Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Established	2009 (2009)
Director	Donald E. Ingber
Location	Boston, Massachusetts

The Wyss^[1] Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering is a cross-disciplinary research institute at Harvard University which focuses on developing new bioinspired materials and devices for applications in healthcare, manufacturing, robotics, energy, and sustainable architecture. The Institute has two sites: one in the Center for Life Sciences Boston building in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, and one on Harvard's main campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Wyss Institute was launched in January 2009 with a $125 million gift to Harvard—at the time, the largest single philanthropic gift in its history—from Hansjörg Wyss.^[2] In 2013, Hansjorg Wyss doubled his gift to $250 million.^[3]

The Institute works as an alliance among Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Tufts University, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Translating technological discoveries into commercial products and therapies is an important part of the organization's mission.

Organization

The Wyss Institute’s scientific operations are organized around six Enabling Technology Platforms that focus on development of new core technologies and capabilities that will facilitate the explosion of major R&D areas in the field of bioinspired engineering. The platforms integrate multiple faculty members with the advanced technology team, clinical experts, and industrial partners. The Institute platforms are:

• Adaptive Material Technologies: Integrated multiscale structures composed of biomimetic materials and devices that dynamically adapt to their environments for energy and environmental applications, such as construction materials that harness energy, heat, and water
• Anticipatory Medical and Cellular Devices: Development of controllable and dynamic devices to anticipate and detect malfunctions and infections in the body, and intervene to restore health, by taking advantage of the dynamic and changing nature of human physiology to engineer novel approaches for performance assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention
• Bioinspired Robotics: Developing computer algorithms and sensor/actuator materials that enable robots to act collectively in response to changes in their environment, such as swarms of flying insect robots to assist dwindling bee populations
• Synthetic Biology: Creating massively parallel capabilities for directed evolution of biomolecules and whole genomes for applications in cell reprogramming, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and bioenergy
• Biomimetic Microsystems: Engineering microsystem technologies that reconstitute complex human organ-level functions for use in drug testing, diagnostic and therapeutic applications
• Programmable Nanomaterials: Creation of targetable, self-assembling nanotechnologies for regenerative medicine and drug delivery applications

Notes and references

See also

• Wyss Center for Bio- and Neuro-engineering, in Switzerland

External links

• Official website of the Wyss Institute
• Public radio interview with Don Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute

Harvard University
	History John Harvard statue President Drew Gilpin Faust Board of Overseers President and Fellows of Harvard College Provost Alan M. Garber The Harvard Library
Arts and Sciences	Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith College Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana Radcliffe College Freshman dormitories Upperclass houses Adams Cabot Currier Dudley Dunster Eliot Kirkland Leverett Lowell Mather Pforzheimer Quincy Winthrop Undergraduate organizations The Harvard Crimson The Harvard Lampoon The Harvard Advocate The Harvard Independent Athletics: Harvard Crimson Ivy League Harvard Stadium Yale football rivalry Lavietes Pavilion Bright Hockey Center Cornell hockey rivalry Beanpot Weld Boathouse Newall Boathouse Continuing Education Division of Continuing Education Dean Huntington D. Lambert Extension School Summer School History of Harvard Extension School Eng. & Appl. Sciences John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Francis J. Doyle III Graduate School Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Xiao-Li Meng Libraries Cabot Harvard-Yenching Houghton Harvard Review Lamont Pusey Widener Harry Widener Eleanor Elkins Widener Grossman   Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts Center for Hellenic Studies Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Institute for Quantitative Social Science Nieman Foundation for Journalism Ukrainian Research Institute Villa I Tatti W. E. B. Du Bois Institute
Business	Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria Harvard Business Publishing Harvard Business Press Harvard Business Review
Design	Harvard Graduate School of Design Dean Mohsen Mostafavi Harvard Design Magazine Joint Center for Housing Studies
Divinity	Harvard Divinity School Dean David N. Hempton
Education	Harvard Graduate School of Education
Government	John F. Kennedy School of Government Dean Douglas Elmendorf Institute of Politics
Law	Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow Harvard Law Review Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Harvard Law Record Harvard International Law Journal Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review Harvard Journal on Legislation Berkman Center
Medicine	Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Scott Flier Broad Institute Countway Library Center for the History of Medicine Warren Anatomical Museum Schepens Eye Research Institute Dentistry Harvard School of Dental Medicine Dean Bruce Donoff
Public health	Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk
Museums	Harvard Art Museums Arthur M. Sackler Fogg Museum Busch-Reisinger Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Museum of Natural History Glass Flowers Mineralogical Museum Herbaria Comparative Zoology Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Semitic Museum General Artemas Ward House
Cambridge campus	Memorial Hall Science Center Smith Campus Center Peabody Terrace Harvard Graduate Center Harvard Hall University Hall Memorial Church Choir Harvard Yard Johnston Gate
Centers and Institutes	Dumbarton Oaks Harvard Forest Health Science and Technology Institute for Advanced Theater Training Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Schlesinger Library Real Colegio Complutense Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Misc.	Commencement traditions Academic regalia Heraldry Tercentenary celebration Harvard University Professor Harvard Magazine Harvard Gazette Harvard University Press Society of Fellows

Coordinates: 42°22′52″N 71°06′59″W / 42.38122°N 71.11626°W / 42.38122; -71.11626