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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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Showing 451–460 of 532 stories

Slow Down, You Grow Too Fast

MIT News

July 2, 2018

Researchers in the laboratory of KI associate director and MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine member Matthew Vander Heiden are looking at aspartate as a limiting nutrient for cancer cells and feeling groovy. Their latest paper, published in Nature Cell Biology and further covered in Nature News & Views, explains how and why this amino acid is important for cell proliferation and argues that targeting aspartate production may reduce the growth of some tumors. 

The Unstoppable Nancy Hopkins

MIT News

June 25, 2018

KI member and MIT Professor Emerita Nancy Hopkins may be officially retired, but she is not slowing down. After co-authoing a review of the molecular mechanisms of the preventable causes of cancer in the United States for Genes & Development, she sat down with MIT News to share her perspective on the impact and potential of cancer prevention. On September 5, Hopkins will be honored with the 2018 Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to genetics, cancer research, and gender equity in science.

Weight For It

MIT News

June 22, 2018

The KI's Vander Heiden Lab, in collaboration with researchers and clinicians at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is exploring the connections between pancreatic cancer and weight loss. As seen in Nature, the team looked at tissue wasting mechanisms in mice with early stage tumors and found that loss of pancreatic digestive enzymes can contribute to early weight loss in pancreatic cancer. They also examined blood samples and clinical data from more than 700 pancreatic cancer patients, determining that tissue loss does not necessarily correlate with lower survival rates and suggesting that detecting such tissue loss could lead to earlier diagnosis. The work was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund and the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine. Get the breakdown from MIT News, Nature News & Views, and STAT.

Pushing BBBoundaries, Crossing BBBarriers

MIT News

June 4, 2018

Blood brain barrier getting in the way of brain cancer treatment? Na-no problem! A collaborative effort between the laboratories of Paula Hammond, a David H. Koch Professor in Engineering and head of MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering, Michael Yaffe, the David H. Koch Professor of Science and director of MIT's Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, and former Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator Scott Floyd has yielded a layered nanoparticle coated with a protein known as transferrin that can pass through the blood brain barrier to deliver a targeted one-two punch to glioblastoma tumor cells. Mice treated with these transferrin-coated nanoparticles survived for twice as long as mice that received other treatments. The work is described in Nature Communications and was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program, a KI Quinquennial Cancer Research Fellowship, and the Bridge Project.

Spreading Weinberg Wisdom

MIT Koch Institute

May 2, 2018

From shared insights to exciting new research — KI member and director of the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT, Robert Weinberg, has had his cancer research expertise on full display this spring. Take, for example, this characteristically frank comment on new claims linking coffee and cancer, or this overview of cancer and its prominence in modern life for The Guardian. Perhaps the most buzzworthy highlight from Weinberg this season, however, is new research on potential outcomes of breast cancer surgery. In April, he and his team published findings in Science Translational Medicine suggesting that surgery for breast cancer patients may trigger a systemic immune response that allows for early metastatic relapse during the healing process. However, the study also includes some good news, showing that taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) after breast cancer surgery may prevent such a relapse. This new understanding about the connections between post-surgical wound healing, inflammation, and metastasis could bring change to the standard of care for breast cancer patients. The work, also featured by STAT and WBUR, was supported in part by a TRANSCEND grant through the KI's alliance with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Read more.

A Day in the Langer Life

MIT News

March 27, 2018

Juggling his roles as engineer, professor, entrepreneur, and inventor — KI member and David H. Koch Institute Professor Robert Langer is always on the go. In this day-in-the-life video, produced by MIT's School of Engineering and MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering, Langer takes viewers behind the curtain to learn more about how his interest in chemisty and fascination with magic propels him to keeping learning and discovering through chemical engineering.

Belcher Elected to National Academy of Engineering

MIT News

February 7, 2018

Hearty congratulations are in order for Koch Institute member Angela Belcher for being elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)! Belcher, the James Mason Crafts Professor and Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science, was honored for her work in developing novel genetic evolution methods for the generation of new materials and devices. She is one of four newly elected members from MIT to be included in the 2018 class. Belcher's selection brings the total number of current KI faculty members elected to the NAE to nine. Read more more about her work in Chemical & Engineering News.

Targeting Patient Success with Precision Cancer Medicine

MIT News

February 1, 2018

We are excited to kick off the new year by announcing the launch of the new MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, housed within the KI and established by a major gift from an anonymous donor. With Director Michael Yaffe at the helm, the Center will advance progress within the field of precision medicine — one of the KI's five research focus areas. Fellow faculty members Michael Hemann, Angela Koehler, Matthew Vander Heiden, and Forest White join this endeavor. Driven by internal and external collaborations, particularly with clinical partners, the Center will focus on identifying the most effective drugs and combinations for individual patients. 

New Year Brings New KI Members

MIT Koch Institute

January 31, 2018

The Koch Institute is thrilled to announce four new extramural faculty members: Regina Barzilay, Ed Boyden, Jeremiah Johnson, and Alex Shalek. Barzilay, the Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, will bring to the KI her unique expertise in using data and machine learning to advance cancer detection and treatment. She is the recent recipient of a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship, which is known by many as the “genius award.” Boyden is Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT's McGovern Institute and Media Lab, where he leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group. His work focuses on developing tools for analyzing and repairing complex biological systems such as the brain, and applying those tools systematically to reveal fundamental principles of biological function. Boyden was recently named the recipient of NIH's Transformative Research Award. Johnson, Associate Professor of Chemistry at MIT, works to develop new macromolecule tools to address problems in chemistry, medicine, biology, energy, and polymer physics. He was recently named the winner of the MIT School of Science Teaching Prize for Undergraduate Education. Lastly, Shalek, who was recently named the Pfizer Inc.-Gerald Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, leverages advances in nanotechnology and chemical biology to develop broadly applicable platforms for manipulating and profiling many interacting single cells in order to examine ensemble cellular behaviors from the bottom up. Fun fact: Alex was also a Koch Institute Image Awards winner back in 2013. Welcome, all!

Fit to be Peptide

MIT News

January 15, 2018

A collaborative Bridge Project team, led by MIT biologist Amy Keating and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute physician-scientists Loren Walensky and Anthony Letai, describe a novel strategy for inhibiting Mcl-1, a protein that is often overexpressed in cancer and contributes to tumor cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy. The team modified small protein fragments, or peptides, using chemical approaches and sequence optimization techniques, to produce peptides that are stable and can enter cells. When administered to cancer cells that are dependent on Mcl-1 for survival, the peptides successfully induced cell death. This research, published in PNAS, could lead to the development of new drugs for many different cancer types, and thus holds significant promise for clinical translation.