April Bulletin

Issue 79

Community Notices

April Research Seminar.

Next open Marble Center seminar is on Monday April 24th, 4-5pm at the KI Luria Auditorium with a presentation by Ivan Pires of the Irvine and Hammond labs on “Stable Anchorage of Interleukin-12 onto Layer-by-layer Nanoparticles Enhances Immunotherapy of Metastatic Ovarian Cancer.” Following the research talk, Dr. Jacob Witten of the Anderson Lab will present a hot topic discussion on how AI can accelerate next-generation RNA therapeutics.

After the seminar, please join us for a social with food and drinks (starting at 5:00pm). For those who prefer to join remotely, the Zoom link will be provided upon request (please email Tarek Fadel at tfadel@mit.edu).

REGISTER NOW! 2023 Marble Center Poster Symposium on May 9th, 3-5pm

REGISTER NOW

The 2023 Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine poster symposium will convene members of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and broader MIT community working on nano- and precision based approaches for the early detection and treatment of cancer. The event will be held at the Koch Institute Luria Auditorium. This will be an in-person only event, and will be an excellent opportunity to highlight collaborative projects in this area and get feedback from faculty and industry members.

REGISTRATION OPEN: 2023 Cancer Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference

This year’s Cancer Nanotechnology GRC is chaired by Prof. Darrell Irvine and the program’s theme is “Imaging, Editing and Immunomodulating the Tumor Microenvironment.” It includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. Applications for the conference must be submitted by May 14th.

REGISTER NOW

Multimedia

Dr. Ana Jaklenec: Engineering Delivery for Vaccines and Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. Ava Amini: AI, GPT, and the Future of Biology

Women in science: Perspectives from Ludwig leaders - Part 2

In the News

New nanoparticles can perform gene editing in the lungs

(MIT News) Engineers at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have designed a new type of nanoparticle that can be administered to the lungs, where it can deliver messenger RNA encoding useful proteins. With further development, these particles could offer an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis and other diseases of the lung, the researchers say. “This is the first demonstration of highly efficient delivery of RNA to the lungs in mice. We are hopeful that it can be used to treat or repair a range of genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis,” says Daniel Anderson, a professor in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES).

In a study of mice, Anderson and his colleagues used the particles to deliver mRNA encoding the machinery needed for CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. That could open the door to designing therapeutic nanoparticles that can snip out and replace disease-causing genes. The senior authors of the study, which appears today in Nature Biotechnology, are Anderson; Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT; and Wen Xue, an associate professor at the UMass Medical School RNA Therapeutics Institute. Bowen Li, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor at the University of Toronto; Rajith Singh Manan, an MIT postdoc; and Shun-Qing Liang, a postdoc at UMass Medical School, are paper’s lead authors. Read more…

mRNA Therapy at the Convergence of Genetics and Nanomedicine

(Conde, J. et al. Nature Nanotechnology) “Since the early 1990s, the intersection of genetics and nanomedicine has found a home in the clinic as one of the game changers of the past decade, holding great promise in fighting diseases by rapidly developing much-needed therapeutic platforms, from cancer to infectious or genetic diseases. And this revolution was just triggered by the amazing evolving world of messenger RNA and its ‘cues’.” Read the article…

Timeline depicting the evolution of the genetics landscape, from RNA discovery to the arrival of the new mRNA-nanomedicine

Jobs

Associate Professor or Professor of Cancer Nanomedicine, University of Virginia Cancer Center.

The University of Virginia Cancer Center (UVACC) seeks a distinguished nanomedicine translational researcher (tenured or tenure-eligible Research Faculty at the Associate Professor or Professor level) to join the leadership of the Cancer Center and oversee the nanomedicine efforts of the Cancer Center and direct the nanoSTAR Institute. We are seeking candidates with a PhD and/or MD. We seek to recruit faculty from diverse backgrounds and faculty who value diversity.

Candidates are expected to have a nationally-recognized, outstanding, highly collaborative, and extramurally-funded research program commensurate with their career stage focused on the design, characterization, and validation of nanotechnologies for targeted drug delivery. The successful candidate will be responsible for facilitating collaborations within Departments and Centers in the UVA SOM and between groups across UVA (School of Data Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science). It is expected that the person will serve as an interface between the nano-engineering and cancer therapeutics efforts, as well as supporting the educational mission of the UVACCC. Support will include an attractive startup package, laboratory space, and resources to expand the nanomedicine capabilities of the Cancer Center. Read more…

Venture associate, Alloy Venture Studio (82VS).

As a Venture Associate, you will work and collaborate across scientific, operational, and business areas to build new biotech companies from idea to Series A. You will work daily with Founders to help them build their ideas into companies, and also have space to explore your own ideas. This role requires a PhD and a tremendous passion for advancing science into medicines for patients. This role will report to a Venture Partner with autonomy owning various stakeholders, projects, and initiatives in a dynamic start-up environment while keeping up the pace of 82VS. Read more…