Douglas A. Lauffenburger, PhD

Ford Professor of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biology, MIT

Douglas Lauffenburger is Ford Professor of Bioengineering in the Departments of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biology at MIT.  He was the founding Head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, and served in that capacity until 2019.   Professor Lauffenburger’s BS and PhD degrees are in chemical engineering, from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota respectively.  His research and teaching focus is development and application of systems biology approaches, featuring computational analysis including machine learning, to understanding complex diseases and treatments with emphasis on clinical translation with biotech/pharma.  This centrally translational focus leads naturally to serious consideration of ethical issues in bioengineering and computational methods and their use in addressing societal challenges.