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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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Cheers to the 2021 Karches Prize Winners

MIT Koch Institute

December 23, 2021

The Peter Karches Mentorship Prize is awarded annually to KI trainees and technicians serving as mentors to high school and undergraduate students while working in KI laboratories. Congratulations to this year's winners, Coralie Backlund (Irvine Lab), Jason Conage-Pough (White  Lab), Alicia Darnell (Vander Heiden Lab), and Jay Mahat (Sharp Lab), and thank you to all those who submitted nominations. We are proud to celebrate the critical role mentorship plays in engaging the next generation of cancer researchers.

Nano-mentary, My Dear Watson

Upstage Lung Cancer

December 21, 2021

Upstage Lung Cancer’s podcast episode, “What If Sherlock Holmes Had Cancer,” explores the use of nanoparticles to detect early clues to lung cancer. Expert witnesses include KI trainees Jesse Kirkpatrick and Christina Cabana, Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine Assistant Director Tarek Fadel, and KI Executive Director Jane Wilkinson.

Intermural Networks

Jameel Clinic

December 21, 2021

Researchers from MIT’s Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning and the Koch Institute came together to discuss applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the study, detection, and treatment of cancer. The meeting, which included research presentations and a networking reception, laid the groundwork for future collaboration, partnerships, and exchanges.

Swing States

MIT News

December 21, 2021

Analyzing the RNA expression patterns of cancer cells can reveal their susceptibility to different drugs, according to new work from Shalek and Manalis lab researchers and their Bridge Project collaborators. In a study of pancreatic cancer cells, published in Cell, the team also demonstrated that changes to the tumor microenvironment can drive cells from one RNA-expression state to another. Their findings suggest that it may be possible to treat some patients’ tumors more effectively by first modifying signals in the tumor microenvironment to lock it in a particular state, and then giving a drug that targets that state.

The work was funded in part by the Bridge Project and the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT.

Organ-ic Questions in Cancer Biology

MIT News

December 16, 2021

New KI faculty member Kristin Knouse studies regeneration in the liver to understand how tissues sense and respond to damage. As a clinically trained cell biologist, Knouse has a joint interest in medical applications and fundamental biological questions, including how seemingly dormant cancer cells drive metastatic disease.

More Powerful Vaccines

MIT News

December 10, 2021

A potent adjuvant from the Irvine Lab significantly improves antibody production in mice after vaccination against HIV, diphtheria, and influenza. The immune system-boosting nanoparticle, described in a study published in Science Immunology and funded in part by the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, may also have applications for vaccines against Covid-19 and cancer.

Standing Innovation

National Academy of Inventors

December 9, 2021

Congratulations to Paula Hammond on her election to the National Academy of Inventors Fellows Program. The program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

Creating a Cohort

MIT News

December 2, 2021

Following on last year’s boot camp, the MIT Future Founders Initiative, initiated by KI members Sangeeta Bhatia, Susan Hockfield, and Nancy Hopkins, announced its $250K prize competition to promote female entrepreneurs in biotech. KI faculty members Laurie Boyer and Kristin Knouse are among the finalists, as is KI alum Canan Dagdeviren. Learn more about the program's origins and goals in Bhatia's recent interview with the Kendall Square Association.

Mirai Goes Global

STAT News

November 30, 2021

Mirai, a machine learning model for breast cancer risk prediction, is heading to seven hospitals around the world. Researchers hope to minimize Mirai’s bias by testing its performance in patient populations with diverse clinical and demographic backgrounds. The model was developed by a team led by KI member Regina Barzilay and was recently featured in The Washington Post and on Good Morning America.

Immune Cell Masquerade

MIT News

November 30, 2021

Spranger Lab researchers describe how a subset of immune cells known as type-2 conventional dendritic cells (DC2) cloak themselves in cancer-associated proteins to provoke an immune response against tumors. Their findings, published in Immunity, indicate that these stealthy operations are driven by the signaling molecule type-1 interferon, suggesting new strategies for targeted immunotherapy.