Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program
Founded in 1970, the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) is one of the world’s oldest interdisciplinary educational programs focused on translational medical science and engineering.
The program is an inter-institutional collaboration between MIT, Harvard, and local teaching hospitals, dedicated to fostering academic excellence, scientific rigor, and clinical expertise.
Our MD, PhD, and MD-PhD students study side-by-side, gaining a deep understanding of the biomedical sciences, and a strong quantitative foundation. HST students engage in translational research projects, collaborating with MIT and Harvard faculty drawn from across departments and disciplines to develop preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic innovations.
In addition to studying biomedical sciences, HST PhD students concentrate in one of 11 technical areas and acquire a deep understanding of how healthcare works, through an immersive clinical experience in a Boston-area hospital.
Alumni of the program are responsible for countless groundbreaking innovations, including the drug regimen that transformed HIV/AIDS into a treatable disease and the first non-invasive technology for observing the brain in action.
HST has a home on each side of the Charles River. At MIT, the program is part of the Institute for Medical and Engineering Science (IMES) and represents the vanguard of IMES’ educational initiatives. At Harvard, the program is part of Harvard Medical School’s Program in Medical Education, housed within the Irving M. London Society.
HST offers degrees in two multidisciplinary areas of graduate study:
- Medical Sciences MD Program (MD degree conferred by Harvard Medical School)
- Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Doctoral Program
Graduate Study
Medical Sciences (HST MD Program)
Is this program a good fit for me?
HST’s MD program is designed for bold, curious students who aspire to careers as physician-scientists. We're committed to welcoming applicants from a wide range of communities, backgrounds, and experiences.
Half of the students in our MD program have majored in biological sciences and half in physical sciences. They’re comfortable with mathematics and computational methods, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
How is the HST MD program different from other MD programs?
HST adds a new dimension to medical school. The HST MD curriculum highlights the frontiers of what is known and what remains to be discovered. HST students gain a deep understanding of the fundamental principles underlying disease and acquire the clinical skills of traditional medical training. In addition, they undertake a meaningful research project in one of several hundred laboratories at Harvard, MIT, and local hospitals. It’s the perfect beginning to a multidisciplinary career as a physician-scientist.
What degree will I earn?
HST students earn an MD degree from Harvard Medical School.
What can I do with this degree?
Graduates of the program can become pioneering physician-scientists, ready to care for patients and lead translational research to develop preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic innovations.
What can I expect?
In their first two years, students build a deep understanding of the medical sciences and lay the groundwork for further exploration. They explore the complex mechanics of human biology, study the technical underpinnings of healthcare, and gain a fundamental knowledge of molecular biology, biotechnology, engineering, and the physical sciences. HST students also explore the human side of medical science, meeting with a variety of patients in clinical settings.
They will also conduct research in a lab at MIT, Harvard, or one of the area teaching hospitals, building their expertise and learning from a thriving community of researchers, educators, and fellow students.
Beginning in April of the second year, HST students join their classmates from the other curricular track at Harvard Medical School in clinical clerkships and electives, gaining valuable real-world experience in a clinical setting.
How long will it take me to earn an MD degree from HST?
The HST MD program is designed to be completed in four years, with an option to extend the program to five years by including a year of full-time research. This additional research year typically occurs after the second year of the MD curriculum.
Can the HST MD be combined with other degree programs?
Many HST MD students join the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD program, earning a PhD in addition to their medical training. HST MD student may also pursue dual degrees in business (MBA), public health (MPH), public policy (MPP). More information can be found on the program website.
To learn more about the HST MD curriculum, visit the HST program overview on Harvard Medical School’s website.
Medical Engineering and Medical Physics
Is this program a good fit for me?
HST’s Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) PhD program offers a unique curriculum for engineers and scientists who want to impact patient care by developing innovations to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. We're committed to welcoming applicants from a wide range of communities, backgrounds, and experiences.
How is HST’s MEMP PhD program different from other PhD programs?
Each MEMP student chooses one of 11 technical concentrations and design an individualized curriculum to ground themself in the foundations of that discipline. They study medical sciences alongside MD students and become fluent in the language and culture of medicine through structured clinical experiences. They select a research project from among laboratories at MIT, Harvard, affiliated hospitals, and research institutes, then tackle important questions through the multiple lenses of their technical discipline and medical training. As a result, MEMP students will learn how to ask better questions, identify promising research areas, and translate research findings into real-world medical practice.
What degree will I earn?
MEMP students earn a PhD awarded by MIT or by the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
What can I do with this degree?
Lead pioneering efforts that translate technical work into innovations that improve human health and shape the future of medicine.
How long will it take me to earn a PhD in HST’s MEMP program?
