Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
A force of Nature solving the world’s toughest challenges through biologically inspired innovation.
The Wyss Institute at Harvard University is a nonprofit research and development organization dedicated to translating groundbreaking discoveries from the lab into real-world solutions for human and planetary health. Since its founding in 2009, the Wyss has created a powerful pipeline of breakthrough technologies – from advanced diagnostics and novel therapies to sustainable engineering solutions – by leveraging Nature’s genius to tackle urgent global challenges.
Through a unique model of radical collaboration across disciplines and a relentless focus on impact, the Wyss brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians, and industry leaders to accelerate innovations that improve lives and protect our planet.
We don’t shy away from Grand
Challenges.
We tackle
them:
Infectious Disease Control
Developing cutting-edge diagnostics and therapies to make rapid, effective infectious disease care accessible worldwide.
Women’s Health Innovation
Supporting research and innovation to address critical gaps in therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices for women’s health at every life stage through our Women’s Health Catalyst.
Healthy Aging
Decoding the biology of aging and agerelated diseases to create therapies and technologies that help people overcome their maladies and stay healthier longer.
Brain Health
Targeting neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and finding ways to get drugs across the blood-brain barrier, which is an obstacle to treating brain disorders.
“Discoveries can’t change the world if they don’t leave the lab.”
Cancer Solutions
Creating biomaterials, vaccines, and T-cell therapies to transform cancer into a curable disease.
Sustainable Futures
Engineering sustainable technologies that connect human and environmental health, delivering solutions for materials, remediation, food systems, and resilience.
At the Wyss, discovery is only the beginning. Every innovation is propelled through our Wyss Innovation Funnel, a robust process that validates and de-risks technologies for commercialization in partnership with funders, licensees, investors, philanthropic organizations, and industry sponsors.
Why the Wyss Institute?
Nature-inspired breakthroughs: By emulating and enhancing Nature’s own designs, Wyss researchers create bold, biologically-inspired solutions that span healthcare, sustainability, and beyond.
Translation at the core: Our discoveries don’t sit on the shelf. The Wyss has an unmatched track record of moving ideas out of the lab and into the world, enabling more than 4,700 patents, 155 licensing deals, and 71 startups to date.
Collaborative, fearless innovation: Innovation here is never siloed. Scientists, engineers, and clinicians collide ideas in a dynamic, collaborative environment that fosters bold thinking and rapid progress.
Urgency and impact: The world’s toughest challenges can’t wait. The Wyss accelerates the development and deployment of solutions for critical issues like cancer, women’s health innovation, climate change, and infectious disease.
A proven engine for real-world change: From organson-chips that transform drug testing to gene editing that enables the development of organs for transplant patients, Wyss breakthroughs are reshaping medicine, sustainability, and diagnostics worldwide.
Our Impact: The Wyss Effect
The Wyss Institute powers core scientific breakthroughs that move science forward to create a positive impact for life on earth. Breakthroughs that redefine what’s possible in the world.
We see direct impact through the great work of our startups and technologies, and indirect impact as our innovation helps drive the science of others. That becomes a catalyst for a cascade of breakthroughs in science, engineering, and technology, which is further magnified by our faculty who have committed their lives to helping shape new scientists and engineers who will transform our world.
That’s the power of The Wyss Effect.
