Dr. Sangeeta N. Bhatia is a world-renowned biomedical engineer and physician-scientist who has pioneered the application of miniaturization technologies to address critical challenges in human health. Currently serving as the John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor at the Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she also directs the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and serves as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A uniquely trained physician-engineer, she holds both an MD from Harvard Medical School and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from MIT, with undergraduate training in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University. Her distinguished career has been marked by groundbreaking work at the intersection of engineering and medicine, establishing her as a national leader in biomedical innovation.
Professor Bhatia's laboratory has leveraged 'tiny technologies' from semiconductor manufacturing to develop revolutionary medical innovations including human microlivers that accurately model human drug metabolism and liver disease outside the human body. Her team's development of responsive nanoparticles and nanoporous materials represents a paradigm shift in disease diagnostics and treatment, particularly for cancer and infectious diseases. With over 200 peer-reviewed publications, more than 50 issued or pending patents, and leadership of six biotechnology companies, her work has translated engineering principles into tangible medical applications that have transformed therapeutic approaches. The global impact of her research extends beyond academia, directly influencing how scientists engineer cellular microenvironments to create more effective models for disease research and drug development.
As a passionate advocate for diversity in STEM, Professor Bhatia founded the MIT Faculty Founder Initiative to increase representation of faculty, particularly women, launching biotechnology companies. Her leadership extends to serving as a trustee at Brown University where she chairs academic affairs, and as a board member at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she chairs the science and technology committee. Having mentored over 150 trainees who have gone on to make significant contributions across the scientific ecosystem, she continues to champion the integration of engineering solutions with medical challenges. Professor Bhatia's vision for applying computational industry technologies to solve pressing medical problems remains influential, with her ongoing work focused on advancing cancer diagnostics, improving liver disease modeling, and democratizing biotechnology innovation through inclusive entrepreneurship.
