About

Who we are

The Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics (CMIT) was founded in 2014 with a $25 million gift to MIT from the Neil and Anna Rasmussen Family Foundation. The Rasmussens wanted to support ongoing research into Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as well as create a program to develop therapeutics for microbiome-associated diseases. From this vision, CMIT was created to promote education and collaborative investigations among the next generation of scientists, engineers, and doctors who are passionate about the potential of microbiome research and therapeutics.

Today, CMIT is a joint initiative of MIT’s Institute of Medical Engineering and Science and Department Biological Engineering, led by co-directors Dr. Eric Alm (Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, and Institute Member of the Broad Institute) and Dr. Ramnik Xavier (Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Core Faculty at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital.) To date, the Center has supported more than 80 researchers and trainees—contributing to 100+ publications on topics ranging from fundamental analytical and computational techniques to clinical insights in a wide variety of diseases—and convened eight Microbiome Symposia attracting hundreds of researchers from across the Boston area and beyond.

What we do

Our mission is to advance new technologies, fundamental insights, and clinical applications in microbiome science to solve important problems in human health. We do this by supporting and training researchers through direct research grants, fellowships, and training programs, and holding community events such as our annual Microbiome Symposium.

Our philosophy

Microbiome research holds tremendous potential to improve public health. However, it is an inherently multidisciplinary science—introducing its own specific challenges—and is still maturing as a field. 

We believe that to drive transformative advances in microbiome science and improve patients’ lives, it is critical that we bring together scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and clinicians to tackle the big questions in microbiome research that occur at the interface of their respective fields and expertise. This approach draws on MIT’s long history and excellence of engaging across disciplines to advance pragmatic solutions to pressing problems.

In addition, we are committed to: 

• Continue to develop the discipline’s foundational elements, such as the specialized mathematics required to analyze complex microbiome datasease.
• Give clinicians the tools to design, analyze, and interpret microbiome studies 
• Expose academic researchers to clinical perspectives and experiences to deepen their understanding of patients’ needs and priorities 
• Partner with industry to accelerate the delivery of new therapies to patients
• Establish and share the specific principles governing microbiome clinical trial design and drug development