Stefani Spranger Joins the KI; Susan Hockfield: A Force for Science; Speaking Out for STEMinism

The Koch Institute is proud to welcome Stefani Spranger as our newest intramural faculty member. Spranger joins the KI, as well as the Department of Biology, as an assistant professor. Her laboratory, located within the KI, will explore how a range of tumor cell-intrinsic, tissue-specific, and environmental factors directly impact the interaction between cancer and the immune system. More specifically, Spranger's research will focus on developing new and effective treatment strategies that activate the immune system to fight cancer. Spranger's deep knowledge of the field of immunotherapy will be a tremendous asset to the KI's immuno-oncology program. Welcome, Stefani! Read more.

Susan Hockfield, MIT President Emerita and KI member, has begun her year-long role as the new President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Hockfield is a strong advocate for convergence and recently co-authored an article on this topic for Science with KI member and MIT Institute Professor Phillip Sharp. While president of MIT, Hockfield was a driving force in transforming the former MIT Center for Cancer Research into the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research—helping the KI become the gold standard for convergence by adding engineers to our faculty. In this article from AAAS, readers get an inside look into Hockfield's history, what inspired her to be the force in science that she is today, and how she plans to use her year-long position to advocate for the use of science and research in addressing the challenges facing the country and world.

For Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, many KI faculty members served as luminaries and advocates for women in STEM. Paula Hammond was highlighted as one of the “Storied Women of MIT" for the Institute’s Women History Month video series. Sangeeta Bhatia, Director of the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the KI, sat down for two Q&A style interviews with our friends at JLABS and Ludwig Cancer Research to discuss medical innovation, entrepreneurship, and the important role of women in STEM. Bhatia also contributed a video to ONE’s #GirlsCount campaign where she encouraged empowerment through nanotechnology, and reiterated MIT's commitment to closing the gender gap in STEM education.

What do you get when you bring together the brightest scientists, engineers, and oncologists from MIT, Harvard, and Boston’s nation-leading cancer centers and hospitals? A catalytic force in the fight against cancer. This was the message sent as leaders from the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) sat down with Bloomberg Radio to discuss the Bridge Project—a collaboration between the two institutions that “bridges” engineering and scientific experimental approaches with the traditional expertise of clinical oncology—and the unique value and impact it brings to cancer research and care. Listen in at the 6:30 mark to hear what the KI’s Tyler Jacks and Anne Deconinck, along with DF/HCC’s David Livingston, had to say about this successful and groundbreaking initiative. Tune in.

KI member Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor, has been doing laps around the press circuit, but don't plan on him slowing down anytime soon. Most recently, Langer was described as "The Edison of Medicine" in an in-depth profile in Harvard Business Review detailing his illustrious accomplishments as an academic and entrepreneur. The article includes business advice from Langer himself—as well as success stories about research by Langer Lab postdocs Oliver "Ollie" Jonas and Mark Tibbitt*. The projects described, respectively supported in part by the Koch Institute's Frontier Research Program and the S. Leslie Misrock Frontier Research Fund for Cancer Nanotechnology, highlight the culture of the lab itself and the important role that mentorship plays in transforming ideas into impact.

Langer also headlined an article in WIREDshowcasing his contributions to smarter drug delivery, namely his work with polymers to create long-lasting pills and drugs. Finally, Langer got personal with the science-based human interest blog Humans of Science as he talked about his career, inspirations, and motivations. (Phew!)

*click on "Life in Langer Lab" to expand this web-only feature

With genome editing becoming easier and more versatile than ever, many questions are being asked about the technology's scientific, clinical, and social applications and implications. Last month, a study committee selected by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) prepared the Human Genome Editing Report in response to these pressing inquiries. Koch Institute faculty member and co-chair of the NAS study committee, Richard Hynes, sat down to answer three questions for MIT Campus News that shed additional light on the report's recommendations and guidelines for genome editing.

The KI’s Irvine and Wittrup Labs’ work in immunotherapy is a slam-dunk contender for STAT Madness! Selected to represent MIT in STAT's NCAA-style bracket among 32 leading research organizations, this powerful new combination immunotherapy acts at each key juncture of the immune cycle to promote a sustained response and activates both arms of the immune system. The vaccine’s targeting is modular and can be adapted to various cancer types. The project represents the best of what we do at the KI and MIT: combining deep scientific understanding with novel engineering approaches to improve access to life-changing technologies. Second round voting ends at the end of the day on Thursday, March 16, so vote now to advance KI research to the next round by filling out your bracket here.

As we gear up for the public opening of our 2017 Koch Institute Image Awards exhibition on March 24, our 2016 winners will soon be relocating from Main Street to Memory Lane. It's been a vibrant year for our exhibition and some images have gone on to find fame on their own—like "Head in the Game" by the Gertler Lab's Russell McConnell and its recent feature in MIT's Spectrum and "Gut Reaction" by the Yilmaz Lab's Jatin Roper and the Jacks Lab's Tuomas Tammela, which was featured in the NIH Director's blog's "Tales of the Intestinal Crypt" last Halloween. As we say goodbye this month, we're paying tribute to these images via the KI Twitter and Facebook pages by sharing fun facts about the images and behind-the-scenes interviews with their creators. Parting is always such sweet sorrow, but don't let yourself get too nostalgic, because all outgoing KI images and those that came before them can be found on our Public Galleries website.

Two Anderson Lab postdocs are not throwing away their shot... to transform vaccines. Jasdave Chahal (previously in the Ploegh Lab at the Whitehead Institute) and Omar Khan have been building a rapid vaccine development platform. They aim to tackle some of today's leading global health issues—such as Zika, Ebola, and influenza. With support from the Advanced Medical Research Foundation in collaboration with KI director Tyler Jacks’ laboratory, as well as a Bridge Project grant with Stephanie Dougan at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the duo is also working on prophylactic vaccines for lung and pancreatic cancer, respectively. Chahal and Khan, together with their professors—experienced entrepreneurs Robert Langer, Hidde Ploegh, and Daniel Anderson—are also using the technology as a launchpad for their new company, Tiba Biotech. Learn more about this exciting venture and the team’s innovative spirit in MIT's Spectrum.

Are all chemotherapies created equal? Researchers in the laboratories of KI members Michael Hemann and Stephen Lippard analyzed the mechanisms of action of three common platinum-based chemotherapeutics and discovered that drugs that were thought to act similarly actually kill cells in very different ways. Their results, published in Nature Medicine, suggest that our current arsenal of anti-cancer agents are not generic killers, but rather can be targeted towards specific cancer alterations to achieve optimal results. This work was supported in part by the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program through the Michael (1957) and Inara Erdei Fund, the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, and a Misrock Postdoctoral Fellowship. Read more.