The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering uses “nature’s design principles to develop bio-inspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world.” As an alliance among Harvard’s Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Tufts University, and Boston University, the Institute crosses disciplinary and institutional boundaries to engage in high-risk research that leads to transformative technological breakthroughs. Its work includes education, outreach, and explorations in emerging sciences to support and engage research that is organized around six “enabling technology platforms”: adaptive material technologies, anticipatory medical and cellular devices, bio-inspired robotics, synthetic biology, biomimetic microsystems, and programmable nanomaterials. The Institute also actively explores opportunities to develop close alliances with industry that may define new research directions and drive technology innovation, including many opportunities to improve health and health service-related innovations around the world.
See also: Science & Technology