Similar to other PhD programs in MIT's School of Engineering, the average time-to-degree for MEMP PhD students is less than six years.
What can I expect?
MEMP students begin by choosing a concentration in a classical discipline of engineering or physical science. During the first two years in HST, each student completes a series of subjects to learn the fundamentals of their chosen area.
In parallel, they will become conversant in the biomedical sciences through preclinical coursework in pathology and pathophysiology, learning side-by-side with HST MD students.
With that foundation, students will engage in truly immersive clinical experiences, gaining a hands-on understanding of clinical care, medical decision making, and the role of technology in medical practice. These experiences will help students become fluent in the language and culture of medicine and gain a first-hand understanding of the opportunities for—and constraints on—applying scientific and technological innovations in health care.
MEMP students also take part in two seminar classes that help them to integrate science and engineering with medicine while developing their professional skills. Then, they design an individualized professional perspectives experience that allows them to explore career paths in an area of their choice: academia, medicine, industry, entrepreneurship, or the public sector.
A two-stage qualifying examination tests their proficiency in their concentration area, their skill at integrating information from diverse sources into a coherent research proposal, and their ability to defend that research proposal in an oral presentation.
Finally, as the culmination of their training, MEMP students investigate an important problem at the intersection of science, technology, and medicine through an individualized thesis research project, with opportunities to be mentored by faculty in laboratories at MIT, Harvard, and affiliated teaching hospitals.
Additional Application Information
Neuroimaging and bioastronautics are areas of specialization within MEMP for which HST offers specially designed training programs. MEMP candidates may choose to apply through MIT, Harvard, or both. Those applying to MEMP through MIT should submit a single application. Those applying to MEMP through Harvard must also apply to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or the Biophysics Program. Additional information about applying to MEMP is available on the MEMP website.
Inquiries
Visit the website or email HST for additional information on degree programs, admissions, and financial aid.
Faculty and Teaching Staff
Collin M. Stultz, MD, PhD
Nina T. and Robert H. Rubin Professor
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Associate Director, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Co-Director, Health Sciences and Technology Program
(On leave, spring)
Professors
Elfar Adalsteinsson, PhD
Eaton-Peabody Professor
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Daniel Griffith Anderson, PhD
Joseph R. Mares ’24 Professor in Chemical Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
(On sabbatical, fall)
Bonnie Berger, PhD
Simons Professor
Professor of Mathematics
Member, Health Sciences and Technology Faculty
(On leave)
Sangeeta N. Bhatia, MD, PhD
John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Health Sciences and Technology
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Lydia Bourouiba, PhD
Japan Steel Industry Professor
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Emery N. Brown, MD, PhD
Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering
Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anaesthesia, HMS
Professor of Computational Neuroscience
Member, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Arup K. Chakraborty, PhD
John M. Deutch Institute Professor
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Physics
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Kwanghun Chung, PhD
Eugene McDermott Professor in Brain Sciences and Human Behavior
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
James J. Collins, PhD
Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science
Professor of Biological Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Elazer R. Edelman, MD, PhD
Edward J. Poitras Professor in Medical Engineering and Science
Professor of Medicine, HMS
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
John D. E. Gabrieli, PhD
Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Lee Gehrke, PhD
Hermann L. F. von Helmholtz Professor Post-Tenure of Health Sciences and Technology
Professor Post-Tenure of Microbiology and Immunobiology, HMS
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Todd R. Golub, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Director, Broad Institute
Martha L. Gray, PhD
Whitaker Professor in Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Member, Health Sciences and Technology Faculty
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Thomas Heldt, PhD
Richard J. Cohen (1976) Professor in Medicine and Biomedical Physics
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Associate Director, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Robert Langer, ScD
David H. Koch (1962) Institute Professor
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Biological Engineering
Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Leonid A. Mirny, PhD
Richard J. Cohen (1976) Professor in Medicine and Biomedical Physics
Professor of Physics
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Dava Newman, PhD
Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Member, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Member, Health Sciences and Technology Faculty
David C. Page, MD
Professor of Biology
Member, Health Sciences and Technology Faculty
Ellen Roche, PhD
Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Associate Head for Research, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Alex K. Shalek, PhD
J. W. Kieckhefer Professor
Professor of Chemistry
Director, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Charles G. Sodini, PhD
Clarence J. LeBel Professor Post-Tenure of Electrical Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Peter Szolovits, PhD
Professor Post-Tenure of Computer Science and Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Associate Professors
Marzyeh Ghassemi, PhD
Germeshausen Career Development Professor
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Laura D. Lewis, PhD
