Whitehead Innovation Initiative

The Whitehead Innovation Initiative is a bold program advancing cutting-edge bio-AI leadership, which sponsors community-building and educational programs, funding opportunities, and computational resources at Whitehead Institute. The goal of the initiative is to spark innovation at the intersection of biomedical research and AI, foster partnerships between biomedical and computational researchers, facilitate collaboration, and support individual projects through expanded, state of the art computational infrastructure, educational resources, funding opportunities and social events.

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About the Initiative
Whitehead Innovation Initiative Committee Members

Ruth Lehmann (Director, WI)
Rick Young (Committee Chair, WI)
Regina Barzilay (MIT CSAIL)
Vanessa Almendro (Danaher Corporation)
Allison Hamilos (Valhalla Fellow, WI)

Administration

Sharon Stanczak
Alexa Pagliaro

Whitehead AI Fellow

The Whitehead Innovation Initiative supports Whitehead Fellow, Na Sun.

Whitehead Innovation Initiative Funded Investigators

Rick Young
Regina Barzilay
Iain Cheeseman
Jonathan Weissman
Olivia Corradin
Peter Reddien

Whitehead Innovation Initiative Seminars

Seminars feature collaborative bio-AI work funded by the Whitehead Innovation Initiative, as well as special guest speakers from the broader bio-AI community. Seminars take place in the Whitehead McGovern Auditorium and are open to the public.

  • Friday, September 20th, 1:30-2pm: Kick-off Seminar
  • Wednesday November 20th, 2-3pm: Seminar, Cheeseman Lab and Reddien Lab
  • Wednesday February 19th, 2-2:30pm: Seminar, Weissman Lab
  • Wednesday April 16th, 2-2:30pm: Seminar, Speaker TBA

 

Previous seminars:

WII Kick Off (April 16, 2024):
Rick Young and Regina Barzilay Labs
Speakers: Henry Kilgore and Itamar Chinn
Title: Chemical codes promote selective compartmentalization of proteins

AI Forum (May 24, 2024):
Pulin Li Lab
Speaker: Nicolas Hutchins
Title: Inferring Cell-Cell Communication Statistically

Dinner for Eight (D48) Community Events

D48s are gatherings of small groups of biomedical researchers and computational science experts to learn and brainstorm in an intimate setting at local restaurants. Attendance open to the WI and MIT CSAIL community. The dinners will be held on the second Tuesday of each month. Watch for communications. 

Educational Primer Series

WII bio-AI tutorials and journal clubs will take place in a supportive, closed door setting to educate, empower and prepare members of the WI community to pitch innovative bio-AI projects and serve as effective collaborators with AI experts. Educational primers are open to members of the WI community and take place in the 7th floor classroom.

  • Wednesday, October 16th, 12-1:30pm: Educational Primer (Matteo di Bernardo), Topic: TBA
  • Wednesday, December 11, 12-1:30pm: Educational Primer, Topic: TBA
  • Spring dates - TBA!
Innovation Initiative Community Leaders

Our WII social chairs plan social and educational events, including the WII kick off seminar, D48s, the WII seminar series, and educational primers. Members of the WI and MIT communities are welcome to join as leaders. To get involved, please contact Allison Hamilos [ahamilos [at] wi [dot] mit [dot] edu].

Our current community leaders are:

Allison Hamilos (chair)
Inma Barrasa
Matteo Di Bernardo
Xinlei Gao
Anna Meglan
Monica Concepcion (logistics)

Whitehead Innovation Initiative New Project Proposals

A call for new WII proposals will open in March 2025 and will be open to WI community members and their collaborators.