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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 341–350 of 633 stories

Forest vs. Fires

MIT News

September 22, 2021

Signaling expert Forest White has begun applying his signature analytical techniques to investigate how environmental factors affect cancer development and progression. A recent modeling study challenges current thinking about carcinogenic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are released whenever organic matter is burned, including in wildfires, driving, and cooking. The MIT team’s findings, published in GeoHealth, suggest that the PAH historically used to inform regulatory standards may be inadequate for assessing global cancer risk.

Congratulations, Sachin!

MIT News

September 17, 2021

Cheers to graduate student Sachin Bhagchandani, the first at MIT to win the National Cancer Institute Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00)! Collaborating with the Johnson, Irvine, Langer, and Spranger Labs, Bhagchandani combines immunology and polymer chemistry to develop a drug delivery system that makes certain kinds of cancer immunotherapies less toxic.

Diet, Cancer, and the Microbiome

Cell Stem Cell

September 15, 2021

Over the years, researchers in the laboratory of Ömer Yilmaz have uncovered important clues into the connections between diet and cancer, with recent work focusing on the role of intestinal stem cells on tumor initiation under various dietary conditions. In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, the lab examines the impact of high fat diets on gut microbes and their interactions with both stem cells and immune cells. The findings suggest that such perturbations to the microbiome significantly dampen immune recognition of premalignant intestinal stem cells, leading to increased tumorigenesis.

Copy That

MIT News

September 15, 2021

Griffith Lab researchers have developed a new way to grow tiny replicas of the pancreas. These “organoids,” described in Nature Materials, can be grown from healthy or cancerous cells and could help researchers develop and test potential drugs for pancreatic cancer—one of the most difficult types of cancer to treat.

Lees Named Associate Dean

MIT News

August 17, 2021

KI associate director and Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research Jacqueline Lees has been appointed associate dean in the MIT School of Science. Lees, along with John W. Jarve (1978) Professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences Rebecca Saxe, will contribute to the school's diversity, equity, and inclusion activities, as well as develop and implement mentoring and other career-development programs to support the community. This work is well aligned with Lees' longstanding leadership at both the Koch Institute and MIT's Department of Biology, and her ongoing commitment to making discovery science research accessible to all.

MIRA MIRA on the Cell

MIT News

August 16, 2021

Congratulations to chemical engineer Katie Galloway on receipt of the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences. This prestigious award will support Galloway’s molecular systems biology work to develop multi-scale tools and approaches for understanding and engineering cell-fate transitions in development, reprogramming, and cancer. 

Fighting Health Disparities with Nanomedicine

MIT Koch Institute

August 7, 2021

Congratulations to Institute Professor and KI member Paula Hammond, the inaugural recipient of the Black in Cancer Distinguished Investigator Award. Established through a partnership between Black in Cancer and the Emerald Foundation in response to racial abuse experienced by Black birdwatcher Chris Cooper in Central Park last year, this award recognizes Black excellence in cancer research and medicine. With this support, Hammond will apply her signature layer-by-layer technology—variations on which were recently featured in National Geographic and The Wall Street Journal—to engineer a nanoscale delivery system that direct a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy to ovarian cancer cells and the surrounding tumor microenvironment. Although the incidence rate of high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is higher in white than black women, the mortality rate is higher for black women, making Hammond's approach a powerful tool for combating serious health disparities.

Three Strikes Against Pancreatic Cancer

MIT News

August 5, 2021

Jacks Lab investigations published in Cancer Cell have identified a promising three-drug combination to improve pancreatic tumors’ response to immunotherapy. The team now seeks to analyze which tumors will respond best to this approach and is working with the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research and two pharmaceutical companies to test the combination therapy in clinical trials.

Inside Outreach

American Society for Cell Biology

August 2, 2021

KI outreach manager Erika Reinfeld sat down with KI postdoc and American Society for Cell Biology representative Tim Fessenden to discuss science outreach before and after Covid. Reflecting on the nature of online vs. in-person events, tours, and presentations, the conversation examined the pandemic’s impact on access, equity, and opportunity, as well as strategies for connecting STEM topics to people’s everyday experiences.
 

One Step at a Time

American Association for Cancer Research

July 27, 2021

Cancer metabolism pioneer Matthew Vander Heiden didn't set out to be a pioneer; he just wanted to understand how mitochondria worked. However, one question led to another and he soon found himself revisiting fundamental questions about cell metabolism and applying his discoveries to cancer biology. Now, as director of the Koch Institute, Vander Heiden continues to catalyze discoveries and interactions across the cancer research field.