CeMM

CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences At the center of CeMM’s interest are patients and associated diseases.

CeMM integrates basic research and clinical expertise to pursue innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches focused on cancer, inflammation and immune disorders.

27/03/2026

📢 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄!

What does a year of transition, discovery, and cultural dialogue in science look like? In our 2025 Research Report, we invite you to explore exactly that.

This edition captures a defining moment for CeMM: the closing of an important chapter under the leadership of Giulio Superti-Furga, the arrival of Maria Rescigno as Scientific Director, and the continued growth of our research and innovation ecosystem.

🎭 In 2025, we brought our science into Vienna’s iconic theaters and concert halls, spaces that have long shaped cultural life and public discourse. By bringing researchers and admin colleagues into these historic spaces, we emphasize the role of science as an integral part of society, alongside art, music, and literature.

🔬 Inside the report, you will find:
• Breakthrough discoveries published in Nature and Science
• Advances in cancer research and immunotherapy
• Large-scale collaborative projects shaping future drug discovery
• The people, ideas, and collaborations behind CeMM’s work

📖 Discover the full report ➡️ https://bit.ly/4deepF5

If you would like to receive a printed copy, register here ➡️ https://bit.ly/4vdaRtt

Over the coming weeks, we will take you behind the scenes, introducing the stories, the labs, and insights from last year's report. Stay tuned!

🎉 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿é 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 Österreichi...
26/03/2026

🎉 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿é 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)! 👏

The Young Academy is a key initiative of the ÖAW, bringing together up to 70 outstanding early-career researchers from across disciplines who are advancing innovative research areas, strengthening interdisciplinary exchange, and improving conditions for the next generation of scientists. This year, the ÖAW selected 29 female and 17 male researchers for admission. For the first time in its history, women now make up the majority among members under the age of 60.

Rendeiro’s election recognizes both his scientific achievements and his growing international impact. At CeMM, his research in spatial and computational biology integrates machine learning and AI with biomedical data to uncover how tissues are organized and how these structures influence aging and disease.

This recognition highlights the growing importance of interdisciplinary approaches in shaping the future of biomedical science and fostering new opportunities for collaboration across fields.

👉 Find out more about the Rendeiro group ▶️ https://bit.ly/3Pkm5vL

📸 Klaus Pichler / CeMM

🎉 Congratulations to CeMM Principal Investigator André Rendeiro on being elected to the Young Academy of the Österreichi...
26/03/2026

🎉 Congratulations to CeMM Principal Investigator André Rendeiro on being elected to the Young Academy of the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)! 👏

The Young Academy is a key initiative of the ÖAW, bringing together up to 70 outstanding early-career researchers from across disciplines who are advancing innovative research areas, strengthening interdisciplinary exchange, and improving conditions for the next generation of scientists. This year, the ÖAW selected 29 female and 17 male researchers for admission. For the first time in its history, women now make up the majority among members under the age of 60.

Rendeiro’s election recognizes both his scientific achievements and his growing international impact. At CeMM, his research in spatial and computational biology integrates machine learning and AI with biomedical data to uncover how tissues are organized and how these structures influence aging and disease.

This recognition highlights the growing importance of interdisciplinary approaches in shaping the future of biomedical science and fostering new opportunities for collaboration across fields.

👉 Find out more about the Rendeiro group ▶️ https://bit.ly/3Pkm5vL

📸 Klaus Pichler / CeMM

As draws to a close, we would like to spotlight another remarkable woman whose ideas and work have shaped science, med...
25/03/2026

As draws to a close, we would like to spotlight another remarkable woman whose ideas and work have shaped science, medicine, and society. Meet 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻, selected by the group of CeMM Principal Investigator André Rendeiro.

Hildegard of Bingen (ca. 1098–1179) was a German Benedictine abbess, visionary mystic, composer, and medical writer and practitioner. Her counsel was sought by nobility across Europe, and she corresponded with kings, queens, and ecclesiastical authorities.

Through her writings on nature and medicine, Hildegard documented observations of plants, animals, and natural phenomena, earning recognition as the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. Her work combined careful observation with a deep interest in health and the natural world.

Beyond science and medicine, Hildegard was also an influential composer and thinker, and she is today considered a patron saint of musicians and writers.

Hildegard of Bingen’s contributions illustrate how curiosity about nature and the pursuit of knowledge have long influenced the foundations of science and medicine.

While Women’s History Month may be ending, it also reminds us that inspiring women whose ideas and discoveries shape science and society deserve to be celebrated every day! 👩‍🔬👩🏾‍🔬

We finished the week with another Impromptu Seminar at CeMM, featuring Peter Kharchenko currently at IMBA, hosted by Pri...
20/03/2026

We finished the week with another Impromptu Seminar at CeMM, featuring Peter Kharchenko currently at IMBA, hosted by Principal Investigator André Rendeiro.

In his talk, “Quantitative exploration of clonal fate biases,” Kharchenko presented how combining single-cell lineage tracing with machine learning provides structured information on cell fate during development. His work uncovered a continuous pattern linking a cell’s position with the types of tissues it contributes to, and showed how external signals can influence these fate decisions, providing new insights into how cells specialize and informing approaches to stem cell engineering.

