News

Introducing the 2024 Karches Prize winners

January 24, 2025

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Peter Karches Mentorship Prize — Shandon Amos, Christina Cabana, Ivan Pires, and Jason Yu.

The Peter Karches Mentorship Prize is awarded annually to up to four Koch Institute postdocs, graduate students or research technicians who demonstrate exemplary mentorship of undergraduate researchers or high school students in their labs. The prize allows the Koch Institute community to celebrate and recognize the critical role that mentors play, both personally and professionally, in the early stages of a scientist’s career.

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Standing Up to Pancreatic Cancer

Stand Up to Cancer

August 3, 2020

Congratulations to Will Freed-Pastor and fellow Lustgarten Laboratory for Pancreatic Cancer Research at MIT researchers on the receipt of a Phillip A. Sharp Innovation in Collaboration Award from Stand Up To Cancer. The Jacks Lab/Dana Farber Cancer Institute team, in conjunction with researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will use tumor organoids and engineered T cells to develop novel interventions against pancreatic cancer.

Wittrup Lab Sticks It To Tumors

Cullinan Oncology

July 27, 2020

The Wittrup Lab's "Velcro vaccine" is the not-so-secret weapon behind Cullinan Oncology's newly launched subsidiary, Cullinan Amber. The company aims to enhance cytokine-based immunotherapy using the lab's collagen-binding technology, which confines these powerful yet toxic treatments to the tumor microenvironment.

There's No Place Like Proteome

MIT Sloan School of Management

July 22, 2020

A new proteomic analysis platform combining a panel of engineered nanoparticles' protein chemistry and machine learning could open up new avenues to predict, diagnose, and treat disease. In a study appearing in Nature Communications, a team including Robert Langer and other researchers from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Seer and elsewhere, analyzed the proteome in an unbiased, unconstrained manner, and with a depth, breadth, and speed not previously possible. As proof-of-concept, the study demonstrated the platform could be used for the accurate detection of early-stage lung cancer.

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.