 | KI Leadership Team Updates
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. |
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Rising to the Occasion 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. |
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Welcome, Joelle!
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 2021 with/in/sight program “Pushing Boundaries, Breaking Barriers in Brain Cancer” and her lightning talk about “Tortuous Trafficking” at the 2021 Image Awards. |
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Announcing the New KI Web Presence!
The Koch Institute communications team is pleased to announce the launch of the new KI website. Working with our community both within and beyond the building, we have updated our design and content to better reflect how far the Institute has come in our first decade and where we are going next. In addition, our Koch Institute Image Awards archive has a new home at ki-images.mit.edu. We invite you to explore, share, and visit often. |
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Test Solutions
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. |
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How Are Cancer Researchers Fighting COVID-19?
We invite you to attend a special SCIENCE with/in/sight on March 29 at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Focusing on urgent and pressing needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, this hybrid event presents updates on three projects, led by Angela Belcher, Hojun Li, and Michael Yaffe, begun in Spring 2020. Register now to join us in-person or on Zoom. |
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Predicting Gene Expression
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. |
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STATUS Report
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. |
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More than a CV
“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. |
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Mens, manus, et mentorship
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. |
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2022 Images Unveiled
Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Image Awards competition! On March 10, image creators gathered to unveil the new exhibits in the KI Public Galleries and share the stories behind their award-winning visuals. The images will remain on display until March 2023 and permanently in the online Image Awards Archive. |
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Path to Progress
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. |
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Translational Science
How do our students build bridges between academia and industry? Doyle Lab alum Nidhi Juthani is following up doctoral work—developing tools for diagnosing diseases such as cancer—with an MBA. Others are participating in MIT’s “Research Experience in Biopharma.” Conceived, taught, and advised by KI alums and faculty, this course immerses graduate students in the Kendall Square innovation ecosystem through guest lectures and hands-on experience. |
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