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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.

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Showing 241–250 of 582 stories

Decoding Cellular Composition

Nature Biomedical Engineering

March 21, 2022

A Nature Biomedical Engineering paper from the Shalek, Langer and Yilmaz Labs demonstrates a breakthrough screening approach for uncovering molecules that control the cellular composition of barrier tissues. Using intestinal organoids, they discovered a tissue-modifying molecule that targets intestinal stem cells and signals the creation of new Paneth cells, a rare but important antimicrobial producing cell that is known to be depleted in several diseases. Their findings could inform understanding of normal tissue function and therapeutic intervention.

Parts of this work have been supported by the MIT Stem Cell Initiative, the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, and the Bridge Project.

Test Solutions

MIT News

March 18, 2022

Sharp Lab postdoc Digbijay Mahat arrived at MIT with one objective: become an expert in cancer research and diagnostics to help improve healthcare in Nepal. But when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, he put his goal on pause to help Nepal access resources needed to roll out widespread COVID testing and vaccines. Now, as these efforts are taking hold, Mahat continues to advocate for local solutions to cancer disparities in his home country.

Rising to the Occasion

MIT News

March 16, 2022

Love Lab researchers, in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, SpyBiotech, and the Serum Institute of India, have engineered yeast cells to produce a protein subunit vaccine that elicits a strong immune response against SARS-CoV2. Composed of spike protein fragments, the vaccine offers a safe, inexpensive, easy-to-store alternative to RNA vaccines, particularly well suited to low- and middle-income countries. The work was published in Science Advances.

Path to Progress

The Guardian

March 12, 2022

Robert Langer walks and talks with The Guardian, sharing his pathway into chemical engineering, the importance of taking failure in stride, and how his 1976 invention—polymer capsules designed to deliver nucleic acids and other large molecules to cells—was an important early step toward the development of mRNA vaccines.  

Predicting Gene Expression

MIT News

March 11, 2022

A neural network model from the Regev Lab deciphers the evolutionary past and future of gene regulation. The model, described in Nature, predicts how changes to non-coding DNA sequences affect gene expression and can be used to custom-design expression patterns in cells for industrial and pharmaceutical purposes, including potential treatments for cancer.  

More than a CV

Edges & Nodes

March 10, 2022

“Edges & Nodes,” created by White Lab postdoc and Convergence Scholar Tigist Tamir, highlights the work and life of minority scientists across various fields and institutions. The series’ goal is to demystify the idea of who scientists are and what their day-to-day life looks like by telling the unique stories of individuals. Check it out on YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram.  

A Class Act

MIT News

March 9, 2022

Since 2016, MIT's "Research Experience in Biopharma" class has offered graduate students an opportunity to learn about the innovation ecosystem in Kendall Square and beyond through coursework and hands-on internships. The course has its roots in the MIT Biotechnology Group, co-founded by KI alums Raven Reddy, Nathan Stebbins, and others. KI faculty members Doug Lauffenberger and Amy Keating are among those working to ensure the class continues to achieve the goals of these early efforts.
 

Welcome, Joelle!

MIT Koch Institute

March 7, 2022

Pediatric oncologist and former Hammond Lab postdoc Joelle Straehla is the KI’s newest Charles W. (1955) and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator. Her clinical work at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center focuses on care of children with tumors of the brain and spinal cord. Straehla’s research focus, and that of her new laboratory, is aimed at improving delivery and efficacy of therapies for brain cancer.

KI audiences may recognize her from the 2020 with/in/sight program “Pushing Boundaries, Breaking Barriers in Brain Cancer” and her lightning talk about “Tortuous Trafficking” at the 2021 Image Awards. 

Vote now for KI cancer research in STAT Madness

STAT News

March 3, 2022

KI cancer research needs your support in STAT's annual bracket-style tournament to find the best innovations in science and medicine. Register or sign in to your free STAT account to vote early and often for these three projects: the Jacks Lab's new pancreatic cancer approach in Matchup 5; the Barzilay Lab's AI-enhanced mammography in Matchup 16; and the Langer/Traverso Lab's collaboration with Duke University to improve drug delivery with machine learning and high-throughput design in Matchup 10.

KI Leadership Team Updates

MIT Koch Institute

March 1, 2022

Jackie Lees has stepped aside after more than 20 years as an Associate Director, first at the MIT Center for Cancer Research and then at the Koch Institute. She had an enormous impact in shaping our current organization, as well as the Robert A. Swanson (1969) Biotechnology Center and core facilities. Lees will continue to support the work of MIT and the Koch Institute through her role as Associate Dean in the MIT School of Science. Angela Koehler has been named interim associate director, joining Darrell Irvine in providing administrative oversight of various research and community initiatives.