MIT Department of Biological Engineering

BE Seminar this Thurs 10/29 with Derfogail Delcassian, University of California-Berkeley “Talking to T Cells: Engineered Micro- and Nano- Therapeutics to Direct T Cell Fate Across Auto-Immunity and Oncology” https://ow.ly/P5Bh51019by

The Neurotech 2026 symposium on 11/20 presents six talks by neurotechnology pioneers whose cutting-edge innovations are changing the face of neurobiological research from molecules to cognition. Learn more and register: https://neurotech.mit.edu/

Who's up at BATS? Duy An Le (Bathe Lab): “Leveraging Spatial Transcriptomics Tools to Study Nanoparticle Libraries in the Brain” Andrew Ding (Sun): “Universal Single-Cell Transcriptomic Aging Clocks” https://ow.ly/E9CG5100gze #aging #dnaorigami

Local area BE alumni, you are welcome to network with students and postdocs at our poster forum and alumni reception 4–5:30 p.m. this Tues, October 20. Our poster presenters are eager to hear insights from your career journey https://ow.ly/HK7e50ZYyUP

Who's up at BATS? Elif Kulaksizoglu (Birnbaum Lab): “Engineering Pooled Lentiviruses to Study Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses at Scale” Emme Pogue (Birnbaum): “Mapping Functional Footprints of HIV Reactive TCR Clonotypes” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Litsa Kapsalis (Langer & Jaklenec Labs): “Intraosseous Photothermal Therapy and Local Drug Depots for Breast Cancer Bone Metastases” Julia Zhong (Lauffenburger Lab): “Investigating B Cell-Intrinsic Control of Antibody Glycosylation” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Why wait? The MIT BE & ChemE Career Expo 2026 (10/20) is your direct pipeline to innovative talent in biotech and chemical engineering. Registration under $200. Find your next breakthrough hire? Sign up now! https://ow.ly/H6CZ50ZV65R

Congratulations to Jessica Stark on receiving the NIH Director’s ­New Innovator Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. This award supports exceptionally creative scientists pursuing transformative research. https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/fundedresearch

Who's up at BATS? Mikolaj Godzik (Blainey Lab): “Identifying of Regulators of Cancer Plasticity Using High-Content Optical Pooled Screens” Jing “Vicky” Liu (Hansen Lab): “Scalable Mapping of TF-IDR Interactions to Drug the Undruggable TFs” https://ow.ly/HTrh50ZTV33

Recruit MIT engineering talent at the BE & ChemE Career Expo on the MIT campus, Tues 10/20! Join Moderna, Pirouette Pharma, and Overpotential. Make sure your company has a seat at the table. https://ow.ly/aRmB50ZTF9k

BE Seminar Series this Thurs 10/01 Christopher Barnes, Stanford University “Breaking the Silence: Directing Antibody Evolution Toward the HIV-1 Silent Face” https://ow.ly/PcSo50ZT4cH

The competition for MIT engineering talent is on! Moderna, P&G, Qral Group, and Impact Technology Development are already attending the BE & ChemE Career Expo 10/20. Make sure your company has a seat at the table—and the opportunity to recruit top talent. Register today: https://ow.ly/NrhN50ZPHZf

Who's up at BATS? Aram Shajii (Hammond & White Labs): “Identification and Delivery of Phosphorylated MHC Peptides for Glioblastoma Immunotherapy” Fiona Wang (Buehler Lab): “Engineering AI Collectives for Biological Discovery” https://ow.ly/N8iP50ZPaSm

Voigt Lab researchers have engineered bacteria that can function as transistors, allowing the team to create living “circuit boards” that can be printed onto a growth medium in a Petri dish. https://ow.ly/jLrL50ZAH9B

Boyden Lab researchers have developed a method for imaging neuron activity in the zebrafish brain. Each colored spot (green and yellow) represents an active neuron. https://ow.ly/ZkhG50ZzSUi

Prof. Doug Lauffenburger named Institute Professor. This position is MIT's highest honor, recognizing invaluable contributions across teaching, research, and service. He was the central founder of MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering. https://ow.ly/lqBK50ZqLcU

New MRI sensors developed in the Jasanoff Lab sensitively detect target molecules in the brain and body. Liposomal nanoparticle reporters, or LisNRs, can brighten or dim MRI signals in response to specific molecular targets. https://ow.ly/PkG650Z7JwV

Who's up at BATS? Bishal Thapa (Voigt Lab): “Engineering Radiation Tolerant Fungi for Space Biomanufacturing” Blythe Irwin (Birnbaum & DeKosky Labs): “Introducing RePLiCA: A Replication-Based Protein:Ligand Cellular Activation Assay” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Brian Cheng (Blainey Lab): “StimDrop: High-Throughput Combinatorial Microfluidics Platform for Transcriptional Profiling” Bruce Enzmann (White & Knouse Labs): “Investigating the Signaling Mechanisms of Organ Size Control in the Liver” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

In a new study, Hansen Lab researchers have measured chromatin movement at timescales ranging from hundreds of microseconds to hours, allowing them to rigorously quantify those dynamics for the first time. https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-chromatin-movement-helps-control-gene-expression-0504