Athinoula A. Martinos Associate Professor
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
(On leave)
Tami Lieberman, PhD
Hermann L.F. von Helmholtz Career Development Professor
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
(On leave, fall)
Lonnie Petersen, MD, PhD
Samuel A. Goldblith Career Development Professor of Applied Biology
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Assistant Professors
Matthew G. Jones, PhD
Howard S. (1953) and Linda B. Stern Career Development Professor
Assistant Professor of Biology
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Tania Lopez-Silva, PhD
King Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Core Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Lecturers
Sonal Jhaveri, PhD
Lecturer, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
William M. Kettyle, MD
Lecturer, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
HST Affiliated Faculty
Aaron Dominic Aguirre, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, MGH
Pierre Ankomah, MD, PhD
Instructor in Medicine, MGH
Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD
Donald S. Fredrickson, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics, BCH
Berkin Bilgic, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiology, MGH
Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD
Samuel A. Levine Professor
Professor of Medicine, BWH
Brett Bouma, PhD
Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Mary L. Bouxsein, PhD
Maurice Edmond Mueller Professor
Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, BIDMC
Sydney S. Cash, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology, MGH
Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD
Johnson and Johnson Professor
Professor of Surgery, BIDMC
Yee-Ming Chan, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, BCH
George M. Church, PhD
Robert Winthrop Professor
Professor of Genetics, HMS
George Daley, MD, PhD
Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, BCH
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, HMS
Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, BCH
Professor of Pediatrics, BCH
Stan N. Finkelstein, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, BIDMC
Stuart A. Forman, MD, PhD
Professor of Anaesthesia, MGH
Matthew P. Frosch, MD, PhD
Lawrence J. Henderson Professor
Professor of Pathology, MGH
Gaurav D. Gaiha, MD, DPhil
Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH
Georg K. Gerber, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology, BWH
Rajat M. Gupta, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, BWH
Charles Corey Hardin, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH
Tayyaba Hasan, PhD
Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Nima Hejazi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, HSPH
Howard M. Heller, MPH, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, MGH
Miguel Hernan, MD, DrPH
Kolkotrones Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, HSPH
Kathryn Anne Hibbert, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, MGH
Randy L. Hirschtick, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry, MGH
Paul L. Huang, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, MGH
Kristen Marie Hysell, MD
Instructor in Medicine, MGH
David Izquierdo-Garcia, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology, MGH
Felipe Jain, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, MGH
Rakesh K. Jain, PhD
A. Werk Cook Professor
Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology), MGH
Ursula B. Kaiser, MD
Professor of Medicine, BWH
Jeffrey M. Karp, PhD
Professor of Anaesthesia, BWH
Isaac S. Kohane, MD, PhD
Marion V. Nelson Professor
Professor of Biomedical Informatics, HMS
Trevin Lau, MD
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, MGH
Julie-Aurore Losman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, DFCI
Mohini Lutchman, PhD
Lecturer on Neurobiology, HMS
Richard N. Mitchell, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Health Sciences and Technology, HMS
Sahar Nissim, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, BWH
Lauren O’Donnell, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiology, BWH
Timothy P. Padera, PhD
Professor of Radiation Oncology, MGH
Shiv S. Pillai, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, MGH
Bruce R. Rosen, MD, PhD
Laurence Lamson Robbins Professor
Professor of Radiology, MGH
Douglas A. Rubinson, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, DFCI
Sol Schulman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, BIDMC
Shiladitya Sengupta, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, BWH
Ann K. Shinn, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, McLean
Jian Shu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Harvey B. Simon, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH
David Sosnovik, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH
Myron Spector, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Orthopedic Surgery (Biomaterials), BWH/VAMC-Boston
Judith M. Strymish, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, VAMC-Boston
Steven M. Stufflebeam, MD
Associate Professor of Radiology, MGH
Joshua Tam, PhD
Assistant Professor in Dermatology, MGH
Guillermo J. Tearney, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology, MGH
Nii Ashitey Tetteh, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, MGH
David Tsai Ting, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH
Mehmet Toner, PhD
Helen Andrus Benedict Professor
Professor of Surgery, MGH
Nestor Uribe-Patarroyo, PhD
Assistant Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Benjamin Vakoc, PhD
Associate Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Allison S. Vise, MD
Instructor in Medicine, BWH
Srinivas R. Viswanathan, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, DFCI
Lawrence L. Wald, PhD
Professor of Radiology, MGH
Duane Wesemann, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, BWH
M. Brandon Westover, MD, PhD
Emily Fisher Landau Professor
Professor of Neurology, BIDMC
Seok-Hyun Yun, PhD
Professor of Dermatology, MGH
Joshua Charles Ziperstein, MD
Instructor in Medicine, MGH
Professors Emeriti
Richard J. Cohen, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering
Roger Greenwood Mark, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Health Sciences and Technology
Thomas F. Weiss, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Bioengineering
Professor Emeritus of Health Sciences and Technology