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Two tumor cells, one with forcefield. two blue spheres with green and purple spheres on them

Kinase Closed: Shutting Down Cancer's Escape Routes

MIT News

March 26, 2026

Forest White and Cameron Flower PhD ’24 have uncovered why drugs that inhibit tyrosine kinase signaling pathways, such as imatinib (Gleevec), fail in some patients.  By analyzing tumor phosphoproteomics, the White Lab team found that many resistant cells are intrinsically wired to resist tyrosine kinase inhibitors: backup signaling networks are already running to support vital functions such as cell growth and division, even when tyrosine kinase inhibitors work as intended. 

As reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers overcame this resistance in cell models by pairing a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a drug that targets the backup pathway—an approach currently in clinical trials for lung cancer. 

“We are really excited to watch these clinical trials and to see how well patients do on these combinations. And I really think there’s a future for using tyrosine phosphoproteomics to guide this clinical decision-making,” White says. The research was funded in part by the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine.
 

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Boosting Immune Response to Vaccines

MIT News

December 12, 2023

Researchers in the Irvine and Hammond labs have developed a novel kind of vaccine adjuvant: a nanoparticle that can help to stimulate the immune system to generate a stronger response to a vaccine. These nanoparticles contain saponin, a compound derived from the bark of the Chilean soapbark tree, along with a molecule called MPLA, each of which helps to activate the immune system. The adjuvant has been incorporated into an experimental HIV vaccine that has shown promising results in animal studies, and this the first human volunteers will receive the vaccine as part of a phase 1 clinical trial run by the Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development at the Scripps Research Institute. 

Anderson and Jaklenec Elected to the NAI

MIT Koch Institute

December 12, 2023

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI)  announced the election of more than 160 people to their 2023 class of fellows, including two members of the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Daniel Anderson and Ana Jaklenec. The highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors, election to the NAI recognizes individuals who have created or facilitated outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.  

Best in Picture Show

Nature

December 11, 2023

Nature chose KI Image Award winner, “Tail as Old as Time,” as one of their best science images of 2023. Created by Jaclyn Fingerhut in the Yamashita Lab at the Whitehead Institute, the image tracks the incredible morphological changes that fruit fly germ cells undergo to produce some of the longest sperm in the animal kingdom, ~2mm.
 

Picking Up the Pace for the Cima Lab Pretzel

Johnson & Johnson

December 4, 2023

The FDA granted its Breakthrough Designation to expedite development and review of Johnson & Johnson’s TAR-200 implant. Originally developed in the Cima Lab to make treating bladder cancer safer, more effective and less costly, the device is currently in clinical trials to replace standard regimens with continuously administered gemcitabine in the bladder.

MIT’s Tiny Technologies Go to Washington

MIT Koch Institute

December 4, 2023

A team from the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine showed a Washington D.C. audience several examples of how nanotechnologies developed at the Koch Institute can transform the detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases. At "American Possibilities: A White House Demo Day,” principal research scientist Ana Jaklenec highlighted several groundbreaking technologies developed her group to improve vaccines and disease diagnostics and treatment. Jeremy Li, CEO and co-founder of Cision Vision and former Belcher Lab postdoc, presented a lymph node imaging device that has been named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2023 and is currently being used in a dozen hospitals across the U.S.
 

The Sweet Side of Cell Biology

MIT News

December 1, 2023

As a field, glycoscience—the study of the carbohydrates and sugar-coated molecules found in every living organism—is in the midst of a renaissance that could reshape scientists' understanding of the building blocks of life and the drivers of disease. An MIT News explainer gives a taste of the sweet science pursued around campus, including  research into glycans’ critical roles in normal and cancer biology by KI investigators Laura Kiessling, Tobi Oni, and Jessica Stark.

Immune Action at a Distance

MIT News

November 30, 2023

The Traverso Lab developed a gel-based platform for injecting immune-stimulating drugs directly into tumors. Ideally, direct injection of these drugs into a tumor will provoke a system-wide immune response, while avoiding the serious toxic side effects of systemic administration. In practice, tumors are difficult to target with precision and the drugs tend to leak away from the tumor too quickly. The team worked with colleagues at Mass General Brigham to design a thermoresponsive gel that is visible with a CT scanner, solidifies after injection, and releases drugs at a controlled rate. An Advanced Healthcare Materials study showed that in combination with checkpoint blockade therapy, the platform caused both treated tumors and untreated tumors at other locations to regress in mouse models.

Congratulations to our 2023 Karches Prize Winners

MIT Koch Institute

November 28, 2023

The annual Peter Karches Mentorship Prize recognizes the exemplary mentorship of up to four postdoctoral researchers, graduate students or technicians from across Koch Institute laboratories. This year’s recipients are Ryuhjin (Angela) Ahn, Mushriq Al-Jazrawe, Colin Fowler, and B.J. Kim. Congratulations to all!

Multi-Molecule Tracker

MIT News

November 28, 2023

Using fluorescent labels that switch on and off, the Boyden Lab has developed a method for simultaneously tracking several molecular interactions inside the cell. The technique, described in Cell, could help researchers better understand what happens inside cells, including in diseases such as cancer.

KI Faculty Members win Mark Foundation ASPIRE Award

The Mark Foundation

November 15, 2023

Cheers to the Koch Institute's four recipients of the 2023 Mark Foundation Aspire Award! Darrell Irvine and Dane Wittrup received an award for their project, “Induction of Tumor-Eradicating Systemic Immunity via Leukocyte-Targeted Cytokine Therapy.” Regina Barzilay and Tyler Jacks won an award in support their work to develop “AI-Driven Modeling of T Cell Receptors.”