MIT News – MIT Department of Chemistry

Side by side headshots of Laura Kiessling and Ron Raines.

Laura L. Kiessling and Ronald T. Raines Named van ’t Hoff Lectureship Award Recipients

This prestigious award is named for the first Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

Clockwise from top left: Annika Marschner, Alvin Meng, Matthew Wanta, and Zachary Siegel

MIT affiliates win 2026 Hertz Foundation Fellowships

The fellowships recognize doctoral students who are pursuing solutions to the most pressing challenges in science and technology.

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MIT chemists showed they can double the strength of common polymers, including polystyrene and a type of rubber used to make shoe soles.

MIT chemists design impact-resistant plastics

Introducing weaker bonds into polystyrene and rubber helps these materials dissipate energy, making them more resistant to destructive forces.

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The Haystack 37m Telescope is contained in the large radome seen on the right, a structure that protects the telescope’s precision reflector from weather.

The Haystack 37m Telescope: A new era of astrophysical research

The legendary radio astronomy telescope returns to its science and educational mission at MIT Haystack Observatory.

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A lab member glances through a mircoscope in a darkened room.

Single-molecule tracker illuminates workings of cancer-related proteins

Researchers use custom-built microscopy and nanotechnology to tag and follow the activity of individual proteins in real time.

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MIT professors Isaiah Andrews, David Atkin, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, and Benjamin Weiss were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2026.

MIT affiliates elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2026

The prestigious honor society honors four MIT faculty and 13 additional MIT alumni among more than 250 new members.

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Dr. Danny Thach to join the Chemistry Faculty

Thach appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

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Mitali Chowdhury '24 (left) and Christina Kim '24

Two MIT alumnae named 2026 Gates Cambridge Scholars

Mitali Chowdhury ’24 and Christina Kim ’24 will pursue graduate studies at Cambridge University in the UK.

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“Production of ozone-depleting substances has pretty much ceased around the world except for this one use, which is when you have a chemical you convert into something else,” says Susan Solomon.

A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years

Scientists say an exception in the Montreal Protocol for the use of ozone-depleting feedstocks could set the ozone recovery back seven years.

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MIT chemists have found that changing the composition of the cell membrane can alter the function of EGFR, a cell receptor that promotes proliferation and is often overactive in cancer cells.

MIT study reveals a new role for cell membranes

Long thought to be mainly a structural support, the cell membrane also influences how cells respond to signals and may contribute to the growth of cancer cells.

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MIT ranks No. 1 in 12 subject areas in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, the organization announced.

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 12 subjects for 2026

The Institute also ranks second in seven subject areas.

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Rows and rows of pink and turquoise circles with sketches of variations of p53.

Cancer’s Secret Safety Net

Researchers uncover a hidden mechanism that allows cancer to develop aggressive mutations.

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“What’s remarkable is that intelectin-2 (mltln2) operates in two complementary ways. It helps stabilize the mucus layer, and if that barrier is compromised, it can directly neutralize or restrain bacteria that begin to escape,” says Laura Kiessling. On left, mltln2 stabilizes the mucus layer on healthy tissue. On right, it neutralizes bacteria in an inflamed GI tract.

A protein found in the GI tract can neutralize many bacteria

The protein, known as intelectin-2, also helps to strengthen the mucus barrier lining the digestive tract.

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