Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia, Indian Origin Scientist who developed World’s First Human Micro Liver receives the Heinz Award in Technology. The Heinz Awards pay tribute to the memory of the late U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III. The award to Dr Sangeeta was announced recently which includes an unrestricted prize of $250,000. Dr. Bhatia received her award on May 13, 2015 at a ceremony in Pittsburgh.
She recently invented a paper urine test (similar to a pregnancy test) to detect cancer in poor countries, where few people are screened for common cancers.
Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia said, “I’m hopeful that the visibility associated with this award can inspire young girls by showing them what a rewarding profession — and life — STEM can yield.”
Amongst the many awards and honors, Dr. Bhatia has received and recognized:
- As one of the “the nation’s most promising young professors in science and engineering” by the Packard Foundation.
- In 2003, she was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
- She was also named a “Scientist to Watch” by The Scientist in 2006 and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2008.
- Forbes named her as one of 18 Indian scientists – across all nations – who are “changing the world” and “one of the 100 most creative people in business” by Fast Company.
- In 2014, Dr. Bhatia was awarded the $ 500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.
Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia is currently the Director, Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies (LMRT) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor at MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).
She is also a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, a senior member of the Broad Institute, and a Biomedical Engineer at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
