How can a non-medical institution carry out medical research?
This question arises out of the misconception that cancer research must be performed on cancer patients (or at least on material derived from cancer patients). However, because cancer is fundamentally a disease of cells gone awry, it is possible to study the important factors governing cancer development and progression by studying cells in the laboratory or in the cells of other organisms. Indeed, many of the key discoveries that have guided our understanding of human tumor development have come from investigators, including many from MIT, performing non-clinical (or “basic”) cancer research. Importantly, these discoveries are not purely academic in nature: they form the basis for improved methods to diagnose and treat the cancer. Our new approach, integrating the efforts of world-class biologists and engineers focused on the cancer problem, will change the course of cancer research. The initial strategic research plan for the Koch Institute revolves around five target areas critical
