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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 281–290 of 660 stories

Infection Protection Detection

MIT News

August 9, 2022

KI researchers led by hematologist/oncologist and Charles W. (1955) and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator Hojun Li have patented a blood-based lateral flow test to measure the level of Sars-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. The technology, for which the team is currently seeking manufacturing partners, provides valuable insight to inform decision-making around Covid-19 precautions—particularly for vulnerable patient populations—and can be customized to detect immunity against existing and future variants. The work, which was funded in part by the Holloway Foundation, was published in Cell Reports Methods. Read more at STAT News or  USA Today or watch Li’s interview on CBS Boston.

Crypt Keepers

Cell Stem Cell

August 4, 2022

The Yilmaz Lab is shedding light on how cells within intestinal crypts support intestinal stem cell (ISC) function. In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, a team of researchers led by KI postdoc Nori Goto identified two types of cells that supply an important niche factor, which they found to be implicated in homeostasis and in regenerating ISCs after injury.

This study was supported in part by the MIT Stem Cell Initiative, the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, and the Bridge Project.

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.