The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT

Mosaic of colored tiles and images of research and people

Celebrating 50 years of collaboration, innovation, and curiosity in cancer research at MIT

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Our Research Areas

From fundamental discoveries to engineering advances, we strategically pursue five areas of research that, across tumor types, are critical for rapid progress toward defeating cancer.

As a National Cancer Institute-designated basic cancer research center, we produce knowledge and tools to fight one of humanity's most persistent challenges.

NCI Cancer Center: A Cancer Center Designated by the National Cancer Institute
Detection & monitoring  
Metastasis  
Immunology & immunotherapy  
Nano-based drugs  
Precision medicine  

News

Artifacts from a half century of cancer research

MIT Koch Institute

November 21, 2024

Throughout 2024, the Koch Institute has celebrated 50 years of MIT’s cancer research program and the individuals who have shaped its journey. In honor of this milestone anniversary year, the Koch Institute celebrated the opening of a new exhibition: Object Lessons: Celebrating 50 Years of Cancer Research at MIT in 10 Items. Object Lessons invites the public to explore significant artifacts—from one of the earliest PCR machines, developed in the lab of Nobel laureate H. Robert Horvitz, to Greta, a groundbreaking zebrafish from the lab of Professor Nancy Hopkins—in the half century of discoveries and advancements that have positioned MIT at the forefront of the fight against cancer.  

ROS-y outlook for novel immune approach

MIT Koch Institute

A new therapeutic approach from the Wittrup lab uses reactive oxygen species-induced cancer cell death to help jumpstart anti-tumor immune responses and synergize with existing immunotherapies for improved treatment of many solid tumor types.

Rhoda Zhang Wins 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition

MIT News

Graduate student Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang has won the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition in both the Graduate and People's Choice categories.

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At the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, scientists and engineers work together to solve some of the most difficult problems in cancer. We ask big questions in strategic areas, where the answers have big impacts on how we understand and treat cancer.