January Bulletin

Issue ONE HUNDRED!

Community Notices

Next Marble Center seminar on January 27th

Next Marble Center seminar is on Monday January 27 (4-5pm) at the KI Luria Auditorium with a research talk by by Haseeb Mughal of the Anderson lab on "Targeted Delivery of mRNA Vaccines to Antigen Presenting Cells.”

Following the talk, we will have a hot topic presentation by Dr. Akash Gupta and Kaelan Reed (Anderson Lab) on next generation of infectious disease vaccines based on this recent paper published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

Celebrating our 100th issue of the Marble Center newsletter

The Marble Center monthly newsletter is celebrating its 100th issue this month! Since we first switched to this format on March 8, 2021, we’ve had close to 60,000 views from almost 100 different countries. Celebrate with us at the upcoming Marble seminar on January 27 by entering a raffle for a free prize (you must be present at the seminar to receive the prize).

News

Two Marble Center faculty members awarded 2024 National Medals of Science, Technology

MIT represent: Arati Prabhakar (left), head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, presented National Medals to (left to right) Professor Angela Belcher, Institute Professor Paula Hammond, MIT Corporation member Noubar Afeyan PhD '87 on behalf of Moderna, Professor Feng Zhang, and Professor Emery Brown. Not pictured: Richard Lawrence Edwards ’76. Credits: Photo courtesy of Angie Belcher.

(Adapted from Anne Trafton | MIT News) Two Marble Center faculty members are among 23 world-class researchers who have been awarded the nation’s highest honors for scientists and innovators, the White House announced on January 3, 2025.

Angela Belcher and Emery Brown from MIT were each presented with the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony this afternoon, and Paula Hammond ’84, PhD ’93, and Feng Zhang were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Belcher, the James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, was honored for her work designing novel materials for applications that include solar cells, batteries, and medical imaging. Hammond, an MIT Institute Professor, vice provost for faculty, and member of the Koch Institute, was honored for developing methods for assembling thin films that can be used for drug delivery, wound healing, and many other applications. Read more…

The National Nanotechnology Initiative publishes its annual budget and a new strategic document

The President’s 2025 Budget requests an all-time record of $2.2 billion for the NNI, with a sustained investment in foundational research that will fuel new discoveries and increasing investments in application-driven R&D to advance technologies of the future and address national priorities. Cumulative NNI funding since its inception in 2001 totals over $45 billion (including the 2025 request).

The NNI has also published an update to the National Nanotechnology Initiative Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy.The 2024 update lays out a comprehensive, integrated approach that builds on the 2011 NNI Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Research Strategy. The challenges and opportunities outlined in this document build on the advances of two decades of nanoEHS research. The 2024 update was prepared in a process that gathered extensive input from the federal nanotechnology community, as well as from academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the public. Key areas for action in the strategy’s 2024 update include:

• Addressing the remaining EHS knowledge gaps for engineered nanomaterials in commerce.

• Monitoring and evaluating emerging nanotechnology applications.

• Investigating emerging nanoscale contaminants of concern.

• Strengthening the collaborative informatics infrastructure.

• Increasing engagement with the international nanosafety community.

• Expanding public engagement in the responsible development of nanotechnology.

Multimedia

The Nano Summit 2024: Nanomedicine for all

MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative Launch: Translation through Start-Ups

Job opportunities

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School. The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position focused on artificial intelligence in medicine. We seek a visionary researcher who will help shape the future of evidence-based medicine through innovative AI approaches that are rigorously developed, clinically validated, and thoughtfully implemented to enhance patient care. This unique position bridges cutting-edge academic research with real-world clinical impact through a secondary academic appointment in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (within the Mass General Brigham (MGB) healthcare system). The successful candidate will have demonstrated excellence in clinical AI research and a compelling vision for translating computational advances into improvements in healthcare delivery. They will have access to extensive computational resources, rich clinical data assets, and the opportunity to collaborate with both world-class academic researchers and clinical innovators actively transforming care delivery.

Scientist, Drug Product Development, Foghorn Therapeutics. Foghorn Therapeutics is seeking a motivated Scientist in drug delivery to join the drug product development group within Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) to pursue hands-on cutting-edge formulation development and drug delivery technologies to support our portfolio. The Scientist position is lab based and is responsible to lead and execute the assessments of various innovative drug delivery technologies for development of complex parenteral and solid oral dosage forms to support Foghorn's portfolio. Prior experience (could be during graduate education), a robust background in physical chemistry, solid-state pharmaceutics, preformulation concepts and/ or a good understanding of one or more long acting or targeted drug delivery technologies such as in-situ polymer / lipid gels, nanosuspensions, liposomes, PLGA microspheres technology are preferred. Apart from formulation development, the role will also allow opportunities to conduct analytical characterization, including particle size analysis, assay/ purity by HPLC, viscosity measurements. The candidate will also eventually support clinical formulation development and manufacture at CDMOs and regulatory filings. The role reports to Senior Director of Drug Product Development.