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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 251–260 of 582 stories

Two Degrees of Preparation

MIT News

February 27, 2022

Doyle Lab alum Nidhi Juthani is learning the languages of both science and business. Juthani’s doctoral work focused on developing hydrogel microparticles for microRNA and extracellular vesicle detection with the goal of improving tools for researching and diagnosing diseases, including cancer. With her PhD complete, Juthani is now pursuing an MBA at the Sloan School of Management with the goal of launching a career where she can serve as a bridge between scientific research and industry.

Mens, manus, et mentorship

MIT News

February 24, 2022

In addition to his award-winning work to understand and model metastatic colorectal cancer, Jacks Lab undergraduate researcher Daniel Zhang has found numerous ways to create STEM mentorship pipelines within and beyond MIT. He credits MIT’s “mens et manus” philosophy, which encourages the hands-on application of knowledge, as significant to his success.  

STATUS Report

STAT News

February 22, 2022

Cheers to Regina Barzilay and Sangeeta Bhatia on making the 2022 STATUS List! STAT’s list, featuring 46 leaders in health, medicine, and science, highlights Barzilay’s machine learning model to improve risk assessment for breast cancer and Bhatia’s efforts to increase the number of women founders in biotech through the Future Founders Initiative.  

Probing Protein Pairing

MIT News

February 3, 2022

No protein is an island; most rely on partners to carry out their vital functions. A new screening method from the Keating Lab probes more deeply into how proteins recognize and bind to one another. In studies published in eLife last December and January, researchers used information generated by the new method to guide the design of a synthetic molecule that binds ENAH, a protein implicated in cancer metastasis. Their results could inform the future design of cancer drugs, as well as fundamental understandings about cell function and regulation

Interactions of Interest

Morgridge Institute for Research

January 21, 2022

A new paper in Science Advances describes how cancer cells can hijack the metabolic activity of certain non-cancer cells in the pancreas to fuel tumor growth. The study combines a sophisticated 3D organoid model developed by the Vander Heiden Lab with optical imaging from the Morgridge Institute’s Skala Lab to better understand tumor cell proliferation in the context of the tumor microenvironment.

The Right Tempo for Cancer Screening

MIT News

January 21, 2022

Tempo, an AI-based tool developed by Regina Barzilay, tailors breast cancer screening guidelines to a patient’s individual risk. A study of hospital datasets published in Nature Medicine showed that Tempo worked most efficiently when paired with the team’s risk-assessment algorithm Mirai, detecting cancer earlier while recommending fewer screenings overall. The technology’s dynamic framework is designed to make cancer screenings more cost-effective and equitable.

Seq and Ye Shall Find

Broad Institute

January 20, 2022

One major challenge in cancer genetics is figuring out which of the millions of protein-coding mutations drive disease. A report appearing in Nature Biotechnology describes a new method that combines experimental and computational approaches to assess the functions of these genetic alterations. The work builds on sequencing tools developed in the Broad Institute labs of KI members Aviv Regev and Jesse Boehm.

Alum for the Ride

MIT News

January 10, 2022

Irvine and Wittrup lab researchers have developed a technique to make cytokine therapy less toxic. These immunostimulatory molecules are quite potent and can have devastating side effects if administered systemically. In a preclinical study appearing in Nature Biomedical Engineering and supported in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, the researchers anchored the cytokines to tumors with aluminum hydroxide, a compound that is often used to make vaccines more effective. They then administered immune checkpoint blockade therapy, observing that the tumors were eliminated in 50 to 90 percent of the mice across three cancer types. The technology has been licensed to a startup company that hopes to begin clinical trials by the end of the year.

Suono Science

Business Wire

January 5, 2022

Suono Bio, co-founded by Robert Langer, used low-frequency ultrasound to deliver short interfering RNA (siRNA) to disrupt the expression of Ctnnb 1, a gene implicated in colorectal cancer. The study, published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, demonstrates how their technology could be used for formulation-agnostic delivery of RNA therapeutics.

Incorporating Diversity

The New York Times

January 3, 2022

Paula Hammond spoke to The New York Times about a recent uptick in the diversity of corporate boards and the advantages of bringing different perpectives, knowledge, and experience into the boardroom. Hammond, an Institute Professor who also serves on President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, was approached for the first time in 2020 to serve on a board.