LSIPR 50 2016: Eric Lander and Maria Leptin

Name: Eric Lander

Organisation: The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Position: Founder and director

Eric Lander is closely associated with his work with the Human Genome Project, a hugely ambitious project to map out the DNA sequences that form the genetic basis for every human being. Arguably the most ambitious scientific project in the last three decades, the international approach to compiling the research shows that cooperation is the best method to tackling these universal issues.

In order to continue this research, Lander established the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. It landed him a place in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2004, and in 2009 he was appointed co-chair of the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, an organisation that works closely with US President Barack Obama.

The Broad Institute is at the centre of the most closely watched development in modern science: the rights to the CRISPR/Cas 9 technology.