MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research Bringing MIT’s scientists and engineers together to advance the fight against cancer.

The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, a National Cancer Institute-designated Basic Cancer Research Center, is the hub of cancer research on the MIT campus. Bringing together biologists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists, clinicians, and others in a state-of-the-art facility, the Koch Institute offers fresh perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches to advancing the fight against cancer. Koch Institute investigators are focused on five research areas that are believed to be critical for rapid progress toward controlling cancer: nanotechnology-based cancer therapeutics, detection and monitoring, metastasis, precision cancer medicine, and cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Working within the vibrant MIT research community and with external collaborators, including NCI-designated clinical cancer centers and biotech/pharma partners, the Koch Institute is dedicated to developing novel insights into cancer, as well as new tools and technologies to better detect, treat, and prevent the disease.

Congratulations to Keene Abbott, PhD for receiving the 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award. This internation...
02/26/2026

Congratulations to Keene Abbott, PhD for receiving the 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award.

This international award recognizes Abbott’s outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences. Keene completed his graduate work with Dr. Matthew Vander Heiden and is now a Research Fellow in Dr. Kimberly Stegmaier's laboratory.

Fred Hutch established this annual award to honor the bold, creative, pioneering spirit embodied by Hal Weintraub. Weintraub also earned deep respect and admiration as a caring mentor and supportive colleague. This award reflects Keene's highly productive graduate school career and promise as a future investigator in pediatric oncology.

Awardees will participate in a scientific symposium May 1, 2026, at Fred Hutch's Robert W. Day Campus.

https://mit-ki.org/3N5t1vJ

Mouse models don’t always reflect human genetics. In Nature Biotechnology, the Sánchez-Rivera group introduces H2M—a com...
02/26/2026

Mouse models don’t always reflect human genetics. In Nature Biotechnology, the Sánchez-Rivera group introduces H2M—a computational pipeline that predicts mouse variants mirroring the sequence and functional effects of human variants. The database, libraries, and web tool are now available online.

https://mit-ki.org/4aBdn4f

Bhatia Lab researchers have developed CleaveNet, a novel AI system described in Nature Communications, to design peptide...
02/12/2026

Bhatia Lab researchers have developed CleaveNet, a novel AI system described in Nature Communications, to design peptides that could be cleaved efficiently and specifically by proteases of interest, such as enzymes overactive in cancer. These peptides can be incorporated into their highly sensitive nanosensors for early tumor detection, or into cancer therapeutics and other applications.

Why study worms? H. Robert Horvitz, David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Biology, with several notable former trainees and ...
02/10/2026

Why study worms? H. Robert Horvitz, David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Biology, with several notable former trainees and fellow Nobel laureates, makes the case in a recent PNAS paper. They highlight critical discoveries—spanning normal biology, gene regulation, and diseases including cancer—as well as research tools for imaging that have emerged from studies of a microscopic roundworm, and emphasize the community spirit and resource sharing that enabled and continue to enable this.

https://mcgovern.mit.edu/2025/12/12/celebrating-worm-science/

Congratulations to Koch Institute Director Matthew Vander Heiden on his election to the 2026 class of Fellows of the AAC...
02/06/2026

Congratulations to Koch Institute Director Matthew Vander Heiden on his election to the 2026 class of Fellows of the AACR Academy — a prestigious honor recognizing scientists whose work has reshaped cancer research across biology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Election to the AACR Academy follows a rigorous peer-review process and is reserved for individuals whose scientific contributions have made a profound and enduring global impact.

Matthew's leadership in cancer metabolism and his direction of the Koch Institute exemplify the excellence recognized by this distinction.

Also elected in the same class is Alice Shaw, MD, PhD, recognized for her pioneering work in targeted therapies and precision oncology. A Jacks Lab alumna and the first Koch Institute Clinical Investigator, Alice helped shape and launch this important KI program. She and Matt also shared lab space early in their careers — making their election in the same class especially meaningful.

