Cracking Cancer 2.0

Karl F. Koster is the Executive Director of the MIT Office of Corporate Relations. The Office of Corporate Relations includes the MIT Industrial Liaison Program, which celebrated 67 years of service to the Institute and its corporate partners in 2015.

In that capacity, Mr. Koster and his staff work with the leadership of MIT and senior corporate executives to design and implement strategies for fostering corporate partnerships with the Institute. Mr. Koster and his team have also worked to identify and design a number of major international programs for MIT, which have been characterized by the establishment of strong, programmatic linkages among universities, industry, and governments. Most recently these efforts have been extended to engage the surrounding innovation eco-system, including its vibrant startup and small company community, into MIT's global corporate and university networks.

Mr. Koster also serves as the Chairman of the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP), an organization that seeks to enhance the value of collaborative partnerships between universities and corporations.

Mr. Koster graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in geology and economics in 1974, and received a M.S. from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1980. At the Sloan School he concentrated in international business management and the management of technological innovation. Prior to returning to MIT, Mr. Koster worked as a management consultant in Europe, Latin America, and the United States on projects for private and public sector organizations.

Anne E. Deconinck is the Executive Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. As MIT’s hub for cancer research, the KI embodies the university’s educational mission and is deeply committed to training both scientists and engineers to become the next generation of cancer researchers. Since its inception, the KI has been a strong advocate for convergence and is regarded as the gold standard in interdisciplinary cancer research. Anne spearheads the KI’s industrial partnerships, external collaborations, outreach efforts, and communications. With these efforts, she is continually expanding the KI network to other academic and clinical oncology centers, industry leaders, philanthropists, foundations, and investors. She also oversees the Bridge Project, a unique translational research effort between the KI and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Anne is passionate about supporting MIT student-led initiatives looking to increase translation of research, including the MIT Biotech Group and MIT Hacking Medicine. She is a board member of MIT Camp Kesem, an MIT student-led non-profit organization that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.
 
Born and raised in Belgium, Anne received her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from King’s College London in 1992 and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford in 1996. She received a Fulbright Award for postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School in the Hematology/Oncology Department, where she focused on the identification and analysis of novel transcription factors. Anne also spent one year working in a biotech company.
 
In 2003, Anne joined the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as a Research Specialist in KI Director Tyler Jacks’s laboratory. She was a key member of the multidisciplinary team that led the design, implementation, and launch of the KI at MIT in 2007. In 2011, Anne expanded her role to oversee the KI’s collaborative programs. She was named Executive Director in 2013.

Professor Paula T. Hammond is the David H. Koch Chair Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy Initiative, and a founding member of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. She recently served as the Executive Officer (Associate Chair) of the Chemical Engineering Department (2008-2011). The core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanotechnology encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery, and self-assembled materials systems for electrochemical energy devices.

Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  She is also the recipient of the 2013 AIChE Charles M. A. Stine Award, which is bestowed annually to a leading researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering, and the 2014 Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. She was selected to receive the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Teal Innovator Award in 2013, which supports a single visionary individual from any field principally outside of ovarian cancer to focus his/her creativity, innovation, and leadership on ovarian cancer research.  During her sabbatical in 2013, she was a visiting scientist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a visiting professor at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, in the Chemical Engineering Department.   Prof. Hammond continues to serve as an Associate Editor of the American Chemical Society journal, ACS Nano.  As a part of the Year of Chemistry in 2011, she was one of the Top 100 materials scientists named by Thomson-Reuters, a recognition of the highest citation impact in the field over the past decade (2001-2011).  She has published over 200 papers, and holds over 20 patents based on her research at MIT.  She was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers, and the American Chemical Society Polymer Division. Professor Hammond’s work on multilayer tattoos for transdermal DNA vaccines was recently featured on the PBS Nova program, “Making Stuff” with David Pogue, and she was also featured in the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Catalyst Series: Women in Chemistry.    

Professor Paula Hammond received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984, and her M.S. from Georgia Tech in 1988 and earned her Ph.D. in 1993 from MIT.

Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.

Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.

Erik Vogan joined the Office of Corporate Relations in 2015.

Erik brings to the Office of Corporate Relations numerous years of experience in big data and analytics, business development and partnering, and research and technology development, particularly in the areas of biotechnology and life sciences. Prior to joining the Office of Corporate Relations, Erik worked as a consultant to Boston-area venture capital and biotechnology companies and was a cofounder of Krypton Immuno-oncology.

At Beryllium Discovery Corporation, Erik was Vice President of Drug Discovery, leading functions in Business Development and Research. At Permeon Biologics, Erik founded the research laboratory and served as Director, Protein Sciences. Prior to that, Erik held positions as Head of Structural Biology at Acceleron Pharma and Senior Scientist at Wyeth Research.

Erik earned his B.S. in Genetics at the University of California, Davis and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Brandeis University working with Gregory Petsko, followed by postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Stephen C. Harrison at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston. Erik recently completed his MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

He has numerous patents, publications, and presentations to his credit.

Mr. Peter Sandor has been Head of Oncology Therapeutic Area for Marketing Strategy and Vice President at Astellas Pharma US, Inc. since November 2015. Mr. Sandor provides strategic commercial leadership for projects within the oncology therapeutic area. He has 19 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Astellas. He served as vice president of Global Marketing Therapeutic Area Head Oncology at Amgen. He was also vice president, Strategy and Portfolio Management, Specialized Medicine at Bayer. Mr. Sandor earned his master's degree in business administration from Middlesex University, United Kingdom. He holds a M.D. from the University of PECS in Hungary.

Professor Paula T. Hammond is the David H. Koch Chair Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy Initiative, and a founding member of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. She recently served as the Executive Officer (Associate Chair) of the Chemical Engineering Department (2008-2011). The core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanotechnology encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery, and self-assembled materials systems for electrochemical energy devices.

Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  She is also the recipient of the 2013 AIChE Charles M. A. Stine Award, which is bestowed annually to a leading researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering, and the 2014 Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. She was selected to receive the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Teal Innovator Award in 2013, which supports a single visionary individual from any field principally outside of ovarian cancer to focus his/her creativity, innovation, and leadership on ovarian cancer research.  During her sabbatical in 2013, she was a visiting scientist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a visiting professor at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, in the Chemical Engineering Department.   Prof. Hammond continues to serve as an Associate Editor of the American Chemical Society journal, ACS Nano.  As a part of the Year of Chemistry in 2011, she was one of the Top 100 materials scientists named by Thomson-Reuters, a recognition of the highest citation impact in the field over the past decade (2001-2011).  She has published over 200 papers, and holds over 20 patents based on her research at MIT.  She was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers, and the American Chemical Society Polymer Division. Professor Hammond’s work on multilayer tattoos for transdermal DNA vaccines was recently featured on the PBS Nova program, “Making Stuff” with David Pogue, and she was also featured in the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Catalyst Series: Women in Chemistry.    

Professor Paula Hammond received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984, and her M.S. from Georgia Tech in 1988 and earned her Ph.D. in 1993 from MIT.

Mr. Peter Sandor has been Head of Oncology Therapeutic Area for Marketing Strategy and Vice President at Astellas Pharma US, Inc. since November 2015. Mr. Sandor provides strategic commercial leadership for projects within the oncology therapeutic area. He has 19 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Astellas. He served as vice president of Global Marketing Therapeutic Area Head Oncology at Amgen. He was also vice president, Strategy and Portfolio Management, Specialized Medicine at Bayer. Mr. Sandor earned his master's degree in business administration from Middlesex University, United Kingdom. He holds a M.D. from the University of PECS in Hungary.