Eric Lander
Geneticist, Biologist, Humanitarian
Eric Lander was one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project, which from 1990-2003 mapped the human genetic code. He has pioneered the application of genomics to the understanding human disease.
Lander serves as President and Founding Director of the Broad Institute, a new kind of collaborative research institution founded in 2004 that brings together more than 1500 scientists from across Harvard, MIT and the Harvard hospitals to tackle important challenges in biomedicine. The Broad Institute has been a flagship for many international projects in genomics. Lander is also the professor of biology at MIT and professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Lander’s own scientific work has spanned genome analysis, population genetics, cancer, diabetes, inflammatory diseases, and evolutionary biology.
A graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Princeton University in New Jersey, and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England, Lander was trained as a mathematician. In the early 1980s, he began to learn biology and genetics. In 1990, he launched one of the first genome centers in the world at MIT.
In 2008, Lander was appointed by President Obama to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST is a council of 20 of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers, charged with providing direct advice to the president on matters of science and technology.
Lander has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the MacArthur Prize Fellowship, Canada’s Gairdner Prize and the Albany Prize in Medicine. He is particularly proud of winning MIT’s award for undergraduate teaching, and continues to teach introductory biology to MIT freshman.
Photo credit - Len Rubenstein
Past Events
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The Moth -
Presented with New York’s innovative storytelling collective, The Moth, esteemed scientists, writers and artists tell on-stage stories about their personal relationship with science. In keeping with Moth tradition, each story must be true and told within ten minutes, without notes. The result is a poignant, hilarious, and enjoyably unpredictable evening that’s sure to intrigue and surely hard to forget.
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World Science Festival Salon: Genetics and Cancer
World Science Festival Salons are an opportunity for in-depth conversations with world-leading scientists, extending the discussion of the Festival’s flagship public programs at a level appropriate for graduate students, postdocs, faculty and particularly well-informed members of the general public. In this salon, take a deeper dive into the science underlying cancer research.
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Cancer’s Last Stand?
The deadly scourge of cancer has confounded doctors since ancient Egypt. Now, the Cancer Genome Atlas (modeled after the Human Genome Project) promises a new and powerful approach in this age-old battle. We joined a discussion among leaders in the field as they describe how and why the balance of power in the war on cancer may finally be shifting.
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Pioneers in Science
Pioneers in Science is an annual program that gives middle and high school students the rare opportunity to interact with world-renowned scientists. In this installment, groundbreaking geneticists and humanitarians Eric Lander and Mary-Claire King met live and online with local New York City high school students and others from around the globe
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