News

Photo of group of people standing in front of the U.S. Capitol Building

MIT Advocacy in Action at the AACR’s 2025 Hill Day

Koch Institute

MIT Koch Institute postdoc Meaghan McGeary traveled to Washington, DC to advocate for increased federal funding for cancer research as part of the annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Hill Day. Joining other early-career scientists in a mission to make more than 50 congressional visits in a single day, she shared her experiences with policymakers, emphasizing the importance of stable research funding.  

Filter by

Filter by Title/Description

Filter by Topic

Filter by Year

Bravo: Smarter Breast Cancer Scans

NBC Boston

Recently featured on NBC Boston, Cima Lab alum Canan Dagdeviren is developing wearable ultrasound technology for early breast cancer detection. The device, embedded in a bra, delivers results for less than $3 and sends data to the cloud and the patient’s doctor, offering a valuable tool for diagnosing early stage tumors in high-risk patients.  

MIT Advocacy in Action at the AACR’s 2025 Hill Day

Koch Institute

MIT Koch Institute postdoc Meaghan McGeary traveled to Washington, DC to advocate for increased federal funding for cancer research as part of the annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Hill Day. Joining other early-career scientists in a mission to make more than 50 congressional visits in a single day, she shared her experiences with policymakers, emphasizing the importance of stable research funding.  

Tailor-made genes

MIT News

Katie Galloway and her team developed synthetic gene circuits that enable more precise control of gene therapy. Their research, published in Cell Systems, could lead to new treatments for fragile X syndrome and other diseases caused by mutations in a single gene, ensuring more safe and effective therapeutic outcomes.

Resistance mapping yields novel drug combination

Cell Systems

A new Cell Systems paper from the White lab identified mechanisms that enable resistance to cancer therapies, offering new opportunities to intervene for better patient outcomes. Mapping cell-wide signaling networks remodeled by therapy in unprecedented depth, the study reveals new insights into cancer cell plasticity and demonstrates a new drug combination repurposing a leukemia drug against melanoma. This work was supported in part by the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine and a graduate fellowship from the Ludwig Center at MIT.

Brainstorming treatments for gliobastoma

The Tech

At the inaugural Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment Symposium on March 27, led by Koch Institute faculty member Forest White and Franziska Michor of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, national leaders in glioblastoma research explored strategies for advancing models, therapies, and collaboration to accelerate progress against the disease.

Regina Barzilay receives IEEE Medal

IBM

Regina Barzilay has received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Frances E. Allen Medal for her groundbreaking work applying machine learning to medicine. Honored alongside Miklós Ajtai, Barzilay was recognized for using unexpected methods to advance computer science and for transforming how AI is used in clinical and scientific settings.

Shaking up the STATus quo

STAT News

STAT has named Nancy Hopkins to the 2025 STATUS List, recognizing her for both her innovative work using zebrafish as a cancer model and tireless advocacy for gender equality in science. While helping to make science a more viable career for women, Hopkins also contributed groundbreaking research in genetics and molecular biology.

Is There a Pill for That?

Wired

Syntis Bio, a spinout from the Langer and Traverso labs, has announced promising early data for its obesity pill, which mimics the effects of a gastric bypass surgery via a temporary coating in the upper intestine. Interest in controlling obesity has surged as research uncovers its roles in cancer and other diseases, and the new pill is aimed at offering more effective and personalized choices for patients. 

Making de-grade

KI News

CDK9 and MYC are protein targets for many cancers, but developing therapies has proved quite challenging. A Koehler lab study published in Cell Chemical Biology demonstrates a promising approach for controlling MYC via CDK9. The group developed a CDK9 PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera), a molecule that can be used to degrade, or break up, a specific protein and showed it overcomes a key paradox and potentially offers a broadly useful CDK9 strategy.

Anders Sejr Hansen wins Edgerton Award

MIT News

Congratulations to Anders Sejr Hansen on winning the Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award for exceptional distinction in teaching, research and service at MIT. The award recognizes Hansen’s remarkable productivity and passion for mentorship and career development for members of his laboratory.