Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)

As it continues in its mission to improve global health through the development and implementation of biomedical innovation, the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation (CBI) today announced changes to its leadership team: Stacy Springs has been named executive director, and Professor Richard Braatz has joined as the center’s new associate faculty director.

The change in leadership comes at a time of rapid development in new therapeutic modalities, growing concern over global access to biologic medicines and healthy food, and widespread interest in applying computational tools and multi-disciplinary approaches to address long-standing biomedical challenges.

“This marks an exciting new chapter for the CBI,” says faculty director Anthony J. Sinskey, professor of biology, who cofounded CBI in 2005. “As I look back at almost 20 years of CBI history, I see an exponential growth in our activities, educational offerings, and impact.”

The center’s collaborative research model accelerates innovation in biotechnology and biomedical research, drawing on the expertise of faculty and researchers in MIT’s schools of Engineering and Science, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Springs steps into the role of executive director having previously served as senior director of programs for CBI and as executive director of CBI’s Biomanufacturing Program and its Consortium on Adventitious Agent Contamination in Biomanufacturing (CAACB). She succeeds Gigi Hirsch, who founded the NEW Drug Development ParadIGmS (NEWDIGS) Initiative at CBI in 2009. Hirsch and NEWDIGS have now moved to Tufts Medical Center, establishing a headquarters at the new Center for Biomedical System Design within the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies there.

Braatz, a chemical engineer whose work is informed by mathematical modeling and computational techniques, conducts research in process data analytics, design, and control of advanced manufacturing systems.

“It’s been great to interact with faculty from across the Institute who have complementary expertise,” says Braatz, the Edwin R. Gilliland Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. “Participating in CBI’s workshops has led to fruitful partnerships with companies in tackling industry-wide challenges.”

CBI is housed under the Institute for Data Systems and Society and, specifically, the Sociotechnical Systems Research Center in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. CBI is home to two biomanufacturing consortia: the CAACB and the Biomanufacturing Consortium (BioMAN). Through these precompetitive collaborations, CBI researchers work with biomanufacturers and regulators to advance shared interests in biomanufacturing.

In addition, CBI researchers are engaged in several sponsored research programs focused on integrated continuous biomanufacturing capabilities for monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, analytical technologies to measure quality and safety attributes of a variety of biologics, including gene and cell therapies, and rapid-cycle development of virus-like particle vaccines for SARS-CoV-2.

In another significant initiative, CBI researchers are applying data analytics strategies to biomanufacturing problems. “In our smart data analytics project, we are creating new decision support tools and algorithms for biomanufacturing process control and plant-level decision-making. Further, we are leveraging machine learning and natural language processing to improve post-market surveillance studies,” says Springs.

CBI is also working on advanced manufacturing for cell and gene therapies, among other new modalities, and is a part of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology – Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (SMART CAMP). SMART CAMP is an international research effort focused on developing the analytical tools and biological understanding of critical quality attributes that will enable the manufacture and delivery of improved cell therapies to patients.

“This is a crucial time for biomanufacturing and for innovation across the health-care value chain. The collaborative efforts of MIT researchers and consortia members will drive fundamental discovery and inform much-needed progress in industry,” says MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber.

“CBI has a track record of engaging with health-care ecosystem challenges. I am confident that under the new leadership, it will continue to inspire MIT, the United States, and the entire world to improve the health of all people,” adds Daniel Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. More