MIT and MGH distribute grants aimed towards supporting projects in clinical medicine
MIT and MGH distribute grants aimed towards supporting projects in clinical medicine
MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have recently allotted up to $3 million over a two-year period to fund research projects in clinical medicine, according to the MIT News Office. The projects will address in improving clinical diagnostics, treating infectious/autoimmune diseases, and diagnosing and treating major neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.
The collaboration between MIT and MGH was brought upon by Professor Arup Chakraborty, PhD, director of the MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and Robert Kingston, PhD, chief of Molecular Biology at MGH, among others.
Chakraborty also helped found the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard, which researches human immunology, with a focus on developing vaccines against various diseases including HIV.
“MIT and MGH have uniquely synergistic and complementary strengths,” said Chakraborty in MIT’s statement. “I believe that developing the cost-effective diagnostic tools, therapies and vaccines needed to overcome some of the daunting challenges facing human health today can be achieved by bringing approaches from engineering and basic science together with clinical medicine and that a strategic partnership between our institutions could achieve much more towards advancing human health.”
The first set of grants was announced in September, slated for teams including principal investigators from both MIT and MGH. The grants given last month will support projects that aim to improve the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of diagnosis using real-time monitoring or patient datasets.
Funded project topics include a noninvasive blood volume measurement device, as well as a wireless breathing monitor, among others.
—Patricia Z. Dominguez