Could a single injection replace weekly weight loss shots? Wistar scientists developed a single-dose DNA method that manages weight and blood glucose 10x longer than current therapies in preclinical models. Read more: bit.ly/4oL7w1C #obesity #diabetes #weightloss #biotech #Wistar

Thanks to GEN for highlighting Dr. Katherine Aird’s new @nature.com paper revealing how ovarian cancer cells use a metabolic trick to resist chemotherapy — and how blocking it could restore treatment sensitivity. 🔬 This could change the game for patients with hard-to-treat tumors. bit.ly/4x5iPpr

Stay connected to the latest discoveries at Wistar! Sign up for Wistar News to get research breakthroughs, inspiring stories, and updates on the people and projects advancing biomedical science in Philadelphia and beyond. Sign up today: www.wistar.org/news-sign-up/

Don't miss out! Join us next Wednesday, 3/18, for the Philadelphia Drug Discovery Forum! Join Mallika Singh, Ph.D., of Revolution Medicines for her talk, “Targeting the Oncogenic State of RAS.” 🕞 Doors open: 3:30 PM 🕓 Talk begins promptly: 4 PM 🥂 Networking: 5 PM 👉 Register now! bit.ly/4qQkg6B

Wistar scientists have developed a vaccine strategy that induced neutralizing antibodies with a single shot in a preclinical study—a first-ever achievement. Led by Dr. Amelia Escolano, this breakthrough could lead to simpler, faster, and cheaper vaccination protocols globally. bit.ly/4ceGGdY

Wistar Scientists Demonstrate First-Ever Single-Shot HIV Vaccine Neutralization Success

Wistar Scientists Demonstrate First-Ever Single-Shot HIV Vaccine Neutralization Success Press Releases

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Thanks to our speakers Dr. Jason DeHart and Dr. Jason Lamontagne and everyone who joined the latest Philadelphia Drug Discovery Forum! Want to connect with Philly’s biopharma community? Join the next PDDF on March 18, 4–6 p.m. Learn more: bit.ly/4bcdm7B

🚨 Last chance to register! Join us Jan 21, 4–6 p.m. at The Wistar Institute for the Philadelphia Drug Discovery Forum. Hear from leaders in biopharma and connect with peers shaping the future of medicine. Register: bit.ly/4hQgasj

Congrats to Dr. Italo Tempera on his promotion to Professor! After postdoc training in Wistar's Lieberman lab, he launched his own lab at Temple before returning to Wistar in 2020. Since then, he's published in top‑tier journals and had major grant success. 👏 Congrats! bit.ly/49mwnTv

Italo Tempera, Ph.D.

Italo Tempera, Ph.D. Our Scientists

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Hear from Federica Severi, a pre-doctoral trainee in Dr. Dan Claiborne's lab, about her work researching CAR T cells as a therapy against HIV. “What we do here is immunotherapy, where we make the immune system more powerful against infection … like HIV”

Hear from Wistar predoctoral fellow Maya Foster about what fuels her passion for science. "I work with actual cancer cells -- we do actual cancer research. Our work is quite important."

Wistar was proud to host Life Science Cares Philadelphia for a tour! As a valued partner, they support our work to expand access to life science careers for those in HS, college and beyond.

The American Society of Gene + Cell Therapy Annual Meeting was an amazing opportunity for Wistar scientists Drs. Patel, Gary and Parzych, & predoc Nick Tursi, in the lab of Dr. David Weiner, to share their important research on such a huge stage!

We’re excited to welcome Dr. Xiaoyu Zhou as assistant professor in Wistar’s Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center! Her cutting-edge work in immune cell communication & CAR T-cell engineering is a great addition to Wistar’s collaborative work advancing cancer & infectious disease therapies. bit.ly/4iLDypU

In a new collaborative paper from Wistar’s Salvino lab, the Penn Perelman School of Medicine, and the University of Leeds, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, researchers have discovered a new molecular glue that combats dysregulated inflammatory signaling: bit.ly/4lf941M

Three Wistar trainees were recently recognized for excellence in science. Dr. Ignacio Rodriguez Relano received the 2024 Ching Jer Chern Postdoctoral Fellowship, while Drs. Phillip Wulfridge & Brennah Murphy Britten received the 2024 & 2025 Ching Jer Chern Memorial Awards. Congratulations!

Thanks to the Justamere Foundation for awarding Wistar’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center a 2-year, $150K grant. The grant supports Wistar’s BTT for ALL in PHL Program that helps residents of Philadelphia train for secure jobs in the region’s thriving biomedical sector.

