Eric Lander

Eric Lander is the founding director and a core institute member of the Broad Institute. A pioneering leader of the Human Genome Project, he has been instrumental in decoding the human genome and developing methods to map the genetic basis of complex diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurological disorders. His work has enabled the identification of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants associated with human disease, laying the foundation for new diagnostics and therapies.

Lander previously founded and directed the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research (1991–2004) and served as president and founding director of the Broad Institute through 2021. He is currently a professor of biology at MIT and professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School. He served as co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

Lander is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has received numerous honors, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the Gairdner International Award, the Albany Medical Center Prize, and eight honorary doctorates. He earned his B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.