Academic scientists who identify as change makers, researching and addressing healthcare problems with potential for long-term social impact
“The Termeer Foundation is committed to championing emerging biotechnology leaders and finding people who want to solve the biggest problems in human health. By supporting researchers, we plant the seeds for future success in individuals who are preparing to make significant contributions in academia and industry.”
BELINDA TERMEER, President of The Termeer Foundation
Support & pilot grants
for academics solving healthcare challenges
The Termeer Scholar Award supports and elevates leaders and scholars who are making an impact on the world by developing scientific advances like new medicines and diagnostics that represent the future of the biotechnology industry and the potential to positively impact patients’ lives. The Award is intended to support individuals who have and ignite excitement for solving the biggest problems in human health and treatment delivery. The focus of the research of a Termeer Scholar is on advancing treatments and cures for patients.
This year’s co-recipients of the Termeer Scholars Award are Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg, McGovern Institute Fellows at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) whose lab is leveraging natural biological systems, including CRISPR biology, to develop a suite of tools for next-generation cellular engineering. These tools have been adopted by researchers over the world and formed the basis for four companies that Omar and Jonathan have co-founded.
MEET OUR 2022 SCHOLARS
Omar Abudayyeh
McGovern Institute Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jonathan Gootenberg
McGovern Institute Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Omar Abudayyeh
Omar Abudayyeh is a McGovern Institute Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he conducts independent research on investigating novel molecular tools for genome editing, gene delivery, and cell control. He previously was at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard- MIT Health Sciences and Technology program as an MD/PhD student. He completed his doctoral work in Feng Zhang’s lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where his research centered on novel CRISPR enzymes for applications in genome editing, therapeutics, and diagnostics. In recognition of his technology developments, Dr. Abudayyeh was recognized as Technology Review TR35 Innovators, 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 in Science and Health Care and Business Insider 30 under 30. Dr. Abudayyeh graduated from MIT in 2012 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and biological engineering, where he was a Henry Ford II Scholar and a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.
Jonathan Gootenberg
Jonathan Gootenberg earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and biological engineering at MIT. He received his PhD in Systems Biology from Harvard University, during which he conducted research with Aviv Regev and Feng Zhang at the McGovern Institute and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. During his PhD, Gootenberg focused on the development of molecular technologies for treating and sensing disease states, crossing disciplines by utilizing novel computational techniques, microbiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to uncover new CRISPR tools, including Cas12 and Cas13. He and his co-authors developed Cas13 into a toolbox with uses in fundamental research, therapeutics, and diagnostics. He is one of the first members of the McGovern Institute Fellows program, which supports the transition to independent research for exceptional recent PhD graduates, and has received multiple awards, including Forbes 30 Under 30 and Business Insider 30 and Under.