Anita Goel
Personal Information
Born: 1973
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Indian/American
Education
Stanford University BS Physics 1995; Harvard University PhD 2002 Physics; MIT-Harvard Joint Division of Health Sciences & Technology MD 2005
"“By bringing these disciplines together (nanotech, physics, & biomedicine), we can open up completely new frontiers, diagnostics and treatments,” Goel said. “I see the reality of today and a vision of how tomorrow could be, and I’m working on bridging the gap. We would like to see science and technology help billions of people on the planet, especially in rural villages that don’t have access to basic healthcare.” (seema.com); “What Seema created with the SEEMA Magazine and the SEEMA movement is a great encouragement in STEM and in many other ways for South Asians, by helping to inspire and set role models for the younger generation and integrating one’s heritage with one’s work and passions,” Goel said. “All of our journeys are shaped by those types of experiences, and to bring it all together creates a richness in the human experience and such an interesting canvas for people to see innovation and contribution for human society from all walks of life and cultures.” (seema.com); "
— Anita Goel
Professional Life
Field of Study: Biophysics
Institution/Corporation: Harvard University; Nanobiosym
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (2012); Fellow world Technology Network; Fellow-at-Large Santa Fe Institute; founding member Global Council for Center of Healthcare Innovation (2011); Board of US National Board of Museums of Science & Industry; Nanotechnology advisory Board of Lockheed Martin Corp (2010); Scientific Advisory Board of PepsiCo; Board of National Academy of Sciences (2015); National Academy of Engineering (2012); Beyond Institute for Fundamental Concepts in Physics (2009)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2005 named 1 of the Top 35 Science & Technology Innovators, MIT Technology Review; 2015 named 1 of the World's Most Influential Visionaries in Biotech, Scientific American; 3 DARPA Breakthrough Awards; 2 USAID Grand Challenge Awards; Galactic Challenge Award, NASA; 2013 XPRIZE, Nokia Sensing X Challenge; 2006 Global Indus Technovator Award, MIT; 2019 Seema South Asian Woman Entrepreneur
Achievements: Founder and CEO of both Nanobiosym Labs and Nanobiosym Diagnostics; examines the physics of life and the way nanomotors read and write information into DNA; has harnessed these fundamental insights to invent, incubate, and start commercializing next-generation nanotechnology platforms like Gene-RADAR® for Mobile and Personalized Health ( Gene-RADAR, a device resembling a mobile phone that has the ability to analyze biofluids such as a drop of blood or saliva), energy harvesting and quantum computing with molecular nanomachines that read and write information in DNA; founder of SETU (Sanskrit for “bridge”), a multi-discipline conference and think tank housed at Stanford University*
has over 80 patents worldwide (10 located)
has testified in the US Senate for the $1.5 Billion dollar National Nanotechnology Initiative
advised President Obama's PCAST for his Strategy for American Innovation
served on the Triennial Review Board of the National Academy of Sciences
is piloting a global initiative to build innovative public-private partnerships with academic, commercial, global thought leaders and NGO’s, to collectively harness innovations at this convergence to sustainably address some of the world’s most pressing needs in healthcare, energy, and the environment
Gene-RADAR is a machine that identifies DNA and RNA signatures, essentially “molecular fingerprints,” and lets the user know what illness or disease the patient has by sorting through a database and finding the conditions that correspond to that fingerprint information
Gene-RADAR has potential biodefense applications such as providing onsite detection of hazardous chemicals in bioterrorist attacks and similar devices could also be used to test water sources, crops, organs for transplant, and air quality