Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series

Prof. Dr. Gabriel Adrian Rabinovich - University of Buenos Aires

Date: 18.06.2026 

Time: 11:00

Location: Main Auditorium

Hosts: M. Platten, D. A. Agardy

Titel: “The Power of Glycocheckpoints: Translating Glycan-encoded Information into Novel Therapies in Cancer and Autoimmune Inflammation ”

Abstract:

The responsibility for deciphering the biological information encoded by the glycome- the whole repertoire of glycans in cells and tissues- is assigned to endogenous glycan-binding proteins or lectins whose expression is regulated at sites of inflammation and tumor growth. With the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets in cancer and autoimmune diseases, our laboratory investigates the molecular interactions between glycosylated receptors and glycan-binding proteins, particularly galectins in the control of immune and vascular programs. We have identified essential roles for galectin-1, a proto-type member of the galectin family, in promoting immune escape in different tumor models and limiting autoimmune inflammatory responses by differentially modulating the fate and function of effector and regulatory T cells and instructing the differentiation of immunosuppressive myeloid cells. Moreover, we identified the contribution of glycosylation-dependent, galectin-driven circuits to mechanisms of resistance of anti-angiogenic and immunotherapeutic modalities. Further, we validated the relevance of the galectin-1-glycan axis in immune-mediated models of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders. Thus, galectins may function as regulatory checkpoints that translate 'sugar codes' into immune and vascular signaling programs in tumor and inflammatory microenvironments, highlighting their therapeutic potential in a broad range of pathologic conditions.

About:

Gabriel Rabinovich (PhD) completed his graduate (1993) and PhD (1999) studies at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences, National University of Córdoba. After training in Molecular Immunology at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (Imperial College, London 1997) and The Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel 1999), he performed a post-doctoral training at the School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires. Currently, he is Director of the Program of Glycosciences at the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also Senior Investigator of the Argentinean National Research Council (CONICET) and Plenary Professor of Immunology at the University of Buenos Aires. Recently he has been appointed as Senior Group Leader of CaixaResearch Institute in Barcelona, Spain. Among several recognitions, he has been distinguished as Member of the US National Academy of Science (NAS; 2016), European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO; 2021), Latin American Academy of Science, The World Academy of Science (TWAS), Argentinean Academy of Science and Argentinean Academy of Exact and Natural Sciences (ANCEFN). His work was recognized with several awards (more than 200) including the recent Hakomori Award (2025) given by the International Glycoconjugate Organization (IGO), Karl Meyer Award, given by the Society of Glycobiology (USA 2023) to the most outstanding glycoscientist in the world, the TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences (Italy), John Simon Guggenheim Award (USA), Outstanding Investigator of the Nation (Argentina), Bunge & Born Prize in Medical Sciences (Argentina), Konex Diamond Prize to the best scientist of the decade in Argentina (2014-2024, Argentina), Mizutani Foundation for Glycosciences (Japan), Cancer Research Institute New York (USA) and Bernardo Houssay award (Argentina), among others. He has published 350 articles, mostly in high profile journals including Cell, Nature, Cancer Cell, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Immunity, Science Translational Medicine, Science Advances, PNAS and Journal of Experimental Medicine and was invited to write review articles in the most influential journals including Nature Reviews Immunology, Immunity, Annual Reviews Immunology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery among others. Based on his work, he filled 11 patents in different countries (USA, Europe, UK, Japan; Argentina). He serves as Associate editor and member of the Editorial Board of 15 journals. Together with his team, he identified a novel paradigm based on protein-glycan interactions that controls immune and vascular programs. Briefly, he demonstrated that galectins, a family of β-galactoside-binding proteins, can translate glycan-encoded information into novel regulatory programs that control inflammation, suppress autoimmune pathology and allow cancer cells to evade immune responses and promote angiogenesis and metastasis. His findings opened new therapeutic possibilities in cancer, chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases. His work has received over 52,000 citations and has an h factor=102 (Google Scholar). In 2023 he co-founded Galtec Life, a biotech spin-off company, aimed at translating galectin-based discoveries into new therapies for patients with cancer, autoimmunity and chronic inflammation. Dr. Rabinovich has supervised/ co-supervised 32 PhD students, 28 post-doctoral fellows and 20 associate researchers. He delivered 450 lectures in international and national venues, organized several international scientific meetings and courses and has done an extensive work in promoting the advance of immunology and glycosciences all over the world. He has been distinguished with Doctor Honoris Causa from 12 different national and international universities and has been visiting professor at the University of Maryland, University of Paris and University of Miami. He received financial support from several international grant agencies including The Welcome Trust (UK), National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute (USA), Lounsbery Foundation (USA), Cancer Research Institute (USA), Kenneth Rainin Foundation (USA), Multiple Sclerosis Society (USA), Mizutani Foundation for Glycosciences (Japan), Prostate Foundation (UK) as well as Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Argentina) and Sales, Bunge y Born and Baron Foundations (Argentina)

