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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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Precise Protein Production

MIT News

November 1, 2022

The Lu Lab has developed a CRISPR-based approach to precisely program gene expression in mammalian cells. The method, described in Nature Communications, works with high consistency across different cell types and target genes, and could help fine-tune the production of proteins such as monoclonal antibodies used to treat cancer and other diseases. 

Koehler Outside the Lines

MIT News

October 28, 2022

Angela Koehler is not an engineer, yet her appointment is in the Department of Biological Engineering. Focused on so-called “undruggable” targets for cancer, Koehler’s training as a chemical biologist allows her to think creatively about how to find and deploy small molecules that intervene in transcriptional processes, including those that influence tumor formation and growth. Her approach has led to several promising drug candidates and spin-out companies.

Introducing the Amon Award Winners

MIT Koch Institute

October 25, 2022

Cheers to the inaugural winners of the Koch Institute’s Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award, Alejandro Aguilera Castrejon (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and Melanie de Almeida (Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria). The new award recognizes graduate students in the life sciences or biomedical research from institutions outside the U.S. who embody Dr. Amon’s infectious enthusiasm for discovery science.

Funnel Vision

MIT News

October 25, 2022

The Weissman Lab solved the mystery of the function of MTCH2, a mitochondrial protein implicated in many diseases, including cancer. In a study published in Science, researchers found that MTCH2 acts as a funnel, shuttling various proteins (including those involved in programmed cell death) from the cytoplasm into the mitochondrial membrane. By introducing a mutation that makes MTCH2 more “greedy,” researchers made leukemia cells more sensitive to a cancer treatment.

Kornbluth Named MIT President

MIT News

October 20, 2022

Hearty congratulations and welcome to incoming MIT President Sally Kornbluth! As a cell biologist, Kornbluth’s research has focused on cell proliferation and programmed cell death, key processes in cancer and degenerative disorders. Her work has helped show how cancer cells evade programmed death and how metabolism regulates this process. As an administrator at Duke, Kornbluth is known as a creative problem-solver and inclusive leader, who can catalyze initiatives across disciplines. Overseeing basic and clinical research enterprises, she has spearheaded improvements to research resources, as well as training and recruitment efforts.

Sweet Success

MIT Chemistry

October 17, 2022

Congratulations to Laura Kiessling on being elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the field of health and medicine. Kiessling was elected for her work on interactions between proteins and glycans—sugar-based polymers coating the surface of cells—and for leveraging her findings for new therapeutic strategies.
 

Microparticles Masterpiece

J-WAFS at MIT

October 14, 2022

The Abdul Latif Jameel Water & Food Systems Lab recognized KI member Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang, a graduate student in the Jaklenec group in the Langer Lab, with Judges’ Choice Awards in the areas of “Potential for Impact” and “Recognizing the Role of Nutrition in Food Security.” Zhang’s research on micronutrient encapsulation also appears in in the 2022 Image Awards exhibition in the KI Public Galleries.

Hallmark Channels

MIT News

October 3, 2022

Bhatia Lab researchers engineered nanoprobes for real-time tracking of tumor progression and treatment response using enzyme activity. Mapping this activity to precise locations within cancer tissue identified populations of cells linked to the recruitment and formation of blood vessels, one of the archetypal hallmarks of cancer.

Taking aim at multiple cancer hallmarks, their nanoprobes could be used both in the laboratory and the clinic as a non-invasive but comprehensive monitoring tool. Armed with detailed views into fundamental biological processes, the team hopes to create therapies that can be delivered to patients to disrupt the interactions between tumors and their environments.

The work appears in Nature Communications and was supported in part by the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through a gift from Upstage Lung Cancer, the Koch Institute’s Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, and Johnson & Johnson.

LUADable Models

Genes and Development

September 29, 2022

The Jacks Lab developed new lung organoids for modeling lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which comprises approximately 40% of all non-small cell lung cancer cases in the US. Derived from stem cells, organoids are mini cultured organs that provide the ease and speed of use of cell lines, but with improved physiological replication of disease progression. The lab’s approach, described in Genes and Development, provides a gateway to better understanding of LUAD as well as a powerful and flexible strategy for future cancer modeling.

Hynes Wins 2022 Lasker Award 

MIT News

September 28, 2022

Richard Hynes, the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, has received the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. A pioneer in the study of cellular adhesion, Hynes wins the award for the discovery of integrins, proteins that are key to cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in the body. He shares the prize with Erkki Ruoslahti of Sanford Burnham Prebys and Timothy Springer of Harvard University.