Tyler Jacks to Step Down as Koch Institute Director
The New Year is often a time of change and transition, especially this year and especially at the Koch Institute, where we honor and celebrate founding director Tyler Jacks as he steps down after nearly two decades heading MIT’s cancer research center. This Cancer Solutions special issue includes transition details and highlights from his professional accomplishments and signature initiatives launched during his tenure. Jacks will retain the responsibilities of the directorship pending appointment of his successor, and continue to chair the Lightning Committee of MIT’s research ramp up effort. |
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 | The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research A converted former chocolate factory, MIT’s Center for Cancer Research was a renowned powerhouse of advances in cancer biology. As crowded facilities increasingly showed their age and roof leaks worsened, director Tyler Jacks envisioned renovating not only the building but the whole organization of MIT’s cancer research community. With strong support from then-MIT President Susan Hockfield and then-Provost L. Rafael Reif, thoughtful input from faculty collaborators around MIT, and transformative philanthropy from David H. Koch ’62, the vision became a reality.
Preserving many of the Cancer Center’s best features, the Koch Institute debuted a new research model based on convergence—the coming together of the life sciences with the physical sciences and engineering—an approach for which Jacks and colleagues convincingly advocated at every level. The new entity drew its faculty from multiple departments in MIT’s Schools of Science and Engineering, bringing leading researchers together in a new purpose-built building where architecture, space allocation, and shared resources and programs meant that mixing was a must. The Koch Institute’s often imitated, never duplicated interdisciplinary collaborations have led, in the ensuing decade, to the harnessing of new discoveries, via new tools and technologies, to better treat, diagnose, and prevent cancer.
Interview with Tyler Jacks (2007) | Breaking Ground (2008) | Opening Festivities (2011) | Five Year Anniversary (2016) | Convergence (2018) |
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 | The Bridge Project In March 2012, the Bridge Project collaboration between the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center made its first formal round of awards. A 2015 challenge grant from the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research vastly expanded the number and type of grants available, further advancing potential for clinical impact. In 2017, the Bridge Project won Xconomy’s first-ever Big Idea award. Jacks will retain program oversight after he steps down. |
 | Cancer Research Symposium One of Jacks’s first initiatives as director of the MIT Center for Cancer Research was an annual summer symposium bringing together luminaries from MIT and beyond to discuss the latest developments across the cancer research field. Since its inception in 2002, topics have ranged from mechanistic biology to cancer-oriented nanotechnology, immune engineering, and machine learning. In recent years, the symposium has also included panel discussions with industry leaders. |
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 | American Association for Cancer Research An active AACR member since 1994, Jacks was elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013. He served as AACR President from 2009 to 2010 and was the 1997 recipient of the society’s AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research. In 2020, he was honored with the Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship. |
 | License to Killian Tyler Jacks was nominated by fellow MIT faculty members to receive the 2015 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award. He delivered his lecture, “Unlocking the Secrets of Cancer,” on February 11, 2016. Members of the KI community honored him with a warm send off as he left the Building 76 to walk to 10-250. Read more | View photos | Watch video |
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 | KI Director Named to National Cancer Advisory Board In the White House announcement of his appointment, Jacks was recognized by President Obama for his depth of experience and dedication to cancer research. |
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 | Jacks Went Up the Hill What do you get when you put three leading cancer researchers and a passionate advocate in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform? Support for cancer research on both sides of the aisle. In 2017, Jacks joined a panel of cancer research experts to testify in front of the bipartisan committee and argue that federal investment in cancer research is critical for the vitality of the nation’s citizens, economy, and status as the global leader in biomedical research. |
 | Once in a Blue Ribbon Moonshot In 2016, KI Director Tyler Jacks was selected to co-chair a panel of experts convened to advise Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Initiative. The Blue Ribbon Panel comprised leaders from academia, medicine, and advocacy groups. The group developed recommendations on a range of cancer-related issues from promising new technologies to data-sharing, which were incorporated in a report produced by the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force and delivered to President Obama. |
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| Jacks is widely considered a leader in the development of engineered mouse models of human cancers, particularly lung and pancreatic, and has pioneered the use of gene-targeting technology to construct mouse models and to study cancer-associated genes in mice. More recently, his lab has advanced modeling innovations involving organoid models and CRISPR-based techniques. These technologies and approaches have been key to a wide range of collaborations and cancer research applications. After he steps down, Jacks will continue his research in cancer genetics, pancreatic cancer, and immune-oncology. |
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 | | Sequencing of cancer cell genomes reveals potential new drug targets for an aggressive type of lung cancer. |
 | | Genome-editing technique CRISPR paves the way for rapid modeling of genetic mutations in mice. |
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 | | Lung cancer can co-opt crosstalk between the lung’s resident bacteria and the immune system. |
 | | Circadian clock disruption, such as working the night shift, is linked to tumor growth. |
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 | | Thanks to fortuitous connections in the Koch Café, researchers can longitudinally study cancer progression and treatment response in genetically engineered mouse models using circulating tumor cells. |
 | Investigators in the Jacks and Yilmaz Labs have developed new organoid-based strategies for modeling human colorectal cancer in mice.
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 | | Researchers in the Jacks, Anderson, and Langer Labs successfully delivered nanoparticles carrying small RNA therapies in a clinically relevant mouse model of lung cancer to shrink tumors and slow their growth. |
 | | Collaborating with the Jacks Lab, the Bhatia Lab showed in genetically engineered mouse models that its non-invasive, peptide-based nanosensors can serve as a urine-based diagnostic to detect early-stage lung cancer and distinguish it from noncancerous inflammation. |
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 | Making Inroads in Pancreatic Cancer Jacks has a longstanding interest in understanding pancreatic cancer, from identifying the cells of origin for this challenging tumor to modeling and targeting genetic drivers like KRAS. He discusses his work and the nature of the scientific enterprise in an interview with the Lustgarten Foundation, which recently honored his lab with a significant investment to advance key areas of pancreatic cancer research and promote collaboration across MIT. |
 | Advancing Immune-Oncology Using its sophisticated, genetically-engineered mouse models, the Jacks Lab has developed methods to track immune responses against cancer, examining how different types of immune cells interact with tumors and uncovering mechanisms by which cancers evade and shut down immune responses. Jacks’s expertise informs his interview in WBUR’s This Moment in Cancer series. Dragonfly Therapeutics, which he founded, is conducting clinical trials of NK cell-based therapies developed based on his lab’s research. |
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