Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine celebrates 10-year anniversary with symposium on translational nanomedicine

"Our purpose has always been clear: to empower discovery and community in nanomedicine at MIT." — Sangeeta Bhatia, faculty director

Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine Celebrates 10 Years of Impact

On April 9, the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at MIT marked its 10-year anniversary with a symposium held at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research galleries. The event featured talks and a panel discussion focused on the translation of nanomedicine from the lab to the clinic.

Established in 2016 through a gift from Kathy and Curt Marble, the center has grown into a powerhouse of training and innovation. Its founding faculty include Sangeeta Bhatia, Robert Langer, Daniel Anderson, Angela Belcher, Michael Birnbaum, Paula Hammond, and Darrell Irvine.

The numbers tell a compelling story:

• Nearly 500 researchers have been trained at the center.
• 109 of those alumni have gone on to become faculty members at 79 institutions worldwide.
• The center’s labs have spawned 23 startup companies, including Cision Vision, Soufflé Therapeutics, Orna Therapeutics, Matrisome Bio, Amplifyer Bio, and Gensaic.

Beyond research, the center also runs programs like the Convergence Scholars Program and an industry affiliate program to foster collaboration.

"Over the past decade, the center and its member laboratories have trained close to 500 researchers. Among them, 109 have become faculty in 79 clinical and research universities." — Tarek Fadel, associate director

A panel on translational nanomedicine, moderated by Susan Hockfield, brought together key players from the startup ecosystem:

• Noor Jailkhani (Matrisome Bio), developing nanobody-based therapies targeting the tumor extracellular matrix.
• Peter DeMuth (Elicio Therapeutics), developing amphiphile-based lymph node-targeting immunotherapies.
• Vadim Dudkin (Soufflé Therapeutics), developing cell-specific siRNA delivery.
• Viktor Adalsteinsson (Amplifyer Bio), developing priming agents for liquid biopsy.

The panelists highlighted several challenges in translation, including:

• Focusing on specific indications from the start.
• Ensuring reproducibility during scale-up.
• Considering manufacturability early in the process.
• Managing regulatory risks.
• Leveraging institutional collaborations to bridge the gap between discovery and application.

Bhatia announced a major new grant, the Integrated Nanoscale Sensing, Imaging, and Health Technologies (INSIHT) program, launching in June. The initiative aims to advance imaging and sensing technologies for precision medicine.

"Ten years ago, Sangeeta, Tyler Jacks, and the Marble Center community had a vision." — Matthew Vander Heiden, director of the Koch Institute