September Bulletin

Issue 72

Community Notices

September Research Seminar.

Next Marble Center seminar is on Monday September 19th, 4-5pm at the KI Luria Auditorium with a research presentation by Professor Angela Belcher, member of the Koch Institute’s Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, and the James Mason Crafts Professor and Head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. Following the research update, we will host a town hall discussion about the Marble Center and planned activities for this academic year.

For those who prefer to join remotely, the Zoom link will be provided upon request (please email Tarek Fadel at tfadel@mit.edu).

Following the seminar, please join us for a social with food and drinks (starting at 5:00pm).

Apply for the Koch Institute Convergence Scholars Program

Are you a postdoctoral researcher looking for professional development opportunities and to further your research career? The Koch Institute Convergence Scholars Program will be open for applications on September 26th to all member labs from the KI Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine and the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine. Stay tuned for more information!

National Nano Day Cancer Research Superheroes

Volunteers needed for “Cancer Research Superheroes” at the Festival’s annual Carnival (hosted in the MIT Open Space plaza behind the Kendall Square T stop). Help kids and families design science and engineering themed costumes and cancer-fighting “weapons" inspired by cancer biology and engineering at the KI.

We are looking for volunteers from all groups (not just labs) for 1-2 hour shifts. Please contact Tarek Fadel (tfadel@mit.edu) if you’re interested.

In the News

Frustrated with nature’s biomarkers for cancer, biologists try making their own

(STAT+) If they’re successful, synthetic biomarkers might help to usher in a new advance in precision medicine, Bhatia said. Because synthetic biomarkers are designed from scratch, scientists can potentially engineer them to be injected, inhaled, or consumed orally. In some of Drs. Gabriel Kwong and Sangeeta Bhatia’s work, they created synthetic biomarkers that can break off a volatile organic compound that comes out in breath. Then, synthetic biomarkers can be read out in a blood draw, a urine test, or even a breathalyzer type of test. Read more…

Balzan Prizes honor work in humanities, science

(Washington Post) Three Americans were among the winners of this year’s Balzan Prize, announced Monday, for their work in the fields of moral philosophy, musicology and biotechnology. Dr. Robert Langer, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the biotechnology prize for what the Milan-based Balzan Foundation called pioneering research and advances in mRNA vaccines and tissue engineering, paving the way “for breakthroughs in the controlled release of macromolecules with many medical applications.” Read more…

Through the lymph nodes it goes — researchers develop a cancer drug that avoids toxicities by skirting the liver

(Endpoints News) Elicio Therapeutics, founded based on work done in Darrell Irvine’s lab at MIT, is working on “amph-ligands,” in which some drug or protein is bound to a lymph node-targeting lipid. The biotech has a Phase I/II study ongoing for an amph-ligand cancer vaccine for KRAS-mutated cancers. Read more…

What’s Next for mRNA Vaccines?

(Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) Dr. Robert Langer is the David H. Koch Institute professor at MIT and a co-founder of Moderna, the pharmaceutical company behind a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. In this Q&A, he tells GEN about the present and future of these versatile vaccines. Read more…

Jobs

Faculty recruitment in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Columbia University.

Columbia University is recruiting for Assistant Professors who plan to pursue studies in chemical biology, pharmacogenomics, drug discovery, and systems pharmacology. Columbia is seeking to expand research in basic cellular mechanisms and signaling pathways with translational impact, particularly in the areas of cancer, neuroscience, and cardiovascular research. Faculty in the Department are associated with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, hold membership in various Institutes and Centers at CUIMC, including the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Institute of Cancer Genetics, the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, the Institute of Human Nutrition, the Stem Cell Institute, and the Taub Institute, and have the opportunity to interact with faculty at Columbia University’s Morningside and Manhattanville Campuses. Read more...

Scientist, Vizgen.

Vizgen is a rapidly growing company developing the next generation of spatially resolved genomic profiling tools that enable researchers to gain new insight into the biological systems that underlie human health and disease. The company's groundbreaking MERFISH spatial transcriptomics technology images RNA molecules with high accuracy and unrivaled detection efficiency at subcellular resolution. Working closely with other members of the Lab Services and R&D teams, the Scientist will be responsible for leading and executing service projects on spatial genomic profiling, analyzing and interpreting the data, communication with clients. The successful candidates will have demonstrable background in related fields and the enthusiasm to work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, start-up environment. Read more…