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Cancer Solutionsscience + engineering = conquering cancer together |
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Changing the math on drug deliveryLouis DeRidder, a graduate student in the Langer and Traverso groups, details his journey to a career in biomedical research. Inspired by a childhood medical emergency and a high school shadowing program, he is now a driving force in a Bridge Project team developing CLAUDIA, a closed-loop drug delivery system designed to tailor doses of chemotherapy to individual patients for maximum safety and effectiveness. |
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Levine behind the scenesInformaticist Stuart Levine co-leads the Robert A. Swanson (1969) Biotechnology Center’s Integrated Genomics and Bioinformatics core facility, bringing PhD-level education, expansive scientific and technological expertise, and hands on training opportunities to the table in support of researchers across more than 100 labs annually at the Koch Institute and MIT. |
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| Cellular sleuths decode T cell targetsImmunotherapy changed the landscape of cancer treatment by equipping T cells to fight tumors, but even when these therapies are effective, their exact workings can be a mystery. The Scientist recently highlighted Michael Birnbaum’s Cancer Grand Challenges team, which leverages artificial intelligence and structural biology to decode T cell receptor recognition. The team, which includes Brandon DeKosky and Regina Barzilay, aims to enhance immunotherapy precision and broaden its potential for more effective cancer treatments. |
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| Lethal weapons against cancerIf a cancer cell is dead, does it matter how you killed it? Find out why method matters at the next with/in/sight on May 8, 2025 at 5:30pm EDT. Join us at the Koch Institute or online to learn how our researchers are targeting cell death and injury pathways to take out tumors. |
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| Going beyond the ABCs of ADCsMark your calendars for a day of antibody action— on June 27, 2025, we’re hosting the 23rd Annual Koch Institute Symposium on Antibody Drug Conjugates. Kicking off with Nobel Laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, our speakers will discuss advancements and challenges in deploying antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) as anti-cancer agents. |
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| Brainstorming treatments for glioblastomaAt the inaugural Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment Symposium on March 27, led by Koch Institute faculty member Forest White and Franziska Michor of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, national leaders in glioblastoma research explored strategies for advancing models, therapies, and collaboration to accelerate progress against the disease. |
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Koch Institute faculty, trainees and researchers made their way to Chicago for the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting to present, catch up on the latest developments in cancer science and medicine, network, and (literally) race for research at the opening 5k run. Annual Meeting program chairs Matt Vander Heiden and Lillian L. Siu of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre designed this year’s meeting to showcase the full spectrum of cancer science and medicine and maximize opportunities for attendees to explore how to overcome barriers that stand between patients and research discoveries and insights. |
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| Shaking up the STATus quoSTAT has named Nancy Hopkins to the 2025 STATUS List, recognizing her for both her innovative work using zebrafish as a cancer model and tireless advocacy for gender equality in science. While helping to make science a more viable career for women, Hopkins also contributed groundbreaking research in genetics and molecular biology. |
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| Regina Barzilay wins IEEE MedalRegina Barzilay has received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Frances E. Allen Medal for her groundbreaking work applying machine learning to medicine. Honored alongside Miklós Ajtai, Barzilay was recognized for using unexpected methods to advance computer science and for transforming how AI is used in clinical and scientific settings. |
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| Anders Sejr Hansen wins Edgerton AwardCongratulations to Anders Sejr Hansen on winning the Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award for exceptional distinction in teaching, research and service at MIT. The award recognizes Hansen’s remarkable productivity and passion for mentorship and career development for members of his laboratory. |
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| Watch LumiSystem at workNBC10 Boston reports that Lumicell’s real-time cancer cell detection system is transforming outcomes for breast cancer patients. |
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A clinical trial of LumiSystem-assisted lumpectomies showed that the system helped surgeons find otherwise undetected cancer cells in 10% of patients. Without the system, 15-20% of patients need a second surgery to remove cancer cells left behind. Developed with early support from the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program and now commercially available, LumiSystem could be in regular use at Massachusetts General Hospital within a few months. |
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| Cancer nanotech built to scalePaula Hammond and her team have developed a scalable method to mass-produce polymer-coated nanoparticles via layer-by-layer assembly. Their research, published in Advanced Functional Materials, shows that these nanoparticles target tumors directly—reducing chemotherapy side effects—and can now be produced more rapidly, advancing their potential for human clinical use. |
