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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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New Academic Year Brings New KI Leadership

MIT Koch Institute

September 22, 2017

The Koch Institute is pleased to announce that KI faculty members Darrell Irvine and Matthew Vander Heiden have joined the Institute's leadership team as Associate Directors.

Irvine, Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering, will step into this role to lead the Koch Institute's engineering initiatives and serve as a liaison with MIT's School of Engineering. Similarly, Vander Heiden, Associate Professor of Biology, will guide the KI's life sciences cohort and work closely with MIT's School of Science. With KI Director Tyler Jacks at the helm, Irvine and Vander Heiden join current Associate Director Jacqueline Lees, who has been an integral part of the leadership of the Koch Institute since its inception and of the Center for Cancer Research for six years before that. In addition to her continued involvment in all aspects of the administration, Lees will also continue to bring particular oversight to the 12 core facilities within the Swanson Biotechnology Center along with Sarah Farrington, Core Faciltities Administrator.

Dane Wittrup, who has served as Associate Director since the Koch Institute's founding in 2007, is stepping down from the leadership team. "I have very much enjoyed working with Dane in this capacity and thank him for his hard work and dedication," KI Director Tyler Jacks said. "I look forward to his continued contributions to the KI in the years ahead."

With fresh faces, new ideas, and sustained focus on representing our strengths in both engineering and life sciences, the 2017-2018 academic year is off to an exciting start at the KI!

A Strand-ing Ovation for mRNA Delivery

MIT News

September 20, 2017

Weaving together expertise in polymer science and chemical engineering with inspiration from nature, Hammond Lab researchers — as published in Angewandte Chemie — have designed a bioinspired delivery system for messenger RNA (mRNA) that is far more efficient than delivering these strands of genetic material on their own. mRNA holds great promise for treating disease, including cancer, but presents numerous challenges in delivering them to cells for high gene expression. The team's approach, attaching poly-A binding proteins to the mRNA tail and assembling the complex with a polymer, translates into more effective delivery to ribosomes for increased production of desired proteins. This work was supported in part by a Koch Institute Quinquennial Cancer Research Fellowship. 

Proceed with Caution: Hynes Gives Guidance Following Gene Editing Breakthrough

MIT News

August 3, 2017

KI faculty member Richard Hynes has been making the rounds of various media outlets to discuss implications of the announcement by Oregon Health & Science University researchers that they have successfully edited genes in human embryos to repair a mutation that causes a common and potentially deadly heart condition. Hynes, who co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine Study Committee that issued the Human Genome Editing Report earlier this year, appeared in The New York Times and on Charlie Rose to underscore the committee's initial recommendations about the important ethical and societal issues that need to be addressed in deciding what should and should not be allowed as additional technical challenges are overcome. 

The Proof is in the Proximity

MIT News

July 9, 2017

Anecdotal evidence abounds in support of the Koch Institute's position as a leader in collaboration at MIT, but we now have the quantitative data to prove it! A new study from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, published in PLOS ONE, shows that the KI has the highest rate of intra-MIT co-authorship (roughly 32 percent) and the second highest rate of intra-MIT patent collaboration (27 percent). Both data points are a testament to the KI's success in bringing scientists and engineers together to encourage innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in cancer research. 

Converging on Cancer on the Nanoscale

MIT News

July 7, 2017

This summer, we mark the first anniversary of the launch of our Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, established through a generous gift from Kathy and Curt Marble ’63. Bringing together leading Koch Institute faculty members and their teams, the Marble Center focuses on grand challenges in cancer detection, treatment, and monitoring that can benefit from the emerging biology and physics of the nanoscale. In its first year, the Center funded six transformative research projects in the areas of drug delivery and immunotherapy, established a scientific advisory board, and provided fellowship support for trainees, along with valuable opportunities for mentorship, scientific exchange, and professional development. We look forward to continued success and progress at the interface of nanotechnology and medicine.

The Life of a Pioneer

MedPage Today

May 23, 2017

Did you know that KI faculty member Robert Weinberg once built a cabin by hand in the woods of New Hampshire? Or that during the Civil Rights movement, he housed sharecroppers in Alabama who had been evicted from their land for registering to vote? Fascinating facts, that we enjoyed learning about in a recent article by MedPage Today. In the article, Weinberg — who is widely regarded as a cancer research pioneer for his discoveries of the first human oncogene, and the first tumor suppressor gene — talks about successes and setbacks over the course of his career, reflects on his tenure at MIT as a student, member of MIT's Center for Cancer Research (predecessor to the Koch Institute), and founding member of the Whitehead Institute.

The Cool Nano-nerds

WBUR

May 15, 2017

The KI dream team of Sangeeta Bhatia, Angela Belcher, and Paula Hammond are (as they describe themselves) "the cool kind of nerds" who are making substantial advances in cancer research on the nanoscale. Comprising half of the all-star faculty at the KI's Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine (of which Bhatia is the director), this power trio combines their expertise in various scientific areas and engineering disciplines to develop a theranostic platform — a combination diagnostic and therapy — made from nanomaterials to detect tumors at their earliest stages and destroy them before they become threatening. In the latest "This Moment in Cancer" segment from WBUR, these three dedicated engineers talk about the potential of nanomedicine in the fight against cancer and how, as researchers and mentors, they work to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. 

Jacks Went Up The Hill

MIT News

April 10, 2017

What do you get when you put three leading cancer researchers and a passionate advocate in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform? Support for cancer research on both sides of the aisle. On March 29, KI Director Tyler Jacks joined a panel of cancer research experts to testify in front of the bipartisan committee and argue that federal investment in cancer research is critical for the vitality of the nation’s citizens, economy, and status as the global leader in biomedical research. 

Defeating Diagnostic Deficits

MIT News

April 10, 2017

A major challenge in fighting cancer is catching it early, when therapies tend to be most effective and patient outcomes most improved. In a recent Nature Biomedical Engineering publication, the Bhatia Lab shows off the capabilities of the new and improved version of their non-invasive urinary diagnostic, which incorporates new design strategies for tumor-specific signal generation and better penetration into tumors.

Welcome to Langermania

Harvard Business Review

February 28, 2017

KI member Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor, has been doing laps around the press circuit, but don't plan on him slowing down anytime soon. Most recently, Langer was featured as "The Edison of Medicine" in Harvard Business Review via an in-depth profile detailing his illustrious accomplishments as an academic and entrepreneur. The article includes business advice from Langer himself — as well as success stories about research by Langer Lab postdocs Oliver "Ollie" Jonas and Mark Tibbitt. The projects described, respectively supported in part by the Koch Institute's Frontier Research Program and S. Leslie Misrock Frontier Research Fund for Cancer Nanotechnology, highlight the culture of the lab itself and the important role that mentorship plays in transforming ideas into impact.

Langer also headlined an article in WIRED showcasing his contributions to smarter drug delivery, namely his work with polymers to create long-lasting pills and drugs. Finally, Langer got personal with the science-based human interest blog Humans of Science as he talked about his career, inspirations, and motivations. (Phew!)