October Bulletin
Issue 97
Community Notices
Next Marble Center seminar: Monday October 7th
Next open Marble Center seminar is on Monday October 7 (3-4pm) at the KI Luria Auditorium with a research talk by Jacob Witten, PhD of the Anderson lab on “Artificial intelligence-guided design of lipid nanoparticles for pulmonary gene therapy.”
Following his talk, we will have a hot topic guest presentation by Shen Ning, MD, PhD (CSO, INIA Biosciences) who will provide an overview of Inia Bio. The startup leverages non-invasive ultrasound with novel diagnostic sensing to treat chronic diseases.
(L-R) Jacob Witten, PhD (Anderson Lab, Convergence Scholar ‘23); Shen Ning MD, PhD (CSO, INIA Biosciences)
Celebrating National Nanotechnology Day
National Nanotechnology Day is an annual event featuring community-led events and activities on or around October 9 to help raise awareness of nanotechnology, its use in products that enrich our daily lives, and the challenges and opportunities for the future. This date, 10/9, pays homage to the nanometer scale, 10 –9 meters.
The Marble Center will host Video session on nanotechnology with students from the Research Foundation of The City University of New York. Want to host an event? Here are a few suggested activities:
Host image, video, or illustration contests that highlight nanotechnology advances or the impact of nanotechnology on society.
Host a Science Café or an informal discussion on nanotechnology in your town. If you are a K–12 student or teacher, you could invite a scientist from a local college or university. Email Patrice Pages (ppages@nnco.nano.gov) to learn more.
Organize lab tours and open houses.
Coordinate outreach events with demonstrations about nanotechnology. Check out some resources here.
Create and share an image, video, illustration, or infographic about nanotechnology: what it is, why it is important, and examples of nanotechnology applications.
REMINDER: Nano Summit October 23 at MIT
Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia will chair the session “Nanomedicine for all” with presentations by Dr. Angela Belcher, Bob Langer and Moungi Bawendi at the upcoming MIT.nano summit on October 23rd.
The Nano Summit on October 23, 2024, serves as the flagship conference for MIT.nano, showcasing groundbreaking advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology. This year's summit will delve into the transformative impact of nanoscience as it relates to microscopy, materials science, AI and machine learning, hard technology, human health, and more. The summit is ideal for researchers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and students interested in the latest developments in cutting-edge research, emerging technologies, and real-world applications. The nanomedicine session will be co-organized with the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, and will take place from 1-2pm Eastern.
REGISTRATION OPEN: 2024 Irwin M. Arias Symposium
This unique one-day program brings together hundreds of leading biomedical scientists and physicians from across the globe and is designed to bridge the remarkable advances in basic biology and engineering with the understanding of liver diseases and their treatment. Research presented over the past 33 years has led to advances in the diagnosis and treatment of virtually all liver diseases in children and adults.
With plenary talks from renowned researchers and a collection of three-minute micro talks delivered by trainee scientists, the Arias Symposium is a model in ‘bridging’ between the academic, industrial, and clinical research communities – even across disciplines.
News
Therapeutic nanotech pioneer Robert Langer reflects on the field's past, present, and future
Celebrated chemical engineer, Moderna co-founder, and MIT professor Robert Langer shared his unconventional path to success and a glimpse into the future of cancer treatment and regenerative medicine at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening. More than 100 attendees, including researchers, science enthusiasts, funders, students, and Langer Laboratory alumni, relished the conversation with this titan of innovation and recipient of the 2024 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, moderated by The George Washington University professor and longtime CNN reporter Frank Sesno.
Part of Carnegie Science’s hallmark Capital Science Evening outreach program, “An Enterprise Approach to Biotech and Medicine” was one installment in a continuing series of conversations with Kavli Prize laureates. Carnegie Science President Eric D. Isaacs and Kavli Foundation President Cynthia Friend both delivered introductory remarks.
