MIT Department of Biological Engineering

MIT student wins first-ever Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication Gitanjali Rao, a rising junior at MIT majoring in biological engineering, has been named the first-ever recipient of the Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication by the Starmus Festival.

Gitanjali Rao, a rising junior majoring in biological engineering, wins first-ever Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication.
ow.ly/Wzsf50WjCEs

New technique rapidly measures cells’ density, reflecting health and developmental state. The method could help predict whether immunotherapies will work in a patient or how a tumor will respond to drug treatment. news.mit.edu/2025/techniq...

Scientists discover potential new targets for Alzheimer’s drugs Using a computational strategy that allows them to combine information from many large datasets, MIT researchers have identified several new potential targets for Alzheimer’s disease.

By combining information from many large datasets, Fraenkel Lab have identified several new potential targets for treating or preventing Alzheimer’s disease. news.mit.edu/2025/scienti...

Prof Alan Grodzinsky lecturing in MIT room 6-120.

This afternoon in MIT room 6-120, the air is filled with love, admiration, and deep respect from faculty and alumni as we celebrate Prof. Alan Grodzinsky and his extraordinary career of mentoring and teaching. Thank you, Al 💚

Daniel, what will you miss most about being an undergraduate at MIT?
Easily, the people. I have been surrounded by so many friendly and talented faces. Everyone, from my peers to all of the professors, have shaped my time at MIT.

Who's up at the last BATS of Spring Term?
Edwin Neumann (Blainey & Weissman Labs): “Therapeutic Epigenome Editing in the Brain”
Alex Hostetler (Irvine Lab): “Driving Endogenous Anti-tumor Immunity with a ReNTAL CAR”
ow.ly/2H0550VQ2G0
#prions #humantherapeutics

So proud of @thebrysonlab.bsky.social Bryan on his #tenure at @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social MIT. The Bryson lab is thrilled!

Rachit, what was your favorite Course 20 subject?
20.201 - Fundamentals of Drug Development was my favorite class at MIT because it helped me integrate and apply everything I learned across my Course 20 classes towards a real-world drug discovery problem.

So pleased to share that the Executive Committee of MIT has approved the promotion of Bryan Bryson to Associate Professor with Tenure.

Who's up at BATS?
William Pinney (Wittrup & Irvine): “Computational Re-engineering of IL-21 for Intratumoral Immunotherapy”
Siddharth Iyer (Wittrup & Church): “Exploring the Virome for In Vivo Delivery of Gene Editors”
ow.ly/ZSAu50VHPCm #drugdelivery #syntheticbiology

Who's up at BATS today?
Jessica Schneider (Voigt Lab): “Controllable Gene Expression in S. epidermidis for Responsive Living Therapeutics”
Pallavi Balivada (Birnbaum Lab): “Identifying Cross-reactive Peptide Mimotopes for Disease-specific T cells”
be.mit.edu/community/se...

Anders Sejr Hansen named Edgerton Award winner Anders Sejr Hansen, a professor in the MIT Department of Biological Engineering, received the 2024-25 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award in recognition of exceptional distinction in teaching...

Prof Anders Hansen named Edgerton Award winner for exceptional distinction in teaching, research, and service. Anders' research areas include cancer biology, computational systems biology, instrumentation and measurement, and synthetic biology. news.mit.edu/2025/anders-...

We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Karenna J. Groff, a beloved MIT Biological Engineering community member. Karenna earned her Bachelor of Science in BE in 2022 and a Master of Engineering in 2023. Karenna touched the lives of many, and her loss is deeply felt.

MIT Menstruation Science Launch Event – April 9, 2025 • The MIT Center for Gynepathology Research

You are invited to a landmark event on 4/9, “Menstruation Science: Unlocking the Secrets of the Hormone-Immunity Nexus.” Leading experts will join in igniting new conversations, driving innovation, and shaping the future of this area of research ow.ly/RKB750Vp7Nm

Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment symposium hosted by Prof Forest White and Franziska Michor of @danafarber.bsky.social 3/27 Learn more: ow.ly/hqGB50VlKbb

Who's up at BATS today?
Nick Nolan (Del Vecchio & Collins Labs): “Chaperone Competition in Bacterial Gene Regulatory Networks”
3/14, noon, 32-155 be.mit.edu/community/se... #Syntheticbiology

BE seminar this afternoon with Daniel K. Nomura from UC, Berkeley 'Reimagining Druggability using Chemoproteomic Platforms' be.mit.edu/our-communit...