Peter Kharchenko received his PhD in Biophysics from Harvard University under the mentorship of George Church and completed his postdoctoral training with Peter Park at Harvard Medical School, where he studied epigenetic regulation in model organisms and mammalian tissues. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, where his lab specializes in developing statistical and computational methods for analysing high-throughput assays, including transcriptional, epigenetic, and genetic analyses.

Thank you, Peter, for an insightful session on quantitative genomics and computational approaches to understanding cellular fate.

📸 Barbara Bachmann / CeMM

🔍 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝘆𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲In biomedical research and clinical diagnostics, microsc...
20/03/2026

🔍 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝘆𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲

In biomedical research and clinical diagnostics, microscopy images are a key asset. However, performing systematic, data-driven analysis on them remains a major challenge. To address this, CeMM Principal Investigator André Rendeiro and his team have developed 𝗟𝗮𝘇𝘆𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲, an open-source tool that uses AI and foundation models to unlock the potential of digital pathology analysis.

Published in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴, LazySlide enables researchers to analyze whole-slide images without extensive manual annotation, link visual tissue patterns to molecular data such as gene expression profiles, and even connect images to natural language, turning visual impressions into searchable, quantifiable biology.

Designed to integrate seamlessly with existing computational tools widely used in genomics and single-cell research, LazySlide helps bring tissue imaging into the era of accessible, interoperable, data-driven biomedical research.

➡️ Read more: https://bit.ly/4jZWLGk

📄 Publication: https://go.nature.com/4dyRqVj

📸 First author Yimin Zheng and senior author André Rendeiro (© Wolfgang Däuble / CeMM).
📸 Demonstration of the discoveries LazySlide makes when analyzing a human small intestine. (© Rendeiro Group).
📸 Cell detection with LazySlide in human colon tissue: Immune cells (green), connective tissue cells (blue), and epithelial cells (orange) (© Yimin Zheng).

Congratulations to Yi Xiao, from the group of CeMM Adjunct PI and Prof. Nuno Maulide (Universität Wien), who successful...
20/03/2026

Congratulations to Yi Xiao, from the group of CeMM Adjunct PI and Prof. Nuno Maulide (Universität Wien), who successfully defended her PhD thesis this week on: "I. Controlling the Fate of Bicyclobutonium Ions by Computation-Aided Reaction Design; II. Synthesis of Difunctionalized Amides by Domino Conjugate Addition-Smiles Rearrangement".

Yi's research focuses on new synthetic methodologies in organic chemistry and their underlying reaction mechanisms. Her thesis addresses two novel synthetic methods: first, developing a domino reaction that allows rapid access to highly functionalized amides from simple starting materials; second, understanding how highly fluxional intermediates can be controlled to attain selective reaction outcomes.

Your colleagues and friends at CeMM are proud of you, Yi. Well done! 🎉👏

📸 Laura Alvarez / CeMM

We continue our campaign featuring women whose ideas have shaped science and technology. This week, we highlight 𝗔𝗱𝗮 𝗟...
19/03/2026

We continue our campaign featuring women whose ideas have shaped science and technology. This week, we highlight 𝗔𝗱𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲, selected by the group of CeMM Adjunct Principal Investigator Jörg Menche (Max Perutz Labs / University of Vienna).

Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) was a British mathematician often referred to as the first computer programmer. She recognized that the potential of Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical computer, the “Analytical Engine,” extended far beyond numerical calculation. In her notes on the machine, she described how it could be programmed to follow a sequence of instructions, an insight that anticipated key principles of modern computing.

Later in life, she struggled with addiction to opiates and gambling, and attempted to devise a mathematical system to win at games of chance. She died of cancer at the age of 36.

Ada Lovelace’s work was visionary, and her scientific contributions were only fully recognized nearly a century after her death, with the rise of the computing age. Her legacy reminds us that imagination and scientific insight can open entirely new ways of thinking about technology and its possibilities.

Join us next week as we spotlight another remarkable woman whose discoveries continue to shape science and society. 👩‍🔬👩🏾‍🔬

This week, we have a couple of interesting Impromptu Seminars at CeMM! Today, we were pleased to welcome Francesco Iorio...
17/03/2026

This week, we have a couple of interesting Impromptu Seminars at CeMM! Today, we were pleased to welcome Francesco Iorio from Human Technopole to CeMM for a seminar hosted by Adjunct PI Florian Grebien (Vetmeduni no).

In his talk, “Decoding Cancer Dependencies: Principles and Prediction for Therapeutic Target Discovery,” Iorio presented recent work from his lab on organizing cancer dependency data into biologically interpretable principles for drug discovery. In particular, he highlighted the DepSHOCK programme, which integrates CRISPR, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence to predict the genes on which human cancer cells depend for survival and to use this predictive power to prioritize those as targets for future anti-cancer therapies.

