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George Church

Ph.D.

Director, NHGRI Center for Excellence in Genomic Science

Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard and MIT

Founding Core Faculty and Lead, Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Dr. Church  is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a founding member of the Wyss Institute, and Director of PersonalGenomes.org, the world’s only open-access information on human genomic, environmental, and trait data. Dr. Church is Director of IARPA & NIH BRAIN Projects, and Director of the National Institutes of Health Center for Excellence in Genomic Science. 

Dr. Church is known for pioneering the fields of personal genomics and synthetic biology. He developed the first methods for the first genome sequence & dramatic cost reductions since then (down from $3 billion to $600), contributing to nearly all “next generation sequencing” methods and companies. His team invented CRISPR for human stem cell genome editing and other synthetic biology technologies and applications – including new ways to create organs for transplantation, gene therapies for aging reversal, and gene drives to eliminate Lyme Disease and Malaria. He has co-authored more than 590 papers and 155 patent publications, and one book, “Regenesis”.

He has received numerous awards including the 2011 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute, the Time 100, and election to the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.

George Church

Ph.D.

Director, NHGRI Center for Excellence in Genomic Science

Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard and MIT

Founding Core Faculty and Lead, Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Dr. Church  is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a founding member of the Wyss Institute, and Director of PersonalGenomes.org, the world’s only open-access information on human genomic, environmental, and trait data. Dr. Church is Director of IARPA & NIH BRAIN Projects, and Director of the National Institutes of Health Center for Excellence in Genomic Science. 

Dr. Church is known for pioneering the fields of personal genomics and synthetic biology. He developed the first methods for the first genome sequence & dramatic cost reductions since then (down from $3 billion to $600), contributing to nearly all “next generation sequencing” methods and companies. His team invented CRISPR for human stem cell genome editing and other synthetic biology technologies and applications – including new ways to create organs for transplantation, gene therapies for aging reversal, and gene drives to eliminate Lyme Disease and Malaria. He has co-authored more than 590 papers and 155 patent publications, and one book, “Regenesis”.

He has received numerous awards including the 2011 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute, the Time 100, and election to the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.

Recent Publications

Hafoe: an interactive tool for the analysis of chimeric AAV libraries after random mutagenesis

Published On 2025 Jul 08

Journal article

Naturally occurring adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are an integral part of gene therapy, yet engineering novel AAV variants is necessary to expand targetable tissues and treatable diseases. Directed evolution, particularly through DNA shuffling of the capsid genes of wild-type AAV serotypes, is a widely employed strategy to generate novel chimeric variants with desired properties. Yet, the computational analysis of such chimeric sequences presents challenges. We introduce hafoe, a novel...


Medical digital twins: enabling precision medicine and medical artificial intelligence

Published On 2025 Jun 15

Journal article

The notion of medical digital twins is gaining popularity both within the scientific community and among the general public; however, much of the recent enthusiasm has occurred in the absence of a consensus on their fundamental make-up. Digital twins originate in the field of engineering, in which a constantly updating virtual copy enables analysis, simulation, and prediction of a real-world object or process. In this Health Policy paper, we evaluate this concept in the context of medicine and...