Douglas Lauffenburger
Douglas Lauffenburger is Ford Professor of Bioengineering and (founding) Head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. Dr Lauffenburger’s BS and PhD degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois (1975) and the University of Minnesota (1979). A central focus of his research program is in cell-cell communication and cell signaling important in pathophysiology with application to drug discovery and development, with emphasis on development of predictive computational models derived from quantitative experimental studies. Lauffenburger co-authored a monograph entitled Receptors: Models for Binding, Trafficking & Signaling, published by Oxford Press in 1993, and co-edited the book entitled Systems Biomedicine: Concepts and Perspectives, published by Elsevier Press in 2010. More than 100 doctoral students and postdoctoral associates have undertaken research education under his supervision.
Prof Lauffenburger has served as a consultant or scientific advisory board member for numerous biotech/pharma companies and biomedical science-related foundations. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and has served as President of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Chair of the College of Fellows of American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, and on the Advisory Council for NIGMS, and as a co-author of the 2009 NRC report on A New Biology for the 21st Century.
