Dr. Jessica Stark

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Prof. Jessica Stark received her B.S. in Chemical Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University. After graduation, she worked at Genentech, Inc. in process development research roles. Jessica completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Biological Engineering under Prof. Michael Jewett at Northwestern University, where she developed cell-free technologies for protein therapeutic vaccine production, promising to enable portable personalized medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford University, Jessica’s research focused on identifying and targeting glycans that act as immune checkpoints for next-generation cancer immunotherapy. Jessica joined the faculty at MIT as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering, and she is also an intramural member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research starting January 2024. The Stark Lab is dedicated to developing biological technologies that realize the largely untapped potential of glycans in immunological discovery and immunotherapy.

Research Interests

Experience

Process Development Researcher

— Present

Genentech, Inc. • California, USA

Worked in process development research roles.

Postdoctoral Fellow

— Present

Stanford University • Stanford, CA, USA

Focused on identifying and targeting glycans for cancer immunotherapy.

Assistant Professor

2024-01-01 — Present

Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Cambridge, MA, USA

Joined faculty in the Departments of Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering.

Courses

20.320 Research