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

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.  

Filter by

Filter by Title/Description

Filter by Topic

Filter by Year

Showing 261–270 of 638 stories

Delivering Antigens with Cell Penetrating Peptides

PNAS

August 1, 2022

A Bridge Project-supported collaboration between KI members Darrell Irvine and Bradley Pentelute, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Catherine Wu and David Reardon, suggests a strategy to boost efficacy of peptide vaccines in combination immunotherapies. Their approach, described in PNAS, increased T cell priming in lymph nodes through improved accumulation, trafficking, stability, and exposure.

Tumor Composition Notebook

Nature Genetics

July 28, 2022

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is notoriously hard to treat. In a study published by Nature Genetics, Jacks and Regev Lab researchers used single-cell analysis tools to categorize how different subpopulations of cells respond to therapeutic interventions. Their findings reveal new vulnerabilities in the PDAC landscape and opportunities for more personalized treatment in the clinic.
 

Ryan Elbashir Named HHMI Gilliam Fellow

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

July 28, 2022

Three cheers to Vander Heiden Lab graduate student Ryan Elbashir on being named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellow. Together with their advisors, Gilliam Fellows work towards creating a more diverse and inclusive scientific community.

Inside Passage

Science Translational Medicine

July 25, 2022

The Irvine Lab is developing an intranasal vaccine that can bypass multiple barriers in the nasal cavity and activate a frontline defense against mucosally-transmitted pathogens. Such immunization strategies are much needed across the infectious disease landscape but are limited by poor uptake across mucosal surfaces. In a paper appearing in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers describe how they use the naturally-occurring protein albumin to chaperone vaccine components across the mucosal lining and into the nasal-associated lymphoid tissues where they can generate an effective immune response. The work is also featured in the 2022 Image Awards exhibition.

I Screen, You Screen, We All Screen for Nanoparticles

MIT News

July 21, 2022

What happens if you cross 35 types of nanoparticles with nearly 500 types of cancer cells from more than 20 different tissues of origin? A collaborative screening project led by Hammond Lab researchers used machine learning to uncover thousands of gene-based biomarkers associated with nanoparticle trafficking and binding, including one protein that could be used to determine whether lipid nanoparticles will be taken up by a tumor. Their approach, described in Science, builds a strong foundation for understanding cell-nanoparticle interactions, and could help physicians figure out which patients’ tumors are most likely to respond to nanoparticle-based treatments.

The work was funded in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine.

Think Global, Seq Local

MIT News

July 21, 2022

KI member and associate professor of chemistry Alex Shalek has developed single-cell RNA sequencing approaches to identify small-scale differences in gene expression that have large-scale implications for human health. Also a member of the MIT Stem Cell Initiative, Shalek brings training in chemical physics, computation, nanomaterials, and neurobiology to his current systems biology approach studying relationships between cells and their environments. His laboratory is highly collaborative, lending his expertise to researchers working in a number of areas, including cancer, infectious disease, and allergies.  

Vaccine Technology Gets a Boost

MIT News

July 18, 2022

Biodegradable core-shell microparticles developed by Jaklenec and Langer Lab researchers could be used to administer self-boosting vaccines or combination cancer therapies. Their latest study, published in Science Advances, characterizes the particles' cargo release mechanism and degradation over time, which control the release profile. This project was featured in the 2020 Image Awards exhibition.

Cross-Presented and Accounted For

MIT Koch Institute

July 13, 2022

By processing fragments of tumor cells and pathogens and presenting them as antigens, dendritic cells can train T cells to mount an immune response. The Spranger and White Labs have developed a method that, for the first time, surveys the number and types of antigens cross-presented by dendritic cells. In a study published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer and supported in part by the Frontier Research Program, researchers found the original location of a protein had a profound impact on whether it would be cross-presented by a dendritic cell. The results could help researchers develop new strategies for patients and tumor types that do not respond well to immune checkpoint blockade therapies.

2022 Symposium in Review

MIT Koch Institute

July 8, 2022

Videos from the 20th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, “Ten Years at the Koch Institute,” are now available. Take a tour through keynote talks by Ned Sharpless, Francis Collins, and Matthew Vander Heiden, a panel on the future of convergent science, and research presentations by Koch Institute faculty and alumni.

Liver on a Chip

MIT News

June 27, 2022

A liver tissue model developed by the Bhatia Lab, in collaboration with Boston University's Chen Lab, allows researchers to precisely trace the steps involved in liver regeneration. A recent study, published in PNAS, describes the identification of certain growth factors and molecules that contribute to cells entering the cell cycle. This work presents a complementary approach to the lab's other 3D liver models featured in the 2016 and 2021 Koch Institute Image Awards exhibitions.