News

Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang holding the medal she won in the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition

Rhoda Zhang Wins 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition

MIT News

November 5, 2024

Graduate student Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang has won the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competition in both the Graduate and People's Choice categories. With advisors Robert Langer and Ana Jaklenec, Zhang and KI postdoc Xin Yang are developing metal-organic frameworks and other safe, sustainable nutrient stabilizing materials to address global micronutrient deficiencies. They are also launching MOFe™ Coffee, the first iron-fortified coffee.

Filter by

Filter by Title/Description

Filter by Topic

Filter by Year

Showing 211–220 of 582 stories

Cross-Presented and Accounted For

MIT Koch Institute

July 13, 2022

By processing fragments of tumor cells and pathogens and presenting them as antigens, dendritic cells can train T cells to mount an immune response. The Spranger and White Labs have developed a method that, for the first time, surveys the number and types of antigens cross-presented by dendritic cells. In a study published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer and supported in part by the Frontier Research Program, researchers found the original location of a protein had a profound impact on whether it would be cross-presented by a dendritic cell. The results could help researchers develop new strategies for patients and tumor types that do not respond well to immune checkpoint blockade therapies.

2022 Symposium in Review

MIT Koch Institute

July 8, 2022

Videos from the 20th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, “Ten Years at the Koch Institute,” are now available. Take a tour through keynote talks by Ned Sharpless, Francis Collins, and Matthew Vander Heiden, a panel on the future of convergent science, and research presentations by Koch Institute faculty and alumni.

Liver on a Chip

MIT News

June 27, 2022

A liver tissue model developed by the Bhatia Lab, in collaboration with Boston University's Chen Lab, allows researchers to precisely trace the steps involved in liver regeneration. A recent study, published in PNAS, describes the identification of certain growth factors and molecules that contribute to cells entering the cell cycle. This work presents a complementary approach to the lab's other 3D liver models featured in the 2016 and 2021 Koch Institute Image Awards exhibitions.
 

Langer Wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award

MIT News

June 17, 2022

Robert Langer, David H. Koch (1962) Institute Professor, has won the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biology and Biomedicine category. He shares the award with Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman  in recognition of their contributions to messenger (mRNA) therapeutics and delivery technology, which enabled the rapid development SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and promises to expand to other therapeutical areas, including cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders, enzyme deficiencies, and other viral infections. In particular, Langer is cited for his work enabling the repackaging mRNA and other macromolecule therapeutics for their delivery into cells.

The PIs That Bind

MIT News

June 17, 2022

KI members Graham Walker, Michael Hemann, Michael Yaffe, Jiazhu Chen, Sangeeta Bhatia and biologist Sebastian Lourido have been awarded a Bose Research Grant, which supports vanguard research efforts. Their project, “Addressing Critical Human Health Problems with a Special Heme-binding Peptide” uses a recently discovered plant peptide that binds and sequesters a molecule critical in hemoglobin oxygen binding in a new way.

Directed Evolution

Instigators of Change 

June 15, 2022

Angela Belcher spoke with the Instigators of Change podcast about how her career has evolved from working on batteries and solar cells to developing new tools for cancer diagnostics and environmental remediation. Highlights include the story of how the Koch Institute's early-years boot camps and speed dating sessions helped spark her passion for fighting ovarian cancer, and her top tips for team-building and getting inventions to market.
 

Immuno-Pep Squad

Nature

June 15, 2022

The immune system’s ability to detect nascent tumors requires the presentation of protein fragment (peptide) antigens that it can recognize. Due to limitations in how samples are collected and studied, researchers have difficulty identifying peptide presentation patterns specific to cancer. However, an ongoing Jacks Lab/White Lab collaboration, originally begun as a hallway conversation between colleagues, shows the power of combining engineered mouse models with mass spectrometry to better profile the collection of immunopeptides on the surface of cancer cells. The researchers' latest paper, published in Nature, reveals new tumor antigens potentially useful for immunotherapies and understanding of immune response.

Phenotype Phenomenon

MIT News

June 9, 2022

The Weissman Lab has produced the first map tying every human gene to its function in a cell. In a study published in Cell, researchers used the map to explore the effect of genes with previously unknown functions, investigate the response of mitochondria to stress, and screen for genes that cause chromosomes to be lost or gained.  

Model Behavior

MIT News

June 2, 2022

Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, is notoriously hard to treat. The blood-brain barrier blocks conventional chemotherapies from reaching tumors, and many potential new treatments that work well in animal models end up failing in clinical trials.

In a study published in PNAS and co-led by Charles W. (1955) and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator Joelle Straehla, researchers assessed tumor-targeting nanoparticles from the Hammond Lab using a microfluidic human tissue model of glioblastoma from the Kamm Lab that closely replicates the blood-brain barrier. They found that cisplatin-bearing nanoparticles coated with peptide AP2 were able to target and kill glioblastoma tumor cells, suggesting that the model could be used to design nanoparticles with a greater chance of success in the clinic.

Signal Boost

MIT News

May 30, 2022

The Strano Lab developed a photonic technique that dramatically improves the signal of fluorescent sensors, potentially enabling their use for cancer diagnosis or monitoring. In a Nature Nanotechnology study funded in part by the Bridge Project, researchers were able to implant sensors as deep as 5.5 cm and still get a strong signal.