Strategic Alliances: The Longfellow Project

A New Model of Collaboration

The Longfellow Project is an initiative of the Strategic Alliances team within the Office of the Scientific Director. The Longfellow Project, named after the bridge that links Boston and Cambridge, connects academic and industry-based research to foster collaboration between leading Mass General biomedical researchers and physician-scientists and their industry peers. Launched in 2015 by the Mass General Research Institute Office of the Scientific Director, The Longfellow Project has two pillars:

1. The Bridging Academia with Industry educational program, yearly course on the multifaceted practice of translational science
2. The Challenge-Driven Research Programs, focused on specific key areas of need

The Bridging Academia with Industry Educational Program

Teaching a new model of collaboration

In order to discover and develop new treatments and cures for major diseases, it is critical that our biomedical and physician investigators understand the process by which discoveries become new, effective therapies. The Bridging Academia with Industry educational program teaches Mass General Research Institute faculty the “art” of translating science to patient care through collaboration, while catalyzing the development of new diagnostics and treatments.

This yearly program is taught by more than 50 expert faculty from academia and industry. It begins with a course on the strategies and tactics of translation and includes a project competition with a $150,000 award for the winning team. Learn more >

The Longfellow Project Challenge-Driven Research Programs

These programs take a comprehensive approach to identifying and designing solutions to important health care problems. The Strategic Alliances Team has instituted a new model of collaboration that leverages fundamental and translational research, clinical care and high-quality patient-derived samples, enabling bench-to-bedside and bedside-to-bench translation, while taking into consideration market drivers.

To date, eight Challenge-Driven Research Programs, composed of 261 investigators from 21 Mass General departments and centers, have come together with key industry partners to focus on new diagnostics and treatments for:

• Antimicrobial resistance
• Cancer immunotherapy
• Cardiometabolics
• Epigenetics
• Microbiome
• Neuroinflammation in Neurodegeneration
• Rare diseases
• Sleep