Who's up at BATS? Matt Zackin (Niles Lab): “A Machine Learning Pipeline for Target-Specific Antimalarial Drug Discovery” Daniel Sellers (Ribbeck Lab): “Intestinal Mucin Architecture as a Driver of Microbial Community Health” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/ #infectiousdisease #mucin

"Ask Janina Ojeiduma ’27 to describe one of her foremost personality traits and she’ll tell you: curiosity." https://betterworld.mit.edu/spectrum/issues/spring-2026/janina-ojeiduma-27-eyes-impact-of-environmental-toxins-on-human-health/

Fraenkel Lab study shows that patterns of molecular activity in the blood may reveal not only a person’s fitness level, but also the biological processes that drive physical performance. https://ow.ly/1l6350YRfuj

Grateful to @natbiotech.nature.com for the opportunity to reflect on my scientific journey, including launching my lab @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social @mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Shenghao Guo (Koehler) “Discovery of FBXW7 Binders for Targeted Protein Degradation Using Small Molecule Microarray” Malik George (Voigt, Niles) “Bioprospecting and Evolving Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria for the Advancement of Microbial Biofertilizers” https://ow.ly/3Mt050YOwp9

Who's up at BATS? Rachel McGinn (Bryson Lab): “Bacterial Control of Antigen Presentation on MHC-I in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection” James Jusuf (Hansen Lab): “Genome-Wide Absolute Quantification of Chromatin Looping” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Engelward Lab research suggests that the chemical NDMA is much more likely to cause cancerous mutations after exposure early in life. https://ow.ly/LHns50YKzVM

Next BE Seminar this Thurs 4/9 at 4pm with Richard M. Murray, California Institute of Technology, 'Upscaling Engineering of Synthetic Biomachines via Synthetic Cells.' https://ow.ly/aX2850YIo1J

Huaiyao Peng (Belcher Lab): “Developing Organoid Models and AI-Driven Optical Imaging for Ovarian Cancer Early Detection” Luka Karginov (Lauffenburger): “Learning Features and Paths of Vaccine-Mediated Protection in Tuberculosis via Partial Correlation” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Amanda Chan (Birnbaum Lab): “A Library-Based Examination of T Cell Allorecognition” Qingyang Henry Zhao (Birnbaum & Wittrup): “Decoding Endogenous Anti-Tumor T Cell Responses for Polyclonal TCR-T Therapy” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/ #TCRrecognition #TILtherapy

BE Seminar Series this Thur, 4pm, 32-155 Melanie Graham, University of Minnesota "You Don’t Control the Immune System, You Design Around It” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

We have many administrative and technical open positions in BE! Learn more: https://be.mit.edu/about/open-staff-positions/

A backup survival pathway can help tumor cells resist certain lung cancer and other drugs. The Forest White Lab reveals that combining therapies may offer a solution. https://ow.ly/U1rf50YARTo

BE Seminar Series continues this Thursday at 4pm with BE alum Jennifer L. Wilson, UCLA "Turning Bugs Into Features - Modeling Drug Off-Target Effects to Understand Cancer Neurology” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Myra Dada (Manalis & Hemann): “Investigating Cell Stiffness as a Determinant of CAR T Efficacy in B-ALL” Connie Wang (Collins & Edelman): “Nanoengineering Materials to Probe Tissue-Implant Interactions” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/ #CARTtherapy #ramanspectroscopy

Help the MIT School of Engineering empower the next generation of thinkers and doers by contributing today, during the MIT 24-Hour Challenge. https://mit24hourchallenge.mightycause.com/story/School-Of-Engineering

BE Seminar tomorrow at 4pm with Dan Dongeun Huh, University of Pennsylvania “Microengineered Mimicry of Human Health and Disease" https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Miles George (Voigt & Niles Labs): “Containment of Engineered Bacteria by ‘Locking’ them to an Engineered Plant” Justine Shih (Blainey Lab): “Mapping Genetic Variants to Cellular Phenotypes with Targeted Optical Endogenous Sequencing (TOES)” https://ow.ly/AUip50Yn1TF

Who's up at BATS? Evan Collins (Langer & Anderson Labs): “Data-Driven Approaches for Understanding and Improving mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles” Nikita Podobedov (Blainey Lab): “Integration of Label-Free Imaging Modalities with Optical Pooled Screening” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/

Who's up at BATS? Anastasiya Grebin (Ribbeck Lab): “Mucus as a Host Lever in Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis” https://be.mit.edu/our-community/seminars/ #bacterialvaginosis #Cervicovaginalmucus #Host–microbeinteractions

Who's up at BATS? Victoria Chen (Voigt Lab): “Tracking Recombinant Genes in Estonia 35 Years After Release” Rachel Myers (Belcher & Hammond Labs): “Engineering Rare Earth Nanoparticles for Early Ovarian Cancer Detection” https://ow.ly/CTAR50Y9SZH

This afternoon, Prof Doug Lauffenburger opened the BE Seminar Series Spring Term 2026 by sharing the history of BE.

Griffith Lab created a mini “liver-on-a-chip.” Tiny clusters of liver cells (shown in magenta) are embedded within a network of blood vessels (green) https://news.mit.edu/2026/new-tissue-models-could-help-researchers-develop-drugs-liver-disease-0203

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

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