Leveraging the strengths of two world-class research institutions, MIT and Mass General Brigham (MGB) recently celebrated the launch of the MIT-MGB Seed Program. The brand new initiative, which is supported by Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), will fund joint research projects led by researchers at MIT and Mass General Brigham. These collaborative projects will advance research in human health, with the goal of developing next-generation therapies, diagnostics, and digital tools that may improve lives at scale.
This system represents a novel opportunity to dramatically speed up innovations that address among the most urgent challenges in human health. By supporting interdisciplinary teams from MIT and Mass General Brigham, including each researchers and clinicians, the seed program will foster groundbreaking work that brings together expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and measurement and sensing technologies with pioneering clinical research and patient care.
“The ability of this program is that it combines MIT’s strength in science, engineering, and innovation with Mass General Brigham’s world-class scientific and clinical research. With the support and incentive to work together, researchers and clinicians can have the liberty to tackle compelling problems and find novel ways to overcome them to achieve transformative changes in patient care,” says Sally Kornbluth, president of MIT.
“The MIT-MGB Seed Program will enable cross-disciplinary collaboration to advance transformative research and breakthrough science. By combining the collective strengths and expertise of our great institutions, we are able to transform medical care and drive innovation and discovery with speed,” says Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham.
The initiative is funded by a present from ADI. Over the following three years, the ADI Fund for Health and Life Sciences will support roughly six joint projects annually, with funding split between the 2 institutions.
“The converging domains of biology, medicine, and computing promise a brand new era of health-care efficacy, efficiency, and access. ADI has enjoyed a protracted and fruitful history of collaboration with MIT and Mass General Brigham, and we’re excited by this recent initiative’s potential to remodel the longer term of patient care,” adds Vincent Roche, CEO and chair of the board of directors at ADI.
Along with funding, teams chosen for this system can have access to entrepreneurial workshops, including some hosted by The Engine — an MIT-built enterprise firm focused on tough tech. These sessions will connect researchers with company founders, investors, and industry leaders, helping them chart a path from breakthrough discoveries within the lab to real-world impact.
This system will launch an open call for proposals to researchers at MIT and Mass General Brigham. The primary cohort of funded projects is anticipated to launch in fall 2025. Awardees shall be chosen by a joint review committee composed of MIT and Mass General Brigham experts.
In line with MIT’s faculty lead for the MIT-MGB Seed Program, Alex K. Shalek, constructing collaborative research teams with leaders from each institutions could help fill critical gaps that always impede innovation in health and life sciences. Shalek also serves as director of the Institute for Medical Engineering & Science (IMES), the J. W. Kieckhefer Professor in IMES and Chemistry, and an extramural member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
“Clinicians often see where current interventions fall short, but may lack the scientific tools or engineering expertise needed to develop recent ones. Conversely, MIT researchers may not fully grasp these clinical challenges or have access to the correct patient data and samples,” explains Shalek, who can also be a member of the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard. “By supporting bilateral collaborations and constructing a community across disciplines, this program is poised to drive critical advances in diagnostics, therapeutics, and AI-driven health applications.”
Emery Brown, a practicing anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, will serve alongside Shalek as Mass General Brigham’s faculty lead for this system.
“The MIT-MGB Seed Program creates an ideal storm. This system will provide a chance for MIT faculty to bring novel science and engineering to attack and solve necessary clinical problems,” adds Brown, who can also be the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at MIT. “The pursuit of solutions to necessary and difficult clinical problems by Mass General Brigham physicians and scientists will little doubt spur MIT scientists and engineers to develop recent technologies, or find novel applications of existing technologies.”
The MIT-MGB Seed Program is a flagship initiative within the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS). It reflects MIT HEALS’ core mission to determine MIT as a central hub for health and life sciences innovation and translation, and to leverage connections with other world-class research institutions within the Boston area.
“This program exemplifies the ability of interdisciplinary research,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of engineering, and head of MIT HEALS. “It creates a critical bridge between clinical practice and technological innovation — two areas that have to be deeply connected to advance real-world solutions.”
This system’s launch was celebrated at a special event at MIT’s Samberg Conference Center on March 31.