Francesco Iorio is a computational cancer biologist and Senior Research Group Leader at Human Technopole in Milan, Italy. His work focuses on combining functional cancer genomics, CRISPR-based perturbation screens, and predictive modelling to identify context-specific cancer vulnerabilities and therapeutic targets, as well as in silico drug repositioning, with the overall goal of advancing precision oncology. Francesco is the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant and coordinates the nascent European PRECISE Consortium (Predictive Rules Explaining Cancer Genetic Interactions and Synthetic Essentiality).

Thank you, Francesco, for an insightful session on predictive functional genomics and its potential to guide the discovery of new cancer therapies!

📸 Barbara Bachmann / CeMM

📢 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀)We are recruiting two exceptionally innovative, cre...
17/03/2026

📢 𝗖𝗲𝗠𝗠 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀)

We are recruiting two exceptionally innovative, creative, and ambitious early-career scientists to join CeMM as Starting P*s within a new research program on 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 / 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.

⌛ In modern society, increased lifespan is not always matched by prolonged health and well-being. Our new interdisciplinary research area, 𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗡-𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚, aims to understand the biological mechanisms underlying healthy aging and chronic pain, with the goal of preventing and targeting non-communicable diseases associated with unhealthy aging, such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and cardiometabolic disorders.

The PAIN-AGING program explores how factors such as biologic aging, metaflammation, viral infection, microbiota composition, and pain signaling pathways interact to drive unhealthy aging and reveal new targets for intervention.

👉 We are looking for MD and/or PhD scientists with an exceptional track record in pain research, neurosciences, immunology, or related fields, ready to establish their first independent research group and pursue innovative research closely connected to clinical questions.

Join a highly collaborative CeMM Faculty of 20 research group leaders, working across key areas such as epigenetic regulation, microbiota biology, metabolism, genomic integrity, inflammation, innovative pharmacology, patient-derived organoids, and more.

📅 𝘒𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴:
• Application deadline: 24 April 2026
• PI hearings: 2–3 June 2026

🔎 More information: https://bit.ly/4rCM7aT

📩 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄: 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻@𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗺.𝗮𝘁, reference code "CeMM PI Pain&Aging"

Join us in shaping the future of biomedical research and medicine!

We are halfway through our , and this week we highlight 𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗸𝗶𝗻, selected by the Molecular Discovery Platform l...
13/03/2026

We are halfway through our , and this week we highlight 𝗗𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗸𝗶𝗻, selected by the Molecular Discovery Platform led by Principal Investigator Stefan Kubicek at CeMM.

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910–1994) was a British chemist awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 “for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances.” Through groundbreaking applications of X-ray crystallography, she mapped the structures of penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin. These discoveries helped scientists better understand and manufacture life-saving substances and established crystallography as an indispensable tool in modern science.

Beyond her scientific achievements, Hodgkin was a lifelong advocate for world peace. She campaigned against nuclear weapons and believed in international scientific cooperation, including with Chinese and Soviet scientists during the Cold War.

Dorothy Hodgkin’s legacy is reflected not only in the immediate scientific applications of her research and discoveries, expanding the limits of X-ray crystallography, but also in a deep commitment to science as a global endeavor that can bring people together.

Join us next week as we spotlight another remarkable woman whose discoveries continue to shape science and society. 👩‍🔬👩🏾‍🔬

We were pleased to start the week by welcoming Francesco Boccellato from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research to CeM...
09/03/2026

We were pleased to start the week by welcoming Francesco Boccellato from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research to CeMM for a new Impromptu Seminar, hosted by Adjunct PI Georg Busslinger (Medizinische Universität Wien).

In his lecture, “Gastrointestinal epithelial barrier homeostasis and response to infections and irritations,” Boccellato discussed how the gastrointestinal mucosa maintains its protective epithelial barrier and how pathogens can disrupt this balance, potentially leading to chronic inflammation and increased cancer risk.

He presented innovative experimental systems developed in his lab, including regenerated organoids and “mucosoids”, a human multi-lineage stem-cell–based in-vitro equivalent of the human mucosa. These models allow the team to study epithelial homeostasis and host responses to bacterial infections and irritations.

Boccellato’s research focuses on understanding the impact of pathogens in causing cancer. He completed his PhD at Sapienza University of Rome and later moved to Berlin for a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, where he developed the mucosoid culture system to better study the impact of infection on healthy epithelia. In 2019, he established his independent research group at the University of Oxford within the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Thank you, Francesco, for an engaging and insightful seminar on epithelial biology, infection, and innovative model systems that help uncover how pathogens shape human disease.

📸 Barbara Bachmann / CeMM

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About CeMM

CeMM’s mission is to achieve maximum scientific innovation in molecular medicine to improve healthcare.

At CeMM, an international and creative team of scientists and medical doctors pursues free-minded basic life science research in a large and vibrant hospital environment of outstanding medical tradition and practice.

CeMM’s research is based on post-genomic technologies and focuses on societally important diseases, such as immune disorders and infections, cancer and metabolic disorders.

CeMM operates in a unique mode of super-cooperation, connecting biology with medicine, experiments with computation, discovery with translation, and science with society and the arts.