 | Koch Institute Names New Director
Matthew Vander Heiden has been named the next director of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, effective April 1. An MIT professor of biology, a practicing oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a pioneer in the field of cancer cell metabolism, Vander Heiden was one of the first faculty members hired to join the Koch Institute after it was created. He has served as associate director since 2017, and is a member of the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine, the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. His work has been recognized by many awards, including the HHMI Faculty Scholar Award and an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award. Now, as he guides the Koch Institute into its second decade, he looks forward to taking advantage of new opportunities to make fundamental discoveries in the biology of cancer, as well as translating existing knowledge into better treatments for patients. Vander Heiden succeeds Tyler Jacks, who has served as director for more than 19 years, first for the MIT Center for Cancer Research and then for its successor, the Koch Institute. |
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Get to Know Matthew Vander Heiden |
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| The differences between cancer and normal cell metabolism are among the oldest standing questions in cancer biology. Vander Heiden’s groundbreaking discoveries in this area have advanced our understanding of tumor biology and opened new up opportunities for targeting these vulnerabilities in the clinic. These profiles seat his work in the wider field and chronicle his success in carving out new pathways for cancer research and treatment. |
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 | | Vander Heiden seeks new cancer treatments that exploit tumor cells’ abnormal metabolism. MIT News profiles his career, through college, graduate school, medical school, and beyond. |
 | | MIT Technology Review explains how Vander Heiden helped revive the forgotten—but critical—study of cancer metabolism, with a glimpse into his personal and professional influences. |
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| The Vander Heiden Laboratory studies how metabolism supports cell physiology. Researchers seek to understand how these processes are adapted to support cancer initiation and progression, and translate this understanding into novel cancer therapies. |
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 | MIT study sheds light on the longstanding question of why cancer cells get their energy from fermentation.
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 | | Scientists are surprised to find amino acids, not sugar, supply most building blocks for tumor cells. |
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 | | Patients show boost in certain amino acids years before diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, suggesting potential new strategies for early detection and treatment. |
 | | The substance that bathes tumors in the body is quite different from the medium used to grow cancer cells in the lab, biologists report. |
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