MIT HEALS – MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative

Connecting Bold Ideas to Breakthrough Impact.

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32

Graduate Fellowships

20

UROPS Summer 2025

2

Tiers of Seed Grants

5

Industry Partners

mission

The MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS) supports the convergence of world-class expertise across MIT to catalyze discovery, innovation, and impact for human health. Drawing on the Institute’s strengths in life sciences and other fields, our leading experts will form new, cross-disciplinary ventures—and build on existing successes—that connect MIT to industry leaders in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and hospitals. MIT HEALS will pursue ambitious goals in AI and life sciences, low-cost diagnostics, neuroscience and mental health, environmental life science, food and agriculture, the future of public health and health care, and women’s health.

Seed Grant Program

The MIT HEALS Collaborative will pursue ambitious goals such as AI and life science, low-cost diagnostics, neuroscience and mental health, environmental life science, food and agriculture, the future of public health and health care, and women’s health.

AI/computation and genetics Professor of biology Jonathan Weissman PhD ’93 uses computational strategies to create novel, high-density genetic maps to understand cell pathways and potentially help tailor drug treatments to a patient’s genetic makeup.

AI/computation and cancer screening Regina Barzilay, the School of Engineering Distinguished Professor for AI and Health, has demonstrated that AI-risk models, paired with AI-designed screening policies, offer significant improvements to cancer screening, particularly for breast and lung cancers.

Pediatric innovation Led by Elazer R. Edelman MD, ’78, SM ’79, PhD ’84, the Edward J. Poitras Professor in Medical Engineering and Science, MIT is working with area hospitals to accelerate the translation of cutting-edge scientific, technological, and engineering advancements to real-world application for children’s health.

Women’s health Linda Griffith, the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovation, codirects the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research, which brings together more than 15 laboratories and clinical practices in the Boston area and around the world to foster basic and clinical research in endometriosis, infertility, preterm birth, sexually transmitted infection, and other pathologies of the female reproductive tract.

Programs and Fellowships

Launched in collaboration with the Charles H. Hood Foundation, addressing unmet needs in pediatric medicine by developing technologies and treatments tailored specifically for children.

Funding joint research projects led by researchers at MIT and Mass General Brigham that advance research in human health, with the goal of developing next-generation therapies,
diagnostics, and digital tools that can improve lives at scale.

Supporting exceptional early-career researchers focused on high-impact, interdisciplinary research areas such as AI and health, low-cost diagnostics, neuroscience, and women’s health.

In the coming months, we’ll unveil even more fellowships and initiatives designed to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, spark creative thinking, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.