Giovanni Traverso

Bio

Prof. Giovanni Traverso is the Director of the Laboratory for Translational Engineering (www.l4te.org), Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute. Dr. Traverso grew up in Peru, Canada and the United Kingdom.  He received his BA from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK, and his PhD from the lab of Prof. Bert Vogelstein at Johns Hopkins University.  He subsequently completed medical school at the University of Cambridge, internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his gastroenterology fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, both at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Traverso’s previous work focused on the development of novel molecular tests for the early detection of colon cancer. For his post-doctoral research, he transitioned to the fields of chemical and biomedical engineering in the laboratory of Professor Robert Langer at MIT where he developed a series of novel technologies for drug delivery as well as physiological sensing via the gastrointestinal tract.

His current research program integrates engineering and medicine to create the next generation of biomedical technologies. Efforts span advanced drug delivery systems, ingestible and implantable devices, and biocompatible materials designed to improve adherence and enable new therapeutic modalities. His group is also pioneering robotic and electroceutical approaches for closed-loop sensing and treatment, as well as platforms for nucleic acid and cell therapy delivery. Beyond therapeutics, the lab is advancing diagnostic and biosensing tools for early disease detection and real-time monitoring of human physiology, with the broader goal of transforming how diseases are prevented, detected, and treated.