“Professor Langer has taken nanoscience and translated it into some remarkable discoveries in science,” Isaacs said. “Google Scholar has said that he is the most widely cited engineer in history. He has 1,600 publications… and 1,400 patents, so you can ask where he gets the time…Professor Langer is truly a giant among scientists.” Read more…
A new way to reprogram immune cells and direct them toward anti-tumor immunity
(Danielle Randall Doughty | Department of Chemistry) A collaboration between four MIT groups, led by principal investigators Laura L. Kiessling, Jeremiah A. Johnson, Alex K. Shalek, and Darrell J. Irvine, in conjunction with a group at Georgia Tech led by M.G. Finn, has revealed a new strategy for enabling immune system mobilization against cancer cells. The work, which appeared in ACS Nano, produces exactly the type of anti-tumor immunity needed to function as a tumor vaccine — both prophylactically and therapeutically.
In new research led by MIT scientists, virus-like particles (dark gray) coated in glycans (green) were administered via vaccination, triggering dendritic cells (light blue cell with long arms) to elicit T cell activation (gray circle) and a strong immune response. Credits: Image courtesy of the researchers.
Cancer cells can look very similar to the human cells from which they are derived. In contrast, viruses, bacteria, and fungi carry carbohydrates on their surfaces that are markedly different from those of human carbohydrates. Dendritic cells — the immune system’s best antigen-presenting cells — carry proteins on their surfaces that help them recognize these atypical carbohydrates and bring those antigens inside of them. The antigens are then processed into smaller peptides and presented to the immune system for a response. Intriguingly, some of these carbohydrate proteins can also collaborate to direct immune responses. This work presents a strategy for targeting those antigens to the dendritic cells that results in a more activated, stronger immune response. Read more…
Sangeeta Bhatia receives the 2024 Kendall Square Association Founder’s award
The KSA is thrilled to present the inaugural Founders’ Awards to Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD and Michal Preminger, PhD, MBA. Sangeeta Bhatia is co-founder of multiple life science companies committed to improving human health, and she is a Professor at MIT where she leads the Bhatia Lab engineering micro and nanotechnologies that address complex human health challenges from cancer to liver disease. Sangeeta is a prolific inventor, pathmaker, teacher, mentor and advocate for diversity in STEM. Michal Preminger leads J&J Innovation, North America East, where she takes on the world’s toughest challenges to improve the health of everyone, everywhere. Michal nurtures emerging science from the earliest stages to commercialization, and has helped deliver cutting edge solutions for patients in an array of areas—from retinal disease to cell and gene oncology therapy. Michal is a leader, mentor, and a game-changer for people and organizations in life science.
Tamara Dacoba, PhD (Hammond Lab) named 2024 Rising Stars in Engineering in Health at Boston University.
Selected from over 200 applicants, 20 distinguished scholars and scientists were selected from across the nation.
Jobs
Senior Scientist, Molecular Profiling and Drug Delivery, AbbVie. AbbVie is seeking a highly motivated, collaborative scientist with a proven track record in physicochemical characterization and application of drug delivery approaches in preclinical development of small molecule and/or biologics candidates. The primary role of this position is to serve as an MPDD project leader on discovery programs, providing preclinical formulation support for initial safety and efficacy assessments. The ideal candidate will have experience with a range of formulation techniques as well as various routes of administration. Familiarity with solid oral dosage forms including nanoparticles, amorphous systems and lipids is expected. Experience with lipid nanoparticles is a plus.
Postdoctoral researcher, Rakesh Jain Lab. The JAIN LAB IN THE STEELE LABORATORIES OF TUMOR BIOLOGY at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School invites applications for Postdoctoral Research Fellow positions. Multiple positions are available in tumor microenvironment, vascular biology, matrix biology, immunology, molecular/cellular biology, metabolism, intravital microscopy and biomedical engineering. Ideal candidates should have a strong academic background, peer-reviewed publications, strong English language proficiency and writing skills. Candidates with a strong background in single-cell- sequencing, bioinformatics, Python, and R statistical computing are also encouraged to apply.
Funding opportunities
| Funding Source | MIT Koch Institute Bridge Project RFA | October 15, 2024 | Toward Translation of Nanotechnology Cancer Interventions (R01) | November 17, 2024 |
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