MIT Department of Biological Engineering

Scalable TCR synthesis and screening enable antigen reactivity mapping in vitiligo @cp-immunity.bsky.social
www.cell.com/immunity/ful... @mbirnbaum.bsky.social @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social

“Here is a pathogen that has probably killed more people in human history than any other pathogen, so you want to learn how to kill it,” says Bryan Bryson about tuberculosis. https://ow.ly/yhZ750Y4Z3V

New MIT research tackles one of medicine’s biggest threats — antibiotic resistance. Using synthetic biology and AI, Collins Lab researchers are developing programmable antibacterials to outsmart drug-resistant pathogens. https://ow.ly/u19v50Y4nQ7

Alumni & partners: help us spread the word! Our Career Fair is one month away, and we’re still accepting employer registrations. High-quality talent, low barrier to participation. https://ow.ly/ABIe50XXbty

Hiring? Looking for interns? The MIT BioEng Career Fair–Thur, 2/5, MIT campus–connects employers with exceptional engineering & science talent. Affordable, efficient, high-impact recruiting of UG, PhD, and Post-doc talent https://ow.ly/BuG450XVKAY

Eighteen MIT faculty honored as “Committed to Caring” for 2025-27 Eighteen MIT professors were selected as “Committed to Caring” for 2025-27. These advisors encourage their students, advocate for meaningful research, and participate in their educational journey from the beginning to end.

Professor Forest White among 18 MIT faculty honored as “Committed to Caring” for 2025-27.
https://news.mit.edu/2026/mit-faculty-committed-to-caring-0108

Sean Luk has seen her grandparents’ cancer battles as a call for urgent action in immunotherapy. “The idea of creating something that is actually able to improve human health is what really drives me now,” Luk says. https://news.mit.edu/2026/addressing-urgent-need-better-immunotherapy-sean-luk-0106

🚨 Recruiting employers! MIT's BioEngineering Career Expo is happening in ONE MONTH 2/5 on MIT campus.
Connect with outstanding MIT undergrad, master’s & PhD talent in one afternoon.
Spots filling fast—register now: https://ow.ly/2gty50XSbVP

"'We created a new kind of protein therapeutic that can block glycan-based immune checkpoints and boost anti-cancer immune responses,' says Jessica Stark" https://ow.ly/pN1h50XKBui

Antibody-lectin chimeras for glyco-immune checkpoint blockade - Nature Biotechnology Cancer immunotherapy benefits from antibody-lectin chimeras that block glyco-immune checkpoints.

Out now: We present antibody-lectin chimeras (AbLecs) as a molecular platform to target sugars, or glycans, for cancer immunotherapy.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@mitkochinstitute.bsky.social @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @stanford-chemh.bsky.social

Linda Griffith engineers human uterine endometrium in lab dishes, offering in vitro tools to study some uterine diseases and screen drugs to treat them. https://ow.ly/J6IB50XJZyZ

Who's up at BATS today?
Patrick Song (Belcher Lab): “Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeast as Engineered Living Materials for Water Purification” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

BE Seminar tomorrow with Robbie Majzner, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute “Drawing on Biologic Principles to Engineer More Effective Cancer Immunotherapies” https://ow.ly/eMUL50XBCP3

New TB-targeted vaccine: picking up where the BCG left off A shot in the arm for science...

The Naked Scientists interview with Bryan Bryson on research toward a TB-targeted vaccine as part of their series 'New ways to combat the Antibiotic Apocalypse.'
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/new-tb-targeted-vaccine-picking-where-bcg-left

Who's up at BATS?
M Lockwood (COLLINS) “Engineering Saccharomyces boulardii as an Enterically Targeted Living Therapeutic for Ulcerative Colitis”
N Cuthbert (NILES) “Investigating Plasmodium falciparum Survival and Resistance through Pfkelch13 Conditional Knockdown”
https://ow.ly/qB4150XvOYG

🚨 Attention undergraduate scientists and engineers! 🚨 Want to spend a summer doing research at MIT? Join us for the 2026 MIT Summer Research Program!
Learn more and apply: oge.mit.edu/msrp/
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social

Highly Cited Researchers 2025 honors nine Wyss members By Alexandra Jirstrand (BOSTON) – Clarivate Analytics announced its Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, which honors the top 1% of researchers around the world whose papers have been cited the most ov...

We’re proud to share that nine Wyss Institute faculty and staff have been named to @clarivate.com Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, which recognizes the top 1% of scientists worldwide whose research has been most frequently cited over the past decade.

BE senior Sofia Lara is among four from MIT named 2026 Rhodes Scholars.
https://news.mit.edu/2025/four-mit-named-2026-rhodes-scholars-1115

Who's up at BATS?
Anna Lapteva (Langer & Anderson): “Rational Design of Modular, Conjugation-free Targeted mRNA Delivery Systems”
Allison Glynn (Ribbeck & Raines): “Collagen-Mimetic Peptide Strand Displacement for Programmable Biomaterials”
https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

In this reel, Pablo talks about the shift from a structured undergraduate life to a more self-directed experience as a doctoral student. #phdlife #gradlife #stemlife

Who's up at BATS?
Lauren “Ren” Ramlan (Voigt & Kong ): “Transformation of Non-model Filamentous Fungi for BioMaterial Applications”
Sophie VanderWeele (Hansen & Page): “Examining Gene Expression From the ‘inactive’ X Chromosome Between Human and Mouse”
https://ow.ly/svT150XorA7

This afternoon at 4pm…

Lean into your curiosity! That's what Felicia did when she decided to pursue a doctoral degree at MIT. #PhDLife #BiologicalEngineering #GradLife https://be.mit.edu/graduate-program/phd-program/

In a new study, Bryson Lab and White Lab researchers identified several possible antigens that could be developed as a new vaccine for TB, the world’s deadliest infectious disease.
https://ow.ly/sXeq50XntMf

BE Seminar Series this Thurs w Lukasz Bugaj University of Pennsylvania “Using Light, Temperature, and Protein Condensation to Understand and Control Cells”
https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Prof Linda Griffith is the guest endometriosis researcher AND patient on Science Friday.

🦇🦇!
Sarah Sobol (Wittrup & DeKosky): “Development of a High-throughput Functional Screen for GPCR Targeting Antibodies”
Nickeisha Cuthbert (Niles): “Investigating Plasmodium falciparum Survival and Resistance through Pfkelch13 Conditional Knockdown”
https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Ellen majored in biomedical engineering for her undergrad, gaining significant experience through years of UG research. She'll tell you why she chose to pursue a PhD at MIT BE https://ow.ly/V5cs50XkEkX

Who's up at BATS?
Tran Luu (Stark Lab): “Investigating CD44 as a Broadly Expressed, Cancer-associated Ligand for Glycoimmune Checkpoint Receptor Siglec-9”
Brian Cho (Stark Lab): “Identifying and Targeting Glyco-Neoantigens for Cancer Immunology” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Ariana, a PhD student, discusses her research. Learn more about the BE doctoral program: https://ow.ly/w4Tj50Xh77b Interested in applying? Sign up for the upcoming webinar https://ow.ly/o64Y50Xh77a