By Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

It was a great pleasure to appear as a member of the study panel at the Convergence Report Release Event in Washington D.C. on June 24. The report, “Convergence: The Future of Health”, draws on insights from several dozen expert participants at two workshops, as well as containing input from scientists and researchers from academia, industry, and government. Their efforts have produced a wide range of recommendations for advancing convergence research. The report outlines three major disease areas — brain disorders, infectious diseases and immunology, and cancer — and promises convergence-based approaches to tackling them. It also presents case studies of four emerging technology categories: advanced imaging in the body, nanotechnology for drug and therapy delivery, regenerative engineering, and big data and health information technology.  The report was co-chaired by Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and director of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Susan Hockfield, neuroscientist and president emerita of MIT; and Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor at MIT and Nobel Laureate.

The panel discussion is online, please watch the video.

---