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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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Showing 271–280 of 638 stories

Langer Wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

MIT News

June 17, 2022

Robert Langer, David H. Koch (1962) Institute Professor, has won the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biology and Biomedicine category. He shares the award with Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman  in recognition of their contributions to messenger (mRNA) therapeutics and delivery technology, which enabled the rapid development SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and promises to expand to other therapeutical areas, including cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders, enzyme deficiencies, and other viral infections. In particular, Langer is cited for his work enabling the repackaging mRNA and other macromolecule therapeutics for their delivery into cells.

The PIs That Bind

MIT News

June 17, 2022

KI members Graham Walker, Michael Hemann, Michael Yaffe, Jiazhu Chen, Sangeeta Bhatia and biologist Sebastian Lourido have been awarded a Bose Research Grant, which supports vanguard research efforts. Their project, “Addressing Critical Human Health Problems with a Special Heme-binding Peptide” uses a recently discovered plant peptide that binds and sequesters a molecule critical in hemoglobin oxygen binding in a new way.

Directed Evolution

Instigators of Change 

June 15, 2022

Angela Belcher spoke with the Instigators of Change podcast about how her career has evolved from working on batteries and solar cells to developing new tools for cancer diagnostics and environmental remediation. Highlights include the story of how the Koch Institute's early-years boot camps and speed dating sessions helped spark her passion for fighting ovarian cancer, and her top tips for team-building and getting inventions to market.
 

Immuno-Pep Squad

Nature

June 15, 2022

The immune system’s ability to detect nascent tumors requires the presentation of protein fragment (peptide) antigens that it can recognize. Due to limitations in how samples are collected and studied, researchers have difficulty identifying peptide presentation patterns specific to cancer. However, an ongoing Jacks Lab/White Lab collaboration, originally begun as a hallway conversation between colleagues, shows the power of combining engineered mouse models with mass spectrometry to better profile the collection of immunopeptides on the surface of cancer cells. The researchers' latest paper, published in Nature, reveals new tumor antigens potentially useful for immunotherapies and understanding of immune response.

Phenotype Phenomenon

MIT News

June 9, 2022

The Weissman Lab has produced the first map tying every human gene to its function in a cell. In a study published in Cell, researchers used the map to explore the effect of genes with previously unknown functions, investigate the response of mitochondria to stress, and screen for genes that cause chromosomes to be lost or gained.  

Model Behavior

MIT News

June 2, 2022

Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, is notoriously hard to treat. The blood-brain barrier blocks conventional chemotherapies from reaching tumors, and many potential new treatments that work well in animal models end up failing in clinical trials.

In a study published in PNAS and co-led by Charles W. (1955) and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator Joelle Straehla, researchers assessed tumor-targeting nanoparticles from the Hammond Lab using a microfluidic human tissue model of glioblastoma from the Kamm Lab that closely replicates the blood-brain barrier. They found that cisplatin-bearing nanoparticles coated with peptide AP2 were able to target and kill glioblastoma tumor cells, suggesting that the model could be used to design nanoparticles with a greater chance of success in the clinic.

Signal Boost

MIT News

May 30, 2022

The Strano Lab developed a photonic technique that dramatically improves the signal of fluorescent sensors, potentially enabling their use for cancer diagnosis or monitoring. In a Nature Nanotechnology study funded in part by the Bridge Project, researchers were able to implant sensors as deep as 5.5 cm and still get a strong signal.

Pinpointing Solutions for Cancer Detection

MIT Spectrum

May 26, 2022

Ovarian cancer is notoriously hard to detect. Lacking in reliable diagnostic or screening techniques and opaque in its biological origins, it is difficult to find or target until it has progressed to dangerously late stages. The Hammond and Irvine Labs, in conjunction with their clinical collaborators and a cohort of patients, are determined to change this.

Drawing on years of expertise in engineering, immunology, and materials chemistry, and on recent funding from the Bridge Project, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers has built a polymer microneedle patch that samples interstitial fluid in the body to screen for microRNAs from cancer cells. The patch, which also has applications for autoimmune diseases, could one day become the first noninvasive screening tool for ovarian cancer.

Ultimate Frisbee

Nature Materials

May 23, 2022

Substantial delivery challenges persist for agents that engage the STING pathway, a highly desirable cancer immunotherapy target. However, new tumor-penetrating lipid nanodiscs developed by the Irvine Lab outperformed previously designed nanoparticles in delivering STING-activating agents to induce tumor rejection and support immune memory against reintroduced tumor cells. This work was published in Nature Materials and supported in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine.

Studying Cancer Across Continents

MIT News

May 19, 2022

New MIT alum and aspiring MD/PhD student Daniel Zhang is headed to the Netherlands on a Fulbright scholarship. His planned project, developing an organoid co-culture system to study malignant rhabdoid tumors and screen for therapeutic vulnerabilities, builds on his longtime work in the Jacks Lab developing genetic knockout models for colorectal cancer.