To tackle some of society’s most urgent health issues, MIT President Sally Kornbluth is initiating the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative, a fresh endeavor intended to leverage the unified strength of researchers from disciplines like engineering, science, AI, economics, business, policy, design, and the humanities to create transformative health solutions. By stimulating partnerships in domains such as immunology, neuroscience, AI, sustainability, and healthcare – while establishing new connections with hospitals in Boston and industry frontrunners in biotech and pharma – the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative seeks to ignite breakthroughs and health solutions that have a significant, enduring, and real-world influence.
On Wednesday, December 4, members of the press are invited to participate in the inaugural event for the new MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative, which will include introductory remarks by President Kornbluth and a keynote speech by Institute Professor Emeritus and Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp.
Academics will conduct breakout sessions focusing on interdisciplinary life science research in the fields of neuroscience, healthcare, immunology, and the biosphere, followed by a presentation of student research. Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of the MIT School of Engineering, will moderate a CEO-level panel discussion about the future of partnerships among universities, industries, and hospitals with:
- Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering and co-founder and chairman of Moderna;
- Reshma Kewalramani, president and CEO of Vertex;
- Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham;
- Robert Langer, Institute professor at MIT; and
- Christopher Viehbacher, president and CEO of Biogen.
Additional details regarding the Health and Life Sciences Collaborative can be accessed here, and the complete schedule for the day’s activities can be found here.