Eric Lander

Eric Lander is a renowned geneticist, molecular biologist, and mathematician, and a core member and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. As a pivotal leader of the international Human Genome Project, his contributions to the biomedical application of the human genome have been groundbreaking.

Lander's innovative methods have unearthed the molecular basis of numerous human diseases, including complex polygenic disorders like heart disease and Alzheimer's. His work has resulted in over 100,000 discoveries linking DNA regions with hundreds of diseases, illuminating the underlying biological mechanisms.

His pioneering research spans multiple domains, from human genetic variation and genome evolution to CRISPR-based genome editing. Lander serves as a Professor of Biology at MIT and a Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. He also served as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Lander’s distinguished career has been acknowledged with numerous awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, and the Albany Prize in Medicine and Biological Research, among others.