Prof. Ayelet Erez - Weizmann Institute 

Date: 02.07.2026

Time: 11:00

Location: Main Auditorium

Hosts: S. Wiemann

Titel: "Deciphering tumor-host crosstalk to improve cancer diagnosis and therapy"

About:

Ayelet Erez, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist who bridges the gap between clinical genetics and basic science to advance precision healthcare for cancer patients. Her research centers on the metabolic crosstalk between the host and tumor, with a strong focus on translating metabolic insights into therapeutic and diagnostic innovations.
Dr. Erez earned her medical degree from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. After completing her pediatric residency, she pursued a PhD in Cancer Genetics at Tel Aviv University. She then trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where she completed a clinical genetics fellowship and conducted postdoctoral research on the metabolism of human diseases.
In 2012, Dr. Erez returned to Israel to join the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she currently serves as Dean of the Weizmann MD-PhD School and Head of the Center for Rare Genetic Diseases. Beyond her academic leadership, she co-founded the Oncogenetics Clinic at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, where she volunteers weekly, providing genetic counseling to pediatric patients with suspected hereditary cancer syndromes.

Itai Yanai - NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Date: 01.10.2026

Time: 11:00

Location: Main Auditorium

Hosts: C. Plass

Titel: to be announced

About:

Itai Yanai is a Founding Director of the Institute for Computational Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is also a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU. Yanai has published extensively in bioinformatics and theory.  He has also done seminal experimental research in cell biology.

In 2016 Yanai co-authored a popular book; “The Society of Genes”, for the general public.
Together with Martin J. Lercher, Yanai has written a series of editorials on the creative side of the scientific process, which he called "Night Science" in reference to François Jacob. He also co-hosts a popular podcast with the same name.

Prof. Benjamin Tu  - UT Southwestern Medical Center

Date: 09.10.2026

Time: 11:00

Location: Main Auditorium

Hosts: A. Teleman, J. Cleland

Titel: to be announced

About

Dr. Benjamin P. Tu is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He received his A.B. and A.M. degrees in Chemistry from Harvard College in 1998, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. James C. Wang. He then received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco in 2003 under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan S. Weissman. He pursued postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Steven L. McKnight in the Department of Biochemistry at UT Southwestern. He started his own lab at UT Southwestern in 2007. He currently holds the titles of UT Southwestern Presidential Scholar, Martha Steiner Professorship in Medical Research, and W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research. He was appointed as an HHMI Investigator in Nov 2021.

Dr. Claire Rougeulle - Institute Curie

Date: 01.03.2027

Time: 11:00

Location: Main Auditorium

Hosts: D. Odom

Titel: “X chromosome activity in mammals: when dose matters”

About:

Claire Rougeulle is the Director of the Institut Curie Research Center. She was until 2024 the Deputy Director of the Epigenetics and Cell Fate center at Université Paris Cité, France and Professor at Ecole Polytechnique. She established her independent research group from 2007 and joined the Epigenetics and Cell Fate Center in Paris in 2009, of which she was one of the seven founding members. She has been working in the field of epigenetics for her entire career, with a strong focus on X chromosome inactivation in mammals, as a paradigm of epigenetic regulation. The work of her group contributed to decipher the role played by non-coding RNAs in X-inactivation and in the plasticity of epigenetic regulations in evolution. She also pioneered functional studies of X-inactivation in human, and her group is currently studying the control of X chromosome activity in relation to cell fate in human and non-human primates. She has been supported by numerous national and international funding schemes, including the INSERM Avenir program (Young Investigator funding) in 2007, an ERC Starting Grant in 2008 and ERC Adv Grant in 2021. She was awarded the Bronze and Silver Medals CNRS Awards in 2007 and 2019. She was elected EMBO member in 2016.