Dr. Jessica Stark is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Biological and Chemical Engineering and an intramural member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. The goals of her research program are to understand how glycans control immune responses and to harness this biology to engineer immunity to disease. The Stark Lab’s work has been recognized with multiple honors including an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, and a Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize.

Jessica’s postdoctoral work with Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford University established a new class of protein therapeutics that makes it possible to target glycans for cancer immunotherapy. This technology is in translation to the clinic via her co-founded company, Valora Therapeutics. During her Ph.D. with Prof. Michael Jewett at Northwestern University, Jessica developed cell-free technologies for protein therapeutic and vaccine production that promise to enable portable and personalized medicine. Previously, she received her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University and worked at Genentech, Inc. in process development and research and development roles.

The Stark Lab is working to train the next generation of scientists and engineers through mentoring, outreach, and service activities. To support this work, Jessica co-developed and commercialized BioBits® educational kits that promise to increase access to high-quality biology education by facilitating hands-on learning.