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

Koch Institute

May 29, 2025

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.  

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Go Big for the KI in STAT Madness

STAT News

March 1, 2023

Show KI researchers your support in STAT’s annual bracket-style tournament to find the best innovations in science and medicine from the past year. Register or sign in to your free STAT account to vote for these three projects with big potential for human health: Matchup 3: the Li Lab’s easy-to-use test for predicting Covid-19 immunity Matchup 4: the Bhatia Lab’s nanoparticle sensor to detect bacterial vs. viral pneumonia

Science Surfaces Opens in the KI Public Galleries

MIT News

March 1, 2023

Science Surfaces, a capsule collection of student-designed body coverings and accessories inspired by the 2022 Image Awards exhibition, will be on display in the Koch Institute Public Galleries through April. The exhibition showcases the result of the inaugural Peers + Pros Project, a Boston Fashion Week creative learning initiative catalyzed by Cambridge Science Festival and sponsored in part by the Koch Institute.

Sensor-y Details

Harvard Business School

February 22, 2023

Greg Ekchian, KI alum and Stratagen Bio co-founder, talks to Harvard Business School about his device that measures oxygen levels in tumors. The first postdoc to receive a Blavatnik Fellowship, Ekchian combines his passions for science and entrepreneurship as he transforms the sensor that he developed in the Cima Lab into a commercially available tool to improve cancer treatment.   

Safe Haven for Vaccine Antigens

MIT Koch Institute

February 17, 2023

The Irvine Lab found that order to produce an effective immune response, vaccines must deliver antigens to structures, called follicles, inside lymph nodes. In a study appearing in Science, the researchers demonstrated that antigens not rapidly directed to the follicles were destroyed by proteases. The lab’s follicle-targeting, nanoparticle-based HIV vaccine elicited better antibody responses than traditional vaccines.

The NAEs Have It

MIT News

February 14, 2023

Cheers to Regina Barzilay and Roger Kamm, who are among the newest members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)! NAE election recognizes outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education. Barzilay develops machine learning models that understand structures in text, molecules, and medical images, while Kamm is being honored for advancing understandings of mechanics in biology and medicine, and leadership in biomechanics.

A Holistic View of Cancer Research

MIT News

February 9, 2023

Along the way to becoming a physician-scientist, Spranger Lab alum Julian Zulueta is exploring cancer research and its impacts on individual lives. He believes that biomedical research is best framed through questions that center people’s experiences: “How do we think about their overall health, not just in treating the cancer, but also improving quality of life?”

Checking In(hibitors)

MIT News

February 2, 2023

Checkpoint inhibitors are effective against some types of cancers, working by stimulating exhausted T cells to attack tumors once again. But for lung cancer, this type of immunotherapy has shown mixed results. In a study of mice, the Spranger Lab traced the immune response to lung cancer back to the environment created by microbiota that naturally inhabit the lungs.

Ideally, “killer” T cells are activated in lymph nodes, where they interact with dendritic cells bearing tumor-derived antigens. The team found that while this encounter still took place in lymph nodes near the lungs, the outcome was different than in lymph nodes elsewhere in the body. Regulatory T cells—called into action by interferon gamma produced in response to commensal microbes in the lungs—prevented dendritic cells from activating killer T cells. The study, appearing in Immunity, was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Casey and Family Foundation Cancer Research Fund.
 

Making His Biomark

Biomarker

February 1, 2023

Nobel laureate and landmark entrepreneur Phil Sharp recalls his roots as a rural farmer and basketball aspirant in a recent Biomarker feature, and reflects on the people who helped him forge a career in science. Sharp recounts the importance of mentoring, risk-taking, and forming expanded social networks for people like himself, who come from backgrounds where educational and professional opportunities in the field are unknown—and highlights exciting new science that keeps him up at night!
 

Protein Shake Up

MIT Spectrum

February 1, 2023

KI member and Biology department head Amy Keating designs protein-protein interactions to thwart disease. Thanks to advances in DNA sequencing and computational tools, her lab's work has evolved over the years to include synthesis of proteins not found in nature—but with potential to block many diseases including cancer. She is optimistic about the use of artificial intelligence and other tools in helping her team make predictions about their invented proteins and build new structures from smaller ones.

Beyond Prostate Cancer

MIT Koch Institute

January 31, 2023

The Yaffe Lab has discovered a mitotic mechanism that causes the combination of abiraterone, a standard treatment for prostate cancer, and Plk1-1 inhibitors to be more effective against prostate cancer than either drug alone. In a study appearing in Cancer Research and supported in part by the Bridge Project, they also found that the combination of abiraterone and the specific Plk1 inhibitor onvansertib was effective against a variety of other cancers beyond prostate cancer, including some types of pancreatic and ovarian cancers and acute myeloid leukemia.