Dr. Anita Goel, MD, PhD

Dr. Anita Goel, MD, PhD is a Chairman and CEO of Nanobiosym Diagnostics and the Nanobiosym Research Institute. Dr. Goel is a world-renowned expert and pioneer in the emerging field of Nanobiophysics - a new science at the convergence of physics, nanotechnology and biomedicine. Whereas modern physics in the 20th century was developed primarily in the context of closed systems, Dr. Goel seeks to expand conventional theoretical and experimental physics frameworks and their mathematical machinery to describe non-equilibrium, open systems such as life and living systems that are strongly coupled with their environment. Anita has developed a new theoretical physics framework that elucidates the interplay of matter, energy and information at a very fundamental physics level. Dr. Goel harnesses these insights to examine one of the most basic processes of living matter, the way nanomotors read and write information into DNA, how this process is influenced by the environment and how quantum mechanics might play a nontrivial role in their dynamics. She was named by MIT’s Technology Review Magazine as one of the World’s Top 35 science and technology innovators. As a Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Nanobiosym and Nanobiosym Diagnostics, Goel has harnessed these fundamental insights to invent, incubate, and start commercializing next-generation nanotechnology platforms like Gene-RADAR® for Mobile and Personalized Health, energy harvesting and quantum computing with molecular nanomachines that read and write information in DNA. Anita's pioneering works have been recognized globally by prestigious honors and awards including multiple awards from US Government agencies such as DARPA, DOD, DOE, AFOSR, NSF, USAID, HHS and awarded the first XPRIZE ever awarded for healthcare. Dr. Goel has been featured as a frequent keynote speaker and distinguished faculty lecturer at leading universities and institutions including Harvard, MIT, the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Division of Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, MIT Sloan School of Business, Zurich ETH, National University of Singapore, Princeton, Santa Fe Institute, AAAS, DARPA Advanced Workshops, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Goel was invited by Senator John Kerry to give expert testimony before the US Senate in support of the $1.5 Billion dollar US National Nanotechnology Initiative and has advised President Obama’s Strategy for American Innovation for the President Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to help build the roadmap for harnessing nanotechnology to stimulate the US economy. In 2011, Anita and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a joint keynote address on Tackling Global Challenges at the Annual Novartis Forum in Madrid and Charles Vest invited her to serve on the Committee on Manufacturing, Design and Innovation of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to look at the future of manufacturing in the US. Dr. Goel holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics from Harvard University, an M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Joint Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Physics with Honors and Distinction from Stanford University. Dr. Goel has published several scholarly articles in leading scientific journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, Scientific American-India and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and contributed innovative book chapters such as in the pioneering work on Quantum Aspects of Life, with several patents worldwide. Dr. Goel has served on the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) research council, is a Fellow of the World Technology Network, a Fellow-at-Large of the Santa Fe Institute, an Adjunct Professor at the Beyond Institute for Fundamental Concepts in Physics, and an Associate of the Harvard Physics Department. Dr. Goel is a founding Member of the Global Council for Center of Healthcare Innovation (CHI), a Board Member of the US National Board of Museums of Science and Industry, has served on the Board of Overseers of the Boston Museum of Science. Dr. Goel has served on the Nanotechnology Advisory Board of Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Scientific Advisory Board of PepsiCo.