News

Photo of Tyler Jacks standing in front of a wall of colorful scientific images in the Koch Institute lobby and smiling for the camera.

Tyler Jacks Receives ACS Medal of Honor

American Cancer Society

March 6, 2026

Congratulations to Koch Institute Founding Director Tyler Jacks, who has been selected to receive the 2026 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor. The organization’s highest honor, this award is given to individuals whose work has fundamentally advanced the fight against cancer. Jacks is recognized for his extraordinary scientific contributions to the field of cancer biology as well as his leadership in shaping new, more effective models for collaborative, patient-centered research at MIT, non-profit Break Through Cancer, and the national level. 

Filter by

Filter by Title/Description

Filter by Topic

Filter by Year

Showing 31–40 of 711 stories

Accelerated FDA approval for kidney drug

Endpoints News

November 25, 2025

Congratulations to Ram Sasisekharan on the accelerated FDA approval of the drug sibeprenlimab for treating IgA nephropathy (IgAN), a disease where the build-up of abnormal antibodies impedes the kidney’s ability to filter wastes and often leads to kidney damage and failure. Based on work in the Sasisekharan lab and developed by MIT spin-out Visterra (later acquired by the pharmaceutical company Otsuka), the new drug halves the amount of protein present in urine by targeting a ligand known as APRIL. Continued approval depends on trial data confirming the drug slows the decline of kidney function, due in early 2026.

Alice Hall Named Rhodes Scholar

MIT News

November 17, 2025

Congratulations to Alice Hall on being named a 2026 Rhodes Scholar! A senior majoring in chemical engineering, Hall (pictured, second from left) worked in the Langer Lab to improve lung viability for transplantation by investigating alveolar-capillary barrier function. At Oxford, she will pursue graduate work advancing sustainable heating and cooling technologies

Ankyra doses first patient

Business Wire

November 17, 2025

Ankyra has begun trials of its lead candidate, ANK-101, an anchored IL-12 drug conjugate initially engineered in the Wittrup and former Irvine Labs with support from KI trainee fellowships and the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine. Given in combination with checkpoint blockade immunotherapy, ANK-101 will be evaluated for treatment of patients with lung cancer. 

Predicting Better Lipids

Nature Biotechnology

November 13, 2025

Lipid nanoparticles are the leading delivery vehicle for mRNAs across biomedical applications, each requiring its own nanoparticle design and optimization. In a cover-winning Nature Biotechnology paper, the Anderson and Langer Labs used machine learning approaches to evaluate 1.6 million lipids in silico, to expedite successful designs for mRNA delivery to the lungs in animal models.

Inspired engineering  

MIT News

November 13, 2025

At MIT’s 2025 Nano Summit, KI faculty showcased drug delivery technologies that took design cues from unexpected places to address what MIT HEALS faculty director Angela Koehler calls "some of the most transformative problems in human health." Ana Jaklenec explained how she borrowed techniques from the microelectronics and semiconductor industries to fabricate single-injection, multi-dose vaccine microparticles. Giovanni Traverso highlighted ingestible drug delivery systems inspired by squid and remora.

Near-Perfect Response for Elicio’s Vaccine

Investing.com

November 7, 2025

Elicio Therapeutics’ cancer vaccine—designed to train the immune system to attack KRAS-mutated tumors—continues to show strong promise. In a Phase 2 trial, it induced immune responses in 99% of evaluable pancreatic cancer patients, with 88% responding to their own tumor-specific mutation.

Mini Brains, Major Insights  

MIT News

November 5, 2025

A study led by Robert Langer and Li-Huei Tsai of the Picower Institute, presents “miBrains,” a 3D human brain tissue platform designed for disease modeling and drug testing. Described in PNAS, the customizable, scalable models are cultured from donors’ induced pluripotent stem cells, and integrate all major brain cell types.  

Mapped to purrfection

MIT News

November 4, 2025

Burge Lab researchers have created KATMAP, a framework for predicting gene splicing. While DNA is the same across most cells in an organism, gene splicing allows RNA to be remixed to support cells specialized for different tissues. Described in Nature Biotechnology, KATMAP can be used to investigate how splicing mutations give rise to diseases such as cancer and how nucleic acid therapies influence splicing. 

Can we demystify endometriosis?

WNYC Studios

November 3, 2025

On NPR’s Science Fridays, Linda Griffith highlights challenges in endometriosis—from ‘squeamishness’ around basic conversations to difficulties in clinical diagnosis—and promising research innovations in modeling and treatment. Her own patient-derived models are advancing this work, including collaborative efforts via the MIT Stem Cell Initiative to understand biological structures that may help maintain healthy endometrium and its stem-like properties.

Ovarian Immunotherapy Hits the Gas

MIT News

October 31, 2025

Although immunotherapy has been a game-changer for several cancers, its success in ovarian and other tumors remains quite limited. New nanoparticles developed through a Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine collaboration between the Hammond and former Irvine labs elicit a better response by delivering an immune-stimulating molecule called IL-12 directly to ovarian tumors. In a Nature Materials study, the team paired the nanoparticles with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies in a combination that eliminated metastatic tumors in more than 80 percent of mice, even in highly resistant models.  The treatment also established immune memory, enabling mice to clear cancer cells when reintroduced several months later. Pursuing translational development, the researchers are working to launch a new company.