Harvey Lodish

Harvey Lodish is a Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute and Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research spans molecular cell biology with direct applications to medicine, particularly in understanding the basic mechanisms of red blood cell formation and adipocyte biology.

Dr. Lodish earned his PhD from Rockefeller University in 1966 under Dr. Norton Zinder and completed postdoctoral research with Nobel laureates Drs. Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner. He joined the MIT faculty in 1968, becoming Professor of Biology in 1976 and Professor of Biological Engineering in 1999.

Lodish's research focuses on the interface between molecular cell biology and medicine, with four primary areas: red blood cell development, red cell engineering, long non-coding RNAs, and adipocyte biology. His laboratory pioneered the cloning of the first mammalian glucose transport protein (GLUT1), the insulin-responsive GLUT4, and the erythropoietin receptor. More recently, his lab has characterized microRNAs and lncRNAs involved in red blood cell and fat cell development, with implications for diabetes, obesity, and blood disorders.

His laboratory, which operated from 1968 to 2019, made groundbreaking contributions to understanding cellular mechanisms with direct medical relevance. Analysis of his recent publications shows a continued focus on molecular mechanisms of blood cell production and adipose tissue biology, with particular emphasis on transcriptional regulation and signaling pathways.

• Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (1986)
• Elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (1987)
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)
• President, American Society for Cell Biology (2004)
• Mentor Award in Basic Science, American Society of Hematology (2010)
• Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology
• MITx Prize for Teaching and Learning in MOOCs (2021)

Lodish has mentored numerous students and postdocs, with two of his postdoctoral fellows receiving Nobel Prizes and eight students and fellows becoming Members of the National Academies of Sciences or Medicine. He continues to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in biotechnology and advises companies in cell and gene therapies for rare diseases.

His laboratory made significant contributions to understanding molecular mechanisms of red blood cell formation and adipocyte biology, with direct implications for treating diabetes, obesity, and blood disorders. Lodish also serves on the Board of Trustees of Boston Children's Hospital and was Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.