2025 Image Awards Join us for a celebration of award-winning images of life sciences and biomedical sciences from across MIT.

The wait is over—our 2025 Image Awards winners are ready to shine! Join us on March 11 for an evening of science, art, and inspiration at MIT’s Koch Institute. Meet the minds behind the images & explore the beauty of biomedical research. Register now:

Who's up at BATS today?
Allie Lemmer "Structure-based Site-directed Mutagenesis of T cell Receptors (TCRs) to Improve Safety and Sensitivity for TCR-T cell Therapies" be.mit.edu/our-communit... #Celltherapy #proteinengineering #highthroughputlibraryscreening

More good news from our team: @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social PhD student Tran Luu is one of this year's MIT-Accenture Fellows, recognized for her efforts to understand how glycans mediate immune tolerance in cancer. Learn more about Tran's work here: convergence.mit.edu/fellowships/
Congratulations! 🍾

Who's up at BATS?
#Machinelearning #ProteinLanguageModel #AntibodyDrug #GenomeEditing

Mysterious Blobs in Cells Are Changing the Way We Understand Life Tiny specks called biomolecular condensates are leading to a new understanding of the cell

Be aware of the blob: Startups are translating the discovery of biomolecular condensates into new therapies—including Dewpoint Therapeutics, founded by Richard Young & Phillip Sharp to treat cancer and other diseases.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/myst...

Congratulations to Angela Koehler, who was promoted to full professor, effective February 7, 2025. Learn more about Prof Koehler's research be.mit.edu/faculty/ange...

Hands-on learning sparks interest in STEM careers, but has been difficult to achieve for biology education. We created BioBits kits that make it possible to carry out biology experiments by just adding water to freeze-dried reactions. We built low-cost, portable equipment like the fluorescence imager shown here to further facilitate hands-on learning in classrooms. BioBits kits are now available commercially and have been used by thousands of students across 6 continents, and so promise to inspire the next generation of scientists.

2024 marks 50 years of MIT’s cancer center. The objects in this exhibition, titled “Object Lessons”, represent the people, science, and culture that together contributed to the past 50 years of cancer research at MIT.

Comforting today to walk by our #BioBits kits highlighted as part of the #ObjectLessons exhibit @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social. Important now and always to inspire the next generation of scientists 🧬
@minipcr.bsky.social
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social

Happy First Day of Classes! Go get'em!
MIT SPRING TERM 2025
2/3 First day of classes
2/17 Presidents' Day — holiday
3/24-28 Spring break
4/21 Patriots' Day — holiday
5/13 Last day of classes
5/16, 19-21 Final exams
5/28-30 Commencement activities
registrar.mit.edu/calendar/cur...

Prof Linda Griffith has received the 2025 BMES Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lectureship Award, the highest honor from the Biomedical Engineering Society. Prof Griffith’s transformative research and innovative approaches inspire her colleagues at MIT and around the globe.

This evening, 7:30pm EST, the nation’s longest-running, locally-produced magazine show, Chronicle, will focus a piece on endometriosis and the work the Linda Griffith Lab is doing. #checkyourlocallisting

Congratulations to BE Doctoral Program alum Colin Kim.

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, Noubar Afeyan PhD '87 on behalf of Moderna, Professor Feng Zhang, and Professor Emory Brown. Not pictured: Richard Lawrence Edwards ’76.

Congrats to Angela Belcher, Feng Zhang on receiving 2024 National Medals of Science and Technology & Innovation, respectively! Belcher for designing materials for diverse applications. Zhang for developing molecular tools like CRISPR genome-editing system. ow.ly/yNXZ50UzKxl

We are deeply saddened to share the news of Prof. William G. Thilly’s passing over the holiday week. Prof. Thilly was a valued community member whose contributions will be remembered.