Congratulations to both on this exceptional and well-deserved honor.

https://www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/newsroom/news-releases/aacr-announces-fellows-of-the-aacr-academy-class-of-2026/

Motivated by her family’s cancer experiences, MIT senior Sean Luk engineers proteins in the Wittrup Lab to boost the imm...
02/02/2026

Motivated by her family’s cancer experiences, MIT senior Sean Luk engineers proteins in the Wittrup Lab to boost the immune system’s attack against tumors and improve cancer immunotherapies. “The complexity of the immune system really fascinated me, and it is incredible that we can build antibodies in a very logical way to address disease,” Luk says.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/addressing-urgent-need-better-immunotherapy-sean-luk-0106

With great sadness, the KI marks the passing of Richard O. Hynes PhD ’71, a founding faculty member and former director ...
01/27/2026

With great sadness, the KI marks the passing of Richard O. Hynes PhD ’71, a founding faculty member and former director of the MIT Center for Cancer Research, on January 6, 2026.

Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, Emeritus, and emeritus professor of biology, Hynes was best known for discovering integrins, cell-surface receptors essential to cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion. His research revealed mechanisms central to embryonic development, tissue integrity, and diseases including cancer, fibrosis, thrombosis, and immune disorders.

Hynes was deeply respected for his academic and scientific leadership at MIT and internationally, as well as his intellectual rigor and contributions as an educator and mentor.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/richard-hynes-dies-0123

Glioblastoma has remained stubbornly resistant to immunotherapy in part because it recruits macrophages to support tumor...
01/22/2026

Glioblastoma has remained stubbornly resistant to immunotherapy in part because it recruits macrophages to support tumor growth while suppressing the ability of T cells to infiltrate and attack tumors.

But a new study from a research team led by Forest White and including Stefani Spranger and former KI member Darrell Irvine, has identified new therapeutic targets in both glioblastoma cells and macrophages that could improve treatment when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The team discovered that these new immunostimulatory therapies slowed tumor growth in mouse models — and in some cases eliminated tumors entirely.

https://buff.ly/uf1RYtW

Cancer cells can suppress immune responses by engaging sugar-based immune checkpoints. In a new study published in Natur...
01/16/2026

Cancer cells can suppress immune responses by engaging sugar-based immune checkpoints.

In a new study published in Nature Biotechnology, Jessica Stark and Carolyn Bertozzi
show how a novel checkpoint blockade strategy using AbLecs (antibody-lectin hybrids) can block glycan-mediated immune suppression and enhance anti-tumor immunity across multiple cancer types.

https://mit-ki.org/3LjeSud

Research from Patrick Doyle's team offers a new way to deliver antibodies packaged into microparticles that could be in...
01/07/2026

Research from Patrick Doyle's team offers a new way to deliver antibodies packaged into microparticles that could be injected with a syringe. This breakthrough could make treatment much easier for patients by avoiding the need for lengthy & often uncomfortable infusions.

https://mit-ki.org/4aHnV27

Koch Institute researchers from the Hemann, Yilmaz, and Lippard labs have engineered a “dual warhead” therapy that prese...
01/02/2026

Koch Institute researchers from the Hemann, Yilmaz, and Lippard labs have engineered a “dual warhead” therapy that preserves the strength of anthracyclines while bypassing efflux pump–driven drug resistance. The Nature Communications study shows extended survival in mouse models of metastatic colon cancer and highlights a new strategy to counter chemoresistance and enhance existing treatments.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64295-0

Can we demystify endometriosis?On NPR’s Science Fridays, Linda Griffith highlights challenges in endometriosis—from ‘squ...
01/01/2026

Can we demystify endometriosis?

On NPR’s Science Fridays, Linda Griffith highlights challenges in endometriosis—from ‘squeamishness’ around basic conversations to difficulties in clinical diagnosis—and promising research innovations in modeling and treatment. Her own patient-derived models are advancing this work, including collaborative efforts via the MIT Stem Cell Initiative to understand biological structures that may help maintain healthy endometrium and its stem-like properties.

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/science-friday/articles/endometriosis-is-common-why-is-getting-diagnosed-so-hard

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