Daniel A. Heller, a postdoctoral associate in chemical engineering, has been awarded a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellowship.
Heller is one of 18 scientists to receive the award, which encourages the nation’s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($156,000 each, over three years) to work on innovative projects.
Heller, who works in the lab of MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer, is developing a method to direct gene therapies to cancerous tissues. He is synthesizing polymer nanoparticles that can target tumors using specific receptors on the surface of the tumor cells.
Illustration: Christine Daniloff/MIT
Seeing the human pulse
An algorithm that can accurately gauge heart rate by measuring tiny head movements in video data could ultimately help diagnose cardiac disease.