On World TB Day, we shine a light on the deadliest infectious disease in the world. Caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it has been around for centuries and has been tracked in the U.S. since the 1950s. Learn more about this disease and why it’s making a resurgence now: bit.ly/4iAX6ho

Wistar recently unveiled 2 new internal grants that will provide valuable funding opportunities to early-career researchers to foster collaborations & eventually establish independent research programs: bit.ly/4bV9zK8

The Wistar Institute Announces Two New Internal Career Development Awards to Support Early Career Scientists

The Wistar Institute Announces Two New Internal Career Development Awards to Support Early Career Scientists Featured News

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Wistar's Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire strongly believes, “To learn science, you need to do science.” She comes from a long line of teachers & has her hand on the pulse of the latest training needed for next-gen science careers. Learn more: bit.ly/4iJaDD6

The Wistar Institute’s Commitment to Teaching the Next Generation of Biomedical Researchers

The Wistar Institute’s Commitment to Teaching the Next Generation of Biomedical Researchers Featured News

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Triple-negative breast cancer is a difficult-to-treat cancer that affects 10-15% of breast cancer patients in the U.S., defined by the absence of 3 receptors: estrogen, progesterone, and HER2. Continued cancer research is essential to overcoming this challenge. #triplenegativebreastcancerday

Wistar is pleased to announce the recruitment of its newest faculty member, Dr. Colby Maldini, to the HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center. The Maldini lab will expand his work on CAR T cells as part of a strategy to cure HIV and other viral threats. bit.ly/4gWzcv2

The Wistar Institute Announces Recruitment of First Caspar Wistar Fellow to Join HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center

The Wistar Institute Announces Recruitment of First Caspar Wistar Fellow to Join HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center Press Releases

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New preclinical research from Wistar’s @filippov81.bsky.social published in Cancer Discovery shows how brain cancer reprograms immune cells to work for the cancer rather than against it. Their discovery also enables a potential treatment to disrupt the reprogramming process. bit.ly/4ijBIMT

The Wistar Institute Discovers a Promising Target in Brain Cancer

The Wistar Institute Discovers a Promising Target in Brain Cancer Press Releases

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The Wistar Institute's Montaner lab was pleased to host members of the HIV Advocacy for Cure Academy, who received a tour of the Institute and Dr. Montaner's laboratory facilities where scientists continue their work to seek a cure for HIV.

Some questions Wistar's EHS head Roma Maraj-Owens thinks about a lot: “What are your experimental procedures? How can we protect our employees and the environment?” Read more about how she ensures institutional safety in her Q&A: bit.ly/41lh0FP

Roma Maraj-Owen Makes Sure Wistar Lab Health & Safety is Her Top Priority

Roma Maraj-Owen Makes Sure Wistar Lab Health & Safety is Her Top Priority Featured News

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In their second “Top Read” paper in less than a year, Wistar’s Montaner lab has published the successful preclinical results of their new anti-HIV approach: NuKES, or Natural Killer Enhancement Strategy, which targets the viral reservoirs standing in the way of a cure. bit.ly/4hF0UNZ

Scientists at The Wistar Institute’s HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center Develop New Natural Killer Cell Strategy to Target HIV

Scientists at The Wistar Institute’s HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center Develop New Natural Killer Cell Strategy to Target HIV Press Releases

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Many thanks to @jenheemstra.bsky.social of Washington University in St. Louis for joining The Wistar Institute as part of the Distinguished Lectures in Cancer Research series, to speak to the importance of intentional, high-quality mentorship in the sciences. Read more: bit.ly/41ao9d3

In a new paper, Wistar’s Villanueva lab has discovered a new strategy to treat melanomas harboring mutations in the NRAS gene that don’t respond to MAPK inhibitors. Their treatment kills these mutant melanoma cells in preclinical testing with FDA-approved drugs. Our story: bit.ly/411yfwB

The Wistar Institute Scientists Discover New Weapon to Fight Treatment-Resistant Melanoma

The Wistar Institute Scientists Discover New Weapon to Fight Treatment-Resistant Melanoma Press Releases

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Wistar is hiring! Friday 2/7, join us at Temple University's job fair from 11-2 pm at the Howard Gittis Student Center to learn about our openings for postdoctoral fellowships and research assistant roles throughout more than 30 labs. Hope to see you there! No registration required.

Thanks to a new research grant from the Melanoma Research Foundation, The Wistar Institute’s Dr. Kazuko Nishikura is embarking on a project she hopes will serve as a proof of concept for a cancer treatment decades in the making. Our story: bit.ly/3WKOtYs

The Wistar Institute’s Dr. Kazuko Nishikura Launches Preclinical Testing of New Melanoma Immunotherapy

The Wistar Institute’s Dr. Kazuko Nishikura Launches Preclinical Testing of New Melanoma Immunotherapy Featured News

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Every cancer case starts somewhere, While new treatments are vital, prevention is just as key to protecting health. That’s why researchers at Wistar’s Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center pursue research to detect risks early & stop cancer in its tracks. #nationalcancerpreventionmonth