄 Publication: https://bit.ly/4qtAzq8

📸 Co-senior author Georg Winter and co-first author Natalie Scholes (© Barbara Bachmann / CeMM).

23/12/2025

This year, we stepped out of our labs and onto the stage of the MusikTheater an der Wien to practice our singing skills… and we’re officially ready for Christmas! 🎶🎄

As we wrap up another year full of scientific discoveries, successes, and collaboration, we want to thank our colleagues, partners, and friends for your continued support and for being part of our scientific journey.

We wish everyone a joyful holiday season and look forward to an exciting new year ahead.

Happy holidays and a happy New Year from all of us at CeMM! ✨

20/12/2025

📢 Open now: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗬𝗥𝗔-𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

𝟭𝟱–𝟮𝟬 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 are available in Vienna, Austria 🇦🇹

📅 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝟯𝟬 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
➡️ https://apply.cemm.at/

‍🔬 Are you a computer scientist, engineer, physicist, mathematician, medic, biologist, chemist, bioinformatician, or do you hold a degree in a similar subject?
Would you like to work on an exciting research project to address real-world problems in interdisciplinary computational, biomedical, clinical, and health research settings?

We offer:
✅ 𝟰 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 (includes research costs and health insurance).
✅ A 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 in a supportive peer-group environment.
✅ Full access to 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗼𝗳-𝘁𝗵𝗲-𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀.
✅ 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 and support of the Faculty of either CeMM or AITHYRA.
✅ 𝗔 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮.
✅ An 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 in the heart of a scientifically active and culturally vibrant European city.
✅A 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

19/12/2025

📣 CeMM is looking for talented and motivated undergraduate students to join one of our participating labs at the 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲!

👉 Take a look at the opening in CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator Davide Seruggia's group and contribute to research on targeting chromatin regulators in leukemia.

The VBC Summer School offers a unique opportunity for approximately 25–30 undergraduate students to work side by side with leading researchers in a dynamic scientific environment. CeMM participates alongside the Gregor Mendel Institute, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), and the Max Perutz Labs Vienna. The program is generously sponsored by the Max Birnstiel Foundation.

🔗 Read more and apply by 11 January 2026: ➡️ https://bit.ly/3Elyllh

The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for applications from talented undergrads. Davide Serrugia from CEMM has an open position - this is the perfect preparation for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences arena. 2-month research project, accommodation and stipend for successful candidates.
Please share!
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology
GMI - Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology
Max Perutz Labs
CeMM
Vienna Biocenter Scientific Training

15/12/2025

🎉 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 from Stefan Kubicek’s group for receiving the 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Women, Science and Research! 👏

Since 2008, this prestigious state prize, endowed with €3,000, has honored the 40 best dissertations of the previous academic year. Universities can nominate their candidates, and Andreas was recognised for his outstanding PhD dissertation, "Pooled protein tagging for mapping and manipulating protein localizations at scale."

In a 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 publication closely linked to his PhD research, Andreas, together with CeMM researchers led by Stefan Kubicek, presented a major advance in cellular imaging: a method called 𝘷𝘱𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴, which enables simultaneous fluorescent tagging of multiple proteins using five different colors. This innovative method, aided by AI-assisted image recognition, opens up new possibilities for large-scale, high-throughput studies across fundamental research and drug discovery.

Big congratulations, Andreas, on this well-deserved honor, and all the best for your future scientific path!

🔗 Find out more about his research: https://bit.ly/4oi20lq

📸 Martin_Lusser / BMFWF

12/12/2025

🎄✨ This year, the CeMM community came together for a Christmas celebration at the historic Schönbrunn Orangery, one of Vienna’s most elegant imperial venues. Built in the 18th century to house exotic plants and host grand festivities, the Orangery offered the perfect atmosphere to mark a year of scientific discovery, collaboration, and connection.

CeMM colleagues gathered on 10 December 2025 for a festive evening, beginning with guided tours of the Schönbrunn Palace, which invited everyone to explore the fascinating history of this iconic location before the main celebrations began.

Surrounded by the timeless charm of the Orangery, CeMM colleagues enjoyed a relaxed evening celebrating together, sharing stories, and reflecting on the year's achievements. Our principal investigators were also put to the test, as they demonstrated their knowledge of CeMM and their students and took part in games to win a special treasure for their labs. The strong CeMM spirit was especially evident as colleagues came together to donate funds in support of Ukrainian children affected by war.

A heartfelt thank you to CeMM’s 2nd-year PhD students for organizing such a special celebration, and to everyone who joined and donated to support a good cause!

👉 Take a look at the photo gallery: https://bit.ly/4oJvhFL

📷 Bubu Dujmic / CeMM

09/12/2025

📣 Calling all motivated undergraduate students to join one of CeMM’s participating labs in the 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲!

👉 Take a look at the position offered in the group of CeMM Investigator 𝗔𝗯𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗯𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗵 a great opportunity to work on bioprinting human development with magnets.

Each year, the Vienna BioCenter Summer School welcomes 25–30 undergraduate students for hands-on research alongside top scientists in a dynamic scientific environment. CeMM participates together with the GMI - Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), and the Max Perutz Labs Vienna. The program is generously sponsored by the Max Birnstiel Foundation.