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| AI in actionAssessing promise versus prudence for AI in healthcare,Forbeshighlighted Regina Barzilay's research showing AI can reliably improve breast cancer detection rates by 20% without increasing false positives. In a recent interview with Cancer Network, Barzilay discussed how AI’s proven ability to improve cancer detection rates in both breast and lung cancer screening may eventually push for updates to outdated protocols. |
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| Crystal clear drug delivery solutionsGiovanni Traverso and his team have developed injectable drug crystals for long-lasting, less painful delivery of contraceptives and disease treatments. A study published inNatureChemical Engineeringshowed that the crystals released contraceptives at least twice as long as currently available injectable suspensions. Unlike other vehicles for longer-lasting release, the crystals do not require a difficult and painful large-gauge needle for injection. |
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| Making de-gradeCDK9 and MYC are protein targets for many cancers, but developing therapies has proved quite challenging. A Koehler lab study published in Cell Chemical Biology demonstrates a promising approach for controlling MYC via CDK9. The group developed a CDK9 PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera), a molecule that can be used to degrade, or break up, a specific protein and showed it overcomes a key paradox and potentially offers a broadly useful CDK9 strategy. This work was supported in part by the MIT Center for Precision Medicine and a graduate fellowship from the Ludwig Center at MIT. |
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| Tailor-made genesKatie Galloway and her team developed synthetic gene circuits that enable more precise control of gene therapy. Their research, published in Cell Systems, could lead to new treatments for fragile X syndrome and other diseases caused by mutations in a single gene, ensuring more safe and effective therapeutic outcomes. |
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| Balancing game for brain cancer treatmentA collaborative study creates a detailed picture of immune programs in important brain tumor cells and how their relative expression can predict immunotherapy response and overall survival. The study, published in Natureand supported by the Ludwig Centers of MIT and Harvard, and McGill University, showed that dexamethasone, commonly prescribed to brain cancer patients to reduce brain swelling, suppresses the immune system for weeks after administration and can inhibit immune activity and immunotherapy response. |
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| An upgrade for glioblastoma therapyNew nanoparticles from the Hammond and Straehla groups bolster a technique for delivering therapeutics to brain tissues and improve treatment for glioblastoma. Combined with localized, convection-enhanced delivery, , their nanoparticle designimproved targeting, distribution and retention of nanoparticles andtherapeutics within the tumor.In a Journal of the American Chemical Societystudy, the approach strongly outperformed both free drug and another version of the drug to significantly extend survival. |
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| Mapping cancer’s ecosystemBy treating diseased tissue as an ecosystem, Alex Shalek and team codeveloped MESA, a tool that reveals hidden interactions between cancer and immune cells. Their research, published in Nature Genetics, shows that when applied to a diverse range of cancer tissue types, including colorectal and liver cancer, MESA uncovered critical hotspots of cellular activity, offering new insights into disease progression. |
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| The mechanisms of metastasisHow do cancer cells spread? Knowable Magazine offers an accessible, in-depth look at metastasis and cancer metabolism, featuring KI director Matthew Vander Heiden. He discusses how his lab has shown that cancer cells thrive in familiar tissue environments, which may explain why primary tumors often metastasize to specific organs while avoiding others. |
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| Resistance mapping yields novel drug combinationA new Cell Systems paper from the White lab identified mechanisms that enable resistance to cancer therapies, offering new opportunities to intervene for better patient outcomes. Mapping cell-wide signaling networks remodeled by therapy in unprecedented depth, the study reveals new insights into cancer cell plasticity and demonstrates a new drug combination repurposing a leukemia drug against melanoma. This work was supported in part by the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine and a graduate fellowship from the Ludwig Center at MIT. |
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Last month, MIT researchers unveiled stunning works of art and science at the 2025 Koch Institute Image Awards. Celebrate spring with periodontal petalsor take a journey into (brain) space by visiting the Koch Institutein person or online at theImage Awards Archive.
This2025 KI Image Awardwinner by Tamara Rossy, Laura Schwendeman, and Ritu Raman highlights artificial muscle fibers created by Koch Institute researchers that move like the human iris, expanding the possibilities for biohybrid robots with lifelike motion. |
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🌸 Volume 135 of the Cancer Solutions newsletter is brought to you by 🌼
a color-changing petunia experiment that blossomed into a breakthrough in cancer treatment—and a biomedical revolution |
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