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Black and white photo of a bearded man in very 70s apparel standing in front of a banner with "David Baltimore" and the mirror image text'

Remembering David Baltimore

MIT Koch Institute

September 8, 2025

With sadness, the Koch Institute marks the passing of Professor David Baltimore. A founding faculty member and formative influence behind the MIT Center for Cancer Research, he was not only a ground-breaking researcher but also a compelling and thoughtful voice for science. 

His discovery of reverse transcriptase changed the prevailing scientific dogma, earned him a 1975 Nobel Prize, and directly enables work in life sciences and biomedical laboratories everywhere. His decades-long advocacy work impacted national policy debates on topics such as recombinant DNA research, the AIDS epidemic, and genome editing.

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Showing 211–220 of 660 stories

Zooming in on Genome Structure

MIT News

May 8, 2023

Hansen Lab researchers have developed a technique that maps the genome’s 3D organization at a resolution 100 times higher than possible before. The new method reveals interactions between genes and the potentially distant regions of the genome that control their expression—brought together via loops in genetic material. By identifying the target genes of disease-associated regulatory regions, researchers could better understand and treat many diseases, including cancer. 

This research was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program.

Promising Clinical Data for Cima Lab Pretzel

Endpoints News

May 1, 2023

Johnson and Johnson reported a complete response for 16 of 22 patients in their Phase II trial of a new approach for bladder cancer—the most expensive malignancy to treat over the lifetime of patients. The trial used TAR-200, an implantable pretzel-shaped device originally developed in the Cima Lab, to replace standard regimens with continuously administered gemcitabine in the bladder.

The Measuring Tape Heard Round the World

MIT News

May 1, 2023

Nancy Hopkins joined author and New York Times journalist Kate Zernike for a discussion of The Exceptions. The book tells the story of Hopkins' life and career, and of the 15 “exceptional” female scientists on the MIT faculty who joined Hopkins to document gender discrimination at MIT and fight for equality. Armed with a measuring tape, Hopkins began by quantifying the inequitable distribution of lab space among male and female faculty. Her findings would catalyze the  landmark 1999  report, "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty on Science at MIT," detailing the barriers standing in the way of women who want to pursue degrees and careers in science.

Elicio Doses First Patient

BioSpace

April 27, 2023

Elicio Therapeutics, which is developing the Irvine Lab’s lymph node targeting vaccine technology, has dosed its first patient of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of a treatment of KRAS/NRAS mutated solid tumors in pancreatic and colorectal cancer patients. 

What’s Next for Alejandro Aguilera Castrejón

MIT Koch Institute

April 26, 2023

Catch up with Alejandro Aguilera Castrejón, an inaugural winner of the Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award in 2022. Aguilera talks about his plans for building on his doctoral work in embryogenesis and starting a new lab when he begins his new role as a group leader at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus in March 2024.

Stimulating Hunger

MIT News

April 26, 2023

An ingestible capsule that delivers an electrical current can stimulate the release of the hormone ghrelin. Developed in the lab of KI alum Giovanni Traverso, the capsule could prove useful for treating diseases that involve nausea or loss of appetite, such as anorexia or cachexia (loss of body mass that can occur in patients with cancer or other chronic diseases).

Raising the Barcode for Cancer Detection

MIT News

April 25, 2023

The Bhatia Lab designed a new nanoparticle sensor that, like its previous sensors, could enable early, affordable, and accessible diagnosis of cancer with a simple urine test. As described in Nature Nanotechnology, when the nanoparticles encounter a tumor, they shed DNA “barcodes” into the urine, which can be read on a simple paper strip and analyzed in a medical lab to detect cancer, distinguish between tumor types, or monitor response to treatment.

The research was supported in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine and the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund.

Neel Bardhan Named Break Through Cancer Scientist

Break Through Cancer

April 25, 2023

Congratulations to Neelkanth Bardhan on being named a Break Through Cancer Scientist! Professional scientists in the role cooperate on and lead projects, lending their skill, knowledge and insight to maximize the impact of Break Through Cancer's cross-institutional collaborations. Bardhan works with the Intercepting Ovarian Cancer TeamLab, helping design an optical imaging system for highly sensitive detection of early precursor lesions in ovarian cancer.

Printable Vaccines

MIT News

April 24, 2023

Researchers in the Jaklenec and Langer labs have designed a mobile vaccine printer that could be scaled up to produce hundreds of vaccine doses in a day. This kind of printer, which can fit on a tabletop, could be deployed anywhere vaccines are needed, no cold storage required. The printer produces patches with hundreds of microneedles containing vaccine. The patch can be attached to the skin, allowing the vaccine to dissolve without the need for a traditional injection. In a study appearing in Nature Biotechnology, the researchers showed they could use the printer to produce thermostable Covid-19 RNA vaccines that could induce a comparable immune response to that generated by injected RNA vaccines, in mice.

Steven Truong Awarded Soros Fellowship for New Americans

MIT News

April 21, 2023

Steven Truong, a Koch Institute alum, has been awarded a 2023 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Currently an MD-PhD student at Stanford, he aspires to help solve and treat metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Truong graduated from MIT in 2020 with a double major in biological engineering and writing, and worked in the Langer and Anderson Labs to develop smart insulins and in the Lauffenburger Lab to study the link between the immune system and diabetes.