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Moderna's mRNA vaccines take on cancer

New York Times

August 19, 2026

Moderna, co-founded by Bob Langer, announced that late-stage trials showed its mRNA cancer vaccine reduced the ​risk of melanoma recurrence and spread when used in conjunction with an immunotherapy called pembrolizumab—the first positive results for mRNA cancer vaccines and for combination therapies with pembrolizumab. Moderna is testing similar approaches against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers with its partners.

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Ironing out the kinks of cellular iron overload

MIT News

August 25, 2026

Iron is essential to cells, but too much can damage DNA, proteins, and cell membranes. In a study published in Cell, co-senior authors Whitney Henry and Ankur Jain, together with first author Pushkal Sharma and colleagues, found that molecules called polyamines buffer reactive iron, protecting cells from ferroptosis, an iron-driven form of cell death. These findings reveal a previously unknown cellular defense and offer clues for novel cancer therapies and for understanding early-onset Parkinson’s disease.

Moderna's mRNA vaccines take on cancer

New York Times

August 19, 2026

Moderna, co-founded by Bob Langer, announced that late-stage trials showed its mRNA cancer vaccine reduced the ​risk of melanoma recurrence and spread when used in conjunction with an immunotherapy called pembrolizumab—the first positive results for mRNA cancer vaccines and for combination therapies with pembrolizumab. Moderna is testing similar approaches against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers with its partners.

New York Times | Washington Post | STAT | CNBC

Matrisome Bio named 2026 Prix Galien USA Nominee

PR Newswire

August 17, 2026

Matrisome Bio, co-founded by KI alum Noor Jailkhani, Richard Hynes and Sangeeta Bhatia, has been named a 2026 Prix Galien USA nominee for Best Startup. The company is developing therapies that target the extracellular matrix of tumors and metastases using a platform technology initially developed by Jailkhani as a Mazumdar-Shaw International Oncology Fellow. Winners will be announced October 29 in New York City.

A potential new target for lung cancer interception

MIT News

August 14, 2026

As lung cancer increasingly affects people who have never smoked, researchers are working to understand what drives the disease and how it might be prevented. In a study published in Science Advances, the Bhatia and Jacks labs identified caspase-1 as a potential target for lung cancer interception, an approach that aims to stop cancer before it progresses. 

This research was supported by Frontier, Upstage Lung Cancer, the Marble Center for Nanomedicine, and the Ludwig Center at MIT.

Heel stick for cancer risk 

MIT Koch Institute

August 12, 2026

Nearly all newborns in the US are routinely screened via tiny blood draw, or ‘heel stick,’ for a set of health conditions, yet such broad efforts to identify babies at risk for early-onset cancers has not been evaluated. Published in Nature Communications, a Bridge Project study from Koch Institute investigator David Housman and collaborators helps address this gap.  

Researchers identify driver of metastasis in colorectal cancers

Bendta Schroeder, MIT Koch Institute

August 6, 2026

Yilmaz Lab researchers and KI Alum Norihiro Goto discovered that GATA6, a master regulator of lineage plasticity, could be key to identifying and treating aggressive colorectal cancers. A study appearing in Cell Stem Cell showed that as cells lose GATA6, they evolve into more stem cell-like states in which they can spread to the liver and establish new tumors.The study was funded in part by the MIT Stem Cell Initiative via Fondation MIT and the Bridge Project.

From tumors to tools

MIT News

August 5, 2026

An international team led by researchers at the Koch Institute, the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the National Cancer Institute has created nearly 700 well-documented patient-derived cancer models representing 25 cancer types.

Senior author Jesse Boehm, co-first author Mushriq Al-Jazrawe and hundreds of colleagues contributed to what amounted to the decade-long Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI), which created and characterized these organoid and other next-generation cell models that could help researchers identify new drug targets and test potential treatments for a broader range of cancers.

Elicio enters a new phase

Lustgarten Foundation

July 22, 2026

Elicio will begin a Phase I trial testing the efficacy of combining their KRAS-targeted  cancer vaccine with chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. Elicio's cancer vaccine is based on  approach originally developed in the laboratory of former Koch Institute faculty member Darrell Irvine, where "amphiphile" particles hitchhike on albumin molecules in the bloodstream to the lymph nodes, where they teach the immune system to fight cancer. 

The new trial, with support from the Lustgarten Foundation and Break Through Cancer, builds on robust results from an earlier Phase 1 trial testing the vaccine following surgery and chemotherapy, and will evaluate whether stronger results can be obtained when the vaccine is administered together with a chemotherapy. Researchers will test the efficacy of combining the KRAS-targeted immunotherapy with chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer, as well as explore the biology of therapy response, characterize changes within the tumor microenvironment, and identify biomarkers that could guide future clinical trials. 

Douglas Lauffenburger named Institute Professor

MIT News

July 20, 2026

Three cheers to Douglas Lauffenburger, one of a trio of MIT faculty members named Institute Professors this year. Lauffenburger receives MIT’s highest honor for his contributions as the founding head of the Department of Biological Engineering and key roles in launching interdisciplinary programs, as well as his work developing predictive models of molecular and cellular networks.

Remembering Susumu Tonegawa 

MIT News

July 15, 2026

The Koch Institute joins the MIT community in mourning Nobel Laureate Susumu Tonegawa, an alumnus of the MIT Center for Cancer Research (our predecessor) and founding director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. Driven by curiosity about fundamental questions in biology, Tonegawa made groundbreaking discoveries in immunology and neuroscience. Awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for uncovering the genetic basis of antibody diversity, he later transformed our understanding of how memories are formed, stored, and recalled.