In 2000, Patrick J. McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern made an extraordinary gift to establish this institute, driven by their deep curiosity about the human mind and their belief in the power of science to change lives.
Now, 25 years later, our record is packed with groundbreaking discoveries that have already begun to shape science and human lives at a global scale.
The foundation of the McGovern Institute has been, and always will be, basic research, but our faculty continually keep an eye on translational applications. We are leaders in the development of new technologies and we share these tools not only with our colleagues at MIT, but with researchers around the world.
The fruits of our research are not confined to our labs; they are woven into the fabric of society, changing what is possible for millions of people. Among our recent discoveries, the development of the CRISPR genome-editing system has culminated in the world’s first CRISPR gene therapy approved for humans — a remarkable achievement that is ushering in a new era of transformative medicine.
In other milestones, McGovern researchers developed the first prosthetic limb fully controlled by the body’s nervous system; an expansion microscopy technique that paves the way for any biology lab to perform nanoscale imaging; and advanced computational models that demonstrate how we see, hear, use language, and even think about what others are thinking.
Equally transformative has been our work in neuroimaging, uncovering the architecture of human thought and establishing markers that signal the early emergence of mental illness, before symptoms even appear.
As an academic institution, we typically cannot bring our own discoveries into the marketplace. Instead, our faculty and students form their own companies or license their discoveries to companies that conduct clinical trials and bring products to the community. As of 2025, our faculty and students have founded 34 companies and we have 1,535 approved patents worldwide, more than 90% of which are licensed or under option contract.
I am often asked what makes us different from other neuroscience institutes and programs around the world. At the McGovern Institute, I believe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. So many of our discoveries have depended on collaborations across McGovern labs and multiple departments at MIT, from biological engineering to computer science. In modern neuroscience, significant studies often require the joint expertise of people working in neurophysiology, behavior, computational analyses, neuroanatomy, and/or molecular biology. The desire to collaborate with others and avoid the tendency to work in a silo is one of the key characteristics we look for in new faculty. Beyond formal collaborations, our weekly faculty lunches and numerous symposia, retreats, and other community events are times when we share ideas a cross disciplines.
“At the McGovern Institute, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Of course our incredible progress is owed in large part to our award-winning faculty, whose dedication and ingenuity have propelled us forward. From the National Medal of Technology to the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine, their accolades are a testament to their commitment to excellence and innovation.
Because our faculty attract the best and brightest young minds, our diverse and vibrant scientific community is setting the global standard for brain research and its applications. Our graduate students are drawn from 13 different departments at MIT; roughly half from the brain and cognitive sciences department, where less than 4% of applicants are accepted. We also attract the best postdoctoral fellows from around the world, in part through numerous fellowships available from our centers, specifically the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research and the centers of the Yang Tan Collective. After their graduate or postdoctoral training, they go on to lead their own labs or work at top companies around the world.
It is also worth noting that our administrative staff, who tirelessly support our 22 labs, is regarded as among the best at MIT. In a recent survey of our faculty, the median rating of our administrative staff was a 10 out of 10!
Finally, we would not be where we are today were it not for the funding we have received from generous supporters, federal agencies, and private foundations. This includes the original McGovern endowment, which funds much of our infrastructure, administration, and seed grants. Our dynamic research centers, including the Poitras Center and the centers of the Yang Tan Collective, were all made possible by our visionary supporters. We leverage critical contributions from individuals to seed high-risk ideas and maximize our chances of winning competitive federal and private grants, which are now funded at the highest levels we have seen in 25 years.
I also cannot fail to mention the tremendous support we continue to receive from MIT leadership, which sustains us in many ways, both large and small. Looking to the future, we are more committed than ever to advancing our understanding of the brain and making a meaningful difference in lives of individuals at a global scale.
With heartfelt gratitude and hope,
Robert Desimone, PhD
Director, McGovern Institute
Doris and Don Berkey Professor of Neuroscience, MIT