About – MIT HEALS

“MIT HEALS is an opportunity to make our work – as individuals and institutions – collectively add up to more than the sum of our parts. And I believe this effort could not be more timely or more important.”

Sally Kornbluth, President of MIT

About the Collaborative

Spurring innovative collaborations at the convergence of multiple disciplines to impact human health

The new MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative is expanding the Institute’s role as a central hub for innovation, connectivity, and translation in life sciences and health in the Boston area. Seeking to accelerate positive health and environmental outcomes, the collaborative will:

harness the potential of AI to revolutionize health care solutions
make MIT’s life sciences community a magnet for top talent
enhance core life sciences and health research and education
support exceptional scientists dedicated to transforming our understanding of health
incorporate input from economists and policymakers
catalyze links with the region’s world-class biotech and pharma companies as well as research hospitals to speed innovation and translation in life sciences and health.

Team

MIT HEALS is led by Anantha P. Chandrakasan , dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, MIT’s Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The faculty lead is Angela Koehler , professor of biological engineering, associate director at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and an Institute Member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. A founder of multiple biotech companies, including Ligon Discovery, Kronos Bio, 76Bio, and Samori Bio, she has firsthand knowledge of how to transform scientific discoveries into potential therapeutics.

Associate directors are Iain Cheeseman , member of the Whitehead Institute and the Herman and Margaret Sokol Professor of Biology, and Katharina Ribbeck , the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Biological Engineering. The HEALS vision also builds on foundational work led by Dean Nergis Mavalvala through the VITALS initiative, which identified the need for greater integration and strategic focus in MIT’s life sciences efforts.