The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Science + Engineering... Conquering Cancer Together
KI member Leona Samson and her team have identified a key protein involved in controlling a cell death pathway known as programmed necrosis. Their findings, published in the May 10 online edition of Genes and Development, could offer a way to enhance the toxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents or an alternative route to eradicate cancer cells altogether. more...
KI faculty member Paula Hammond, the David H. Koch Professor in Engineering, was elected this year to the prestigious national society. The AAAS recognizes leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs. For more than 200 years the Academy has honored leaders from various disciplines, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill. It counts more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners among its current membership. more...
KI members Tyler Jacks, H. Robert Horvitz, Phillip Sharp, and Bob Weinberg have been elected as members of the inaugural class of Fellows of the AACR Academy, which recognizes and celebrates distinguished scientists whose stellar scientific contributions in cancer research have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. David Baltimore, a founding faculty member of the KI's predecessor, the MIT Center for Cancer Research, is also among the elected Fellows. The AACR Academy will be inducting its inaugural class of illustrious Fellows at the 2013 Annual Meeting this April. more...
The nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems being developed at the KI are a revolutionary gateway to new, more targeted disease treatments. An MIT News article published on March 11 nicely featured the exciting work of KI members Dan Anderson, Paula Hammond, Michael Cima, and Robert Langer, who are engineering new nanoscale therapeutic agents that selectively target and destroy cancer cells or help monitor tumor response to treatment. “We’re doing this because we can do some cool technology, but more importantly, we’re doing it because there’s a clinically meaningful need,” says Cima.
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Robert Weinberg, founding member of the Whitehead Institute, and Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute, were both awarded the new Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. They were among eleven scientists to receive the world’s richest academic prize for medicine and biology. The prize was awarded by four internet giants for outstanding achievements in science. Both Weinberg and Lander are also members of the KI. more...
MIT engineers, including Robert Langer, David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT, successfully found a new way to move materials through cell membranes by squeezing through a narrow constriction that opens tiny temporary holes. That allows proteins, DNA, and nanoparticles to enter the cells that could be used for many applications. The scientists see a potential for improved imaging, reprogramming proteins, and generating pluripotent stem cells. more...
Koch Institute Professor Bob Langer was awarded the prestigious 2013 Wolf Prize. The Israeli-based Wolf Foundation honors Langer for his contributions to chemistry. Wolf winners are considered strong candidates to receive the Nobel Prize. more...
Robert Langer, David H. Koch Institute Professor, is one of eleven innovators to receive the award this year. Dr. Langer has received over 210 major awards to date, including the United States National Medal of Science in 2006. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and have helped strengthen the nation’s technological workforce. more...
The cleverly designed nanoparticles home to a tumor, interact with dysregulated cancer proteins, and act as synthetic biomarkers with levels easily detected in a patient’s urine. The nanoparticles express several different peptides, which allows for the identification of specific types of tumors. The biomarker amplification system could ultimately be used to monitor disease progression and tumor treatment response. more...
KI and Whitehead member David Sabatini shows that cancer cells with a modified metabolic program have high concentrations of a transporter on their surface, which could be exploited to deliver lethal toxic molecules into malignant cells. Monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) acts as a transporter of 3-bromopyruvate’s (3-BrPA), a potential cancer drug in clinical development. This strategy would take advantage of the capacity of cancer cells to import 3-BrPA, resulting in the selective killing of cancer cells without affecting normal cells. more...
