News

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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Facing Down Mask Shortages

Boston Globe

July 22, 2020

A team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Koch Institute unveiled their prototype model for a reusable silicone face mask. The design, published in British Medical Journal Open, uses scalable manufacturing technology to produce an easily sterilizable, N95-filter-ready mask for use by health care providers and the general public. Following successful fit and breathability testing in the clinic, the team is working on a second version with improved comfort and durability.

Dissecting Discrimination

WBUR

July 10, 2020

Picture a Scientist combines hard data and personal experience to continue the conversation begun by Nancy Hopkins in “A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT.” Documenting the story behind the landmark report, the film examines the persistence of gender discrimination and the considerable barriers facing women scientists—particularly women of color—over the last two decades.

Sizing Up Cell Growth

PNAS

July 10, 2020

Manalis Lab researchers engineered a larger version of their signature microfluidic mass measurement technology to investigate how cell size and cell cycle contribute to cell growth. The study, published in PNAS, reveals that a cell's growth efficiency is primarily determined by its cell cycle state, not its size, and lays the groundwork for using these devices to monitor growth in large cells and 3D clusters with high resolution. 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 Cancer Precision Medicine.

Making Heads and Tails of Metastasis

Cancer Research

July 7, 2020

A new Cancer Research paper draws on Image Award-winning research to explore the influence of the YAP gene on metastasis. Using a transparent zebrafish model and time lapse imaging, Hynes Lab researchers tracked the movement of tumor cells through the vasculature, determining that YAP promotes active migration within small blood vessels and wider dissemination throughout the body. Working with the Manalis Lab to corroborate these findings in a mouse model, the team demonstrated how a single gene can affect global patterns of metastasis. The research was supported in part by the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT.

Concentrating on Cancer Drugs

Science

July 2, 2020

The Young Lab identified a mechanism by which small molecule cancer drugs concentrate within cells. In a study appearing in Science, researchers added cisplatin and mitoxantrone to mixtures of different types of cellular condensates—tiny droplets of close-packed proteins where complex functions are carried out. Their results offer insight into the effectiveness of cisplatin—as well as into tamoxifen resistance—and suggest that small molecule drugs can be tailored to target particular droplets to increase their efficacy.

Imaging Science

MIT Museum

June 30, 2020

The Koch Institute teamed up with the MIT Museum for Imaging Science, a two-week exploration of everyday science photography. A series of photography tutorials and webinars featured images and insight from KI Image Awards contributors, including Lina Colucci, Keith Ellenbogen, Felice Frankel, Jeffrey Kuhn, Sudha Kumari, Erika Reinfeld, Quinton Smith, and Matheus Victor.

Shared Knowledge for Improved Biomanufacturing

The AltHost Consortium

June 22, 2020

A Love Lab-led consortium unites leading organizations in biopharmaceuticals and vaccines to accelerate the development and accessibility of alternative host cells for manufacturing drugs and vaccine components. With an eye toward global access for health solutions, including pandemic-relevant vaccines, the effort establishes a new framework for biomanufacturing, large-scale production of low-cost biopharmaceuticals and rapid clinical translation.

SOLUTIONS with/in/sight: How Are Cancer Researchers Fighting COVID-19?

MIT Koch Institute

June 15, 2020

The Koch Institute hosted a second Zoom webinary showcasing cancer researchers who have pivoted existing research to address biomedical challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Koch Institute faculty members Michael Yaffe, Angela Koehler, Sangeeta Bhatia, and Robert Langer shared their work developing new treatment strategies and interventions for the disease. The program included Q&A sessions for learning more about the science and understanding how the Koch Institute’s flexible, collaborative research models accelerate innovation in the face of rapidly evolving understanding.

Sensors & Sensibility

MIT Koch Institute

June 10, 2020

Novel devices have (Austensibly) landed two KI postdocs on MIT Technology Review’s annual 35 Innovators Under 35 list. Siddharth Krishnan, from the Anderson/Langer Lab, developed a sensor for monitoring shunt flow in hydrocephalus. Gregory Ekchian, from the Cima Lab, created a sensor to make radiation therapy more effective. Ekchian will continue his translational pursuits as a Blavatnik Fellow in Life Science Entrepreneurship.

Keap-ing Lung Cancer in Check

Nature Cancer

June 8, 2020

The Jacks Lab identified a new therapeutic target for an aggressive form of lung cancer. Lung adenocarcinoma accounts for about 40 percent of lung cancers in the U.S., with 20–30% of lung adenocarcinomas harboring mutations in the gene KEAP1. In previous work, the group showed that lung adenocarcinomas that are mutated for both KRAS and KEAP1 are highly aggressive and dependent on the breakdown of glutamine—paving the way for clinical trials of glutaminase inhibitors in combination with other therapies that target KEAP1-mutant non-small cell lung cancers.

In a new study, led by graduate student Rodrigo Romero and appearing in Nature Cancer, researchers screened of a library of genes that are known or predicted to be druggable in a comprehensive and systematic search for new therapeutic targets for KEAP1 mutant non-small cell lung cancers. The screens identified the gene Slc33a1, as well as several other genes that are associated with the unfolded protein response, a process key to cell viability. Tests in cell lines and in mouse models showed a strong dependency for Slc33a1 in non-small cell lung cancers, suggesting that patients with Keap1-mutant tumors may respond to SLC33A1 inhibition.