Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Self-assembly is ubiquitous in the natural world, serving as a route to form organized structures in every living organism. This phenomenon can be seen, for instance, when two strands of DNA – without any external prodding or guidance – join to form a double helix, or when large numbers of molecules combine to create membranes or other vital cellular structures. Everything goes to its rightful place without an unseen builder having to put all the pieces together, one at a time.
For the past couple of decades, scientists and engineers have been following nature’s lead, designing molecules that assemble themselves in water, with the goal of making nanostructures, primarily for biomedical applications such as drug delivery or tissue engineering. “These small-molecule-based materials tend to degrade rather quickly,” explains Julia Ortony, assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), “and they’
2021 Research Grant Recipients Announced by the VHL Alliance
Global Research Program Supports Curing Cancer through VHL
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BOSTON, Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ The VHL Alliance (VHLA) today announced the 2021 recipients of the VHLA Competitive Research Grant Program. This year, three grantees were chosen. Scientists are increasingly aware that curing von Hippel-Lindau disease, a genetic form of cancer – is a key step to curing cancer, leading to a significant increase in the quality of research grant applicants in the program year after year.
Over 20 top VHLA researchers from across the US, Canada, and Europe were involved in reviewing and selecting those projects which have the greatest potential to make advances toward Curing Cancer through VHL. For the second year in a row, responding to the increase in quality applications, the VHLA Board of Directors voted to expand the annual budget for research.