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Viktor Adalsteinsson

KI alum Viktor Adalsteinsson develops liquid biopsies to detect cancer

Slice of MIT

March 6, 2024

Cancer patients who undergo surgery are often left with a frightening question: Did the surgeons get all the cancerous cells? No one wants a recurrence of disease, but additional treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy have significant side effects. That’s why Viktor Adalsteinsson PhD ’15 has been developing tools to support better-informed treatment decisions: so-called “liquid biopsies” that can detect the presence of cancer from a simple blood test.

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Inhalable sensors for early lung cancer detection

MIT News

January 5, 2024

Inhalable nanosensors from the Bhatia Lab could enable earlier lung cancer detection. When the nanosensors encounter cancer-linked proteins in the lungs, they release a signal that can be detected in the urine with a paper test strip. The diagnostic, described in Science Advances, could make lung cancer screening more accessible in places where CT scans, the current gold standard for detecting lung cancer, are not widely available. This study was funded in part by Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Initiative. Additional related work was supported by Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine and the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via Upstage Lung Cancer.

Reducing Neuroinflammation via Nanoparticles

MIT News

December 15, 2023

Beyond cancer and vaccines, Langer’s lipid nanoparticles conquer new tissues. In a co-led study led with Li-Huei Tsai, a faculty member in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, researchers tested Langer's lipid nanoparticles in multiple mouse models and cultured human cells for their ability to deliver mRNA to the brain’s microglia immune cells and suppress expression of a protein linked to excessive inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease.

Angela Belcher delivers 2023 Dresselhaus Lecture

MIT News

December 13, 2023

Angela Belcher gave 2023 Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture at MIT last November, using her signature props to demonstrate the wide variety of concepts and projects made possible by the intersection of biology and nanotechnology. Belcher introduced her audiences to her work with the M13 bacteriophage, which has enabled her to make advances in building batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells to carbon sequestration and storage, environmental remediation, catalysis, and medical diagnostics and imaging—including for ovarian cancer. “Part of the secret of life and the meaning of life is helping other people enjoy the passage of time,” said Belcher. “I think that we can all do that by working to solve some of the biggest issues on the planet, including helping to diagnose and treat ovarian cancer early so people have more time to spend with their family.” 

Boosting Immune Response to Vaccines

MIT News

December 12, 2023

Researchers in the Irvine and Hammond labs have developed a novel kind of vaccine adjuvant: a nanoparticle that can help to stimulate the immune system to generate a stronger response to a vaccine. These nanoparticles contain saponin, a compound derived from the bark of the Chilean soapbark tree, along with a molecule called MPLA, each of which helps to activate the immune system. The adjuvant has been incorporated into an experimental HIV vaccine that has shown promising results in animal studies, and this the first human volunteers will receive the vaccine as part of a phase 1 clinical trial run by the Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development at the Scripps Research Institute. 

Anderson and Jaklenec Elected to the NAI

MIT Koch Institute

December 12, 2023

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI)  announced the election of more than 160 people to their 2023 class of fellows, including two members of the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Daniel Anderson and Ana Jaklenec. The highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors, election to the NAI recognizes individuals who have created or facilitated outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.  

Best in Picture Show

Nature

December 11, 2023

Nature chose KI Image Award winner, “Tail as Old as Time,” as one of their best science images of 2023. Created by Jaclyn Fingerhut in the Yamashita Lab at the Whitehead Institute, the image tracks the incredible morphological changes that fruit fly germ cells undergo to produce some of the longest sperm in the animal kingdom, ~2mm.
 

Picking Up the Pace for the Cima Lab Pretzel

Johnson & Johnson

December 4, 2023

The FDA granted its Breakthrough Designation to expedite development and review of Johnson & Johnson’s TAR-200 implant. Originally developed in the Cima Lab to make treating bladder cancer safer, more effective and less costly, the device is currently in clinical trials to replace standard regimens with continuously administered gemcitabine in the bladder.

MIT’s Tiny Technologies Go to Washington

MIT Koch Institute

December 4, 2023

A team from the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine showed a Washington D.C. audience several examples of how nanotechnologies developed at the Koch Institute can transform the detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases. At "American Possibilities: A White House Demo Day,” principal research scientist Ana Jaklenec highlighted several groundbreaking technologies developed her group to improve vaccines and disease diagnostics and treatment. Jeremy Li, CEO and co-founder of Cision Vision and former Belcher Lab postdoc, presented a lymph node imaging device that has been named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2023 and is currently being used in a dozen hospitals across the U.S.
 

The Sweet Side of Cell Biology

MIT News

December 1, 2023

As a field, glycoscience—the study of the carbohydrates and sugar-coated molecules found in every living organism—is in the midst of a renaissance that could reshape scientists' understanding of the building blocks of life and the drivers of disease. An MIT News explainer gives a taste of the sweet science pursued around campus, including  research into glycans’ critical roles in normal and cancer biology by KI investigators Laura Kiessling, Tobi Oni, and Jessica Stark.

Immune Action at a Distance

MIT News

November 30, 2023

The Traverso Lab developed a gel-based platform for injecting immune-stimulating drugs directly into tumors. Ideally, direct injection of these drugs into a tumor will provoke a system-wide immune response, while avoiding the serious toxic side effects of systemic administration. In practice, tumors are difficult to target with precision and the drugs tend to leak away from the tumor too quickly. The team worked with colleagues at Mass General Brigham to design a thermoresponsive gel that is visible with a CT scanner, solidifies after injection, and releases drugs at a controlled rate. An Advanced Healthcare Materials study showed that in combination with checkpoint blockade therapy, the platform caused both treated tumors and untreated tumors at other locations to regress in mouse models.