What is the Koch Institute?
The Koch Institute grows out of and transcends the MIT Center for Cancer Research (CCR), which was founded in 1974 by Nobel Laureate and MIT Professor Salvador Luria. It is one of eight National Cancer Institute-designated basic (non-clinical) research centers in the U.S. Our mission is to apply the tools of science and technology to understand how cancer is caused, progresses and responds to treatment. We bring together scientists and engineers to discover how the disease behaves at a molecular level and to work on solving real cancer-related problems. The Koch Institute is both a physical entity and an organizing body for MIT’s cancer research community at large (over 500 researchers across the Institute). It grows out of MIT’s proven strengths in molecular biology, genetics, cell biology and immunology and stimulates extensive collaboration. The Koch Institute and its extramural partners comprise over 40 member laboratories from 7 departments.