🔗 Learn more and apply by 11 January 2026: https://bit.ly/3Elyllh

The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for applications from talented undergrads. Abdel Rahman Abdel Fattah from CEMM has an open position - this is the perfect preparation for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences arena. 2-month research project, accommodation and stipend for successful candidates.
Please share!
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology
GMI - Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology
Max Perutz Labs
CeMM
Vienna Biocenter Scientific Training

03/12/2025

A week full of science at CeMM! Yesterday, Daniela Thommen from the Netherlands Cancer Institute visited us for an impromptu seminar hosted by CeMM Principal Investigator Christoph Bock and postdoc Mihaela Peycheva.

In her lecture, Daniela presented how ex vivo tumor fragments can serve as powerful functional tools for personalized immunotherapy. Her research focuses on how intratumoral immune cell heterogeneity shapes immunotherapy responses and uses patient-derived organotypic models to develop tailored immunotherapy strategies.

Daniela Thommen is a Group Leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and a Junior Investigator at the Oncode Institute. With an MD and PhD from the University of Basel and a background in medical oncology and tumor immunology, her work has been recognized with major awards, including the 2018 Bas Mulder Award and the 2019 Swiss Pfizer Research Prize in Oncology.

Thank you, Daniela, for joining us and sharing this insightful lecture on personalized immunotherapy!

📸 Barbara Bachmann / CeMM

02/12/2025

🦠 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

A new study led by CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator Georg Stary and researchers at CeMM and the Medizinische Universität Wien reveals how the saliva of 𝘐𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴, the most common tick in Central Europe, alters the skin's immune defenses, facilitating the transmission of the Lyme disease pathogen 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪.

The researchers show that tick saliva alters the behavior of Langerhans cells, specialized immune cells in the skin. Instead of triggering a protective, defensive response, these cells rapidly disappear and migrate deeper into skin layers and lymph vessels. The messenger substances in tick saliva put them into a so-called tolerogenic state, in which cells trigger a suppressive, regulatory immune response, weakening the body's initial defenses and enabling pathogen transmission.

Their findings, published in Nature Communications, could be relevant to both infection prevention and vaccine development in the future.

➡️ Read more: https://bit.ly/48pHoBD
📄 Publication: https://go.nature.com/4pGJ2Gb

📸 Authors of the study Georg Stary, Johanna Strobl, and Lisa Kleißl (Wolfgang Däuble / CeMM).

📸 Healthy skin cells vs. infected skin cells of a patient with lime disease (© Johanna Strobl).

01/12/2025

In the final of the year, 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗟𝘂𝗻𝗱 from NYU Grossman School of Medicine joined us for a lecture on lymphatic transport in peripheral tissue immunity and tumor progression. The event was hosted by CeMM Principal Investigators Barbara Maier and Laura de Rooij.

During her talk, Amanda shared her team’s research on how changes in lymphatic structure and function influence antigen distribution, leukocyte trafficking, and tumor progression. By understanding how the lymphatic system adapts over time during immune responses, her group aims to uncover new strategies to target lymphatic transport, with potential therapeutic applications in infection/vaccination, autoimmunity, and cancer.

Amanda Lund is an Associate Professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and the Department of Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Since founding her lab in 2014, she has received numerous honors, including the AACR Next Gen Star Award and the AACR-BMS MidCareer Female Investigator Award. Her work has helped redefine the role of lymphatic vessels and sentinel lymph nodes in regulating systemic immunity and shaping tumor responses to therapy.

Thank you, Amanda, for an inspiring seminar and for sharing your pioneering research at the interface of lymphatic transport, immunology, and cancer!

📸 Wolfgang Däuble / CeMM

28/11/2025

🧬 𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿

A collaborative study led by Florian Grebien, with researchers at Vetmeduni, St. Anna Kinderkrebsforschung, and CeMM, has uncovered a promising new approach to treat NUP98-r acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer in children.

Published in Cell Reports, the study identifies the protein SPOP (E3 ligase Speckle-Type POZ Protein) as a direct regulator of the stability of NUP98 fusion oncoproteins and a natural tumor suppressor. By inducing spatial proximity between SPOP and the fusion oncoprotein, researchers triggered its complete degradation, leading to cell differentiation and leukemia cell death both 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘰 and 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰.

Using engineered molecules called bioPROTACs, the team successfully redirected the cell’s own degradation system against the cancer-causing protein, providing a potential target for future precision therapies.

➡️ Read more: https://bit.ly/3M2RfWz
📄 Publication: LINK

📷 Myeloid Blasts in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
📷 First author Ecem Kirkiz and senior author Florian Grebien.

26/11/2025

🧬 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

For decades, kinase inhibitors have been used in cancer therapy to block enzymes that fuel uncontrolled cell growth and, consequently, disease progression. Now, a new international study led by Georg Winter and researchers at CeMM, AITHYRA, and Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) reveals a surprising twist: these kinase inhibitors can also cause the degradation of their targets.

Published in Nature, the study systematically mapped the effect across 98 kinases using 1,570 compounds, showing that over 232 inhibitors reduced protein levels of at least one kinase, with 66 different kinases affected. These findings open new opportunities for drug development based on Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) and may help explain the unexpected effects of existing therapies.

➡️ Read more: https://bit.ly/3LY6jor

📄 Publication: https://bit.ly/43MffU1

📸 First author Natalie Scholes and senior author Georg Winter (© Barbara Bachmann / CeMM)