Medicine

Jose Gomez-Marquez, co-director of MIT’s Little Devices Lab, holds a sheet of paper diagnostic blocks, which can be easily printed and then combined in various ways to create customized diagnostic devices.

Plug-and-play diagnostic devices

Modular blocks could enable labs around the world to cheaply and easily build their own diagnostics.

May 16, 2018

New hours for MIT Medical’s Urgent Care Service

May 7, 2018

Cleverly dividing information among multiple servers lets an MIT system protects the privacy of contributors to genomic databases in a way that is much more computationally efficient than standard cryptographic techniques.

Protecting confidentiality in genomic studies

Cryptographic system could enable “crowdsourced” genomics, with volunteers contributing information to privacy-protected databases.

May 7, 2018

Belinda H. Tan '96 says virtual drug trials can result in more diverse testing populations and boost non-white participation, which currently averages less than 10 percent.

Virtual drug trials boost results

Bringing drug trials to the virtual realm, Belinda Tan ’96 has found a way to cut entire process in half.

May 1, 2018

Illustration showing pancreatic islets and oxygen molecules.

Implantable islet cells come with their own oxygen supply

Device could help insulin-producing cells live longer after transplant and improve treatment of type 1 diabetes.

April 25, 2018

Artificial antimicrobial peptides could help overcome drug-resistant bacteria

With aid of computer algorithm, researchers develop peptides more powerful than those found in nature.

April 16, 2018

MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers have devised a new way to create flexible polymer gels using caffeine as a catalyst.

Polymer synthesis gets a jolt of caffeine

Using the stimulant as a catalyst, researchers create new gels for drug delivery.

April 12, 2018

Perioperative NSAIDs may prevent early metastatic relapse in post-surgical breast cancer patients

Mouse study links early metastasis to systemic inflammation caused by wound healing.

April 11, 2018

Speakers included (l-r) Jay Bradner, president of the Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research; Phillip Sharp, MIT Institute Professor; Andrew Plump, chief medical and scientific officer of Takeda; summit organizers and faculty members Regina Barzilay and Dina Katabi from the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; MIT President Emerita Susan Hockfield; and Robert Califf, ...

Pioneering digital collaborations

MIT hosts a summit on transformative artificial intelligence technologies in biomedical sciences and health care.

April 10, 2018

A comparison of blood vessels imaged with short-wave fluorescence imaging (right) and near-infrared fluorescence imaging (left). Both images rely on a fluorescent dye called ICG, but the vessels can be seen more clearly with short-wave fluorescence imaging.

Fluorescent dye could enable sharper biological imaging

Technique could allow doctors and researchers to generate clearer images of blood vessels and other tissues.

April 6, 2018

A team of researchers led by an MIT economist has found that medical expenses account for roughly 4 percent of bankruptcy filings among nonelderly adults in the U.S.

How often do medical problems lead to bankruptcy?

Poor health is a less common cause of bankruptcy than commonly thought, but it brings other economic woes, study finds.

March 21, 2018

MIT senior Isabella Pecorari embarked on a path to medicine at a young age, beginning with a grade-school fascination with biology.

Lending mind, hand, and heart

Senior Isabella Pecorari is building supportive communities at MIT and beyond.

March 16, 2018

MIT engineers have designed a microfluidic platform that connects engineered tissue from up to 10 organs, allowing them to replicate human-organ interactions.

“Body on a chip” could improve drug evaluation

Human tissue samples linked by microfluidic channels replicate interactions of multiple organs.

March 14, 2018

Eight teams pitched novel health care inventions at the annual MIT Sloan Healthcare Innovations Prize competition, held as part of the 16th annual Cour. The team, Theraoptix, took home the $25,000 grand prize, sponsored by health services firm Optum, for contact lenses that deliver medications directly to the eye over days or weeks.

Contact lenses that deliver drugs directly to the eye win health care prize

Eight teams pitched novel inventions at MIT Sloan Healthcare Innovations Prize competition.

March 9, 2018

In lively presentations at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto, MIT faculty and graduate students described scientific and engineering research advances in the first "Infinite" symposium, which was hosted by the dean of MIT’s School of Engineering.

The "Infinite" in the Bay Area

MIT faculty and students bring their health care research, and enthusiasm, to alumni in California.